The customer is always right, and that means the prairie malting
industry has got a problem.
There isn’t much barley out there. And what is there isn’t pretty.
“There’s less to select from. What there is is going to be higher in
protein and lower in plump. And we’re going to have to fight the
four-legged beasts to get it,” said Bob Sutton, director of logistics
for Westcan Malting Ltd. in southern Alberta.
“To say we’ve got a concern would be an understatement.”
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The most lucrative malt sales come from barley with plump kernels and
low protein. But in a drought, kernels are less fleshy and protein
counts rise.
Overseas customers, who buy the majority of prairie malt, have tight
specifications.
“You try to work with the customer as much as you can, but they’ve got
specifications they’ll try to hold to as best they can and they’ll look
for low protein barley from somewhere,” said Sutton.
When there’s a bad barley crop, prairie maltsters have to modify their
expectations in line with the crop in order to keep producing the same
amount. But overseas customers have a choice of suppliers. Unlike the
maltsters, they aren’t wedded to the Canadian crop.
“We’re not isolated,” said Sutton.
“Our customers do have options and alternatives.”
Those include European suppliers, who do not have a protein problem.
Australia’s crop is not in the bin, but it is another competitor that
may have fewer problems.
Sutton said most customers understand the reality of a short crop and
will not permanently punish a Canadian supplier who can’t meet their
needs for one year.
But Sutton said Canadian maltsters have suffered three years of short
supplies. The difference is that instead of bad crops occurring in
secondary regions, like southern Alberta, this year’s drought is
hurting the malt barley heartland of central Alberta and Saskatchewan.
“We’re having a drought in the most productive areas,” said Sutton.
Maltsters don’t have to stick to any one region when looking for
barley, Sutton said. But big gaps in production hurt, and maltsters
suffer as much as farmers who miss a vital rain.
“We can really relate to the farming game after the last few years,”
said Sutton.
