Spring Barley Report – April 2008 Acreage of spring barley a bit larger in Europe and Germany

The Jochen Mautner GmbH has ended their regular reports about current developments in the area of malting barley as of spring 2008. Dagmar Hufnagel, correspondent of the “Ernährungsdienst”, Frankfurt/Main will take over the task in future. She has started with her first report on the current situation in malting barley cultivation in April 2008:

The acreage of spring barley got extended notable in local parts of Europe and Germany. The reasons for that are better prices and the reduction of set-aside. However the dissemination in some regions had to be separated in different dates because of the wet weather.

France belongs to the countries, that do not have to complain about any delays in the sowing. So, too, were the Spanish able to sow their seeds between November and February. The quality of their harvest depends on the rainfalls in May. Most of the areas in Great Britain had good conditions for their sowing as well. Another reason, why they were able to increase the acreage of spring barley in Great Britain is, that they decreased the acreage of sugar beets. Similar reports came from Ireland and Austria.

In Czechia and Slovakia, they were also able to sow parts of their seed without bigger problems. From a present-day perspective, the market observers proceed on the assumption that it is going to be a good harvest.

The Danish and Swedish increased their acreage for spring barley the most. (See chart) The Finnish and the Swedish only started working in the bygone days as usual. But in Sweden, they started working just a little bit later, too. In Russia, the acreage has not changed a whole lot and there were no big delays at work. Spring started a little bit earlier this year.

Except of the early regions with light soil, there were decisive delays during the sowing in Germany from two to three weeks. In some regions, 50-60% of the areas were planted too late. Because of those temporal differences, there is a long harvest to expect. Another problem that is expected, that the stocks that were sowed early this year, did not develop any deep roots because of the wet weather. If there would be a longer dryness, this could lead to less yield. In some regions, they decided to sow corn, because it was too late for spring barley.

Spring Barley in Germany 2008

Expected acreage in 1000 ha, estimated end of April 2008

Spring Barley in Europe 2008

Expected acreage in 1000 ha, estimated end of April