Barley Growers Left Behind Again as Guinness Hikes Price of the Pint

Commenting on the announcement by Diageo to hike the price of the pint by 7c, IFA Grain Chair John Murphy said malting barley growers will be asking when some of this will make its way back to growers.

“Whoever is making money along the chain to the taps, it’s not the farmer growing the crops.  This is the fifth price increase in three years. In the same period, the price of malting barley has halved. Irish malting barley prices are determined from the FOB Creil Index, and they fell by 23% alone in 2025,” he said.

John Murphy said morale amongst tillage farmers is at a very low ebb after three very financially challenging years.

“During this period, premium crops such as malting barley helped to support tillage incomes, but the collapse in malting barley prices means this support is unlikely to be there for harvest 2026,” he continued.

Diageo is investing over €250 million in a state-of-the-art carbon neutral brewery in Co. Kildare. 

“The company needs to remember that locally sourced Irish barley is central to sustainability, but tillage farmers have to be financially viable in the first instance,” said John Murphy.

IFA will be writing to Diageo to highlight our concerns about the future of malting barley production in Ireland.