Upping the Odds of Growing Malting Barley

By David Boehm

Attractive contracts have many producers in the Northern Plains hoping to produce malt quality barley in 2003. However, there can be a big difference between the price of malt and feed barley.

There’s no question that environmental factors like late-season drought stress or disease can result in unavoidable yield and quality losses.  Still, there are some things that producers can do to increase their likelihood of growing malting quality barley.

According to Ray Albrecht, agronomist from Cargill Malt, Spiritwood, N.D., one of the keys to raising good malting barley is to plant a recommended malting barley variety that is adapted to your growing area, and to plant high quality seed, preferably certified. 

Albrecht says that a lot of growers struggle to obtain optimal protein levels in their barley. “Knowing the soil fertility of your field is critical to raising good malting barley.”  Soil testing will help, since soil nutrients, particularly available nitrogen (N), is directly related to protein content in malt barley. He says that the malt industry generally prefers protein levels of less than 13 to 13.5% .

The goal for a grower should be to produce consistent, uniform quality barley throughout a field while optimizing yield. To do that, barley growers should consider precise soil sampling methods to identify variable fertility zones within a field, and then apply fertilizer accordingly. That will likely mean up-front costs, but may point to better profits in the end for growers committed to raising malting barley.

Jay Goos, NDSU extension soil scientist, suggests that in northern and northeastern N.D., growers should have 1.5 lbs. N per expected bushel of production minus nitrate levels in the top 24” of the soil.  An example would be that for 80 bushels of expected production and 20 lbs N in the soil, a producer would apply 100 lbs of N. “As you move out west, you start to rethink this 1.5 lbs N/bu rule of thumb,” says Goos.

Grant Jackson, associate professor of agronomy at Montana State University, Conrad, suggests 1.4 lbs N/bu for areas with higher rainfall and 1.2 lbs N/bu for lower rainfall areas. Malting barley growers should note that dry conditions last year may result in carryover N that wasn’t fully utilized in the soil.

Jackson says that kernel plumpness is another key quality factor, especially important in dryland areas.  Malt buyers have specifications on kernel plumpness where higher is better.  Jackson notes that increased N generally decreases plumpness.

Aside from N, Goos said that barley responds to phosphorus and chloride. “The nature of phosphorus response in barley is for tillering,” Goos says, so he suggests using a starter fertilizer.  Chloride can influence plump kernels, he says, resulting in a response even at a relatively low rate of about 20-25 lbs Cl/A.  Soils with a high water table, like in the Red River Valley, may have enough natural chloride.

Planting early also helps up the odds of malting.  NDSU agronomist Bryan Hanson, Langdon, N.D., says that early-planted barley planted typically has lower protein, higher kernel plumpness, and higher grain yields. He recommends staggered planting dates to help prevent diseases such as scab. Seeding rates between 1.25 and 1.5 million plants per acre are optimum.  Higher planting rates decrease tillering, which affects flowering time and can help with scab prevention. However, higher seeding rates can also increase lodging. Thus, Hanson recommends growing varieties with good straw strength under higher plant populations.

Producers should monitor their fields throughout the year and watch for disease and quality problems.  At harvest, guard against skinned and broken kernels. “Malting barley specifications place a limit on the level of skinned and broken kernels, which normally result from poor threshing conditions or rough grain handling,” says Joel Ransom, NDSU extension cereal grains specialist. “Close attention to combine settings and grain handling equipment is a must if these problems are to be avoided.”

Cargill’s Albrecht says that along with getting the crop off the field in good shape, it should be dried down correctly if necessary. If the crop is harvested wet, it should be dried at temperatures between 100-110 degrees F or less. He says natural air drying is preferable to artificial drying using higher temperatures, which will damage germination and render barley unusable for malting.

Once the barley is in storage, Albrecht recommends that producers continue monitoring the grain at least every two to three weeks throughout the fall and winter months to make sure the barley doesn’t go out of condition.

Growers should check with malt barley buyers for contract and specification standards. Accepted varieties and specs generally differ with each buyer.  Albrecht says Cargill Malt is buying barley with 43 lb. test weight or better, 13% protein content or less, and at least 70% plump kernels. DON levels for Cargill Malt are listed at 1-2 ppm for current contracts with premiums for barley less than 0.5 ppm DON on some varieties.  He says barley must have 96% germination, be free of other commingled grains, and have no live insects. The company is currently contracting the six-row varieties Robust, Lacey, Drummond, and Legacy, and the two-row variety Conlon.

Mike Stevens, Busch Agricultural Resource, Inc., says Busch is contracting the varieties Robust, Excel, and Legacy, accepting protein up to 13.5% but DON levels at 0.5 ppm or less. With the high interest in barley contracts this year, Stevens says that Busch has filled its contract needs but will still buy open market production of their accepted varieties.

What Happens If Barley Doesn’t Make Malting?

Malt Barley Insurance Options Help Protect Against Quality Losses

By Jerry W. Kram

Contract prices for malting barley are well over three dollars a bushel, making the crop an attractive option this year for farmers who had given up on the crop. However, growing barley and getting malting quality grain are two different things. Farmers in the Northern Plains have had to contend with disease, drought and floods—sometimes all in the same year.

Tired of steep discounts on top of low prices, farmers have moved away from barley to more profitable alternatives including oilseeds, corn and soybeans, especially in eastern North Dakota. “Some farmers around here have a sour taste in their mouth about malt barley,” says Dan Weber, a crop insurance agent in Casselton, N.D. One reason, Weber explains, is that there can be a disparity or gray area in the grain trade’s acceptable quality standards and what an insurance policy will cover.

There is more interest in barley further west, where drier weather has allowed farmers an easier time producing high quality grain. Widespread drought in the western and central states have boosted the price for feed barley as well.

Fewer acres of barley in the United States along with a severe drought in Canada have combined to create a barley shortage. Malting quality barley especially has been in short supply, forcing the price close to $4 a bushel at some North Dakota elevators in the fall of 2002. Malting companies have been aggressively pushing malting barley contracts this winter to avoid another short crop in 2003-2004.

However, a better price doesn’t make malting barley any easier to grow. Wet weather in July could cause another outbreak of scab, resulting in DON (vomitoxin) that can easily relegate malting barley for feed.  Bad weather at harvest could leave barley stained or even worse, sprouted.

Over the last decade, most farmers have become way too familiar with nearly every pest and disease problem to which barley is vulnerable. Farmers can buffer themselves from some of the risk in growing barley for malting through crop insurance.

Additional coverage for malting – called the malting barley price and quality endorsement – is available as a modification to standard feed barley insurance. The endorsement is available for multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI)

A second type of MPCI policy, income protection, covers an entire farm as a unit instead of individual fields. “It insures a premium for malt barley over feed barley,” says Gene Sonsalla, a small grains specialist with USDA’s Risk Management Agency in Billings, Mont. “You have to have a feed barley policy in effect before you can get the option on the malt barley.”

There are some qualifications to the additional coverage. Farmers may sign up for two options under the malting endorsement. Under option A of the endorsement, farmers must show an actual production history of malting barley for the last four years. That is a non-option for many producers who have not grown barley for awhile, or who grow the crop sporadically. Malting premiums under option A for the 2003 crop year were set in late January. On MPCI policies the premium is $0.75 a bushel.

Option B doesn’t require any production history, just a signed malting barley contract with a brewer or maltster, Sonsolla says. “Farmers usually get a better price under option A. (RMA) sets that premium price for the year, whereas the price under option B is the difference between their contracted price and the feed barley price for the year,” Sonsolla says.

Idaho has a pilot program this year for Revenue Assurance coverage in malting barley that may expand to other malting barley growing areas in the future.  RA is available for feed barley in the Northern Plains, but not malting. RA protects a producer’s crop revenue whenever low prices or low yields, or a combination of both, causes the crop revenue to fall below the guaranteed revenue level.

Farmers should check with their local agents for more information about their crop insurance options, Sonsalla says. The deadline to sign up for crop insurance on barley and malt barley is March 15.

AMBA Recommended Malt Varieties for 2003

Conlon, Drummond, Excel, Foster, Lacey, Legacy, Morex, and Robust have been approved by the American Malting Barley Association as malting barley varieties for 2003 in N.D., S.D., and Minnesota, although individual buyers set their own preferences for varieties they accept.

Drummond and Lacey are rated satisfactory by Miller Brewing Co., with testing not completed by Anheuser-Busch Inc.

Legacy was developed by Busch Agricultural Resources Inc., and Miller will consider using it only as a minor inclusion in their malt blends.

In Montana, B1202, Garnet, Harrington, Merit, Stander, Conlon, Excel, Foster, Legacy, Morex, and Robust are recommended.