Malting barley is not a special crop, but a form of barley cultivation, which makes it possible to obtain grain with the desired characteristics. We will learn how to sow and grow "beer" barley in order to obtain quality raw materials for the brewing industry.
What is the difference between regular barley and beer barley?
The main difference between malting barley and regular barley is the protein content of the grain. According to GOST, it should be no more than 12%. Grain "beer" barley is more expensive than fodder.
Beer producers are very picky about the raw materials they buy. Moreover, brewing and malting companies are investing heavily in breeding malting barley, as they are interested in its quality characteristics.
Brewers often prefer to buy grain of foreign varieties known to them, corresponding to European quality, and often do not want to take Russian varieties into production.
Economic value
Malting barley is an important raw material for the malting and brewing industry. Malt extracts are obtained from barley grains of brewing varieties, which are also used in the confectionery, pharmaceutical, textile and paint and varnish industries.
Barley straw is used for fodder and bedding for livestock. The straw is fed to animals, pre-steaming.
Barley classification
Barley is widely represented in a variety of varieties, which are classified according to several characteristics.
Barley is classified according to:
- Agrotechnical characteristics. Barley happens:
- Winter. Sowing dates are October-November, depending on the region and climatic conditions.
- Spring. North - in March-April.
- By morphological characteristics. Barley differs in the type of ears, they are:
- Double row. An ear with two rows gives an average of 25-30 grains.
- Six-row. Such an ear gives 30-60 grains. Such varieties are more suitable for brewing. Their grains are of the same shape and size, and the quality of the resulting malt is high.
Brewing varieties are represented mainly by spring two-row varieties.
Quality characteristics of beer barley
Malting barley has special malt properties - it is easily processed into malt and gives a large yield of quality beer per unit of raw material.
The suitability of barley for brewing is determined by several criteria that allow us to assess its quality:
- Grain color. Light yellow or yellow. The color is uniform. If the shells are greenish, then the barley is unripe. If the batch contains grains with dark ends or spots, it is likely that it was wetted during harvesting or storage. Such grain can be non-germinating, affected by microorganisms, malt from it is of low quality.
- The form. Almost all brewing grains are elliptical or oval, with rounded lateral edges. If growing conditions are unfavorable, the grains grow elongated.
- Smell. Fresh, straw-like aroma. There should be no notes of mustiness and mold. The musty odor in barley with good germination can be removed by soaking in a solution of potassium permanganate or bleach.
- Humidity. Optimum grain moisture is from 10 to 15.5%. The more moist grain during storage begins to heat up, mold, and loses extractive substances.
- Purity. There should be no impurities - other cereals or weed seeds, as well as grains affected by weevils or mites.
- Extractiveness. This is the amount of dry matter that goes into solution after processing the ground grain with malt enzymes. For good grain, this figure is 78-82%. The difference in the extractiveness of grain and malt obtained from it should not exceed 1.5%.
- Germination energy. Shows how suitable the grain is for malting. Grains with poor germination yield low malt extractability. Such grain is susceptible to mold.
- Protein content. No more than 12%. High protein barley is not suitable for processing. Barley, in which the protein is less than 9%, is also not suitable, the beer obtained from it foams poorly.
- Nature. The absolute weight of 1000 grains. This is an additional indicator that does not play a significant role in assessing the quality of brewing grain.
Place in the crop rotation
To obtain high yields of barley, it is necessary to choose the right predecessors - this factor is especially important at the first stage of the growing season.
Barley sown for food and forage purposes is recommended to be sown after legumes that saturate the soil with nitrogen. But for malting barley, the best predecessors are row crops.
Ideal predecessors:
- For winter barley - early potatoes, rapeseed, peas, legumes sown for the sake of green mass.
- For spring barley - corn, potatoes, sugar beets. It is in this case that malting barley grows especially well - it gives high-quality grain with a high starch content and high yields.
Barley itself is a good predecessor for most spring crops. In some regions, it is also sown before winter crops. Barley is harvested early and is often sown as a cover crop.
The best varieties
Breeders spend about 10 years on breeding one brewing barley variety, which is 3-5 years more than the time spent on creating conventional varieties.
Today there are hundreds of varieties of barley intended for brewing, but they all grow only in certain areas. We will find out what varieties of malting barley are grown in Russia.
Gladis
A relatively new spring barley variety entered in the State Register in 2010. Producer - France. This variety is considered one of the best for malt production. The growing season is 70-80 days.
Advantages of the Gladis variety:
- lodging resistance;
- low stem fragility;
- high immunity, good resistance to powdery mildew.
Productivity - 98.7 centners per hectare.
Scarlet
The variety is recommended for growing in the Central Black Earth Region and in the central regions of the Russian Federation. Disease resistance is average. The growing season is 70-90 days. Differs in a loose, loose ear.
Productivity - up to 65 centners per hectare.
Annabelle
German spring barley with a two-row spike of medium density and length. The grain is large, yellow. The growing season is 90 days. It has high immunity.
Productivity - up to 40-50 centners per hectare.
Donetsk 8
Spring barley of Ukrainian selection. Differs in a two-row loose ear, straw-yellow color. The grains are large, yellow. Not prone to lodging, holds the load well. The variety is drought tolerant. The growing season is 90 days.
Productivity - up to 45 centners per hectare.
Zazersky 85
A variety of Belarusian selection. The ears are cylindrical, yellow, medium dense. The variety is classified as slightly drooping. The growing season is 84-88 days.
Productivity - 37-65 centners per hectare.
Consita
The variety is zoned in the central part of the Russian Federation. The ears are cylindrical, medium dense, the awns are long. The grain is large. The growing season is 80-90 days. The variety is not prone to lodging and is drought tolerant. It is not affected by root rot and head smut.
Productivity -40-88 centners per hectare.
Gonar
Included in the State Register in 1994. Zoned in the Central, Volgo-Vyatka and North-West regions. The ear is cylindrical, loose. The grains are large, yellow, round. The growing season is 75-85 days. The variety is not prone to lodging.
Productivity - 50-80 centners per hectare.
Gastinets
Belarusian early maturing variety with a two-row spike. Possesses excellent brewing qualities. Resistant to lodging and leaf diseases. It grows best on loamy soils. The growing season is 80-85 days.
Productivity - 60-78 centners per hectare.
Quench
Spring barley of French selection. It is the most popular malting barley in Europe. Differs in high drought tolerance and low protein content. The growing season is 70-98 days.
Productivity - 30-70 centners per hectare.
Ataman
Spring barley of Belarusian selection. The ear is two-row, medium-dense, cylindrical, with long awns. This brewing variety has a moderate drought tolerance. Prone to hitting a head smut. The growing season is 80-85 days.
Productivity - 30-75 centners per hectare.
Syabra
Medium late variety of domestic selection. Differs in high productivity and lodging resistance. The protein content depends on the growing conditions. The ear is two-row, medium dense, length - 7-8 cm. It grows poorly on sandy and infertile soils. The growing season is 75-80 days.
Productivity - 60-80 centners per hectare.
Steels
A variety of Belarusian selection. The ear is two-row, cylindrical, yellow, medium dense. Not prone to lodging. Suitable for brewing purposes and for the production of cereals. The growing season is 80-90 days.
Productivity - 60-87 centners per hectare.
Inari
Mid-season spring barley. One of the best brewing varieties. Zoned in the North-West region. Included in the State Register in 1996. The growing season is 85-95 days.
Productivity - 30-52 centners per hectare.
Growing
In the agricultural technology of malting barley, there are features that affect the quality characteristics of the grain, and subsequently the quality of the malt produced.
Soil requirements and processing
When cultivating, preference is given to large fields with even relief and the same soil composition throughout the territory. Barley for brewing is usually sown on an area of 100 hectares.
Malting barley grows best on soils:
- sod-carbonate;
- sod-podzolic loamy and sandy loam.
Contraindicated:
- light soils;
- swampy soils with high groundwater;
- drained peatlands with a high nitrogen content.
Ideal agrochemical parameters of soils for brewing barley:
- acidity level pH - from 5.6;
- humus - from 1.8%;
- phosphorus and potassium - from 150 mg per 1 kg of soil.
The soil for sowing malting barley is treated in almost the same way as for feed varieties. The cultivation depends on the characteristics of the soil, weather conditions, the amount of weeds, on the predecessors and other factors.
Features of soil preparation for malting barley:
- Stubble plowing. Disc cultivators cultivate the soil to a depth of 6-8 cm. It is not recommended to leave the field uncultivated until October after the stubble predecessor.
- Deep winter plowing. The depth can reach 30 cm. On soddy-podzolic soils, it is recommended to deepen the arable layer by applying manure and mineral fertilizers for plowing.
- Presowing treatment. It includes such works:
- Two snow retention measures.
- Harrowing the field with heavy tooth harrows.
- Cultivation - first, mineral fertilizers are applied, and then the soil is cultivated to the depth of planting seeds. Thanks to cultivation, a loose soil is obtained, this allows you to deepen the seeds to the same depth, and get friendly shoots.
Spring pre-sowing processing tasks:
- preservation of moisture in the soil;
- clearing the field from weeds;
- improved aeration properties;
- leveling the surface and creating optimal conditions for planting seed.
Spring plowing is a violation of barley cultivation technology. Soil cultivation in spring begins with the closure of moisture.
Seed preparation
Seeds for sowing must be large and leveled, meeting quality standards for germination, purity and moisture.
The main activity in the preparation of barley seeds for sowing is dressing. It protects seeds and seedlings from many pathogens in the soil, as well as from fungi. Processing is carried out 1-2 weeks before sowing.
The preparation for dressing is chosen taking into account the condition of the seeds and the spectrum of action. Recommended treaters:
- Vincite - 2 liters per ton;
- Divident - 2 liters per 1 ton;
- Baytan-wagon - 2 kg per 1 ton.
Seeds are etched using special machines (PSSh-5, UMS-5, etc.). The drug should spread evenly over the surface of the grains. The dosage is 80-120% of the recommended by the manufacturer. The moisture content of the seeds after dressing should not exceed 15%.
During the pre-sowing treatment, the seeds receive the missing trace elements - boron, copper, zinc, manganese.
Barley seeds are also useful in a growth promoter. For example, in sodium humate. Consumption rate - 0.75 kg per 1 ton of grains.
Sowing calendar
Barley is an early maturing crop with early sowing dates. Malting barley is sown as early as possible, a week's delay reduces the yield by 10-40%. Sowing early allows you to get strong shoots and large grain with a minimum film content.
Usually, spring barley is sown at the same time as spring wheat, or immediately after it. The exact sowing time depends on the region and its climatic conditions. So in Siberia, barley is sown no earlier than May 15, and in the Kuban and Crimea, sowing work begins in February.
Method, rates and depth of sowing
For sowing, only large, sorted and pickled grains are taken. 1000 grains must weigh 40 g or more.
Features of sowing malting barley:
- Sowing rate. The average rate is 5-6 million seeds per hectare. For comparison, the seeding rate of feed barley is 4-5 million per hectare. The exact seeding rate is calculated individually, taking into account agricultural technology and the characteristics of the variety, it is also necessary to take into account tillering and the density of ears.
- Sowing depth. It depends on the soil. If the spring is dry and the soils are sandy loam, the seeds are deepened by 5-6 or even 8 cm.On clay and wet soils, the seeding depth is 3-4 cm.
- Sowing method. Malting barley is sown:
- In a narrow-row way. The row spacing is 7.5 cm. This option is chosen at high seeding rates - from 5.5 million grains per hectare.
- In an ordinary way. Row spacing - 15 cm.
Nowadays, spring barley is practically not sown using a cross method, since it compacts the soil, delays sowing and leads to unnecessary waste of fuel.
Crop care
If left untreated, malting barley yields will decline. Losses can be associated with contamination of the field with weeds, lodging, disease and pests.
Basic care measures:
- Rolling. It is carried out immediately after sowing or simultaneously with it. Improves seed-to-soil contact. This technique increases the amicability and density of seedlings. Compaction is especially important during dry weather.
If there is an excess of moisture in the ground, rolling can harm the seedlings - it will worsen aeration, provoke the appearance of a soil crust and cracks. The crops are rolled up using special rollers (ZKKSh-6A). - Harrowing. Usually, after rolling, the crops must be harrowed - before the emergence of shoots. This action prevents crusting and destroys filamentous weeds. Harrow the field 3-5 days after sowing the seeds. To avoid damage to the seeds, the field is harrowed before the seedlings exceed their length. They loosen the soil to a depth less than the sowing depth.
- Treatment with pesticides and herbicides. Pesticides are used to control weeds and pests. The crops are sprayed with sprayers OPSh-15, OP-2000-2-01, POM-630, etc. Processing is carried out along the tramline.
Herbicides are used to control weeds. So, Triallat is used against wild oats - 2-3 l / ha. The drug is introduced and immediately embedded in the soil with the help of harrows, stubble plows or an anti-wild oat machine.
Fertilizers
Features of fertilization in the cultivation of malting barley:
- The main difference from the cultivation of conventional barley is the reduced nitrogen nutrition. Application of nitrogen fertilizers up to 60-70 kg per 1 ha is allowed. At a higher dosage, lodging can occur and the grains will contain more protein than is required for brewing.
- It is forbidden to apply nitrogenous fertilizers in parts - this approach can also lead to an increased protein content in the grains. The best nitrogen fertilizer for barley is urea in granules. Nitrogen fertilizers are introduced during pre-sowing treatment.
- It is recommended to apply phosphorus and potassium in the fall, during the main tillage. The dosage of phosphorus is 60-90 kg / ha. When growing malting barley, an increased dosage of potassium is required - 120-160 kg / ha.
The optimal ratio of N: K: P when growing brewing barley is 1: 2: 1-1.5. Violation of the fertilizer application rates provokes the heterogeneity of the grains in terms of size, extractability and protein content.
Barley diseases and pests
Barley is a hardy crop with good immunity, but if agricultural technology is violated and under unfavorable growing conditions, it can be affected by a number of pests and diseases.
Most diseases affect the stems, leaves and roots of barley. If young shoots are damaged, the crops thin, the shoots rot and die. If adult plants are affected, the ears slow down the formation, the ripening of the grain is delayed.
Barley diseases:
- Dusty smut. Reduces productivity, negatively affects the quality of grains. Special fungicides are used to combat. But it is much more effective to choose varieties that are resistant to head smut.
- Stem rust. Its causative agent is a fungus. Massively affects crops and can deprive farmers of 50% of the crop. High humidity provokes the disease. It is important to recognize the symptoms of stem rust in time and apply a suitable fungicide, such as Alkor Super or Altrum Super.
- Brown rust. Covers the leaves with brown spots, which then transform into black dots. It does not do much harm to the crop. The best way to prevent disease is to rotate crops and treat crops with fungicides.
- Powdery mildew. Most common in the southern regions. Appears in warm and humid conditions. The leaves are covered with a bloom, which contains the spores of the fungus. Spores spread through the air and quickly infect the entire field. Mass infestation results in a loss of 20% of the crop.
When powdery mildew appears, the fields are sprayed with fungicides. For prevention, seeds are treated. Powdery mildew spores do not develop and die when the temperature rises above 30 ° C.
Barley pests:
- Barn weevil. This is a bug up to 4 mm long. It multiplies very quickly and rapidly destroys grain. If time is lost, the beetle can destroy an entire batch of grain. To combat beetles, use:
- Gases that kill weevils and their larvae. Such funds completely evaporate after use.
- Insecticides. They are used during the growing season. They help rid crops of pests during tillering of barley. Against cereal flies, flea beetles, turtles, etc., the drugs Decis (0.2 kg per 1 ha), Karate (0.15 kg per 1 ha), etc. are used.
- Red-breasted drunkard. The beetle gnaws at the leaves. It also damages young shoots. For the prevention of drunks, barley varieties are used that are resistant to the pest. In case of infection, insecticides are used.
- Cereal aphid. Affects many crops. It settles inside the ears and feeds on their juices. Early sowing, proper crop rotation and timely weed removal help prevent damage.
Barley crops, along with insects, are harmed by rodents and birds. To combat them, farmers install trapping nets, mousetraps, and use various improvised means.
Harvesting and storage of crops
The malting barley is harvested by combines when it is fully ripe.
Guidelines for starting cleaning:
- The drooping barley in the morning. Moreover, more than 80% of the ears should take it.
- The color of straw and films becomes yellow.
Cleaning features:
- Before starting mass harvesting, the field is mowed around the perimeter. The width of the cut strip is 2-3 m. The threshed grain is sent for fodder.
- Areas where barley has lodged are removed. Grain from them is also given for forage.
- The threshing mode for brewing varieties is the same as for seed threshing. It is important that the grains retain all biological properties. Trauma to the grains, which reduces their viability, is unacceptable.
The harvested malting barley grain is cleaned and dried. Grain is dried in plants for seed barley. The optimal mode for drying is created in installations with active ventilation, where the air is heated to 35-45 ° C. After drying, the grain is brought to the desired condition on sorting machines.
Storage features:
- Grain is stored for storage cleaned and dried. Violation of moisture standards can lead to the development of mold.
- It is necessary to prevent the appearance of weevils. The pest appears at temperatures above + 21 ° C. If the temperature is kept below this level, the risk of the appearance of the barn weevil is noticeably reduced, and at + 12 ° C its appearance is practically excluded.
- To prevent the reproduction of pests, special preparations are used in accordance with the recommended doses. First of all, storage facilities are subject to processing, and, if necessary, the grain itself.
- It is forbidden to stir barley of different varieties. Also, you cannot mix barley of the same variety, which differs in protein content.
Quality malt is obtained only from a batch of barley of the same variety, which has been grown under the same conditions and has the same protein content.
The subtleties of preparing barley for brewing
Grain prepared for brewing goes through several stages. First, brewers evaluate its quality characteristics, and only if they meet quality standards are they sent for processing.
Stages of preparing barley for brewing:
- Bulkhead and sorting. High-quality beer wort extract is obtained only from selected grains grown according to a special technology for beer barley.
- Soaking in water. Water temperature - from +13 to + 17 ° C.
- Germination. Grains produce glucose and fructose.
- Drying. The color and flavor of the malt depends on the temperature and duration of this process.
When growing barley for the brewing industry, it is important not only to choose the right variety, but also to observe special agricultural techniques. Malting barley is more difficult to grow than regular barley, but it costs more. By selling beer barley to brewers, farmers can make good money, since today the producer has to buy about 30% of raw materials abroad.
Author of the publication
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Russia. City Novosibirsk
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