E-Malt.com News article: USA, ID: MillerCoors rejects some malting barley for wrong kernel size

A number of MillerCoors malting barley loads have been rejected this season for failing to meet adequate kernel size due to challenging weather conditions, Capital Press reported on August, 12.

Derek Godsey, Idaho regional supervisor for MillerCoors, said his company runs barley loads over a screen with holes of 3/32nds of an inch in diameter. A load is rejected if more than 30 percent of the barley falls through.

Thus far this harvest, he said 5-10 percent of Idaho barley has been rejected. Prompted by malt contract prices running about $2 per hundredweight above feed prices, many growers are renting their own screeners to sort rejected loads at home, returning to MillerCoors with the best grain and selling the smaller kernels for feed.

"We experience screening issues every year, but they are more widespread this year due to the climate. ... MillerCoors still has plenty of plump barley to use that is being delivered by its long-term growers," Godsey said.

Godsey said growers won't be held to their malt contracts if they don't meet screening specifications.

Idaho Barley Commissioner Pat Purdy, of Picabo, said heat has led to higher screenings than normal, but he hasn't heard of growers in the Wood River Valley facing load rejections.

Idaho Barley Commission Administrator Kelly Olson acknowledged challenging growing conditions this season led to some peculiarities. She anticipates about an average crop for both yield and quality.

"I don't think it's an alarming situation. It's a little higher rejection rate, but the company has given the farmer the opportunity to work through it," Olson said. "That's the good thing about all the malt companies in Idaho is they work very closely with growers to accept as much as they can."


14 August, 2013