By Ian Williams
Developing a new barley variety that lifts production by 10 per cent while over delivering on quality takes great science and effort.
But that’s precisely what researchers at the University of Adelaide’s Barley Breeding Program have just achieved.
Professor Jason Eglinton said the centre’s groundbreaking Compass malting barley has left an abundance of thrilled farmers around Australia following the variety’s first commercial season.
“There’s been a massive increase in yield and quality compared to other barley varieties despite a challenging season with a pretty tough dry spring,” he said. “To come through that with flying colours is very exciting.”
The achievement is the latest in a string of breakthroughs by the Waite campus research team which has strategic partnerships with some of the world’s biggest brewers.
Professor Jason Eglinton
Recent notable successes include a new variety called Charger which increases the shelf life of beer by 50 per cent. This was developed in partnership with Carlsberg and Heineken over 10 years.
The centre is also working with Japanese beer giant Sapporo on another variety, Southern Star, that improves foam retention for the company’s premium brands.
In another exciting initiative the university has entered into a strategic partnership with French-based breeding company Secobra to trial its Explorer barley variety in Australia.
“During the past three years we’ve demonstrated that Explorer grows really well in the high rainfall regions of Australia, so we’re looking seriously at launching this as a commercial product here,” said Jason.
“This could have important commercial benefits for Australian growers because Explorer is used by the world’s largest brewer AB InBev in its flagship beer Budweiser.
“AB InBev is on record as wanting to expand its premium beer segment in China and the bulk of Australian malting barley is currently exported to China. It could be a significant opportunity for our growers.”
Typically more than 50 per cent of the barley grown in Australia originated from the Waite campus. But identifying breakthrough varieties is like finding a needle in a haystack.
“Our program generates about 25,000 potential new varieties every year and we evaluate every one of them,” he said. “But from those only about one will be commercially viable with a typical product development time of nine to 10 years.”
The Waite campus has the largest concentration of plant science research in the southern hemisphere. It hosts over 1,000 research staff, including co-located partners from the South Australian Research and Development Institute, the Australian Wine Research Institute and the CSIRO.
The University of Adelaide is a Brand South Australia member.