Final (2nd) Crop Report Germany 2016
Final (2nd) Crop Report Germany 2016
This second and final 2016 malting barley crop report by the Braugersten-Gemeinschaft e.V. (German Malting Barley Association) is based on random samples of the German 2016 spring barley harvest. The sampling was conducted by the various Agriculture Institutes and Chambers of Agriculture in the German states. While this year’s first harvest report was compiled from expert estimates of average harvest quantities and qualities, this report is based on an analysis of actual harvest results.
The total German 2016 spring barley acreage has now been revised downward to 340,000 ha, which is roughly the same as that in 2014 and about 25,000 ha (some 7%) less than that in 2015. Extensive and persistent rainfall with often severe downpours, especially in the west and southwest of the country, were the deciding factors during this year’s spring barley growing season. True peak summer conditions with stable temperatures for crop maturation and harvesting arrived only during the second week of August. By that time, however, many stocks had already been harvested in areas where early plantings had been possible.
Contrary to initial pre-harvest estimates, post-harvest quality analyses revealed that this year’s yield was actually slightly higher (Ø 5.31 MT/ha) than cautious, difficult weather-influenced forecasts had predicted. Even the sorting turned out to be better than expected, though it was still rather unsatisfactory. Only an overall average of 88.5% of kernels reached a diameter of ≥2.5 mm. Also noteworthy were the favorable protein values, especially in high-yield regions such as Thuringia, where the average protein content was only 10.6%. Experts attribute these values to the weather-related late delivery of nitrogen by the soils and to the careful and deliberate use of fertilizers in fields planted with recently bred barley varieties.
The key spring barley varieties planted in Germany in 2016 were Avalon, Catamaran, Quench, Soloist, and Propino.
For the Braugersten-Gemeinschaft e.V.
Walter König