Boortmalt is to increase capacity at its Minch Malt production facility in Athy, Co Kildare.

The expansion will increase the plant’s capacity by 20,000t, which the company said would enable it to serve its “growing customer demand better and meet the rising demand for premium Irish malt products."

IFA grain chair Kieran McEvoy said the announcement is a positive story for the tillage sector.

“The export growth in the brewing and distilling sector has significantly increased the quantity of malting barley purchased in Ireland over the past decade and this has delivered a tangible benefit to the bottom line on tillage farms,” he said.

“Irish growers produce top quality malting barley, which is both fully traceable and environmentally sustainable. To ensure this supply on an annual basis, strong premiums are needed to underpin any future growth. Growing malting barley is more costly than feed barley, so the price paid to farmers must reflect this,” he said.

Imports

McEvoy said that despite this expansion in the Irish malt supply, it is disappointing that some brewing and distillery operations, which trade on the local provenance of their product, are apparently choosing to import malt from other countries.

“The IFA malting barley committee believes that products which are marketing themselves as Irish should be using Irish malt. We must have full transparency on this,” McEvoy said.