Australia: Commander earns malting barley status, shows top performance across South Australia

University of Adelaide-bred variety Commander, which was accredited malting barley status last week, was one of the top performing varieties across South Australia last season, The Stock Journal reported on March, 8.

“The elevation of Commander to malting status offered the marketplace increased choice,” Barley Australia chairman David Thomas said.

"This variety is ready to go to the market place complete with quality data that has been endorsed by the Australian malting and brewing industry following the comprehensive evaluation it has been through," he said. "Because of this, it enables purchasers to have confidence in the processing performance of the parcel they buy, as well signal to growers that this variety is able to be processed into quality malt."

The commercial owner of Commander is ABB Seeds.

Barley breeder Jason Eglinton, who was one of the presenters at the recent Grains Research & Development Corporation adviser updates, said the variety was inherently suited for production in the northern and south eastern regions of Australia and showed outstanding grain size for these areas.

Dr Eglinton said Commander provided the highest gross returns in the 2008 National Variety Trials, despite dropping well below its long-term yield advantage over established varieties. But, superior screenings and plumpness retained its profitability.

In NVTs, the gross return/ha from Commander on the Lower EP was found to be AU$1007 and on the YP AU$835.

Buloke provided the second-highest gross return on the Lower EP at AU$968/ha, while Flagship provided the second highest returns on the YP at AU$798/ha.

11 March, 2009