France: Reports say 2006 crop French barley is highly demanded

A longer than expected winter for the winter barley sowings along with a heat explosion in June weighted hardly upon the efficiency and the quality of the barley crop, especially for small areas, a Secobra report said October 30.

In the same time, it is important to note the rain avalanche in July in Scandinavian countries and Central European countries which degraded the germinal and sanitary qualities of the malting barley in theses regions.

Mais on retiendra surtout la forte vague de pluie de fin juillet en Scandinavie et Europe Centrale qui a fortement dégradé les qualités germinatives et sanitaires des orges de brasserie de ces régions.

On the other hand, France looks well on the back of this fairly negative context: its 2006 barley crop it’s very demanded and Europe looks closely at its 2007 harvest will serve as a welding element between the two harvesting campaigns.

Experts say areas under Esterel are dropping back but less than one could fear. Thus, areas under spring barley in 2007 have all the reason to maintain their selves at a level close to 2006, that is nearly 500,000 ha.