Barley Market Insight
Based on the 30-day trend in the published price series.
ADM Agriculture's weekly indicative feed barley price has risen steeply — £142.50/t (9 July 2026) to £173/t (13 August) to £176/t (20 August), up roughly 23% in six weeks, consistent with the reported spring barley harvest shortfall. A year ago (31 July 2025) the equivalent figure was £150/t.
30-day trend
90-day trend
12-month trend
What's moving the market?
Facts
ADM Agriculture's indicative feed barley quote has climbed sharply from £140-145/t (9 July 2026) to £168-178/t (13 August) to £171-181/t (20 August). The same 2026 drought reducing wheat yields has also been reported to hit spring barley yields specifically (Farmers Guide; ECIU harvest-impact analysis, Aug 2026).
Forecast
Feed barley tends to move closely with feed wheat since compounders substitute between the two — a similar supply-tightening effect from the poor harvest would be expected to apply here too, for the same reasons.
Facts and forecasts are shown separately. A forecast is never a certainty.
What to watch
- Current position
- ADM Agriculture's weekly indicative feed barley price has risen steeply — £142.50/t (9 July 2026) to £173/t (13 August) to £176/t (20 August), up roughly 23% in six weeks, consistent with the reported spring barley harvest shortfall. A year ago (31 July 2025) the equivalent figure was £150/t.
- Key drivers
- UK 2026 harvest size (spring barley specifically flagged as affected) — now showing clearly in ADM Agriculture's weekly indicative price, up from £142.50/t in early July to £176/t by late August; the relative price of feed wheat; and livestock feed demand.
- What industry sources are expecting
- As with wheat, we have not seen a named analyst's specific barley price forecast tied to this year's harvest that we can confidently cite.
- CardiganBayAI outlook
- Given spring barley yields are specifically reported as reduced, we would expect the same upward-pressure logic as feed wheat to apply — but with the same caveat: this is a reasoned expectation based on a supply shock, not a confirmed price forecast.
This is CardiganBayAI's analysis, not financial or trading advice.
What's expected next?
- Confirmed
- ADM Agriculture's indicative feed barley price rose to £171-181/t on 20 August 2026, up from £140-145/t in early July — roughly a 23% increase in six weeks. The same 2026 drought reducing wheat yields has also been reported to hit spring barley yields specifically. England had its driest July on record since 1836: 6.5mm of rain against a 65mm long-term average (10%). Rain returned across southern England in the week to 19 August 2026, too late to change the 2026 crop.
Recent developments
No recent developments logged yet.
Sources & methodology
- ADM Agriculture — Weekly Market Report — data as of 2026-08-20
CardiganBayAI analyses publicly available information from named sources above. We don't display information as current beyond what those sources have actually verified.