Agricore United is pursuing a waxy hulless barley market in Japan.
John Dean, the company’s manager of market and technical development, said a deal has not yet been inked, but he planned to discuss one on an upcoming trip to that country.
Waxy hulless barley research has been under way at the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre for several years.
“The main characteristic of waxy hulless barley is the nature of its starch, which means it processes somewhat different from regular barley,” Dean said.
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It also contains beta glucan, a soluble fibre that helps reduce cholesterol. Dean said he didn’t know how the company would use the crop.
“The interest that we know exists ranges from completely new types of products to familiar ones such as cereals, where it could be used to enhance the particular nutritional value by enhancing the soluble fibre component,” he said.
A Saskatoon company markets cat litter made from waxy hulless barley because of its absorption capability.
AU has exclusive rights to two varieties: CDC Alamo and CDC Fibar.
Dean said contracts are going out for this growing season, but not for a lot of acreage. He couldn’t say how much will be grown.
“I don’t think it’s ever going to become a huge product with hundreds of thousands of acres but we think it’ll be a significant product and we hope with good enough value to really reward farmers.”
At the AU annual meeting in Regina, Alberta farmer Albert Wagner said he would have been better off growing regular barley last year. Yields weren’t realized and the price wasn’t either, he told the meeting.
“That’s one of the issues I’ll be raising in Japan,” Dean said. “If they’re not willing to pay the price we won’t have a program.”
He added that the Canadian Wheat Board sets pricing and AU is working with the board on that aspect.
