Barley varieties win malt accreditation

AUSTRALIAN farmers will have access to three more malt barley varieties this season with Barley Australia announcing accreditation for the Maximus, Alestar and Leabrook lines.

Maximus CL, Alestar and Leabrook were submitted for Barley Australia malt accreditation by InterGrain, Elders and Seednet respectively.

The two-part accreditation process is conducted in association with the Malting and Brewing Industry Barley Technical Committee (MBIBTC) assessment under the Barley Australia malting barley evaluation process.

The three cultivars will add significant variety to the choices available to Australian barley producers.

Maximus CL is the next in the line of imidazolinone (imi) tolerant barley varieties from InterGrain.

The herbicide resistance will allow farmers to either utilise the imi herbicides in-crop or to plant with confidence into paddocks where there may be imi residues.

Quality wise, Barley Australia said Maximus is a high fermentability variety, well suited to the export market.

It is a versatile variety likely to be suitable for growing in much the same areas as its predecessor Spartacus CL.

Alestar, to be distributed by Elders, is a medium fermentability variety likely best suited, although not restricted to, the domestic market.

This variety is intended to be grown in medium and also medium to higher rainfall zones where Commander and Westminster respectively are currently grown.

Leabrook, a Seednet cultivar, is a medium, to medium-high fermentability variety that will likely suit the domestic market and some export markets.

This variety is intended to be grown in areas largely currently suited to Compass.

Meanwhile, other varieties are progressing through the accreditation process.

Bottler, bred by GrainSearch, and Kiwi, Malteurop, have both successfully passed stage one evaluations and progress to stage two.

Buff, a variety from InterGrain, and Laperouse, Seednet, will under stage two evaluation this year after there was insufficient grain for evaluation in 2020.

New varieties are also undergoing stage one evaluation.

Beast (AGTB0113) and IGB1825 both have sufficient grain available to commence Stage One evaluation during 2021.

Barley Australia has also accepted applications for four new varieties for malting barley evaluation. Commodus CL

(IGB1908T) from InterGrain; and AGTB0200, AGTB0201 and AGTB0213 from Australian Grain Technologies (AGT), have been accepted into the initial stage of the evaluation program.

These varieties cover a range of adaptations and quality attributes, and Commodus is an addition to the suite of imidazolinone barley varieties available to growers.

Sufficient grain parcels of Commodus CL, AGTB0200, AGTB0201 and AGTB0213 are available for commencement of Stage One evaluation in 2021 and will be confirmed when final programming for the year is completed in the coming week.

Meanwhile the Traveler variety has been withdrawn from the evaluation program.

Farm Weekly

Tags: Australia, barley, Malting and Brewing Industry Barley Technical Committee, MBIBTC, malt barley