Finland: Finnish malting barley farmers have in recent years started to change their production from domestic varieties, especially Saana, to the European varieties Scarlett and Barke, Viking Malt revealed in a press release. This change is moving faster and faster due to the better agronomical characteristics of European varieties. The newest variety approved by the Finnish malting barley committee is Annabell, which has been approved as malting barley in Finland for crop 2004. It is however recognized that “imported” varieties are not designed for Finnish growing conditions and due to their longer growing period can cause problems if Finland gets an early and rainy autumn.

Approximately 139,000 hectares where used for malting barley cultivation in 2003. The forecast for crop 2004 shows that this area is expected to increase by about 6,000 hectares to a total of 145,000 hectares. For crop 2004 the native Saana will not be the dominating variety anymore since it loses a share of about 10,000 hectares to a total share of about 45,000 hectares. Scarlett is predicted as the new number one after gaining about 4,000 hectares in a year, from 46,000 to 50,000 hectares. Barke represents the second biggest change with an increase from about 21,000 to 30,000 hectares. In Finland the sowing takes place during the first weeks of May.

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .