Norfolk barley growers have warned that East Anglia’s barley crop could have deleterious impacts on the region’s small brewers, due to the short supply of quality barley; however, they insist action is being taken to mitigate the after-effects of the spring drought.  

The region was in the worst affected part of Western Euorpe for malting barley production this year. The spring drought, which affected much of England, France and Germany, impacted most harshly in East Anglia. As a result, eastern growers suffered poor yields and high levels of nitrogen in their crops.

However, the region’s malting groups have insisted they are doing what they can to support local growers while easing the pressure on their own businesses. The Eastern Daily Press today reported that maltsters will attempt to use as much local grain as possible.  

Whilst it may still be a challenge to encourage brewers to take barley outside their normal specifications, some groups have brought higher quality barley from regions which fared better this year to mix with local crops and reduce the overall nitrogen levels.

Last year, the nitrogen count in barley averaged 1.46 per cent, though that rose to 1.74per cent this year. There have been warnings of a drastic shortage for smaller regional brewers, particularly those operating in the East of the country.

Elsewhere, barley did better than anticipated after the variable weather seen this year. In Scotland, which suffered appalling weather during harvest time, meaning only 12 per cent of the barley crop was harvested by September, HGCA reports show both yield and quality were higher than expected; the country produced one of its largest crops in the past few years. Overall, cereal yields in Scotland were the highest in 20 years.