USA: Malting barley landscape changing across the US

The malting barley landscape is changing across the U.S., according to Rich Horsley, North Dakota State University barley breeder, Farm and Ranch Guide reported on September 9.

If visitors crossed North Dakota a few years ago, they would see mostly six-rowed malting barley growing lush in the eastern half of North Dakota, while the two-row varieties were grown mostly in the far western regions. Even in western regions, producers grew six-rowed barley.

“Why have we predominately grown six-row barley in North Dakota? Because it has three times the number of kernels as two-row barley, higher yield potential, better leaf resistance and much stronger straw,” Horsley told producers at Dickinson (held at a Belfield farm that grows malting barley) and Williston field days.

Another major reason for growing six-row barley is it was the variety contracted by the larger beer companies.

“The other reason for growing six-row is it made the kind of beer you were drinking. Most of your favorite beers were made from six-row barley,” Horsley said.

And producers are aware that growing malting barley without a contract doesn’t work.

Almost 90 percent of the barley grown in the state is contracted – there is very little open market.

“It is pretty risky if you do have barley without a contract so you need to be talking to your buyer.”

Beer from the large beer companies is not 100 percent barley malt, however. There are other grains added, including corn and rice in a 15-50 percent ratio.

“If you look at the brewing process, it is all about converting starch to sugar, adding yeast and then, that yeast ferments the sugar into alcohol,” Horsley said.

To convert starch to sugar, enzymes are needed, and six-rowed barley has much higher enzyme levels than two-rowed barley.

The more corn or rice used in the beer, typically, the more six-rowed malt with the high enzymes are needed to brew it into beer.

But things on the barley landscape are changing.

“The brewing processes have changed, and now they don’t have to rely on barley malt for all of the enzymes,” he said.

In addition, through barley breeding efforts, the two-rowed barleys have caught up in enzymes to the six-row barley.

“Brewers don’t have to use six-rowed barley anymore,” Horsley said.

While brewers and maltsters are not looking for enzymes anymore, they are looking for yield. Barley growers are looking for yield in terms of bushels per acre, but the brewers and maltsters are looking for yield in terms of extract.

“Their yield is extract: how much beer can you make from that bushel of malt. So they are looking at extract per acre,” Horsley said.

The advantage in extract goes to two-row barley – it is plumper and is about 2 percent higher in extract than the six-row barley varieties.

The other factor is the craft malt industry, because craft brewers use 100 percent malt. Crafters use 1.5-2 times more malt than the traditional large brewing companies, and the craft malt industry is growing rapidly.

Before it was a small part of the brewing industry, but now, one out of every eight beers consumed in the U.S. is a craft beer - about 13 percent.

“Crafters think they will be at 20 percent of market share by 2020. By 2030, they are expecting 50 percent of the malt grown going in craft beer,” he said. “That can only be good for you if you are growing barley because they need more of it.”

Currently, the craft brewers are adding malt capacity to plants because they know there will be a shortage of malt in the future.

While 13 percent of the beer consumed is a craft beer, 25 percent of all the malt in the U.S. is going into that 13 percent.

ND Genesis is a two-rowed malting barley added to the AMBA list in January 2016.

“I have been hearing producers say they want to grow ND Genesis but they don’t know if they can get a contract for it,” Horsley said.

He explained it is a lot like the chicken and the egg situation.

“Their decision on making their recommendations to AMBA are based on only 30 bushels of production,” he said. “They really haven’t tested these varieties to any extent. All they know is this variety will make beer and it doesn’t give us off flavors. They are going to use it but they don’t know how much of it they will use in their brewing blends.”

Making beer is a recipe of varieties. Brewers know exactly what varieties are going into that beer and what percentages of varieties like Pinnacle, Lacey, or Hockett are being combined to make that beer.

“When you get a new variety, they will start going with 5 percent inclusion to see if there are any off flavors and then they will slowly ramp it up. That process takes two to three years,” Horsley said.

That wait does not help barley seed growers.

“If you are a seed grower, you get excited and put a lot of this variety in the ground, but then the industry is not buying a lot of it,” he said. “So after a couple of years, you dump it in the ground. You need the bin space.”

Three years passes, and suddenly the brewers want 300,000 bushels of this new variety, and no one has it.

“That’s the chicken and the egg. A new variety is approved and everybody runs hot but they don’t buy it for two to three years,” Horsley said.

Tradition is still the most popular six-row variety in North Dakota, but Genesis has a 3-5 percent yield advantage over it. However, the straw strength of Genesis is not as strong as Tradition.

But Genesis is a two-row and it has plumper kernels and lower protein, 1.5 -2 points lower than Tradition, which is desired by the craft brewers.

“That percentage can be a big advantage for barley growers, especially on dryland,” he said.

Another positive factor for Genesis is its lower DON (vomitoxin) accumulation.

“The two rows are going to have an advantage for brewers because there is less risk. What do you get your barley rejected for? High protein, thin kernels and high DON,” he said.

The craft industry considers anything over 11.5 percent protein as too high.

“In North Dakota, achieving lower protein can be hard to accomplish with varieties like Tradition, Innovation or Lacey,” Horsley said. “But with Genesis, lower protein is bred into it.”

Larger commercial brewers want 13 percent protein, and Genesis can fit those specifications, as well.

Another new malting barley variety is AAC Synergy from the Ag Canada program.

“Some of Synergy is being contracted here in the state this year,” Horsley said.

NDSU has had limited testing on Synergy. It is being marketed by Syngenta in the U.S.

“Last year, we were really happy with Synergy, and agronomically, it looks to be a good variety. It had stronger straw than Genesis and the yield potential was similar to Genesis but Synergy does not have the low protein trait,” he said.

CDC Meredith is an old Canadian variety, but there is not much of it being contracted.

Explorer from France is another spring barley variety, but it still needs more testing.

“Explorer looked good in our trials on the eastern side of the state this year, but how it handles heat will be the big question,” Horsley said. Next year, NDSU will also be checking its yield potential and what kind of malt Explorer produces.

“For the future, we are looking at a push for two-rows and the faster we can get one that adapts to North Dakota, the more I think the industry will go to two-row varieties,” he added.

The big commercial brewers have indicated they want to see less six-rowed barley coming from barley breeders.

“Right now, our breeding program is about 65 -75 percent two-rows and a smaller percentage of six-row,” Horsley said.

When barley breeders go to mostly two-rows, that means the barley landscape across the U.S. is truly changing.

08 September, 2016