Canada & China: Malting barley test batches sent to China by container

The malting barley market is developing in the field and at overseas breweries, but it requires constant combat with wheat and other competitors for prairie farmers’ acres, The Western Producer reported on February 23.

The industry is thrilled with good new varieties getting out into farmers’ hands and is making sure to get the grain into Chinese hands as well.

“We facilitate container shipments of new varieties to end users in China so they can do production trials,” Peter Watts, director of the Canadian Malt Barley Technical Centre, said in an interview at CropConnect in Winnipeg.

CMBTC subsidizes the cost of getting the new variety to big commercial brewers in China to entice them into taking a chance on something different than they normally use.

“They don’t want to take the risk,” said Watts.

This year, CMBTC plans to ship 800 tonnes of CDC Churchill to a brewer that does 400-tonne batches. Previously, varieties such as Synergy, Connect, Bow and Fraser have been sent, with 1,000 tonnes being a typical test quantity.

“That’s real market development,” said Watts.

“That’s how we got AAC Connect accepted in China.”

Fraser is also close to being commercially accepted in China after being tried by brewers.

It is important to get commercial brewers on board with new varieties because they tend to yield better and be tougher in the face of disease and other pressures.

For the farmer, marketing malting barley can involve complex decisions. The brewing market is divided between micro-brewers and macro-brewers, with each segment wanting quite distinct types of malting barley. Micro-brewers, who almost exclusively use barley, want low-protein varieties, while macro-brewers, who mix barley with other grains, prefer higher protein levels.

Different land and climate produces different qualities and protein levels in barley, so farmers need to take that into account when selecting varieties to grow.

As well, farmers must match what they can grow well with who’s willing to buy it. The market has big buyers who are widely separated, so farmers must carefully combine variety with production potential and buyer willingness to purchase.

“If you’re growing Churchill, you’re probably not going to sell that variety to Malteurop in Winnipeg, for example,” said Watts.

Beyond needing good varieties to please growers and good malt to please brewers, the crop also has to fight against the attractions of crops like wheat and competition from foreign suppliers like Argentina, Australia and France.

“We need to stay competitive,” said Watts.

“We need these new varieties to stay competitive.”

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