The University of Minnesota Agricultural Experiment
Station has released Lacey, a new six-row malting barley variety intended to replace Robust, a variety that has long been a malting and brewing industry standard since its release in 1983.
"Lacey has a good chance of becoming an approved malting variety and 
achieve the same market acceptance as
Robust," says Don Rasmusson, U of M's barley breeder. Lacey's quality profile closely matches malting and brewing industry guidelines, he says, possessing favorable levels
of kernel plumpness, grain protein, malt extract, wort protein, diastatic power, and alpha amylase.
Compared to Robust, Lacey has higher grain yield and improved lodging resistance. Over a
four-year period, grain yield was 116 percent of Robust, a considerable yield advantage of about 10 bushels. Lacey is more resistant to lodging than Robust, but not as good as Stander. Kernel
plumpness is similar to Robust, with height intermediate to Robust and Stander. It matures at about the same time as Robust.
Like Robust, Lacey is susceptible to loose smut and fusarium head blight
(scab). However, Lacey has resistance to spot blotch, a disease which can cause serious losses. Lacey is also resistant to stem rust, and has some tolerance to net blotch.
Lacey, tested as M98, was obtained from a cross made in 1993 between two elite Minnesota lines which had Minnesota varieties Manker, Morex, Robust and Excel in their pedigrees. It will be released to seed growers
this spring, and enter into a second year of plant-scale testing by the malting and brewing industry this year.
The new variety is named for the late Gerald Lacey, in recognition of his
significant contributions to Minnesota's barley industry, including the U of M barley program. The Campbell, Minn. producer, who served as president of state and national barley producer groups, played a major
role in strengthening barley research programs at state and federal levels.
"We are pleased to have a promising variety that we can name after Gerald and honor him in this way," says Rasmusson.
Lacey also represents a milestone for Rasmusson: It will be the last malting barley to be released during his tenure at the U of M. The longtime barley
breeder will retire at the end of this year. New U of M barley breeder Kevin Smith has already assumed the reins to a key research focus of the U of M's current barley breeding program: Developing greater scab
tolerance.
