Finland: The normal period for sowing in Finland is around the 10-15 th of May. This year sowing took place before middle of May under good conditions and slightly earlier than average, Viking Malt has recently revealed. The month of May brought a cold period when the growth was almost zero. Now, in the middle of June, expectations for the coming crop are good. Growth is even and we have had enough rain. In Finland there is no separate statistics of malting barley areas. The total barley area on the other hand increased from 530 000 - 570 000 hectares. Our estimation is that most of the increase is in malting barley varieties. Estimated time for harvest is the end of August/beginning of September.

23 July, 2004