Central Europe: Farmers’ interest in malting barley diminished over the past years

Except for the Czech Republic, farmers’ interest in the production of malting barley has diminished constantly over the past years, which has led to supply problems for the industries time and again in the Central European countries, H. M. Gauger GmbH said in their July report.

Distances and differences in transport cost from the EU surplus countries are substantial; maltsters in Central Europe lose competitiveness if they are forced to import from Denmark or France.
According to the Gauger analysts, spring barley acreage declined in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia this year.

Poland and Austria will need large imports, preferably from neighbour countries, the experts said.