Ireland: Barley to supply planned Malting Company of Ireland’s expansion to be needed as soon as next season

Barley to supply the planned expansion of the Malting Company of Ireland’s (MCI) facilities in Co Cork will be needed as soon as next season, provided the project moves on track, the Irish Farmers Journal reported on October 1.

The MCI recently announced a planned expansion to take in 25,000t more malting barley.

The project will hopefully be completed by the second half of 2026. The Irish Farmers Journal understands that the planning application was being finalised last week.

MCI CEO Paul McGillicuddy told the Irish Farmers Journal: “We’d expect a phased increase in barley requirement from the 2025 harvest, feeding into 2026 production; a phased increase from next year.”

This barley will come from Dairygold and Tirlán suppliers. MCI is a joint venture between the two co-ops.

McGillicuddy said customers want sustainable grain.

“It’s crystal clear to me that they [customers] do want to use Irish crops and low-carbon, sustainable Irish crops.

“What is very clear as well is that they need to see robust, validated positions around the sustainability as well.

"That’s where we’re going to put a lot of focus, as well as the emissions on site, really developing a robust, regenerative programme that will bring value to our customers and enable them to support their own ESG initiatives.”

Adding to this, he said farmers need to continue to be paid a high price premium for malting barley.

“We need to ensure that we continue to offer the premium on malting barley and we need to continue to be able to invest in our own business.”

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