AC Metcalfe has been named Seed of the Year for 2010 in Western Canada.
The two row malting barley variety was developed by Agriculture Canada barley breeder Bill Legge along with researchers at the Brandon Research Centre and Agriculture Canada’s Cereal Research Centre in Winnipeg.
Metcalfe received full registration in 1997 and was immediately recognized by brewers, maltsters and barley growers for its significant improvements in agronomic traits, disease resistance and overall quality.
It is still grown widely in Western Canada and is known among maltsters and brewers for its consistency, high enzyme levels, rapid throughput in the malt house and high levels of fermentable extract.
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It entered the malt barley market at a time when the industry was looking for new varieties that could eventually replace Harrington as the predominant malting variety.
For farmers, Metcalfe proved a popular alternative because of its improved straw strength, higher yield potential and better disease resistance package.
The Seed of the Year award was designed by the University of Guelph and SeCan to recognize publicly developed seed varieties that have made a significant economic contribution to Canadian agriculture.
As developer of the winning variety, Legge will award a $4,000 scholarship to a graduate student who is studying plant breeding or plant genetics at a western Canadian university.
