Alberta (Rural Roots Canada) – A major Alberta research facility is scaling back development of premium malt barley varieties, potentially affecting the province’s position in North America’s billion-dollar barley market.

Western Crop Innovations in Lacombe is shifting focus to lower-value feed barley due to funding directions, according to Matthew Hamill, maltster and sales manager at Red Shed Malting. 

Hamill said the complete elimination of the program would be a devastating loss. 

Canada’s barley market generates approximately $1 billion annually from exports alone, with Alberta producing the majority. Malt barley sells for roughly $1.00 more per bushel than feed barley. This makes variety development essential for maximizing farm income. 

Western Crop Innovations, the newly rebranded research organization in Lacombe, builds on 50 years of crop development work formerly done by the Field Crop Development Centre.  The government-supported non-profit has been developing barley varieties since the early 1990’s.

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The two markets are interconnected: barley meeting strict brewing standards becomes premium-priced malt, while grain that doesn’t qualify gets sold as livestock feed at lower prices. 

According to Hamill, rejected malt barley supports the livestock industry. 

“The livestock industry is also reliant on that because what does not get accepted as malt goes back into that feed program,” he said. “You need those spec acres that didn’t make malt to top up what the livestock industry needs.” 

Alberta grows half the barley in Canada and one-third of the barley in North America. Additionally, the province hosts two major malt companies, Rahr and Canada Malting. 

Hamill stressed the need to maintain a malt barley breeding program in Alberta. He notes the province’s unique growing conditions. 

“We just got different daylight hours, different frost-free days,” he said. “We need to have varieties that make sense for here.”