Australia: Australia launches new malting barley accreditation system

The latest Australian malting barley varieties will have the potential to hit malthouses and breweries sooner under an improved national accreditation system launched on September 10, Barley Australia announced.

Work commenced on a thorough review of the accreditation system in 2016. Barley Australia directors were integral to this process, collaborating with all sectors in the supply chain.

The aim was to recognise the value of accreditation to the industry, while ensuring the system is flexible and robust, with the ability to deliver information to industry in a timely manner.

The new model is a joint investment by stakeholders, including breeders, maltsters and Australian farmers through the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).

New malting barley varieties will continue to be rigorously evaluated in a multi-stage process to ensure they meet the quality expectations of customers. The program has an improved funding model, and will be more equitable, sustainable and transparent.

Under the upgraded system, Pilot Malting Australia (PMA) will enhance flexibility for barley promoters in Stage 1 by removing the need for commercial quantities of grain. PMA simulates large-scale commercial malting using much smaller batch sizes (100kg versus 200 tonne). This will allow promoters to complete Stage 0 application approval and Stage 1 evaluation in the same year. PMA was established by the WA State Government and Edith Cowan University (ECU). The Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre (AEGIC) provided funding for PMA for five years to help establish its important role in the industry. AEGIC is an initiative of GRDC and the WA State Government.

Barley Australia Executive Chairperson Dr Megan Sheehy said using PMA would potentially accelerate the evaluation process and give growers access to malting barley price premiums sooner.

“As well as being more flexible, the new system will mean the Malting and Brewing Industry Barley Technical Committee (MBIBTC) will have more robust data at hand when making accreditation decisions,” Dr Sheehy said.

“Importantly, the new system also recognises the need for post-accreditation market support to ensure Australian malt barley customers understand and accept newly-accredited varieties.

Seasonal and regional malting data, generated by PMA, will be made available to the Australian industry to support marketing of new malting barley varieties.”

Dr Sheehy said the new system had excellent buy-in from Australian barley breeders and promoters, and was widely supported by the Australian barley industry.

“Ultimately, by combining the ability to execute more rapid malt accreditation with stronger market support, growers and the whole Australian industry should be better placed to benefit from the genetic advances being made by barley breeders.”

Dr Sheehy said establishing the new system involved transparent consultation and collaboration
between many stakeholders, including the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre (AEGIC), Edith Cowan University (ECU), Pilot Malting Australia (PMA), Pilot Brewing Australia (PBA), the Malting and Brewing Industry Barley Technical Committee (MBIBTC), as well as barley breeders and promoters and grain marketers.

“Barley Australia acknowledges and thanks all parties for their valuable input and support,” Dr
Sheehy said.

“In particular, we thank Australian growers, through GRDC, for their valuable ongoing contribution to this important industry program”.

“Finally, we are very grateful for Australia’s commercial maltsters and the members of the Malting and Brewing Industry Barley Technical Committee (MBIBTC) for their invaluable in-kind support.”

12 September, 2019