Response of malting barley cultivars to increasing nitrogen rates in western Canada B.D. Tidemann J.T. O Donovan Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Lacombe
Collaborating Scientists Neil Harker and Kelly Turkington AAFC Lacombe Marta Izydorczyk Canadian Grain Commission Lori Oatway Alberta Agriculture and Forestry Brian Beres AAFC Lethbridge Cecil Vera AAFC Melfort Greg Semach AAFC Beaverlodge Ramona Mohr AAFC Brandon Jessica Weber Western Applied Research Corporation
Acknowledgements Western Grains Research Foundation Alberta Barley Commission Brewing and Malting Barley Research Institute Rahr Malting National Barley Cluster Growing Forward II Technical support and summer students at each site
Malt barley in western Canada ~2.5 million ha of total barley Top varieties: CDC Copeland, AC Metcalfe Canadian Grain Commission 2016
Malt barley in western Canada Premium for malt barley vs. feed barley Difficulty achieving malt quality 15 quality targets Grain protein is one of the quality targets 11-12.5%
The nitrogen conflict Producers goal is to increase yield Nitrogen effectively increases yield Nitrogen increases protein Less chance of malt quality Are there varieties that show less response to nitrogen in quality?
Previous Studies CDC Meredith and Merit 57 had lower protein By 90 kg/ha > 12.5% Merit 57 had highest yield Merit 57 also had later maturity Other varieties?
Trial Locations 60º N Lat. Fort Vermillion Alberta Saskatchewan Manitoba Canadian Shield Beaverlodge Vegreville Lacombe Scott Melfort Gray Dark Gray Black Lethbridge Dark Brown 49º N Lat. Indian Head Brandon Brown
Materials and Methods The trial was conducted over 4 years under direct seeding conditions 2 factor factorial, RCBD 5 varieties AC Metcalfe AAC Synergy CDC Kindersley Voyager Cerveza 4 nitrogen rates (kg/ha) 0 25 50 100
Where are these varieties from? AC Metcalfe: AAFC, Brandon, MB AAC Synergy: AAFC, Brandon, MB Cerveza: AAFC, Brandon, MB CDC Kindersley: CDC, Saskatoon, SK ABI Voyager, Busch Agricultural Resources LLC, Fort Collins, USA
Statistical Analysis Analyzed in Proc Mixed in SAS Variety, nitrogen and their interaction as fixed effects Replicate, site-year, and the site-year interaction with variety and treatment as random effects Results are presented across site-years α = 0.05
Kg/ha Yield 6000 5500 5000 4500 4000 3500 3000 0 25 50 100 Nitrogen Rate (kg/ha) Kindersley Cerveza Voyageur Synergy Metcalfe Contrasts with Metcalfe Kindersley p = 0.0016 Cerveza p < 0.0001 Voyager p < 0.0001 Synergy p < 0.0001
% protein Protein 13 12.5 12 11.5 11 10.5 10 0 25 50 100 Nitrogen rate (kg/ha) Kindersley Cerveza Voyager Synergy Metcalfe Contrasts with Metcalfe Kindersley p = 0.4095 Cerveza p = 0.0135 Voyager p < 0.0001 Synergy p < 0.0001
% protein Protein 13 12.5 12 11.5 11 10.5 10 0 25 50 100 Nitrogen rate (kg/ha) Kindersley Cerveza Voyager Synergy Metcalfe Contrasts with Metcalfe Kindersley p = 0.4095 Cerveza p = 0.0135 Voyager p < 0.0001 Synergy p < 0.0001
Days to maturity Maturity 98 97 96 95 94 93 92 91 90 0 25 50 100 Nitrogen Rate (kg/ha) Kindersley Cerveza Voyager Synergy Metcalfe Contrasts with Metcalfe Kindersley p = 0.0758 Cerveza p = 0.0001 Voyager p < 0.0001 Synergy p = 0.0002
% plump Percent Plump 100 98 96 94 92 90 Kindersley Cerveza Voyager Synergy Metcalfe 88 0 25 50 100 Nitrogen rate (kg/ha) Contrasts with Metcalfe Kindersley p = 0.591 Cerveza p = 0.2496 Voyager p < 0.0001 Synergy p < 0.0001
g/ 1000 seeds Kernel Weight 48 47 46 45 44 43 42 41 40 0 25 50 100 Nitrogen rate (kg/ha Kindersley Cerveza Voyager Synergy Metcalfe Contrasts with Metcalfe Kindersley p < 0.0001 Cerveza p < 0.0001 Voyager p < 0.0001 Synergy p < 0.0001
Conclusions All four of the new varieties were higher yielding than Metcalfe at all nitrogen rates AAC Synergy produced the highest yield regardless of nitrogen rate Synergy and Voyager both had low protein Synergy and Voyager did not have >12.5% protein at any N level
Conclusions Voyager and Synergy matured later than Metcalfe Metcalfe - 100 kg/ha Synergy - 100 kg/ha Voyager - 100 kg/ha
Conclusions Synergy and Voyager had the highest percent plump and the highest kernel weight In comparison Metcalfe, Cerveza and Kindersley had ~ same % plump Metcalfe had 2 nd lowest kernel weight
Overall Conclusions Synergy and Voyager performed well in agronomic and quality parameters Later maturity, Voyager particularly, may limit their success and adoption in more northerly regions Synergy and Voyager have the potential for more yield with lower protein checking items off the list of malt barley producers Will Synergy be the next Metcalfe?
Thank you!