Diageo ups the price of a pint as malting barley prices drop 23% in 2025 – IFA

Diageo’s decision to increase the price of a pint of Guinness by 7c has been strongly criticised by the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA).

IFA grain chair John Murphy said malting barley growers have been left behind again and will be asking when some of this money will make its way back to growers.

“Whoever is making money along the chain to the taps, it’s not the farmer growing the crops.

“This is the fifth price increase in three years. In the same period, the price of malting barley has halved.

“Irish malting barley prices are determined from the FOB [Free-On-Board] Creil index, and they fell by 23% alone in 2025,” he said.

Murphy added that morale amongst tillage farmers is at a very low ebb after three very financially challenging years.

“During this period, premium crops such as malting barley helped to support tillage incomes, but the collapse in malting barley prices means this support is unlikely to be there for harvest 2026,” he stated.

Referencing Diageo’s €250m investment in a state-of-the-art carbon neutral brewery in Co Kildare, the grain chair said: “The company needs to remember that locally sourced Irish barley is central to sustainability, but tillage farmers have to be financially viable in the first instance.”

Murphy said the IFA will be writing to Diageo to highlight concerns about the future of malting barley production in Ireland.