Canada: New research to help in getting more malting barley

New research is aiming to boost the success of western Canadian barley growers at getting their crop selected for malting and brewing, SeedQuest posted on January 12. Farmers are helping by supporting barley breeding components of this effort through the Barley Check-off Fund, administered by Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF).

Getting more malting barley selected is one of the surest ways to deliver more dollars into the pocketbooks of western Canadian grain growers. But this long-standing, value-added opportunity has been tough to bank on, with only 15 to 20 percent of malting barley production typically selected for malting.

A key hurdle is the high levels of grain protein in Canadian barley, says Dr. Michael Edney of the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) Grain Research Laboratory. International markets traditionally aim for less than 11.5 percent protein in malting barley, but barley exported from Canada has averaged greater than 12 percent over the past 10 years.

"High levels of grain protein are the greatest restriction to increasing the selected malting barley pool in Western Canada," says Edney. "But a certain level of barley protein is required to make a quality malt. The key is learning more about barley protein and identifying specific components that could be reduced without damaging the quality of the end product. That is an important focus of the new research."

Edney discusses approaches to fine-tuning protein, along with other options for increasing the pool of selected malting barley, in the January edition of Western Grains Research Magazine, now on the WGRF Web site, www.westerngrains.com. Western Canadian wheat and barley growers are major investors in breeding research through the Wheat and Barley Check-off Funds, administered by WGRF. The Research Magazine offers "Ideas and issues for farmer research investors."

Getting a higher rate of malt selection has always been a priority for Western Canada, says Edney. But the amount of barley that doesn't achieve selected status has spiked in recent years, in large part due to dry summers that tend to bring up barley protein.

"The number one quality obstacle has been high protein levels. This is undesirable because it reduces the amount of potential fermentable extract, which essentially means you are more restricted in the amount of beer that can be made from a barley's malt.

But efforts to reduce protein potential in malting barley varieties require great care, he cautions. "Canadian malting barley has a reputation for high fermentability, which is indirectly a result of higher protein barley. Soluble protein in malt also contributes to foam retention in the final beer product, which is critical. Also, soluble protein provides amino acids and small peptides that are essential for yeast nutrition during fermentation."

The Barley Check-off is helping to support the efforts of western Canadian barley breeders to fine-tune malting barley protein levels to a level that is slightly lower but not low enough to compromise other key attributes.

"Barley breeding progress is critical to our long-term success at increasing the pool of selected malting barley in Western Canada," says Edney.

Other key concerns that are the focus of new research include pre-harvest sprouting, quality consistency and optimizing production strategies for desired protein and uniformity.

Pre-harvest sprouting, caused by high moisture during harvest, has been particularly bad the past several years, notes Edney. "At the CGC, we used to say Western Canada can expect a major sprouting event in one out of every ten years. Now, in the last five years we've already had four major sprouting events. That is really starting to weigh on people If what we had considered odd weather during harvest is now becoming the norm, sprouting will become even more of a concern than protein."

WGRF-backed research has helped improve the understanding of genes associated with water uptake and other characteristics that relate to pre-harvest sprouting tendency.

Western Grains Research Foundation is funded and directed by Western crop producers, and allocates approximately $4 to $5 million annually to research through the Wheat and Barley Check-off Funds and a separate $9 million Endowment Fund.

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