2024 Barley Production & Seeding Considerations

WITH LOW INPUT COSTS, EARLY MATURITY AND  LIMITED PEST PRESSURES, BARLEY MAY BE A GOOD CROPPING OPTION FOR PRODUCERS IN 2024

The following document offers considerations with respect to growing barley including:

• Timing, Seeding Rates, Weed and Disease Management
• Soil Testing, Crop Protection and Certified Seed
• New Malting Barley Varieties – Agronomics and Quality
• End-User Desired Quality Traits

KEY TAKE AWAYS

• Choose a malting barley variety to access an additional 2.5 million tonnes of demand. If it doesn’t make malting barley, it can be sold into the feed sector, but feed barley cannot be sold as malting barley to the malting/brewing sector.
• New malting varieties yield comparably to many feed varietiesand often command a premium of over $1.00/bushel.
• With 10-14 days earlier maturity compared with wheat and canola, barley important rotation option to allow for staged seeding and harvest timing.
• Fertilizer costs can be significantly less than other cereals like spring wheat, particularly in the case of malting barley with lower targeted protein content.
• New malting varieties also meet end-use quality requirements with moderate protein content, plump kernels and good processing performance including high extract levels. Find out what end users are looking for and why.