With heatwaves crossing Europe, the harvest of winter wheat and winter barley is now underway. Two-row spring malting barley is developing rapidly under the current warm conditions. We continue to observe strong and healthy crop development across our growing regions. Welcome to our Crop Update July 2026. Here is how things look across our key growing regions.
How do things look?
Local conditions in the Netherlands continue to play their part, with coastal influences never far away. However, it is the combination of favourable weather conditions and the expertise of our growers that is driving consistent progress in the fields. This performance reflects a well-balanced growing season so far. A wet winter replenished soil moisture reserves, followed by favourable sowing conditions that enabled a strong start. The relatively dry spring has limited disease pressure and supported steady crop development.
In France (the biggest spring barley growing region in Western Europe) weather conditions in recent weeks have had a significant impact on crops across Europe. Particularly when temperatures exceeded 30°C for nearly seven consecutive days. The heatwave had limited effect on autumn-sown crops, as they had already reached advanced growth stages before it arrived.
Different circumstances
The latest FranceAgriMer figures show 73% of winter barley crops rated good to excellent, a drop of 3 percentage points from the previous week. For spring barley, it is important to distinguish between autumn-sown and spring-sown crops. Autumn-sown spring barley is at a similar development stage to winter barley. Therefore, it has been less affected by recent weather conditions. In contrast, spring-sown barley has experienced limited rainfall since sowing, and the recent heatwave has further reduced yield potential. As a result, the crop is now rated 68% good to excellent.
By staying close to the crop and maintaining strong relationships with our growers, we continue to secure quality from field to malt. That is why we remain ahead of developments in the grain market.
Want to stay ahead of the grain market? Follow our Crop Update July 2026 and contact our team to discuss what current conditions mean for your malt supply.
