C A L I F O R N I A
FieldCrops A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ®
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When growing two-row barley for malting, farmers need to produce grain in a narrow protein range between 9% and 10.5%, according to University of California small-grains researcher Taylor Nelsen, right, who identifies nitrogen fertility as the top factor farmers can control to manage protein levels.
Photo/Bob Johnson
Protein levels prove key for malting barley quality ByBob Johnson
barleymarket, itmakes economic sense to prioritize quality over yield, Nelsen said. “Nitrogen fertility is the No. 1 factor that growers can control tomanage their protein,” she said. “It isnot recommended toapplynitrogenafter the tilleringgrowthstage, because more nitrogen is allocated to protein than yield the later in the season it is applied.” She offered a sample calculation of the remaining nitrogen needs for a barley crop at the tillering stage. “A typical 3,000-pound yield at 9.5%protein is 285 pounds of protein per acre,” Nelsen said. “Two hundred eighty-five pounds per acre divided by the 5.75 nitrogen-to-protein factor is 50 pounds of nitrogen per acre in the grain.” Multiply that figure by 1.25 to account for the nitrogen to be removed with the straw, and figure that 90%of the uptake, or 56 pounds, remains at tillering, she said, adding that variety, seeding rate and water availability should also be considered, because they can also impact the protein level. The UC small-grains website includes a selection tool that will help farmers see how numerous two-rowbarley varietieshaveperformed inrecent years at a specified location. From the site at smallgrains.ucanr.edu, choose “Variety Selection” on the upper left of the page, then follow the link for the “User-specified data selection tool,” which leads to a page that allows a user to enter barley as the crop, choose a location within one of the
As craft breweries sprout throughout the state, grain growers can benefit from the ex- pandingmarket for locally grownmalting barley, which can bring anywhere from150% to 400%of the price received for forage grain. But those highprices only come if the grain tests ina relativelynarrowtarget of protein thatmakes two-rowmaltingbarleybest suited for high-quality brewing. “Themost important qualityparameter inmaltingbarleyquality isprotein,” saidTaylor Nelsen, anassistant specialistworkingwithUniversityofCaliforniaCooperativeExtension graincropping systems specialistMarkLundy. “For two-rowbarley, craft brewmalt facili- ties want to receive grainwith 9% to 10.5%protein.” Though the potential premium for malting barley is inviting, the penalty for failing to hit this relatively small protein target can be substantial. “It’s important to check contracts for the price penalty of not meeting protein goals,” Nelsen cautioned. “In some cases, barley that does not meet protein specifications may be rejected and forced into the lower-revenue feedmarket.” Shemade her remarks during the UCDavis 2020 Virtual Small Grains FieldDay, as re- searchersmoved theirpresentations fromtheagronomy test fields to the internet because of COVID-19 restrictions on large social gatherings. Because of the potential price premium for meeting the standards set by the malting
See BARLEY, Page 8
August 19, 2020 Ag Alert 7
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