THE 2022 BARLEY HARVEST UPDATE, PRESENTED BY COUNTRY MALT GROUP
As part of the United Malt family of brands, we’re proud to be ingrained (pun intended) in the global malt industry. We’re connected to quality malt brands, including Great Western Malting, Canada Malting Co., Bairds Malt and Barrett Burston Malting, who have centuries of combined malting experience and are deeply rooted in the global barley farming communities.
Tapping into this connection to our malting brands, here is our harvest update from the 2022 barley harvest!
Harvest was in High Gear in the Northern Hemisphere
In August, most of the growing regions in the Northern Hemisphere began harvesting this year’s barley crop. Normally, the winter harvest is from July to August and the spring harvest is from mid-August to September. Last season was challenging with droughts and lower-than-expected yields, but the 2022 crop is back to average. The overall quality is a little thin and protein increased, due to no end of season rain. Many of the growing areas were able to harvest their barley early, which meant no pre-harvest sprouting and excellent germinations. This year was a positive growing season!
North American Harvest Update
The growing regions in North America span Montana, North Dakota, Idaho and Eastern Washington in the United States. In Canada, the majority of growing regions are in the prairies of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. This season, there were drought concerns in almost all North American growing regions following the 2021 season. However, a cool, wet spring alleviated most of these concerns, even though it also delayed crop planting dates. Since farmers had to plant a little later this year, the crop maturity was delayed about 10 to 14 days in most North American regions, with North Dakota being a bit further behind with the harvest delayed up to 21 days.
Harvest for the 2022 winter and spring crop is now complete for North America. The Great Western Malting plants in Vancouver, WA and Pocatello, ID received the first 2022 barley crop delivery in August. As for Canada Malting Co., the Calgary plant received their first 2022 barley crop delivery in August, then Thunderbay and Montreal received theirs in September. As of now, our North American malting plants have fully transitioned from malting the 2021 crop to the 2022 crop!
United Kingdom Harvest Update
The United Kingdom also wrapped up harvest in July and August. This year, harvest started early for most regions in the U.K. because of the prolonged hot and dry weather since the end of April. The English harvest showed good yields and quality from both spring and winter barley harvests.
With the abnormally dry and warm weather the U.K. experienced the last few months, the barley in Scotland had low moistures for typical Scottish barley. The Bairds Malt grain teams also characterized this crop year as good grain size and average protein levels.
Overall, harvest reports were positive, noting average quality – a much–needed change from last year’s challenges. Barley is one of the most complex crops in the agriculture industry, requiring great care, hard labor, and a special craft. We raise a glass to the farmers for a successful harvest, knowing that the best beers and spirits begin with the best barley! We look forward to the 2022 barley crop making its way from grain to glass.
BREWING TOOLS