Hello Western SeCan Members, 

Re: Malting Barley Recommended List  

Yesterday CMBTC released the recommended list of malting barley for western Canada. See the news release here and the recommended list here. 

This new recommended list shows a significant shift to new varieties, giving growers the direction they need to make decisions with confidence. It is important to note that CDC Fraser is featured prominently with “growing demand” and “increasing supply” clearly indicating the industry needs more CDC Fraser. 

This growing demand was confirmed as SeCan staff and members were able to hear first-hand from maltsters at Boortmalt, Canada Malting, and RAHR during member meetings over the last week. 

CDC Churchill is also seeing growing demand as well, with all maltsters expressing interest in seeing more production. 

The news release also points out the importance of varietal purity in malting barley – a cornerstone of Canadian quality. We will be encouraging the grain handlers and malting barley farmers to purchase Certified seed as their first step toward maintaining varietal purity. SeCan members are encouraged to consider adding a genetic varietal ID test to their production and processing protocol to ensure they can provide their customers with complete confidence.