With a little fine-tuning, prairie barley growers can boost their chances of having their crop selected for malting, says the Canadian Wheat Board.
The board, in conjunction with others involved in the malting industry, have set a target of increasing the malting barley pool to around three million tonnes a year, up from the usual two to 2.5 million tonnes.
“If we’re going to maintain our market share in growing markets like China, we need to increase the amount of supply we have available to us,” said CWB agronomist Mike Grenier.
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Assuming acreage stays the same, achieving a three million tonne pool would mean increasing the average selection rate to 33 percent from 25 percent.
That may sound like an ambitious goal, but Grenier said it’s achievable.
“To get that malt quality, it’s not really big things that guys need to do differently,” he said in an interview following a wheat board producer meeting in Saskatoon.
“What is needed is some fine-tuning that can be done in their management practices.”
A lot of factors – not the least of which is the weather – go into determining whether barley will be selected, perhaps the crucial management issue involves tracking and controlling the amount of nitrogen available to the crop.
Maltsters like protein to be 11 to 12.5 percent, which is reflected in premiums for lower protein instituted by the CWB this crop year.
“Producers don’t need to short the nitrogen supply and take a yield penalty to get protein in the right range,” Grenier said.
“They just need to make sure that they have an optimum supply to get the right balance between yield and protein, to maximize their returns.”
A big part of that involves being aware of rotation-related issues, particularly for the coming year with so much legume stubble.
Growers looking at seeding malting barley into legume stubble must be careful to take into account how it will influence soil nitrogen supply.
Grenier said the top growers, who have malting barley selected year in and year out, are aware of that influence and adjust their management practices accordingly.
“But for those who aren’t so focused on malt production, who just seed barley and wait to see what happens, I encourage them to focus on these factors.”
Total nitrogen should equal 1.2 pounds per bushel of target yield. In addition, producers should soil test for phosphorus, potassium and sulfur and apply as needed.
A number of other management practices can also affect selection rates, including seeding date, seeding rate and variety selection.
Farmers should check the recommended variety list published annually by the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre.
The earlier the crop is put in the ground, the greater the chance of achieving malting quality. Early planting leads to higher yields, which result in lower protein levels. Also, the earlier a crop is planted, the earlier it will be harvested, thus reducing the risk of staining, weathering and pre-harvest germination.
Higher seeding rates also produce higher yields, which again means lower protein. Newer varieties tend to require seeding rates five to 10 percent higher. The ideal seeding rate is to get 20 to 25 plants per sq. foot.
Good harvest management is also important, with colour a crucial issue. Straight cutting is recommended for two-row barley.
After doing all that, the last thing a farmer would want is for malting barley to go out of condition while in storage.
Farmers should monitor their inventory carefully for germination and insect infestation, issues that are of particular concern this year because of the wet harvest and mild winter temperatures.
“You really need to pay attention to the quality that’s in the bin and make sure it doesn’t go out of condition,” Grenier said.
Even for farmers not necessarily targeting malting production, following good management practices will also produce good quality feed barley that could fetch a premium, he added.
