GrainsWest Fall 2019

Fall 2019 grainswest.com 43 GET TO KNOW THE NEW VARIETIES GrainsWest spoke with seed company representatives about the agronomic and brewing characteristics of newly developed malting barley varieties. CHRIS SPASOFF Syngenta Canada technical development lead, malt barley Variety: AAC Synergy GrainsWest: How do AAC Synergy’s agronomics and brewing characteristics benefit farmers, maltsters and brewers? Chris Spasoff: AAC Synergy offers substantial yield gains over older varieties like AC Metcalfe and CDC Copeland. It also has a good leaf disease package with maturity, standability and Fusarium head blight (FHB) tolerance in line with AC Metcalfe and CDC Copeland. For maltsters and brewers, AAC Synergy brings high plump and extract levels with consistency in the malthouse. Bringing in new high-yielding varieties like AAC Synergy is also important for the industry to keep malt barley profitable and competitive. GW: What qualities may brewers be able to capitalize upon? CS: Brewers, especially craft brewers, are thinking more about individual varieties and looking at taste profiles. Along with delivering the basic brewing requirements, AAC Synergy is a variety that seems to bring a taste profile many brewers are interested in. GW: Describe Syngenta’s approach to developing and marketing new varieties. CS: Malt barley is unique when it comes to bringing a variety to market. There are a lot of industry-specific criteria that must be met. In Canada, very few varieties make it. It starts with the right genetics, but the other key factor is people who really believe in a variety and have the desire to take it to the industry, accept some risk and stick with it. BRENT DERKATCH CANTERRA SEEDS director, pedigreed seed business unit Variety: AAC Connect GrainsWest: How do AAC Connect’s agronomics and brewing characteristics benefit farmers, maltsters and brewers? Brent Derkatch: There are a few key features of AAC Connect farmers will see great value in. Yields are greatly improved over mature varieties such as AC Metcalfe—yield improvements of between 11 per cent and 13 per cent over AC Metcalfe are quite common. Lodging tolerance and slightly shorter straw height are also improvements. Farmers, maltsters and brewers will benefit from improved Fusarium resistance. AAC Connect has moderate resistance for FHB, which improves overall quality. The malting and brewing characteristics of AAC Connect are very encouraging. [The] Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre and numerous domestic maltsters have been malting and testing the variety and providing malt to numerous brewers with good success. GW: What characteristics will farmers notice in the field? BD: We’ve received anecdotal information some farmers have seen more consistent yields with their AAC Connect in years when the weather doesn’t always co-operate. We’re seeing this type of feedback more and more in crops where new genetics appear to have improved resiliency and in-field performance when conditions are less than ideal. GW: How does it responds to the malting process? BD: The feedback we’ve received suggests malting companies have been happy so far. TODD HYRA SeCan western business manager Variety: Lowe GrainsWest: How do Lowe’s agronomics and brewing characteristics line up to benefit farmers, maltsters and brewers? Todd Hyra: Lowe, because of its low-enzyme activity, is ideally suited to craft brewers. Brewers are loving what they see. That, combined with its agronomic advantage of strong Fusarium rating and low DON accumulation, make it a nice fit. GW: Was Lowe intended for the craft beer industry? TH: Absolutely. [The reason was] the growth in the craft market and there were really no varieties coming out with the low-enzyme activity. That’s where the interest lies. We have that and another new low-enzyme product coming from the University of Saskatchewan. We think we’ve got a product flow that will help that segment long-term. GW: Which new SeCan varieties have mass-market appeal? TH: CDC Bow and CDC Fraser. Both would be on the replacement for Metcalfe side. CDC Fraser is 114 per cent of Metcalfe in yield, with stronger straw and enzyme activity that’s maybe not quite as hot as Metcalfe, but will work in that mass market. CDC Churchill is [another] low-enzyme product suited to the craft market. The yield is in the 115 per cent range of Metcalfe.