Barley Continued from Page 7
major growing regions, and then look at results fromtrials of just two-rowbarley at that location. “Two-row barley varieties generally require less nitrogen and have lower pro- tein than six-row varieties,” Nelsen said. “Relativelyhighseedingratesof around1.1 million seeds per acre are recommended for qualitymalting barley.” There are variable amounts of rainfall, heat, planting dates and irrigation sys- tems used to growbarley, which she said makes it even more difficult to achieve the protein target. “There is a wide diversity of agroeco- systems in whichmalting barley is grown in California, making achieving protein requirements difficult,” Nelsen said. “Drought and heat stress also tend to lead to lower yield and higher protein levels in the barley.” Because of the difficulties, she said, “large amounts” of grain grown for malt- ing barley are rejected and forced into a lower-revenuemarket. “If the protein is too high,” Nelsen said, “there is a lower amount of starchand less extract for thebrewer, and themaltingpro- cess is also slowed. On the other hand, if the protein is too low, this results in insuf- ficient enzymes for fermentation,which is absolutely essential formaking beer.” Despite the challenge of producing a
Currently, there are only a handful of malt houses in California such as this one in Alameda, but a UC small-grains researcher says more may open to serve the state’s craft breweries—and farmers hoping to sell malting barley will need to be able to meet specific quality standards.
crop that meets quality standards—made more challenging by factors beyond a farmer’s control—the price premium makes malting barley a tempting oppor- tunity, she said. “There is interest in growing barley for thesemalt houses, because they offer ap- proximately one-and-a-half to four times
the price for either forage or feed barley,” Nelsen said. “This price premium comes withastipulation, though: that themalting barleymustmeet ahighquality standard.” The demand for malting barley that achieves theprotein target has the chance to grow significantly in the next few years, she said. “Currently, there are only a handful of malt houses in California, with a very limited capacity,” Nelsen said. “But there aremore breweries in California than any other state, with more than a thousand craft breweries operating in California as of October 2019, many of which wish to differentiate themselves by brewing local
or California-grownmaterials.” She said craft breweries have the po- tential tocreate anichemarket that brings pricessignificantlyhigher thansmall-grain feed and forage. “Barley production has decreased greatly in California over the last 75 years,” Nelsen said. “At one point, there was even more barley harvested in California than wheat. Today, there are fewer small grains grown due to a large number of high-value competing crops and other economic factors.” ( Bo b J o hn s o n i s a r e p o r t e r i n Sacramento. He may be contacted at bjohn11135@gmail.com.)
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Read Owner’s Manual and all on-product warnings. Always wear protective gear appropriate for the use of this vehicle. Never operate under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Protect the environment. The Kawasaki MULE™ side x side is an off- highway vehicle only, and is not designed, equipped or manufactured for use on public streets, roads or highways. Obey the laws and regulations that control the use of your vehicle. ©2016 Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. 17BMCS4WSX6X5C
8 Ag Alert August 19, 2020
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