Grainswest - Spring 2024

Spring 2024 grainswest.com 33 “In our breeding program, we want to do things differently. We’re hoping to work from field all the way to brewing. We have a competitive advantage being at Olds College, for sure.” —Yadeta Kabeta THE SYSTEM From initial cross to first sip, the industry adoption process for malting barley is long and expensive. Industry experts estimate it costs approximately $1.5 million to take a single variety to the registration stage. The breeding timeline has shrunk in recent years, but it has typically been a 10- to 12-year process. With seed multiplication and malting and brewing evaluations, it can take 15 or more years to get a new variety into production. Once developed, registration of new varieties requires the support of three committees prior to registration by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). These teams fall under the Prairie Recommending Committee for Oat and Barley. The Barley Quality Evaluation Team, a subcommittee composed of maltsters, brewers and additional value chain representatives assesses the grain for chitting or pre- germination, as well as plump and friability. Quality factors such as beta-glucan, viscosity, protein, enzyme and extract levels are also assessed. The small volume of seed produced by breeders in field plots does limit the effectiveness of this data gathering. For example, one kilogram quantities are used to create malt samples. “Micro-malting gives us an indication of malt quality, however, larger quantities of seed are required for plant-scale testing and that takes time,” said Gina Feist, executive director of the Brewing and Malting Barley Research Institute (BMBRI). Prior to registration, new lines are also field tested at multiple geographic locations by the Disease Evaluation Team and the Agronomy Evaluation Team. Trial results include yield and agronomic data on maturity, lodging resistance and disease tolerance. Once registered, a new line is made available for licensing and commercialization by seed companies that invest heavily to accelerate seed production. Once an adequate amount of seed is produced, the companies work with maltsters to test new lines at plant scale. Maltsters such as Canada Malting and Rahr Malting Canada need significant tonnage to begin such testing, which takes several years to complete. LOWE AND MEREDITH Lowe first appeared in the annual 2018–19 Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre (CMBTC) Recommended Malting Barley Varieties report as a new variety in development. CMBTC noted the variety exhibited suitable quality characteristics for all-malt and adjunct brewing styles. Approved for registration by the CFIA, it was in the process of seed propagation by SeCan, a not-for-profit seed distributor. Though it made the list two additional years running, its failure to do so in 2021–22 signalled trouble. CMBTC noted contracting opportunities did exist for the variety, but in 2022- 23 the report didn’t even mention Lowe. While the variety showed promise on paper, troubling characteristics appeared in the field. Farmers want a malting barley variety that has good standability, does not mature too late, has low protein and high yield. “Lowe had straw strength issues coming out of the gate, and it wasn’t a top yielder,” said Jim Downey, research and development manager at SeCan. This was a surprise given its good numbers in field trials. Kevin Sich is supply chain director for Rahr Malting. When Lowe was released, he had high hopes for the variety. “Lowe was bred for the craft brewer, and Rahr Malting is a big player in the craft brewing industry,” he said. Results from two years of field trials, though, were not favourable. “Farmers who experimentally grew a quarter-section of it said they weren’t liking it. That was a red flag. If you can’t get your growers to grow it and farmers aren’t happy with it, you’ve got a problem.” In the malthouse, results also didn’t look good. Sich made the difficult decision to pull the plug.