Companies in the malting sector have been warned that barley prices are set to rise further throughout the summer.
According the Home Grown Cereals Authority, the UK is set to experience its worst barley harvest in more than 40 years, Agrimoney reports.
Combine this with wet weather in Canada holding up sowings there and drought in Europe decimating crops across the continent, and analysts are predicting dwindling barley supplies for this year.
HGCA analyst Jack Watts told the publication: "The crop went into the ground really well. But the drought has meant the crop has not developed properly.
"It is likely that the UK barley crop could be below five million tonnes and potentially the lowest crop since the 1960s."
This is also bad news for the brewing industry, which is still struggling to come to terms with the increase in beer duty introduced by the government in the recent Budget.
Typical Guttridge equipment used in the brewing industry includes:
Conveyors – screw conveyors – chain conveyors – belt conveyors
