01/04/07 Testing Sublette barley

For more than a decade Harrington has been the leading barley variety planted in Idaho. So much so that more than 30 percent of all malt and feed barley harvested in Idaho was Harrington. Now the Agricultural Research Service and the University of Idaho have been testing a new two row malt barley called Sublette. ARS researcher Don Obert says Sublette is performing better than Harrington. OBERT "Better agronomical and so it's more profitable for the farmer and it also just has several properties which make it hopefully better in the malting and brewing industry in the amount of malt that can be extracted from Sublette compared to Harrington is a little higher." Better yield with Sublette but Obert says there are several good attributes to this new variety. OBERT "The ability for that seed to germinate quickly which is critical in the malting process. Sublette is nice in that it resists lodging better than Harrington and I really think that we can probably avoid having to spray this growth inhibiter on there." Obert says don't forget that malt barley isn't just for the brewing industry but it's used in cereals, chocolate candies other food products. Sublette is in the final stages of testing by seed companies and growers in hopes that it will get approval from the barley industry. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott