Who's grown some barley or has some farming experience?

[rexbanner]

I'm going to try my hand at growing some barley. I have a 20x40 space to work with that gets full sun, but has bad drainage. I'd like to prepare the area next week so it will be ready for next spring. I live in northern VA. I'd like to grow organically if it's not too much of a pain in the ass. I own The Homebrewer's garden and I put together a little plan, if anyone could take a look and tell me what they think, that'd be great.

1. Till the soil. Create a crowned surface that slopes towards a perimeter of french drains that drain into some dry wells. Nothing too fancy, just some pipe, gravel, and 5 gallon buckets buried in the soil.

2. Amend the soil with compost and lime. Plant a cover crop of buckwheat. Plow this under as soon as flowering starts.

3. Next spring, amend the soil again. Since barley needs to be planted in the late spring, use a flame weeder to kill emerging weeds in the time leading up to this.

4. Plant by broadcasting. When finished, rake the seeds and cover with a thin layer of mulch. The barley should have no problem pushing through.

5. Harvest when ripe. Replant buckwheat, this time harvest it instead of plowing under.

Sound good?

 

[ktm250]

Overall it is not a bad plan. I would recommend getting a soil test before adding nutrients to the soil. This will give you a much better idea of what specific nutrients are needed so you do not add too much of any one thing. Randomly applying fertilizer can be just as bad as no fertilizer.

Another thing to think about is your soil structure. Is it clay, sand, loam or a mixture of any of the three. Also, what is the root cause of the poor drainage. If it is a low lying area then it may be very hard to get enough water away.

A good place to start would be to contact your local extension agent, who would know your area and proper agricultural practices to use for certain crops in your area. Here is Marylands Extension http://www.extension.umd.edu/

Virginia's Extensionhttp://www.ext.vt.edu/

What are your plans for harvest?

 

[rexbanner]

Overall it is not a bad plan. I would recommend getting a soil test before adding nutrients to the soil. This will give you a much better idea of what specific nutrients are needed so you do not add too much of any one thing. Randomly applying fertilizer can be just as bad as no fertilizer.

Another thing to think about is your soil structure. Is it clay, sand, loam or a mixture of any of the three. Also, what is the root cause of the poor drainage. If it is a low lying area then it may be very hard to get enough water away.

A good place to start would be to contact your local extension agent, who would know your area and proper agricultural practices to use for certain crops in your area. Here is Marylands Extension http://www.extension.umd.edu/

Virginia's Extensionhttp://www.ext.vt.edu/

What are your plans for harvest?

I'm not too worried because I have several people who can I talk to: a landscape architect, a civil engineer, a horticulturalist who works for AB, and an owner of a very successful greenhouse. Two of those people are VA Tech graduates. I definitely will be able to work out the specific nutrients I need.

The land itself is near a small pond and is fairly close to floodplain from a large creek. The soil is high in clay. However, like I said, I am friends with a landscape architect and civil engineer who are Tech graduates. I've already talked to the landscape architect and we are working on a system to drain the area. It needs some work, but it isn't unusable land by any means.

For harvest, I'm going to use a hand sickle. I plan to tie the barley in bundles and leave it to dry for a week whenever it ripens and I have a week of relatively dry weather to work with.

Thanks a lot for the help and the links. From what I read off the VA site, it appears that barley is a viable crop in VA, and I definitely will contact an agent. I've read up on flame weeding, and from what I understand, it should work but it is definitely more labor intensive than using round-up.

 

[frydogbrews]

good luck.
still get a real soil test. they barely cost peanuts and and anything else is a guess.

 

[ktm250]

No problem. The local extensions are great people to work with here in Ohio. Its a good place to start for any ag venture. Harvest sounds good, but see if you can pick up a scythe, you can find them at auctions, etc. Even if its a hundred years old if its in good condition just sharpen the blade and go at it. Much quicker than a hand sickle. I have one myself I bought for $3 at a farm auction.

Also, take a sample of grain to the local grain elevator and have them test the moisture before you try long term storage. Definitely need to be below at least 15%, below 12% for best long term storage.

 

[rexbanner]

No problem. The local extensions are great people to work with here in Ohio. Its a good place to start for any ag venture. Harvest sounds good, but see if you can pick up a scythe, you can find them at auctions, etc. Even if its a hundred years old if its in good condition just sharpen the blade and go at it. Much quicker than a hand sickle. I have one myself I bought for $3 at a farm auction.

Also, take a sample of grain to the local grain elevator and have them test the moisture before you try long term storage. Definitely need to be below at least 15%, below 12% for best long term storage.

What would you say is long term? I'm assuming I would harvest some time in mid to late summer. Malting needs to be done when you have a period of 50 degree average temps, so I'd probably need to wait until late october or early november. When I take a sample, would a one quart air-tight mason jar work?

 

[ktm250]

I would say longer than 6 months is long term. Regardless the moisture content needs to be low. A one quart mason jar would work for a sample amount.

Also, I agree with frydog that a soil test is cheap insurance. I bet your VT buddies would agree. Do one every year, so small adjustments (i.e. cheaper) can be made. That is also something that your local extension can help with.

 

[Germelli1]

I have grown barley in Northern Va (40 acre fields) every season of the year. Granted it is feed grade so we aren't too interested in advanced soil testing/conditions. We have done barley, wheat, and oats during every season so my main advice would be to just keep it simple at first.

Barley is a VERY easy crop to grow...it has sprouted in its own hay bails, horse/cow poop (after going through the animals), in bits of mulch stuck in a truck bed, in bits of animal bedding stuck in the gator bed, etc etc.

I don't see anything wrong with your initial plan...I just personally would not bother with some of the additional steps!

 

[rexbanner]

I have grown barley in Northern Va (40 acre fields) every season of the year. Granted it is feed grade so we aren't too interested in advanced soil testing/conditions. We have done barley, wheat, and oats during every season so my main advice would be to just keep it simple at first.

Barley is a VERY easy crop to grow...it has sprouted in its own hay bails, horse/cow poop (after going through the animals), in bits of mulch stuck in a truck bed, in bits of animal bedding stuck in the gator bed, etc etc.

I don't see anything wrong with your initial plan...I just personally would not bother with some of the additional steps!

Thanks, that really gives me a lot of confidence. When I'm brewing, I'm one of those guys who will go the extra mile if it really can make a difference, but I'm also a bit lazy, so if it can save me some time I am all for it.

What would you recommend I do? I'd love to cut down on the workload. However, this is kind of an experiment to brew as good as beer I can from ingredients I grow myself, so I don't want to cut any corners. I am willing to work but if it's not worth the time, please tell me.

 

[Germelli1]

Thanks, that really gives me a lot of confidence. When I'm brewing, I'm one of those guys who will go the extra mile if it really can make a difference, but I'm also a bit lazy, so if it can save me some time I am all for it.

What would you recommend I do? I'd love to cut down on the workload. However, this is kind of an experiment to brew as good as beer I can from ingredients I grow myself, so I don't want to cut any corners. I am willing to work but if it's not worth the time, please tell me.

I absolutely love your enthusiasm and the plan you have laid out! I am not one to cut corners at all, but since I have no experience with cereal grains other than for feed purposes, I don't know what is involved with malt grade barley. Our aims are to get the seed for feed, hay for feed and straw for bedding.

So our soil treatment was less involved:
Rotating the fields with different crops
Grinding and composing manure
Spreading it on the fields between plantings
Plowing it under
Disking the soil to break up the clumps of earth
Then disking or raking it over and over again until we get a good looking field without divots to collect and hold water.

I think with minimal soil treatments you will get a substantial crop, and that any further efforts you put in will add to that!

I worked for 7 years at frying pan park if you are familiar with it.

 

[ktm250]

Yeah, most cereal grains are easy to grow, they are basically just like grass. Most will sprout by themselves and be fine. The reason I suggested soil testing and proper field prep, etc. is because it is just a 20x40 area. You need to maximize yield and be concerned growing conditions, weeds and disease for the small plot.

In a 40 acre field the losses and variation are less noticeable as they are spread out over 1,742,400 sq. ft. not 800 sq. ft. Rust, yellow dwarf or some powdery mildew could take the whole plot with no problem. The Virginia Tech college of Agriculture has a great disease page. Look it over.

Then again I could be over analyzing. I work in ag research and spend my days looking for disease, etc. Forest for the trees and all that.

 

[StMarcos]

What variety of barley are you going to grow? I sent out emails to several seed suppliers asking for a sack or so of 2-row malting barley, and NONE of them even responded. Where are you getting seed?
Cheers

 

[fifelee]

I mostly raise wheat but have done some barley. Like someone said it is easy to grow. Unless the soil has been heavily used for other crops you shouldn't have to fertalize much. Too much nitrogen will make high protein barley. Malters/brewers want low protein so their beer will clear. Your other issue will be weeds. No matter what you do you will need to be a weeding fool, unless you spray. Your plan sounds good. About all you can do without chemicals.
I used to sell malt barley seed on this forum, but they shut me down. I didn't make enough to pay for a vendor membership and they didn't want to make an exception.

 

[fifelee]

Here is another good resource:
http://www.msuextension.org/store/Products/Montana-Barley-Production-Guide__EB0186.aspx