Crop Report #1 German Spring Barley – April 4, 2025
Based on seed sales and early estimates by Germany’s state malting barley associations, the Braugersten-Gemeinschaft (German Malting Barley Association) estimates that this year’s spring barley acreage is roughly 315,000 hectares. This includes about 16,000 hectares of spring barley sown in the fall. In addition, German farmers have planted about 30,000 hectares of winter barley intended for malting and brewing.
The 2024/25 winter, just like the 14 winters before, was warmer than normal. Using the internationally recognized climatological reference period of 1961 to 1990 as a basis for comparison, December 2024 was 2.2 °C (4 °F); January 2025, 2.5 °C (4.5°F); and February, 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) above normal. Because the winter was mild, all fall-sown crops developed well, with next to no frost damage.
Excessive rains, however, were a problem this season. The rains started in the fall with above-average volumes, making both spring and winter barley planting difficult. They forced farmers to extend their fall sowing well into the last week of November. December, by contrast, ended with a rainfall deficit; however the rain returned with a vengeance in January, which turned out to be the wettest January ever. The rainfall see-saw continued in February, when precipitation was less than half the normal rate. On the positive side, the dry February weather allowed the fields to firm up for an early, short, and almost perfect planting window which lasted from the end of February to the end of March. By that time, all sowing was completed even in usually late-season regions and at higher elevations.
After sowing, strong easterly winds and a loack of rain helped to further dry out the topsoil. The crop developed well and, by April, had reached the mid- to late-tillering and even the emergence phase. By that point, the crop urgently needed water because the roots were not yet long enough to reach down into the subsoil layers, which were still moist. For this reason, early indications already suggest that the more advanced winter crops are going to have an advantage this year.
The key varieties planted this season are Amidala, Lexy, Caruso, and Leandra. All of these are recommended by the Berlin Program. In addition, farmers are cultivating KWS Donau and KWS Somerset, as well as several varieties under contract.