Heterogeneous spring barley in the EU

As heterogeneous the sowing of the spring barley has started in Europe, as heterogeneous seems the harvest is going to be. The first preliminary results show values that vary a lot. Anyhow there is the talk of overage of brewing barley in Europe. Normally diseases and fusarium are not a big problem.

Very pleased with its harvest is France. There is the talk of an extraordinary harvest in relation to quality and quantity. The average earnings are barely 6.5 t/ha. The last record was 2004 with 6.31 t/ha. There are a few problems that could occur in relation to the quality in the north of the country. Rainfalls interrupt the work up there. But there is only 25 % of the entire harvest. Austria also reports surpassing yields with brilliant quality. Better protein values and screening results than in the last year are achieved in Czech Republic and in Slovakia. The Czechs expect an export surplus of 200,000 t. The Slovaks also expect a little bit export surplus and they also harvested the second largest yield since 2004. In Hungary there is also the talk of a better harvest in relation to quality and quantity in comparison to last year. In the United Kingdom they did not have too much luck with the weather this year. That is why they are not completely sure about the quality of their harvest yet. The Polish are not really pleased with their harvest. While the harvest was almost done by the end of august in the South of the country, in the north there was still three-quarters of the crop and there is not a whole lot more to expect from this region. There is the talk of a failure of the harvest. Qualities and quantities are not as good as they were last year. In Sweden and Finland, the harvest is hindered by bad weather. While 40% of the barley have already been harvested in Sweden, the Finnish were still waiting for the right weather at the end of august. Higher protein is already measured in Sweden. Not as much spring barley will probably be produces for the malteries as it was last year. High attention is paid to the harvest in Denmark. 60% to 65% of the areas are harvested by the end of august. The yields vary at 4 t/ha. The protein content is somewhere between 9% and 14.5 %, the screening results is at 90 %. The very dry growth phase let us expect substandard yields and high protein contents. The rain during the harvest season is not good for the expected products as well.

The different spreading of rain in Germany also led to very heterogeneous results of the harvest of the brewing barley. Especially in the protein section, the results vary a lot. Surprisingly good are the screening results with an average of 91 % in all of the German states. Only in Schleswig-Holstein, in Unterfranken and in parts of Baden-Württemberg and Hessen were the screening results not as good as they were last year because of the dry weather during the time of cornfilling, according to the Braugersten-Gemeinschaft e.V., Munich. The yields also show big variations. Basically, experts reported a remarkable better quality than in 2007. Corn abnormalities and fusariums are off the cards so far as well. But of course it is still possible that the values will go worse due to weather conditions in some areas where harvesting was not finished. The prices for brewing barley in Europe went down in the course of the harvest because of the high expectations in the harvest. This development stopped in the middle of August because of the amount of crop that still needs to be harvested in Europe. In the beginning of September the prices yield again.