2020 Malting Barley Harvest Quality Update

The barley harvest has all but wrapped up, and this year’s malt barley crop in western Canada will rate as one of the better quality crops in the last ten years with excellent plump kernels, high test weight and protein levels in the 11-13.5% range with a low incidence of DON and limited issues with pre-harvest sprouting. Southern Alberta produced their first large quality barley crop after three years of drought. Saskatchewan had a high quality crop this year with most regions producing above average yields. There were several exceptions, including northern growing areas of Alberta and northwestern Saskatchewan that saw cool and wet weather for much of the growing season, reducing yields and all but wiping out any chance for malting barley selection. On the other extreme, some parts of southern Saskatchewan and Alberta were much too dry resulting in thin, high protein kernels.

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