UK 2008 Barley Crop Seen At 6MMT

The June census showed that winter wheat plantings in the UK were up 14pc, winter barley plantings up nearly 14pc and, significantly, spring barley plantings were up 18.5pc over last year.

With final yields about half a tonne per hectare up on the five-year average, this has produced a UK 2008 barley crop of about six million tonnes this season, analysts say.

UK maltsters have an estimated usage requirement of 1.8-1.9mmt, leaving over 4mmt of barley looking fo a home this year.

With a domestic wheat crop of 17mmt plus, that's one hell of an exportable surplus of grain we have on our hands this season. With export demand such as it is (or more precisely as it ISN'T), it looks highly likely that we will carryover more grain into next season's new crop than ever before.

Christ, I wish they'd hurry up with that Saltend plant all of a sudden!