Monitor Barley Bins to Ensure Malting Quality

The American Malting Barley Association (AMBA) is urging barley growers to closely monitor stored barley to ensure malting quality isn’t lost. According to Mike Davis, AMBA president, quality losses can occur to barley that went into storage with little or no outward appearance of having been adversely affected by late season precipitation.  These quality losses nearly always lead to reduced germination levels.  However, high germination rates are critical to producing usable barley malt.  AMBA urges growers to have barley tested for sprout or heat damage and/or periodically checking germination levels to help avert costly losses in storage.  For more on winter storage, see the NDSU Extension web site, www.ag.ndsu nodak.edu/aginfo/procrop/str/winterstorage.htm