One of Western Canada’s leading barley researchers has cautioned farmers against growing Robust barley this year.
Several weeks ago, Canada Malting announced that it would be offering contracts for Robust and Lacey barley to meet a new market demand from Miller Brewing Co. of the United States
Bryan Harvey, a malting barley breeder at the University of Saskatchewan, said that while it’s good news to find a new customer for six-row malting barley, farmers should think twice before planting Robust.
Not only is it a poor performer in terms of yield, especially in Saskatchewan and Alberta, but it is susceptible to fusarium head blight.
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“If a producer wants to sign up for something that’s a poor performer, that’s not going to hurt anybody but him,” Harvey said. However, the issue of extreme susceptibility to fusarium is another matter.
“If we want to spread fusarium across the Prairies, this is the variety to do it,” Harvey said.
Robust is used as the check for fusarium susceptibility in nurseries at the university’s Crop Development Centre.
All six-row barleys are susceptible to fusarium, including Lacey, the other variety in demand from Miller.
However, Lacey is marginally less susceptible than Robust and performs better agronomically.
“This is definitely a good opportunity for malting barley growers, but for those who do take up one of these contracts I would definitely suggest that they take Lacey if they can,” he said.
Farmers in fusarium areas probably shouldn’t plant either of them.
Robust and Lacey were developed at the University of Minnesota and Miller has used them in its brewing process for years.
Harvey said it’s unfortunate that the brewery hasn’t looked more closely at Canadian six-row varieties such as CDC Battleford, Springside, Tisdale, Laurence and Clyde, all of which are better performers in the field and some of which could have the low enzymatic activity crucial to the Miller brewing process.
Rob McCaig, managing director of the Canadian Malting BarleyTechnical Centre, said there is no question Robust is not a great variety for prairie growers, but said farmers and the industry must make a decision based on the potential risks and potential rewards.
He also said if the contract with Miller works out well, the brewery will probably evaluate other varieties that might be more suitable to western Canadian growing conditions.
“They are going through an investigation of the newer varieties so I would think that somewhere down the line they’re going to pick one that is better agronomically and makes more sense here,” he said.
