Farmers looking for star performers in this year’s varieties of barley and oats put forward for registration aren’t likely to find them.
But they will find varieties that have taken steady steps toward better yields and disease resistance, said Jim Dyck, secretary of the barley and oats subcommittee of the Prairie Registration Recommending Committee for Grain.
“I don’t think any standout compared to other years. There isn’t any large leap forward by any one,” said Dyck.
“Every year you make small gains instead of huge gains.”
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A high yielding two-row feed barley, rejected last year because of poor disease resistance, was accepted this year. TR 710 was developed by Western Plant Breeders in Bozeman, Mont. Plant breeder Dale Clark said the barley has poor disease resistance to net blotch and scald, but it out-yielded other barley varieties in the 22 co-op trials.
In 2000 it was the highest yielder, in 2001 it was second highest overall and highest again in 2002. It yielded about nine percent higher than the check Dolly and 15 percent more than Harrington.
“The ability to yield in the presence of disease has been proven,” said Clark.
Now that TR170 has been recommended for registration, seed multiplication is expected to begin with breeder seed this year, foundation next year and registered seed for farmers in three years, but the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has yet to officially approve the recommendations.
“This has raised the level people have to go to be compared to from previous checks,” said Clark.
The proposed registration of two hulless barleys may be good news for farmers in the future, but for now the market for human food barley is almost nonexistent, said barley breeder Brian Rossnagel of the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre.
“The bulk of western Canada farmers can ignore them,” said Rossnagel, who is hoping for a “heart smart” stamp of approval for the lines. The label symbol given by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration signifies a food with beneficial effects on the heart.
HB 373 and HB364, with high levels of beta-glucan for food use, are now used only for research. A heart smart stamp could push the varieties into the spotlight and increase demand.
Rossnagel said if a market for the food barley is developed, 200,000 acres could be grown in Western Canada.
A new two-row livestock feed barley developed in Alberta has shown excellent resistance to most barley diseases of the western Prairies, said breeder Jim Helm of Alberta Agriculture’s Field Crop Development Centre in Lacombe.
While TR01656 lacks a single best resistance rating to a particular barley disease, it has good resistance overall.
“It gives you a broad resistance right across the board,” said Helm.
