Taking Barley to where it has never been before.  Agriculture Canada is giving the Alberta Barley Commission an $8 million Agri-Innovation Program grant to fund its Barley Research Cluster forwarding research on feed, malt and food grades of barley.

You can hear the excitement in Alberta Barley Commission Chairman Matt Sawyer’s voice when he talks about this grant and what it means for the future of the crop.

He says all three grades of barley will benefit from the funding, which will cover 28 different research projects.

“It’s going to be run with several different scientists and most of them will be done in Lacombe and Agriculture Canada, so it’s going to be really exciting for producers and very good,” says Sawyer.

(Alberta Barley Commission Chairman Matt Sawyer talks about the specifics in regards to the research that will be done thanks to the $8-million Agri-Innovation program grant. (In a nutshell))

He says barley producers will see the benefits for years to come.

“New markets are going to be opened up and new varieties coming through as well as different quality aspects will be looked at and it’s going to go right back down to the grass roots producer that they will get more value out of their barley.”

Sawyer says they will be working alongside the newly formed Barley Council of Canada on this initiative and many others down the road.

He says a lot of these innovations will allow Canada to compete with the Argentinians on the global front.

To track the progress of this grant, go to albertabarley.com