Barley

Barley divides into malting and feed, and the gap between them is wide. Malting barley is a living seed: germination energy and capacity, protein within a narrow band, plumpness and freedom from pre-germination all have to hold, and a lot failing any one becomes feed barley at a materially different price.

Variety acceptance gates the malting trade. Maltsters work from accepted variety lists, and a barley that performs well agronomically but is not on the relevant list is not malting barley for that customer regardless of its analysis.

Feed barley is bought on energy and price with a looser specification. Pearled barley is a processed food product with its own grading.

Production is concentrated in Alberta and Saskatchewan, and malting selection happens after harvest, which is why availability at a tight specification is not guaranteed by acreage.