United States: American Malting Barley Association announces recommended malting barley varieties for 2011

The American Malting Barley Association, Inc. (AMBA), a nonprofit trade association of major US malting and brewing companies, has announced the recommended malting barley varieties for the 2011 growing season.

Drummond, a six-row variety, has been dropped from last year’s list. Two new six-row varieties and one two-row variety have been added to the list.

Quest, a Scab tolerant line which averages 40% lower in DON than current varieties, is the first recommended variety developed from Fusarium resistant genetic stocks. “Quest’s resistance derives from barley varieties that trace back to China and Switzerland,” said Kevin Smith, who leads the barley breeding program at the University of Minnesota.

The other six-row added to the list is Celebration and was developed by Busch Agricultural Resources. Besides, the recommended list now includes Pinnacle, a two-row malting variety released by North Dakota State University.

The recommended two-row varieties for 2011 are AC Metcalfe, CDC Copeland, Charles, Conlon, Conrad, Harrington, Hockett, Merit, Merit 57, Moravian 37, Moravian 69, Pinnacle, and Scarlett.

Six-row varieties are Celebration, Lacey, Legacy, Quest, Rasmusson, Robust, Stellar-ND, and Tradition.

Malting barley growers are encouraged to contact their local elevator, grain handler or processor to gauge market demand for varieties grown in their region prior to seeding, AMBA said.

The development of malting barley varieties in the US is the result of efforts by both public and private breeding programs. Public programs are located at both state and federal institutions.

In the early stages of developing a new variety, breeders begin testing their experimental lines for agronomic characteristics, such as yield and disease resistance. Later on, malting quality tests are conducted on lines in pilot scale programs. In the later stages of development, lines undergo commercial malting and brewing trials. If these trials are successful, malting varieties are released and added to the AMBA recommended list.

28 January, 2011