This is the third year out of the last four that the early take on malt has been shaky.
From Agrimoney:
Malting barley premiums rise as Europe shivers
Malting barley premiums have rebounded from last year's historically low levels to unusually high ones - and may rise further still - in another sign of the impact of cold weather on hopes for European Union cereals production.The premium of malting barley over feed grain in France, the EU's top malting barley producer, for the 2013 crop has risen to E50-55 a tonne, well above average levels which consultancy RMI Analytics pegs at E35-40 a tonne.The rise also represents a sharp recovery from levels below E10 a tonne seen for the 2012 harvest, for which malting premiums were depressed both by hefty EU spring barley plantings, after a cold winter forced significant reseedings of autumn-sown fields, and by the unusually strong demand for feed.The change in sentiment reflects the cold weather which slowed development of autumn-sown cereals and the progress of spring plantings, from the UK in the west to parts of the former Soviet Union in the east....MORE
I can't tell if this is worse than 2011's Danish crop, where contamination with fusarium fungus caused hyper-effervescence resulting, in the words of one interviewee, in "beer all over the floor".
Possibly related:
Nation's Unemployment Outlook Improves Dramatically After Fifth Beer 
