01/03/08 Vietnam wants Idaho barley for fish food

The Idaho Barley Commission has partnered with the US Grains Council to begin low-phytate barley feeding trials in Vietnam. 21 tons of donated barley was shipped out of Tetonia last month so the Vietnamese can use it as feed for Catfish Tra which is one of the major fish grown in Vietnam for human consumption. Idaho Barley Commission administrator Kelly Olson says Clearwater barley has a 50 percent reduction in phytate. OLSON "Its not the first barley will be evaluated in a fish diet. We've actually been studying that for a number of years at the University of Idaho Fish Culture Experiment Station in Hagerman. There too the scientists are doing cutting edge research to evaluate new diets, fish diets and we're seeing some really exciting opportunities with barley." Catfish Tra feed today is primarily soybean mean, wheat and rice by-products and fish meal but barley offers an alternative. OLSON "In addition to the low phytate where the fish can actually absorb the phosphorous nutrient and not excrete it as waste so that's important from a pollution control standpoint." This could be a value-added identify preserved niche market for Idaho growers who would receive a premium for producing it. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott