EU: Spring barley plantings are forecast to be down in the main malting barley countries

Spring barley plantings were foreseen by analysts to be down in all essential malting barley countries in 2006, but that did not take into account possible changes, when fields of destroyed winter grains must be replanted:

(In thousand ha, last year in brackets):
France 530 (565); Denmark 550 (569); Germany 560 (606); Sweden 340 (369); U.K. 530 (558); Czech Republic 370 (397).

Supplies should still be sufficient in 2006, provided a normal planting and growing season. But farmers become more disenchanted every year with their malting barley sales, and the industry is certainly running a risk that the price spiral may turn around one day from the traditional pressure of "supermarket chains to brewers to maltsters to farmers" into the opposite direction.