growing your own barley

[LeftyRighty]

(repeat from 'all grain ....')


does anyone know of a source for winter barley seed for malting/brewing?
just looking for a small quantity - an ounce to a pound.

lots of spring barley on numerous seed catalog sites, but no winter seeds.
I've been growing spring barley, for 3 years now, variable success, but want to try a winter variety
thanks

 

[MaxStout]

A quick search turned up this.

 

[signpost]

I'm sure you could get some from the USDA seed bank, but then you'd have to grow it up over several years to have enough to actually use for anything other than replanting.

 

[ffaoe]

I have purchased malting barley from Johnny's Seeds by the pound.

 

[LeftyRighty]

I have purchased malting barley from Johnny's Seeds by the pound.

.yes, so have I, but all they have is spring-plant barley.
I'm looking for a good malting winter barley.

FYI the 'Conlon' strain (lot #352) from Johnny's Seeds, that I received and planted last year was contaminated with 'loose smut', an ugly black fungus that covers the seed heads. It is seed-borne only, generally not carried by soil or machinery, but still disturbing to see a few heads (probably less than 1+%) of my crop.
I cut off the seed spikes as soon as they appeared in-smut, hoping to avoid contamination of remaining crop.

 

[k-moe]

Have you contacted your county extension agent? They know almost everything.

 

[Gerhardt]

Get ahold of your county extension agent or visit the nearest farmers cooperative. The co-op I live near sell sacks of both 2-row malting barley and 6-row feed barley for planting. Winter barley is a common cover crop in many areas so a co-op should carry it around planting time. They usually only sell 50lb bags, but you will pay the same for 50lbs as you will for a few pounds from seed companies. I think a 50lb sack of fungicide treated seed was ~$25 last time I checked.

This is especially nice if you plan to plant every year and don't want to fool with saving seed. Most gardeners will say never plant seed that is more than a year old, but I regularly do, viability goes down so just sow a little thicker.

 

[lurker18]

The AMBA list, winter varieties have the asterix,

ND Genesis joins the list along with AAC Synergy and Thoroughbred which were added
mid-year to the 2015 recommended list. For 2016, the recommended two-rowed
varieties are AAC Synergy, ABI Voyager, AC Metcalfe, CDC Copeland, CDC Meredith,
Charles*, Conlon, Conrad, Endeavor*, Expedition, Harrington, Hockett, Merit, Merit 57,
Moravian 37, Moravian 69, ND Genesis, Pinnacle, Scarlett, and Wintmalt*. Six-rowed
varieties are Celebration, Innovation, Lacey, Legacy, Quest, Stellar-ND, Thoroughbred*,
and Tradition. Malting barley growers are encouraged to contact their local elevator,
grain handler or processor to gauge market demand for varieties grown in their region
prior to seeding.

I have said before, if possible, don't go through a seed catalogue. Try to get it from a farm based source. The link above does not state any variety, so there is no way of knowing if it is a malt or feed variety, and trust me there is a huge difference in the final product. Also note, they are trying to get the sympathetics to get the seed because it is NON GMO, what they don't tell you is there are no GMO cereal grains anywhere. But don't let the truth get in the way of a good story.