Maltsters may have to wink at some of the plain girls this year if they want a full dancing card.
Malt barley market watchers say the bad weather and disease that wrecked barley crops across the Prairies will probably force maltsters to accept barley that they usually wouldn’t
glance at.
It’s an opportunity for farmers who assumed their mediocre crops weren’t good enough to be selected.
“A six-row barley that, in a normal year would not have a chance at being selected, this year has a chance,” said John Duvenaud of the Wild Oats markets newsletter.
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“That’s because the selection process is partially dependent upon what’s available.”
Crop watchers describe this year’s barley crop as “dismal,” “a disaster,” and “a mess.”
Fusarium in Manitoba and parts of eastern Saskatchewan left large parts of the barley crop with too much vomitoxin to be sold as malt barley.
Protein levels were already becoming too high on the eastern Prairies. Then, weeks of warm, wet weather caused huge amounts of sprouting and staining.
Southern Alberta crops are also in terrible shape because of the unrelenting drought. Central Alberta crops are suffering some of the same sprouting and staining as eastern prairie crops.
Jack Foster, the selector for Prairie Malt in Biggar, Sask., said maltsters won’t drop their standards below customer specifications.
But they will have to be much less picky when they are shown samples.
“Everyone likes to sit back and select just the perfect barley – pearly white, 95 plum-10-p, 11 protein,” said Foster.-20-
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“This year that won’t be so easy.”
Fortunately for his company, early crops in west-central Saskatchewan were excellent.
Two-row Harrington came in “nice, bright and white.” There’s still a large crop lying in the fields in northwestern Saskatchewan, but its quality won’t be known until it’s off the field.
“For the maltsters to fill out their selection books, they’ll have to soften their stand on quality,” said Foster.
