Malting barley growers let Boortmalt know of the anger they are feeling at the emergency grower meeting organised by the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) on Monday night in Co Carlow.

The meeting was attended by Boortmalt managing director for UK and Ireland Stuart Sands and Boortmalt barley procurement manager for UK and Ireland Jonathan Roberts, in addition to over 250 tillage farmers, according to IFA grain chair John Murphy.

Sands described the Irish malting barley sector as being “one of the only markets globally where there is actually a demand for growth in malting barley”.

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He went on to say that “there is a bright outlook for malting barley in Ireland”.

This was met with dismay from the growers, one of whom commented that Boortmalt’s “integrity is on the floor”, while another noted that “the growers are going to disappear”.

Parity charge

There was no commitment from the Boortmalt representatives on the night to scrap the €10/t parity charge, which IFA president Francie Gorman said was “unilaterally imposed” without agreement from the IFA.

“We simply do not have €10 in our pocket, we don’t have it to give to the Irish farmers,” Sands noted.

“There was a review done three or four years ago in relation to the pricing mechanism of the FOB Creil versus Irish malting barley. In order to ensure we have consistency and we’re looking at the same thing, that’s where the €10 parity charge came from.”

Roberts repeated Boortmalt’s previously reported stance that the parity charge is “a step towards what a FOB Creil price is, which is on a dry basis”.

These answers did not satisfy the farmers in the room, with many telling the Boortmalt representatives that they would not grow malting barley again for the company.

“The question of the €10 parity charge kept coming up and there isn’t an answer to it. It shouldn’t be there,” Murphy said following the conclusion of the meeting.

“They answered the questions in the best shape form they could, but they’re not proper answers. We need answers. If we have to go to Diageo to get those answers, that’s where we’ll go.

“Boortmalt agreed to sit down with us in the coming weeks. They want to chew on what they’ve seen tonight.

"We’ll never refuse a meeting, it will be sorted out around a table, but unless there’s more money there, how can they think that we’re going to go into another year of growing malting barley with them.”