Boortmalt has announced that it will introduce a drying charge of €10/t in 2023, which it says will partially cover increases in drying and logistics costs. This charge will be taken away from the harvest price which is calculated by averaging the FOB Creil malting barley price from mid-April to mid-September each year.

The company also announced a fixed price offer for malting barley delivered in harvest 2023 of €320/t. This price offer will not be subject to the drying charge the Irish Farmers Journal understands.

A second fixed price offer will be released in the spring the company has said. Contracts will be between growers and receiving depots.

“Growers may fix up to 20% of their 2023 malting barley contract at €320/t which represents a premium of approximately €80 over feed price. This offer can be secured from Monday 12 December but closes on Wednesday 21 December 2023. The group will announce a second fixed offer price in spring 2023,” explained Pierre Eric Souplet, markets specialist with Boortmalt.

Boortmalt attempted to introduce a drying charge in harvest 2022, but the charge was met with fury from farmers and while the IFA agreed to the charge in the first place it was eventually removed. The charge at that time was €12.50/t.

The Irish Farmers Journal has spoken to the IFA and understands that the IFA has not agreed to this charge. The malting barley committee is meeting tomorrow, 14 December.

Grain chairperson, Kieran McEvoy stated: "We were shocked to hear of this announcement and had no negotiations on this and we feel very disappointed considering that we have a long history of negotiating with Boortmalt on behalf of Irish farmers."

The IFA said they had been looking for negotiations since mid-October and had just one online meeting with the company.