The craft beer market has rocketed in recent years, providing a rapidly growing market for specialist malting barley growers and renewed life for an old favourite variety Maris Otter.

This growth give great opportunities for malting barley growers, with demand for niche varieties such as Maris Otter growing year-on-year, helped by a near £80/t premium over feed barley.

Although the two-row winter barley is celebrating its 50th year, production has doubled since 2010.

Smaller breweries grew their production by almost 16% to 526m pints in 2014, according to the Society of Independent Brewers (Siba), which now has 820 members from its founding 20 in 1980.

See also: Malting madness: Grow barley on heavy land

Maris Otter accounted for 6.6% of the English winter malting barley market in 2010, at 25,057t.

By last year that had grown to 50,000t, filling 15% of the market, according to the Maltster’s Association of Great Britain.

Grain merchants Robin Appel and H Banhams supply the variety to about 250 growers, and buy their grain back at a premium price to supply eight UK maltsters.

US undersupply

The export market has also taken off, with about 35% of Maris Otter malt being exported each year.

“The US is very much undersupplied in its demand for Maris Otter, so there is plenty of opportunity for expansion.

“There have also been enquiries from Germany and Belgium,” says Robin Appel, managing director of Robin Appel.

The superior taste of beer made from Maris Otter means it commands a considerable premium to other varieties, which helps to make up for the lower yields.

“Winter malting barley is getting £5-£8/t over feed barley at the moment but Maris Otter gets about £70/t over this,” says Jonathan Arnold, director of barley at Robin Appel.

“The further the farm is from the maltster the lower the premium, but it is still significant.

“There are dangers that the traditional barley grower will be affected by the increase in area grown as well as the current blackgrass issues, but at present the demand is there”
Stuart Shand, Gleadell Agriculture

“Gross margins are in the region of £700-£750/ha,” he adds.

However, the grain specification is much the same as for other varieties of malting barley.

“We look for a nitrogen content of 1.5-1.6%. The screenings are actually a lot kinder than other contracts because the grain is smaller than other varieties,” says Mr Arnold.

Despite the recent growth in the market, Stuart Shand, sales director at Gleadell Agriculture, says the UK malting barley market may soon be at capacity.

Winter malting barley production is about 374,000t with spring malting barley at about 1.5m tonnes.

“Winter barley is more of a niche market and a grower really needs to be on a contract in order to grow it securely,” he says.

Dangers

Demand for winter barley is dependant on the variety and the market for it, whereas demand for spring barley is more fluid, Mr Shand adds.

“There are dangers that the traditional barley grower will be affected by the increase in area grown as well as the current blackgrass issues, but at present the demand is there,” he says.

The demand is coming from smaller breweries which grew their production by almost 16% to 526 million pints in 2014, according to the Siba which now has 820 members from its founding 20 in 1980.

“British craft brewers have transformed the market over the past couple of decades.

“They have turned it from one dominated by large, homogenous brands into the one we have today, with a staggering diversity of quality, flavoursome beers,” says managing director Mike Benner.

He estimates that the UK’s 1,500 brewers are now producing 18,000 different beers.

Norfolk 

Teddy Maufe

Teddy Maufe has been growing Maris Otter at Branthill Farms, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, for 49 years, and he is now growing 90ha on his sandy loam over chalk soils.

The variety suits his light soil even though it doesn’t produce high yields.

“With Maris Otter it is always quality over quantity. Norfolk is a good area for keeping the nitrogen right at around 1.5% but it is coming back a bit low this year at 1.3%,” he says.

Mr Maufe says it really pays to plough before drilling to create a decent seed-bed, and then he uses a prothioconazole and clothianidin (Redigo Deter) seed dressing.

“I drill in the last week of September to the first 10 days of October, at 130kg/ha,” he says.

Mr Maufe applies nitrogen and sulphur fertiliser at the end of February, with the main nitrogen dressing at the end of March.

Yields usually come in at about 5t/ha, and the grain is sieved to give a good quality grain sample.

Shropshire 

Angus Sheppard has been growing Maris Otter at Colemere House Farm, Ellesmere, Shropshire, for 40 years. He grows 60ha on a four-year rotation, and likes growing a product with a clear market.

“It needs to get established well – timings are important as planted too early it can be susceptible to disease. It’s key to be on the ball with disease, particularly rhynchosporium,” he says.

In the autumn, he uses a post-emergence herbicide such as pendimethalin, with an early spring application of prothioconazole and bixafen fungicide.

Harvest is usually in last week of July and should produce a yield of 5t/ha, with this year’s contract priced at about £200/t ex-farm.

“It needs the premium to compete with other barleys, but it stands alone in quality,” he adds.