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Barley: A declining trend in planted acreages

November 24, 2017 at 8:26 AM , Starry Night Ltd.
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SOFIA. Early in the marketing season, exports skyrocketed. Recently, they have plummeted.

Barley: a strong historical trend in reduction of planted acreages prevails

BULGARIA. In comparison with the increased acreages of planted wheat for the next season (by 8.2% so far), barley’s sowing rate lags substantially from that of last year. The most recent estimates of planted land of barley currently stand at 103,091 ha or a dip of 12.9% on a yearly basis, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. The difference could be even larger by the time the final estimates are released.

A short-term comparison shows that since 2014 (218,612 ha) through 2015 (191,433 ha) till 2016 (168,244 ha), farmers reduced the gross allocation of land for the cultivation of the grain, choosing instead to focus on more profitable crops. According to them, it is the demand for a crop that drives allocation strategies. The lesser planted acreages, the lesser expected aggregate output, ceteris paribus.

     Harvest 2017-18

(01.07.2017 - 17.11.2017)

          units in MT

Beginning availability

22,000

Aggregate output

633,393

Imports

247

Domestic consumption

120,000

   beer production

30,000

   feed

90,000

Exports to the world

241,549

   to EU markets

224,332

   to rest of the world

    17,217

Source: Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture

Brakes on export activities

At the beginning of harvest 2017-18, buyers conducted swift and massive procurement campaigns at prices that vexed farmers, reaching as low as 0.123 EUR/kg EXW Bulgaria. Barley is usually collected earlier from fields than other local grains are, and the subsequent hailstorms did not damage the crop as they did to wheat, rapeseed and corn in some fields within regions throughout the general North. As a result, barley’s quality characteristics of the recent harvest, according to local farmers, were of higher value than those of last year. Accordingly, the higher quality grain and the low prices quickly drove the buying campaign.

Fulfilling international contracts, market players increased ship quantities abroad earlier in the season while recently the export rate has plummeted. Tough regional competition has always influenced barley’s exports, and the current market sentiment is for the pace of foreign trade activity to maintain its subdued pulse. Domestic consumption goes by a few metric tons per week.

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