EU & UK: No change to barley supply and demand forecast but concerns over quality is building due to bad weather

As barley harvest advances across Europe, the weather has not been cooperative, with considerable rain delaying harvest progress, RMI Analytics reported earlier this month.

Although there is no yield impact expected, there is a building concern about quality impacts in the UK and Denmark, in particular. There is no change to RMI Analytics’ EU27+UK supply and demand, but the final harvest quality result (if quality deteriorates) could alter the availability of barley for export trade.

French barley harvest should wrap up in the coming week, with some cooperation from the weather. Getting the crop into storage is (as always) the most critical stage, after which the quality can be assessed. Having the French six-row crop completed adds some stability to the market but this only partially offsets the less than ideal two-row outcome developing.