The Irish Farmers Journal understands that Boortmalt has met with its supplying merchants and the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) about plans to make further cuts to malting barley contracts just after the gates closed on crops before harvest.

It is understood that the French company does not want any distilling barley this season due to the uncertainty in the market and this could equate to a cut in contracts of about 20%.

Boortmalt already made cuts to contracts earlier this year, although some merchants had to cut contracts to farmers by more than others at that time.

The IFA’s malting barley committee met on Monday 16 June, following the meeting with Boortmalt earlier that day.

Reject

The IFA unanimously rejects the cuts, the association stated. Tillage farmers are under financial pressure at present and the IFA hopes to meet Boortmalt again in the coming days to resolve the issue.

There was an acknowledgement that it is a difficult time for sales in the distilling industry, but contracts were in place, crops have been sown, all inputs have been purchased and used on crops and if contracts are cut at this time of year, farmers will have no faith in agreements into the future.

Another issue is that the farmers have little or no control over whether a variety meets distilling or brewing specifications, as the weather will be the main determinant of plant protein content which needs to be less than 8.8%.

Another disadvantage is farmers have grown varieties required for malting which do not yield as well and require more inputs. Incomes will be challenged without the malting premium on these crops.

At a meeting held in March with Boortmalt, one farmer said: “The only thing that is consistent is the inconsistency.” The line now looks to be appropriate once again this season.

When Boortmalt’s cuts were announced in March, both Dairygold and Tirlán - which jointly own the Malting Company of Ireland - stated that there would be no cuts to contracts this season and they wanted to provide consistency to growers.