Washington food barley headed to Taiwan

Washington Ag Today July 20, 2009 A sample shipment of high beta-glucan, or food barley, was shipped from Washington to Taiwan last week. It’s a project that involved funding from the former Washington Barley Commission passed through the U.S. Grains Council and barley grown for the McKay Seed Company of Almira.

Dan McKay is the seed company CEO and says Japan is a rather mature market for food barley but they are just starting in the Taiwanese market. He says that’s been a challenge because of exchange rates and Australian competition.

McKay: “We are trying to promote putting high beta-glucan barley from Westbred and Phoenix Agri-Resources into the marketplace over there. They have been very interested in this. The lines we have been working with are a hulless line, which in Japan has been used as a rice extender and in Taiwan would be used as a breakfast cereal like we traditionally see here.”

McKay says the BGLife barleys, as they are trademarked, have much more beta-glucan content.

McKay: “The varieties we have, have about nine to 9 ½% beta-glucan, which a normal barley we see on the market today has about four percent. So the beta-glucan has all the claims to extra health due to lowering cholesterol and helping the glycemic index and all those issues.”

McKay says producers of these barleys get a malt barley type price with none of the risks of malt barley. Currently the varieties are for irrigated production but McKay thinks it won’t be long before there are dryland varieties.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Washington Ag Today on the Northwest Ag Information Network.