Ten producers have been honoured in the Elite Barley program that recognizes the best malting barley producers in Canada.
“The goal of the Elite Barley program is to celebrate and promote the best management techniques in malt barley product,” said Michael Brophy, president of the Brewing and Malting Barley Research Institute.
The program is intended to showcase the importance of the malting barley industry and its $740 million in farmgate receipts.
Malting barley requires growers to follow precise agronomic practices and exacting storage standards.
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The following growers are this year’s Elite Barley program winners.
Verdant Hutterite Colony Drumheller, Alta.
The Verdant Hutterite Colony has grown malt barley for more than 30 years and has been one of the colony’s most profitable crops.
The colony usually grows 2,500 to 3,000 acres of malt barley each year, following a careful crop rotation plan.
Normal rotation is two years of wheat, followed by a year of canola and then malt barley for one or two years. Certified seed is bought every second year, said farm manager John Wipf Jr.
The crop is straight cut and combining begins at 16 percent moisture before the barley is put into aeration bins.
“If you grow it you have to treat it right,” said Wipf.
“We seed it first and take extra care of it. We grow it right after canola and it’s the first thing we seed and the first thing we harvest,” he said.
Sunshine Hutterite Brethren Hussar, Alta.
About one third, or 3,000 acres of the colony’s crop is planted to malt barley.
It’s the best growing, best paying crop there is, said colony farm staff.
It’s a forgiving crop – you can make a mistake and it will still grow well. It’s the easiest thing to grow and it doesn’t cost you what canola does to put in the ground.
Metcalfe is the colony’s preferred variety and they know it is well accepted by domestic maltsters and export customers. Each year the colony signs a production contract so they know what specifications must be met.
Malt barley is seeded first after a burn-off with glyphosate to control weeds, usually on canola stubble. The early seeding allows the colony to harvest early.
Combine operators also make numerous adjustments to equipment during the evening to reduce the chances of peeled and broken kernels.
The colony’s best tip is to straight combine the crop.
Bork Farms Chipman, Alta.
Malt barley has become a viable crop in the Bork Farm mix.
The family believes strongly in production contracts to ensure guaranteed movement of their crop.
The farm follows a four-year crop rotation with a target to seed canola on pea stubble.
Certified Metcalfe and Copeland are the two most common varieties seeded, usually right after peas in the spring.
In recent years it has increased its seeding rate to 2.4 bushels per acre.
Harvest in northern Alberta is always a challenge, making early seeding dates important to ensure good quality barley and avoid dews that cause staining.
The barley is straight combined at 15.5 to 15 percent moisture and put in an aeration bin to dry. The early harvest also allows early selection by the maltsters.
Good sampling of all loads is a key part of the farm’s storage management.
Roger Begrand St. Louis, Sask.
Roger Begrand has grown malt barley for more than 30 years and this past year it took up about half his farm’s crop acreage.
Begrand seeds on canola stubble and never on cereal stubble. He stores his barley in an old crib elevator in small segregations, which makes it easy to keep quality separate and to turn the stored barley.
The sandy loam soil is ideal for growing malt barley and with access to a rail line he can load up to 20 producer cars a day.
Begrand believes using certified seed is key to growing good malt barley and growers shouldn’t be afraid to switch between two row and six-row barley.
The malt barley advocate believes western Canada grows some of the best quality grain in the world.
“Part of that success comes from the great industry we have in Western Canada. The research that’s done on malt, the people involved and how they work together. It’s not just the producer. The industry is fully interconnected to get beer into the bottle.”
Copeland Farms Rosetown, Sask.
Bob Copeland has been growing malt barley all his life, as did his father before him.
The barley variety Copeland is named after the family because of their commitment to the malt barley industry. About 30 to 40 percent of their farm acreage is devoted to malt barley varieties.
“We find it an easy crop to grow,” said Copeland.
“The returns have been as good as hard red spring wheat or durum wheat over the years.”
Rotation is key to ensuring quality and no contamination in the barley. Early seeding each spring is also key.
The family tries to straight cut all the crops on the farm, but sometimes must resort to using a swather if the crop is too green. Post harvest sampling is one of the most important aspects of achieving malt barley.
Copeland believes the selection of genetics and the use of production contracts have been key to his success. He chooses malt genetics that the industry is looking for.
Copeland believes there is more to barley than beer. It’s a good crop with a lot of positive attributes.
Jeffrey Wheaton Biggar, Sask.
Jeff Wheaton began growing malt barley the same year he started farming in 1994. The crop now makes up 17 percent of his acres because of its reliability and lower cost to produce.
Barley is not prone to problems like wheat midge, fusarium and ergot and ripens in 100 days, a big bonus at harvest.
Wheaton is not scared to switch varieties as they become available. In the past couple of years he has grown PolarStar under a production contract. He believes it is important to use a seed treatment for smut diseases and has developed a comprehensive weed and fertilizer plan.
The crop is straight cut at 13.5 percent moisture and he tries to harvest early to reduce harvest quality problems. All bins are numbered and every sample pail labeled with corresponding bin numbers. He uses a thermometer to monitor the bins throughout the winter.
Land and Sky Grains Grenfell, Sask.
Ryan and Lauren Maurer are Canada’s largest supplier of identity preserved wheat for Warburton’s Bakery in the United Kingdom. Those same high standards have made them successful malt barley growers.
Accurate record keeping, a food safety protocol and adoption of new technology to preserve soil, air and water quality are all part of their consumer focused production approach.
Certified seed is used with seed treatment to reduce the potential for seedling disease pressure.
The family straight combines the crop where possible. In some cases they pre-cut ripe areas. The harvested crop is stored and sampled separately. Aeration fans are key to maintaining moisture levels and bins are equipped with temperature monitoring cables.
As part of the management system, the family follows food safety protocols to ensure seeding, handling, harvesting, storage and transportation equipment is clean and free of contaminants.
Howard Linnell Hafford, Sask.
Malt barley is Howard Linnell’s second most lucrative crop after canola and makes up about one-third of the acres on his northern Saskatchewan farm.
The land is suited for growing malt barley and consistently produces low protein grain.
Linnell’s barley has been accepted for malt in 24 of the past 25 years.
Linnell uses certified seed and careful monitors his rotations planting malt barley on the most suitable field. The barley is swathed when it is very ripe and combined within a few days. Aeration is used to manage the drying process. Sampling is key to keeping accurate records from each load and bin.
Linnell advises new growers not to fertilize too much and cut back on nitrogen. He suggests using registered seed, trying new varieties and not growing barley back to back.
He sometimes uses a summer fallow-canola-barley rotation or a summer fallow-canola-barley-canola rotation.
Ironwheel Farms Inc. Shaunavon, Sask.
Richard Davis has participated in several identity preserved, specific quality control production malt barley contracts with Viterra and other companies like Sapporo.
Because of his long-term relationships he has learned the value of participating in different company programs.
His cropping rotation includes pulses, mustard, wheat, durum, canola and malt barley. His PolarStar certified seed from Sapporo was seeded on chickpea and pea stubble.
The family straight combines the malt barley below 13.5 percent moisture and the barley is harvested with part of its awn left on to prevent peeling and cracking.
All the production is sampled during binning and all samples are submitted immediately after harvest. Aeration is used in the bins.
Hewson Farm Corp. Langbank, Sask.
Planning is key to the success of the Hewson family’s malt barley program.
Before planting, the family looks at the barley varieties that are in demand and are appropriate for their area. They also look at the production contracts offered and then make their decision about what to plant.
In 2010, malt barley made up about 1,200 acres of their 7,500 acre farm.
The barley is seeded early and they apply fungicide in most years. Harvest usually involves swathing and combining soon after. The crop is put into an aerated bin.
Accurate sampling is key to ensuring they have a representative sample for each bin.
Their advice for other producers is to seed early.
