United Kingdom & Ireland: UK’s feed barley exported to Ireland for the first time in seven years

A shipment of feed barley which left Teignmouth in Devon last week represents the first consignment of grain to be exported from the UK for seven years, the Farmers Guardian posted on October, 7.

The 2,500 tonnes of barley were bound for Ireland, it was reported. Wessex Grain, who handled the consignment in conjunction with Cornwall Farmers, said it would “ease congestion” and benefit growers who were “eager to see some loads moved”.

Robin Webb, south west grain trader at Wessex Grain, said the west country was dealing with a far higher grain tonnage than usual, but that quality – particularly of wheat - throughout much of the area was “very poor”.

Citing bushel weights ‘as low as 52kg’; sprouted grains; the worse fusarium he had seen for 35 years; and hot, wet grain as the four key problem areas, he added: “Barley has withstood the weather better than wheat, but for wheat it becomes a salvage operation. What do you do with such poor quality wheat?”

The fusarium would cause fertility, milk yield and general production problems if used as feed while high moisture and heat would lead to weevils and beetles in stored grain.

“Maybe some will go to digesters to produce energy but at what price?” he said.

08 October, 2008