Boortmalt will be “paying a bonus deduction” for malting barley delivered with a specific weight of below 63KPH this year.

The deduction system was first introduced in 2021, but is set to return this season, Boortmalt’s Tom Bryan confirmed on Thursday’s malting barley conference.

Bryan also confirmed that the distilling barley protein level cut-off point will again be increased to 9.7%. This was also first introduced in 2021. Brewing levels will remain between 8.8% and 10.8%.

ADVERTISEMENT

“In 2021, we only had a 2.7% rejection rate. While it was a great year for growing crops, it was mainly because we had the flexibility that the overlap in proteins allowed, so this is something which we will continue with,” Tom said.

He confirmed that the other grain specifications remain unchanged.

'Importation is not sustainable'

Bryan also confirmed that Boortmalt believes that imported malt is not a sustainable solution for the global brewers and distillers based in Ireland.

Speaking on a promotional video for Bühler, the developers of the extension to the malting plant in Athy, which was played on the Teagasc webinar, Bryan said that “that market requires malt and the alternative to not producing it here on the island is importation and importation is not sustainable”.

Boortmalt has been criticised in the past for malt and barley imports, but has since increased its contracted tonnage of Irish malting barley to meet demand.

Fob Creil

Bryan has also said they are actively working on allowing farmers to see the Fob Creil malting barley price.

Frustration has been growing among farmers due to the lack of access to the Fob Creil malting barley index, which the final malting barley price is based on.

He also said that they plan to publish them on a weekly basis from mid-April onwards.