Australian crop tour
From October 24 to 26 2016 RMI Analytics conducted a malting barley crop tour in South Australia, taking in the growing regions of the Clare and Barossa Valley’s in the Mid-North region.
The tour visited breweries, commercial fields, trial plots, grain receival areas and malthouses. During the tour the peak of the barley harvest was still about four weeks away with excellent looking crops of barley and wheat seen in fields across the region. More warm weather is now needed to help crops finish off well before harvest can start with expectations combines won’t start rolling until the end of November.
Expectations are firming of an Australian barley crop of over 10 m MT with yields in the regions visited expected to push 5-6 MT/Ha, well above the average of 3-4 MT/Ha. The selection rate for malt is still unclear as protein is expected to be low thanks to consistent and at times excessive rainfall during the season. But with such a large crop expectations are there will be ample supplies of malting barley.
At the Roseworthy Farm the tour heard the site had hit its annual rainfall average two months ago, with the total land cropped running at 1400 Ha out of 4000 Ha total. The average yield for barley here is 3.4 MT/Ha with Commander grown last year yielding 4 MT/Ha while also achieving malting grade. Expectations are for excellent yields in the Compass barley, the University of Adelaide’s latest variety.
Less barley next season
On the second day of the tour participant’s started off with a visit to Tarlee and the farm of Trevor Day. He said he struggles to achieve malting grade and subsequently he’ll grow less barley next season as without the premium for malting quality he struggles to meet the cost of production. The total cropped area of the farm is 1050 Ha with a few thousand sheep also run on the property for wool and meat. Barley was sown on May 17 and the harvest is expected to start in the most advanced regions at the end of October, on the highest part of the farm, with the bulk expected to get underway in mid-November.
The final area to be visited on day two of the tour was at Crystal Brook where fields of Spartacus, Scope and Compass were seen side by side. At the property 2000 acres of barley are farmed with expectations 2016 will be a 1 in 10 or a 1 in 20 year for barley production, with yields of up to 5-6MT/Ha (3-3.5MT/Ha avg). Scope is grown on the farm as part of the weed control program (blackgrass is a problem) but it’s expected to be replaced by Latrobe in coming years. In the local area the tour heard there are ample segregations for malt and feed barley, of course variety specific as well. This year expectations are for lower protein which might make achieving malting grades pretty difficult but farmers are confident they’ll get close, perhaps achieving FAQ status.
Scott Casey
