Malting milestone and on-farm performance lay strong foundations for new spring barley

Promotion to full approval for both malt distilling and brewing uses and some strong on-farm performance in 2017, have both laid a solid foundations for new spring malting barley variety, Laureate, for 2018.

According to Syngenta's Southern Scotland area manager, Iain Lindsay, farmers are understandably cautious about making big changes in spring malting barley until a new variety has end market acceptance.

So, for those who grew Laureate in 2017, and others who have been watching it with interest, its promotion to full approval for malt distilling and brewing uses on the Institute of Brewing and Distilling (IBD) approved list, ahead of 2018, marks an important milestone for the variety, he pointed out.

“Those who grew Laureate in 2017 also often experienced an upturn in yield. Indeed, we’ve heard of as much as an extra 0.75 t/ha compared with a current variety that’s commonly grown for distilling," he said.

“Equally important, it has also been meeting malting specification. So it’s got the potential to give a greater return per hectare. If you can get more return from the same area of land, that’s great news.”

While some growers had a contract for harvest 2017, Mr Lindsay says others tried it without a contract, such was the interest in the variety, giving them an early insight into how it performs.

“The feedback we’ve had is that growers are keen to increase their area of Laureate now that they’ve got confidence in it. By trying it early, not only have they learned what they can achieve from the variety, but also how to manage it, compared with simply seeing it in trials.

“Agronomically, Laureate has performed well alongside its ratings on the AHDB Recommended List,” added Mr Lindsay. “It has excellent resistance against ramularia and rhynchosporium, and is very good against net blotch.

“But another thing we’ve heard is that growers haven’t needed to increase their nitrogen fertiliser input over that used with their current distilling variety. It’s delivered a higher yield, but they’ve still achieved malting specification. It has also produced an even grain size and a good specific weight, and it’s been a nice, even variety for buyers, with low screenings.

“Compared with last winter, there will be a lot more Laureate grain around from the 2017 harvest for end users, which will give them an even clearer picture of how it performs.”

Andrew Gilchrist, managing director of Scottish Agronomy, also welcomed 'another' spring malting barley in the distilling market, following the disappearance of Optic several years ago. He has also been impressed by Laureate’s results.

“We’ve had it in trials for the last four or five years. It’s performed extremely well versus the main competition," he commented. “It also took a huge amount of the distilling spring malting barley area for a new variety in its first commercial year – possibly 15%.

"Its good points are its yield and it seems to be ticking the quality boxes. We weren’t shy of promoting its positive traits.”

In addition, Mr Gilchrist says Laureate is a reasonably clean variety and is easy to grow, though may need managing with a plant growth regulator. Other aspects of its agronomy are also manageable in the majority of circumstances, he noted.