Distillers and brewers will need record barley yields

Despite a likely upturn in the area of malting barley grown in Scotland for harvest 2018, with stores cleared of the surplus of recent years, close to record yields will still be needed to meet demand from the distilling and brewing industries.

With an upturn in whisky production on the cards, a leading maltster yesterday told farmers that they would need to sustain increased barley production levels to meet demand – or face the prospect of some of the major distilling companies tying themselves into long-term commitments for imported malting barley.

Speaking at the Scottish Agronomy annual conference in Perth, Bob King, commercial director with the Crisp Malting Group, told farmers that the supply chain needed stability and end-users such as the major distillers needed a commitment to sustained production levels to build into their long-term programmes.

However farm manger David Aglen expressed the audience’s view that the story had been heard before.

“We have often been told to build relationships with these buyers – but whenever more barley comes onto the market the price drops,” he said.

King replied that while there had been a lack of communication in the past, the buyers were now beginning to realise that they would need to take some long-term action to ensure the provenance on which they relied.

And he added that with Brexit raising the possibility of tariffs on grain going out and coming in from Europe, both farmers and distillers could benefit from a closer working relationship.

But King warned that the displacement of Scottishgrown barley was already happening, stating that demand for high diastatic power (DP) malt which was used in the production of grain whisky was now being supplied from abroad. He said that the majority of the 110,000 tonne market was now supplied by producers form Scandinavia, where barleys of over 2 per cent nitrogen were consistently grown.