The 15 March deadline set by Boortmalt for malting barley growers to avail of their current price contract is not the deadline for the offer, IFA grain committee chair Mark Browne has stated.

Terms

The IFA has not agreed on the terms of the deal and growers will not sign up to any contract until an agreement is reached Browne said.

He explained that “growers have told me that they won’t sign a contract until there is a deal agreed between us and Boortmalt”.

Despite this, some 6,000t of malting barley is reported to have been committed by growers since the last price offering in February.

The IFA is anxious to agree on a deal, but he insists that its members will continue to hold out for a better deal.

“We have to sign up to a good deal which covers all of the tonnage, not just 20%.”

Rejected

Last February, IFA malting barley growers rejected Boortmalt’s offer of €190/t, insisting on a minimum price of €200/t.

While the €190/t offer was OK, the rest of the deal wasn’t going to deliver, said Browne.

However, Boortmalt has yet to confirm that the deadline has been extended.

New Boortmalt offer

The new offer is based on an average grain price of the European malting barley market pricing index FOB Creil between April and September.

It replaces the milling wheat MATIF-based pricing structure.

Next meeting

While negotiations are ongoing, the IFA is expected to hold a meeting on Tuesday 19 March to update growers on the situation.

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