Leading the way in Agriculture and Rural Research, Education and Consulting

The Future of Agriculture

and the Growing of

Malting Barley

steve.hoad@sruc.ac.uk

MAGB Malting Symposium

Diageo, Moray House, Elgin

8th and 9th October 2018

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Innovation and sustainable development in agriculture, land and the rural sector

SRUC - Introduction

3 3

SRUC Research

4 4

• Research and technical innovation

• Crop breeding and variety evaluation

• Crop growth and development

• Nutrient management

• Crop health

• Barley grain quality

• Advanced technologies e.g. crop sensing

• Knowledge exchange and training

Agricultural practices for the growing of malting barley

5

An upswing in the whisky cycle is expected

in 2018

Source: Scotch Whisky Industry Review 2017, SAC Consulting

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Gra

in u

se 0

00

’s t

on

ne

s

Malting barley Grain (wheat / maize)

- malting barley + 34kt in 2018? - grain (wheat and maize) + 30kt in 2018? (wheat more)

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Grain quality characteristics

Physical:

Weight/specific gravity

Purity

Damage

Foreign matter

Moisture content

Intrinsic:

Appearance (size, colour)

Composition (protein, starch)

Germination efficiency

Texture (soft/hard)

Processability

7 7 Encyl. Grain Science, Figure 1 p. 69

Components of a barley grain

[from James Bryce presentation 2017]

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Section of barley grain

17-20% Insoluble Husk, cell walls

80-83%

75-85% Fermentable Maltose, maltotriose, glucose …

15-25% Non-

fermentable

Glucans and proteins

[from James Bryce presentation 2017]

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Crop and variety testing

S

• National and Recommended Lists

• Technical information

• Crop and industry committees

• Industry meetings

• Industry funded trials

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What influences variety choice?

Communication with growers …

• Specific market requirements

• Economic yield

• Pest and disease resistance

• Time of maturity

• Resistance to lodging

• Resistance to cold or drought

• Ease of harvest or storage

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Criteria for Malting

• Malting Barley is an example of a crop where

specific varieties are used. It is vital that when

selecting a variety that you consider the market

criteria.

• Does the variety have approval from the Malting

Barley Committee?

• Follow the Link which explains these criteria-

The Maltsters Association of Great Britain

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Choosing a variety– Spring Barley

• Decide on the market e.g. malting or feed

• Identify parameters essential for the site where variety is to be grown:

– Earliness of maturity (days +/- average)

– Straw strength (1-9, 9 = strongest)

– Disease resistance (1-9, 9 = most resistant)

– Pest resistance (1-9)

• Are you growing with reduced or high inputs, such as fungicides – refer to results with and without fungicides

• Eliminate unsuitable varieties and look for high yield from those that remain.

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AHDB Recommended List Trials

• In the UK, most market leading cereal varieties are found on the AHDB and SRUC Recommended Lists

• In order to be on the RL, varieties must perform better in trials compared with a number of established varieties

• Yield and agronomic features are assessed

• Other countries have similar trials for new varieties

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AHDB Recommended List Explained

• Yield – Yield compared with standard Varieties

(measured as a % of standard varieties – 107%

means 7% more than the standards)

• Market – is the variety Fully or Provisionally

Approved for your chosen market. For malting

purposes a variety has approval of the MBC

• Agronomic feature and disease resistance. Use of a

1-9 scale (where 9 is good or resistant, 1 is poor or

susceptible)

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Barley – Expected quality and markets

AHDB Spring Barley RL 2018/19

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Use of AHDB Recommended Lists

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Follow the Link to AHDB Recommended Lists

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AHDB – Variety selection tool

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An interactive system that helps you select a variety

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Innovations from crop research

Crop growth stages Crop physiology

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Why are growth stages important?

GS GS GS GS

25-30 31-32 49-59 59-65

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GS21-26 - barley GS22 – wheat

2 Tillering

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3 Stem extension

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GS31 – Barley

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4 Booting – Barley

GS41 GS43 GS47

Boot just visibly swollen

Flag leaf sheath extending

Flag leaf sheath opening

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6 Flowering - Barley

GS60 GS64 GS68

Beginning of anthesis Anthesis half way Anthesis complete

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7 – 9 Grain fill and ripening

• GS70-79

– Milk development

• GS80-89

– Dough development

• GS90-99

– Ripening

• Pre-harvest glyphosate

once grain moisture is below

30% (check with end user) 27

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Barley yield and quality

• Yield potential, Growth Guides, Crop Improvement

Source: SRUC and AHDB

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Barley: Grain quality specifications

0

200

400

600

800

Spring

Scotland

Spring

England

Winter

Scotland

Winter

England

To

nn

es (

1000's

)

Under 1.55% 1.55-1.65%

1.65-1.85% Above 1.85%

Malting barley grain nitrogen

Source: MAGB

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Crop responses to nitrogen fertiliser

Range of yield and grain N% responses to N fertiliser

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2

4

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0 30 60 90 120 150

Nitrogen fertiliser (kg/ha)

Yie

ld (

t/h

a)

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

2

2.2

0 30 60 90 120 150

Nitrogen fertiliser (kg/ha)

Gra

in n

itro

ge

n (

%)

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Spring barley: Response to nitrogen

AHDB Project Report No. 484 (2012)The relationship between soil mineral nitrogen, applied nitrogen and yields in Scottish soils

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Grain with high starch content and low protein e.g. distilling wheat

Data from the GREEN Grain project. Figure from Smith et al. (2006) in AHDB (HGCA) Research Review No. 61.

Relationship of alcohol yield to starch and protein content in grain (across varieties, sites and agronomy treatments)

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Estimating nitrogen requirement

Crop N Demand

Leaching

Mineralisation Immobilisation

Soil N Supply

Grain yield Grain nitrogen%

Crop N Requirement Fertiliser & Manure N

Crop N required e.g. 130 kg N

Predict soil N e.g. 60 kg N

Predict uptake e.g.60%

Calculate: 130 – 60 = 115

60%

Strategy .. revise gradually for the whole

farm over years

Tactics Change field by field each

year. Adapted from AHDB SNS Project and Roger Sylvester-Bradley

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Success in achieving the malting spec

Source: SAC Consulting and SRUC

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Research on barley grain quality

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Grain skinning: background

• Partial or complete loss of the husk at harvest

• Decreases malting efficiency by influencing the rate, vigour and

evenness of germination, the key step in malting

• Grain skinning negatively impacts on the whole malting supply

chain: Breeders, growers, maltsters, brewers and distillers

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• Skinning has been reported to be caused by

• “Careless or improper harvesting methods” –

http://ukmalt.com

• Likely factors are the

drum speed and the

distance between the

concave and the drum

Harvesting and handling

Threshing drum

Concave

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Harvesting - drum speed

2

12

22

32

42

52

% S

kin

ne

d g

rain

s

Combine speed (rpm)

800 1000 1200 1400 1600

Propino (susceptible)

Westminster (Less susceptible)

Source: AHDB grain skinning project, SRUC and Scottish Agronomy

Harvest 2015

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Harvesting - concave

2

12

22

32

42

52

% S

kin

ned

gra

ins

Concave setting (5 = less clearance)

1 2 3 4 5

Source: AHDB grain skinning project, SRUC and Scottish Agronomy

Propino (susceptible)

Westminster (Less susceptible)

Harvest 2015

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96.8 97.1 98.6

91.1

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intact field skinned severely skinned

Friabili

ty (

%)

Hot

Wate

r E

xtr

act

(L

o/k

g)

HWE Adjusted HWE Friability

Grain skinning and malting • Micro-malting study of skinned barley grains

(focus on hot water extract)

Source: Paulina Okoro, SRUC

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Barley health

• Host pathogen-interactions

• Ramularia Genome

• Disease risk forecasts to inform

management decisions

• Integrated Pest management

(reducing risk to crops)

• Crop Protection Reports

• Crop Advisory Activity

• Crop Health Monitoring

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Research on Ramularia leaf spot

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• Base broadening

• Barley collection

• Development of multi-

parent populations

Barley diversity and crop systems

• Links to research on: novel crops, cover crop “greening” trials, energy from biomass, cereals and grasses for anaerobic digestion, intercropping, nutrient use efficiency across the rotation

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Technology and information

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Yield mapping

Too much information Too little information

Source: AHDB BePRECiSE

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Yield mapping

About the right level of information

Source: AHDB BePRECiSE

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Creating application map

Yield / Offtake map

+

= ?

P Nutrient

Application map Source: AHDB BePRECiSE

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Soil texture map

Increasing conductivity

Electrical Conductivity

Profile: 0-120 cm

< 12

> 51

Source: AHDB BePRECiSE

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Soil texture map

1) = sandy loam over open clay subsoil

5) = med sandy clay loam over sandy clay

8) = heavy clay loam over clay

1 8

5

Source: AHDB BePRECiSE

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Establishment map

75

90 60

Source: AHDB BePRECiSE

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Seed rate map

165

135

110

Tramline direction

Source: AHDB BePRECiSE

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Transformational Technology

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Sensors, robotics and automation

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Software

Sensors -

field / crop

data

Precision

farming

software

Digital maps

Application

maps

Understand

cause of

variation

Action to

correct

variation

On-the-

move control

of field

machinery Digital record of application

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Crop sensing e.g. use of NDVI

• Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)

• Plants absorb red light and reflect infrared and green light

• NDVI =

• NDVI increases with crop canopy (LAI) and declines with senescence

• N application automatically adjusted

Near IR - Red

Near IR + Red

56 56 Berry, J K. Applying map analysis techniques to site-specific management

http://www.innovativegis.com/basis/pfprimer/Appendix_E/PF_3hour_2.ppt#511,1,Slide 1

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Advanced Technologies for Efficient Crop Management

To develop and couple observational and analysis technologies and evaluate these against field measures To understand how, and under what circumstances advanced technologies can be deployed to determine and diagnose crop yield limits

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Crop sensing and mapping

• Remote sensing in agriculture is a rapidly

expanding field both commercially and in research

• Challenge in determining what information is

gathered, how it is processed and when to use this

information

• Targeted early intervention

Source: ATEC Project

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UAV mounted sensors

• RGB camera

• Multispectral sensors

• Development of novel hyper-spectral and

fluorescence system

• Thermal camera

60 60 Source: ATEC Project

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Satellites

Source: Copernicus - ESA

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Continuous ground measures

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Impacts: Research and Knowledge Exchange

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Impacts: Research and KE

S

• Breeders decision making

• Market success or failure of new varieties

• Farmer and end-use engagement

• Value for Cultivation and Use

• Contribution to resistance ratings

• Protocols for industry

• Advisory activity

• Events and meetings

1) Intact

2) Intact

3) Intact

4) Intact

5) Intact

6) Skinned

7) Skinned

8) Skinned

9) Skinned

10) Skinned

11) Skinned

12) Skinned

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Education, training and CPD

• FE and HE

• Agriculture, Rural Business Management, Environmental

Science and Plant Sciences

• MSc and Post-grad Diploma

• PhD studentships

• FACTS and BASIS e.g.

• Open Days and Workshops

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Acknowledgements Maree Brennan, Fiona Burnett, Joanna Cloy, Anna Florence, Andrew Gilchrist, Linda Glacken, Douglas

Goodall, Kathryn Grant, Clement Gravouil, Paloma Heras, Gareth Hughes, Francis Jack, Neil Havis,

Pete Hedley, Steve Hoad, Peter Hoebe, Shane Kennedy, David Lawson, Graham McGrann,

Steven Miller, Eamon Nolan, Paulina Okoro, Marta Piotrowska, Luke Ramsay, Bob Rees, Tom

Shepherd, Davide Tarsitano, Bill Thomas, Kairsty Topp, Robin Walker, Christine Watson.

SRUC LEEG, SRUC FFS, SAC Consulting, SRUC Education, JHI, AHDB, Scottish Agronomy Ltd,

University of Edinburgh, SWRI, MAGB.

Thank you

Any questions?