Ontario District
MBAC 53rd Annual Barley Field Day
July 7, 2005
REPORT
Approximately 60 members and guests attended the 53rd Annual Barley Field Day. The weather at the Elora Research Station was beautiful, with only a few clouds in the sky.
Darren Smith of Canada Malting provided an outlook of the 2005 barley crop which appears to be good in both Alberta and Saskatchewan. Manitoba is suffering from excessive flooding particularly around the Winnipeg area, many fields have literally turned into lakes with some reseeding where possible taking place.
Bruce French of Canada Malting discussed barley varieties, how we have progressed over the years from varieties such as Betsie and Klages to newer varieties such as Metcalfe and Legacy. Focus of barley development is changing from high enzyme to more moderate enzyme development with a balanced modification. Push for higher extract continues, which means hull adherence is likely at its optimal. The success of new varieties is heavily dependent on agronomics, predominately focusing on higher yields for farmers.
Dr. Duane Faulk of the University of Guelph discussed recent research on Frost Seeding of wheat, which may be applicable to barley. Frost seeding is essentially seeding the fields in March when the snow has left the field but ambient temperatures are between -4oC and -7oC. This early seeding allows the plant to develop slowly and gain a head start to other fields seeded later in the year during normal timelines. The result is earlier plant maturity which has shown to improve tilling and significant yield improvement for wheat. The research data also indicates lower protein which for wheat is not a positive attribute but may be an advantage for barley.
The MBAC Technical Committee would like to thank our sponsors for making this day a great success:
Canada Malting
Sleeman Brewing & Malting
Gilbertson & Page
University of Guelph
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