United Kingdom
July 4, 2019
Three out of every ten tonnes of malting barley bought by maltsters from the English and Scottish 2018 crops were the spring variety Laureate (30.1%).
Flagon was the most popular winter malting variety bought by maltsters from the 2018 crop, at 22.4% of winter purchases (3.4% of total purchases).
Laureate overtook the old favourite Concerto as the most purchased spring variety from both England and Scotland. Concerto had accounted for 40.1% of all malting barley purchased from the 2017 crop, but fell to 21.7% of purchases from the 2018 crop.
The data from the Maltsters' Association of Great Britain (MAGB) showed that Laureate, however, swooped to top place in 2018, from just 6.4% of all the malting barley purchases in 2017.
Laureate overtook the old favourite Concerto, pictured here on the Black Isle, Scotland
Mr Koshir Kassie, Chair of the MAGB Trade Committee, said: “When it comes to brewing and distilling, Concerto still compares favourably to Laureate. However, agronomically Laureate now performs much better. It’s so high-yielding that it’s almost a no-brainer for farmers.”
In AHDB Recommended Lists 2019/20 trials, Laureate yielded 103% compared to the control; whereas Concerto’s yield was down at 94%.
Mr Kassie added: “Laureate has now also taken off on a global scale, and when that happens we do see more people starting to grow that variety.”
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