5-13 IAN Barley

 Barley baby.

 I had a chat with Kelly Olson who is the administrator for the Idaho Barley Commission. Just wanted to know what’s going on with the spring crop and as always she was extremely informative.  “Very good. The beer industry is making a bit of a come back here in the US markets so demand for malt barley  remains strong and I think our planted acres are going to be up from a year ago and I think we are looking at another good year. A little concerned about some dry growing conditions across the state we  have adequate irrigation, barley is one of those crops that takes the least amount of water and comes off early so and irrigated crop should finish okay. Some of the dryland areas a little concerning if we don’t get some rain and the outlook is kind of mixed there. However the crop is going into the ground at a rapid pace given how things warmed up and dried out this spring so at least we are off to a strong start. With fingers crossed for an even stronger finish? Yes. I think farmers argue terminal optimists or they wouldn’t be in this business. They have to go into the year, particularly a year where the spring has been mostly favorable, thinking everything has to go mostly right.