Growers in Co Laois are very happy with malting barley crops in general this year, with a large proportion of the valuable crop passing.

Last week, we visited Stradbally Town and Country and spoke to Martin McDonald to find out how things were going.

Spring barley yields were exceeding expectations.

“If you were given 2t/ac last May when you had finished sowing at the end of April, you would have said that’s all we’re going to get,” Martin commented.

“I don’t know what the average is at the moment, but certainly it’s at the high end, between 2.5t/ac and 3t/ac on average and nearer the 3t/ac.”

Martin assembles malting barley and, so far, pass rates for malting are high. “The quality is exceptional,” he commented.

This is a relief after what had been a difficult year to get malting barley over the line in 2023.

He said that at last harvest, malting barley rejections were at 90% in Stradbally and must have been among the highest in the country, as crops failed to meet specifications due to fusarium and poor germination.

Price premium

“It’s a big deal to pass around here. A lot of growers are spring barley growers. They don’t have any winter crops, even those that had winter crops this year - they didn’t turn out to be great and with the price of feed at the moment, having malting barley accepted this year is very important because we’re looking at a price close to €250/t.

"That makes a big difference when you compare it to the price of feeding barley, which I’d be afraid to say.

“There’s a huge difference there. If you’re able to get 2.75t/ac at €250/t it makes it [malting barley] very important for growers in a year like this when money is scarce.”

Still crops to cut

Martin noted that there are still plenty of crops to be cut and some of these are still very green. In light of the price premium on malting barley, Martin urged growers not to apply glyphosate to crops.

He said if glyphosate is applied, then those crops are ruled out for malting straight away. Barley is tested at the weighbridge for the presence of glyphosate.

He also advised against tipping barley in the shed as the harvest goes on, as it may become harder to pass the germination test if grain is higher in moisture and sits in place for a few days.

Martin commented that growers need to give grain every chance to pass to try to get the malting barley price premium.

You can listen to the full interview with Martin on this week's Tillage Podcast by clicking here.