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Video: Top Crop Summit 2023 interview series – the Canadian malting barley industry

Canadian barley acreage has averaged 7.5 million acres over the past five years, resulting in annual production of 9.2 million tonnes of barley and an overall contribution to the Canadian GDP exceeding $13 billion in 2020. One of the pillars of the western Canadian malting barley industry are varieties that meet the needs of the various members of the value-chain, including growers, grain handlers, maltsters and brewers. Improving barley varieties by enhancing currently important traits, or by introducing new traits, is the focus of the barley breeding program at the Crop Development Centre. Aaron Beattie’s presentation provides an overview of western Canadian barley production, the various types of malting barley being bred, recent varieties released and examples of traits that are the focus of current research which have, or may eventually have, value to the industry.