AMBA Announces Recommended Malting Barley Varieties for 2002

Conlon, Drummond, Excel, Foster, Lacey, Legacy, Morex, and Robust comprise the list of malting barley varieties recommended by the American Malting Barley Association for planting in Minnesota and the Dakotas in 2002.

Drummond, a six-row developed at North Dakota State University, was rated satisfactory in two years of plant scale evaluation by Miller Brewing Co., which was the basis of its addition to the recommended list.  Drummond was rated satisfactory in a first year of plant scale brewing trials by Anheuser-Busch, Inc. with the 2000 crop.  A second year of evaluation is underway with the 2001 crop.  Anheuser-Busch, Inc. currently has no plans to utilize Drummond commercially since their testing is not completed.

Lacey, a six-row developed at the University of Minnesota, was rated satisfactory in two years of plant scale evaluation by Miller Brewing Co., which was the basis of its addition to the recommended list. Anheuser-Busch, Inc. has completed its second year of evaluation of Lacey with the 2000 crop and has rated it unsatisfactory and are proceeding with a third year of testing with the 2001 crop to determine suitability for their brewing process. Anheuser-Busch, Inc. currently has no plans to utilize Lacey commercially since their testing is not completed.

Legacy, a six-row developed by Busch Ag Resources Inc., was rated satisfactory in two years of plant scale evaluation by Anheuser-Busch, Inc., which was the basis of its addition to the recommended list. Miller Brewing Co. rated Legacy satisfactory in a first year of plant scale brewing trials with the 2000 crop and is testing the 2001 crop to determine suitability for their brewing process. Miller Brewing Co. currently has no plans to utilize Legacy commercially since their testing is not completed.