The American Malting Barley Association has released its annual list of recommended varieties for farmers.

“This list is really meant to provide guidance to growers and not necessarily an endorsed list to say whether or not a variety is good or bad,” Ashley McFarland, vice president and technical director for the association, told the Capital Press. “We always want to make sure farmers are consulting those that they’re contracting acreage with, to make sure they’re growing the variety that the contracting partner would like to see in the field.”

The association has more than 50 members. Any entity actively engaged in business as a maltster, brewer, distiller, or food manufacturer using barley malt is eligible for membership.

One variety, Firefoxx, a spring, two-row, hulled malting barley developed in Europe, is a non-producer of  glycosidic nitrile (GN), a trait of high interest to distillers.

Throughout the distillation process, GN in barley is converted into the compound ethyl carbamate (EC). First identified in whiskey in 1985, EC in fermented and distilled beverages is of concern due to its recognition by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a Group 2B “possibly carcinogenic” compound, according to the malting barley association.

“Essentially the distilling community is wanting to move towards more varieties that are non-producers of GN,” McFarland said. “That is a very high-quality trait for our distilling community, which has increased interest.”

GN is a broad term for a range of hydroxynitrile glucosides present in all plants and protects against insects and diseases. Approved varieties that also do not produce GN include LCS Odyssey and LCS Genie, according to the association.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau in December amended its distilled spirits standards to include American single malt whiskey, which McFarland said.

“Because of the high volume of barley that will be in those products, it will be very important for producers to be considering varieties that are non-producers of GN,” she said. 

Firefoxx was released by Ackerman Saatzucht GmbH and Co. Association member company RahrBSG has tested its viability in North Dakota over the past four crop seasons.

Another variety, CDC Churchill, is a spring, two-row, hulled malting barley variety developed by the University of Saskatchewan. The line was brought forth for recommendation by member company Malteurop, which found success with the line throughout North Dakota and Montana.

It is reported to have slightly higher yield than AAC Synergy with a comparable enzyme package to CDC Copeland, according to the association.

The variety Quest, a spring six-row variety developed by the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, was removed from the list due to low demand, she said.

It joined the list in 2011 and was grown until the industry transitioned to primarily two-row varieties.

‘Do more with less’

Non-GN producers are the “hot” trait right now, McFarland said.

The association also wants to find resilient varieties that require fewer inputs, have good heat and drought tolerance, or produce yields with fewer inputs, such as nitrogen fertilizer.

“Any time we can find varieties that can do more with less, I think that’s going to be of very keen interest to our membership, and definitely a priority for investment for our industry members,” McFarland said.

Demand in 2025

Malting barley demand is all over the board, McFarland said.

“Everyone has been experiencing this rollercoaster of demand a little differently, between our larger adjunct brewers, our craft brewers,” and distillers, she said.

She pointed to a “big correction” in production last year, to balance with demand.

“In terms of what does 2025 look like, I don’t think we’re going to see much increase to that demand, but we really don’t know yet,” she said.