BAD BARLEY CROPS

BEER DRINKERS, get ready to open your wallets, beer prices are set to skyrocket and it’s all because of a bad barley harvest. Canada – which is the world’s second-largest exporter of malting barley – has harvested its smallest crop since 1968. Cold, wet weather this year has led to mass amounts of damage to the Canadian barley crop. Not only is the Canadian crop short this year, the American crop is small too: Farmers are expected to grow around 192.7 million bushels of barley, which is the smallest amount in three years. The European Union, Australia, and Argentina are also expecting smaller harvests this year due to inclement weather. The barley shortage will hit craft breweries the hardest, because they are much smaller and typically keep less malt on hand. Craft brewers also tend to use more malt in the brewing process than larger beer companies. Anheuser-Busch adds corn or rice to their beers for a different flavor but also because those grains are abundant (and also inexpensive). Since base costs will go up for craft brewers, so will the beer prices.