Over 200 malting barley growers, who supply Stradbally Town and Country, are receiving letters this week informing them that their contracts have been taken away from them.

Families which have been growing malting barley for over 150 years to supply barley to what is now Boortmalt to produce products such as Guinness, will lose their contracts, despite being less that 14km from Boortmalt’s plant in Athy, Co Kildare.

Stradbally and the surrounding areas in Co Laois have been one of the traditional growing areas for malting barley since the maltings plant at the centre of the town was built in 1873.

The announcement comes as Boortmalt and its customers like Diageo, which produces Guinness, and Irish Distillers, which produces Jameson, place a focus on sustainability and reducing their carbon footprint.

However, with the majority of barley entering Boortmalt now travelling much further distances to Athy than Stradbally some have described the calculation of carbon footprints, regenerative and sustainability programmes by Irish drinks companies and Boortmalt as green washing.

In a letter to growers, managing director of Stradbally Town and Country Martin McDonald said: “Most of your families have been growing malting barley for generations. You are the traditional malting barley growers of County Laois.

Heritage and tradition

“Great emphasis is placed on heritage and tradition by Diageo in their marketing of the Guinness brand throughout the world. Unfortunately, it seems not to have made any difference in this case.”

In recent years, Boortmalt has increased its number of suppliers which are further away from the plant. For example, contracts have been increased in Cork – 200km away, Wexford – 80km away, Offaly – 60km and Kilkenny – 50km away.

Growers in the Stradbally catchment are hugely dependent on malting barley. It is the largest crop grown in the area and although the premium has dropped in recent years and varieties had failed to be updated growers stuck with it in the expectation that things would improve.

On average over the past 10 years the Irish Farmers Journal estimates the premium over feed barley for malting has been €41-43/t.

Stradbally Town and Country said there were absolutely no issues with the barley delivered from Stradbally growers or the way that barley was handled.

The letter said that Boortmalt needs to clarify its decision.

A battle seems to have been rumbling for a number of years as contracts were cut at the intake in 2023, 2024 and 2025 until eventually contracts were lost in 2026.

At the same time, contracts seemed to increase at other intakes. The letter continued: “This move leaves the malting barley growers of Co Laois, who have historically been the cornerstone of the malting industry, without a local outlet for their barley.”

The letter concluded by noting the time, effort and money invested in procuring malting barley in recent years while concluding that the grower “has been left high and dry”.

Boortmalt told the Irish Farmers Journal: “Information in relation to contractual relationships between Boortmalt and merchants is confidential and cannot be disclosed.

“Boortmalt remains committed to purchasing malting barley from Irish farms through merchants with a broad geographic spread that represents all the key production regions of the country.”

It also noted that estimations for the purchase of the 2026 crop are confidential, noting that the distilling market is still challenging and will affect overall volumes purchased.

IFA comment

Newly elected IFA grain chairperson John Murphy said: “We’re disappointed to see that contracts have gone in the area.

“We want an urgent meeting with Boortmalt to discuss the issue in the hope of resolving it for the long-term growers in Co Laois.

“Barley has been grown in this area for a long number of years and we hope this will continue into the future, with the vision of growing the most sustainable barley in the country.”