TWO VARIETIES of malting barley, Buff and Maximus, have successfully completed the first stage of of Barley Australia’s varietal-evaluation process, with Maximus to proceed to stage two trials this year.

An Intergrain barley trial plot in Western Australia. Photo: Intergrain

However, Buff will not proceed into the second stage of trials until next year because insufficient grain is available for commercial evaluation this year.

The Board of Barley Australia considers recommendations from the Malting and Brewing Industry Barley Technical Committee (MBIBTC) for the various varieties currently under evaluation.

Barley Australia’s executive chair Megan Sheehy said while drought has impacted trial sites in eastern states, it is just one of the factors which can limit the amount of grain from a variety under evaluation.

“Certainly the drought would have had more of an influence on the eastern breeders because some trial sites would have been lost, but it’s a common problem for us every year to have insufficent grain for a range of reasons,” Ms Sheehy said.

“That can be caused by frost, head loss, or high proteins, and it’s why the selection rate for Malt 1 is around 25-40 per cent.

“We’re always dealing with environmental factors.”

Following is a summary of results from 2019 by variety:

• AGTB0043 expected to commence Stage 1 evaluation in 2020;
• AGTB0113 expected to commence Stage 1 evaluation in 2021.
• Alestar (SMBA 11-2341): Insufficient grain for full evaluation, and will continue in Stage 2 in 2020;
• Biere (9516-01) withdrawn by promoter and no longer part of the evaluation process;
• Bottler (HV 16): Insufficient grain was available to complete assessment in 2019 and will continue in Stage 1 in 2020;
• Buff: Stage 1 completed and will proceed to Stage 2 trials in 2021;
• IGB 1825: Expected to commence Stage 1 evaluation in 2021;
• Leabrook (WI4896): Insufficient grain for evaluation and will continue in Stage 2 in 2020;
• Kiwi: Insufficient grain was available to complete assessment requirements in 2019 and will continue in Stage 1  in 2020.
• Maltstar (SMBA 11-1771): Withdrawn by promoter and no longer part of the evaluation process;
• Maximus (IGB 1705T): Stage 1 completed and will now proceed to Stage 2 trials in 2020;
• Traveler: A small tonnage from the 2018/19 crop was available, and Stage 1 evaluation will continue in 2020;
• WI4952: Sufficient grainis available to commence Stage 1 in 2020.

Source: Barley Australia