Malteurop was approached by the Chronicle for comment but declined at this stage.
Federated Farmers arable chairman for Manawatū-Rangitīkei, Douglas Giles, said a few years ago farmers across Rangitīkei, Manawatū and Hawke’s Bay supplied up to 26,000 tonnes of barley to Malteurop each year.
But that number had dropped in recent years, he said.
“I think last year they were down to around 6000 or 7000 tonnes [of North Island-grown barley] roughly,” he said.
“They’ve said global beer production has been reducing so the market has been diminishing, so you take that at face value.”
According to Stats NZ, the volume of beer available for consumption in the country fell 10% in 2025 to 265 million litres – the lowest level recorded.
Rangitīkei Mayor Andy Watson.
Giles said the closure had caught a lot of people off-guard.
“Up until recently, it [Malteurop] has been a very good option for many growers.
“My dad was one of them right back at the start, and we’ve grown pretty much every year.
“We knew they were reducing demand for total tonnes, but we thought they might have carried on malting the barley at Marton.”
Watson said Malteurop’s silos represented “a significant grain storage pathway in New Zealand”, with a capacity for 25,000 to 30,000 tonnes.
“Those facilities are in fine shape,” he said.
“I would love to see someone move in that starts adding value to grain, rather than just using it to store, but, open to any suggestions.”
Giles said the plant closure showed viable options were reducing for arable farmers.
Conversion to livestock was possible, especially in the Manawatū-Whanganui region, he said.
“We are not 100% pure arable farms with no fences or reticulated water, so that helps.
“But this is definitely not ideal.
“Because the arable industry doesn’t have a big export footprint, it hasn’t got a lot of profile in Government.”
Malteurop had always been a great company to grow for, he said.
“I’ve always felt they’ve done their best to set the pricing as good as they could.”
Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily Whanganui District Council.