Winter malting barley – a profitable option for harvest 2024
Malting barley premiums across the UK are buoyant at over £65 tonne UK average from week ending 21st September on the AHDB UK ex farm prices website.
The MAGB have also reported that maltster purchases are expected to be in the order of 1.9-2 million tonnes of barley from harvest 2023.
The strong premiums being offered combined with continued high demand from maltsters makes malting barley an attractive crop to grow for harvest 2024.
Winter malting barley has now reached its prime drilling window from mid-September to mid-October but there is still time to make decisions on which varieties to grow.
You can find the seed rates for all Syngenta winter cereals on our seed varieties homepage - scroll down to 'Autumn Cereals Seed Rates' and click the link to download!
CRAFT, is the most popular winter malting barley in the UK making up just under 50% of the total winter barley grain purchased by maltsters from harvest 2022 and it will remain dominant again this year. With strong end user demand, CRAFT provides growers with a secure market for sales. This consistently yielding winter malting barley is reliable in both the field and in the maltings which explains why it remains the biggest winter malting barley in the UK.
ELECTRUM brings an uplift in yield over CRAFT and has the added benefit of early maturity.
This has proven very beneficial during harvest this year which was wet with only short periods of weather suitable for harvesting. Electrum was one of the first barleys to be harvested on farm this year which has allowed both yield and quality to be protected in such a catchy season.
Both CRAFT and ELECTRUM are the only varieties on the AHDB Recommended List that have full MBC Approval for Brewing.
Find out more about these leading winter malting barley varieties by clicking here!
For any technical enquiries, get in touch! product.technical_enquiries@syngenta.com
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