Grain specifications under the spotlight at trials event
The key importance of hitting market specifications for grain grown for malting and distilling – especially in light of growing competition from barley grown south of the Border – will be the focus of a trials event at Cauldshiel Farm in East Lothian later this month.
And the management decision required to secure the quality requirements for the home markets for malt, distilling and milling will be centre stage at the event which is being organised by SRUC.
“Scotch whisky and, increasingly, gin are both great global success stories and they are here on our doorstep. Making sure that Scottish cereals remain the supply of choice for these growing markets is a priority,” said SAC Consulting’s Jonathan Black.
“With more spring barley being grown elsewhere in the UK to meet greening requirements and control troublesome grass weeds, Scottish malting barley is not always the buyer’s only option.
“The same goes for soft wheat for distilling, so growers need to ensure their variety choice meets the requirements of these markets.”
The event, which starts at 4.45pm on Thursday 28 June at Cauldshiel Farm, near East Saltoun, Haddington, EH41 4JR – courtesy of farmers Keith and Scott Maxwell.
It is organised under the Scottish Government’s Farm Advisory Service (FAS) programme.
Featuring more than 2000 plots, as well as the usual focus on variety performance, grown to provide information for the regional list varieties of wheat and barley, research trials on nitrogen use efficiency, fungicide performance, novel seed treatments and cover crop demonstration plots will also be on display. James Brosnan from the Scotland Whisky Research Institute will provide an industry view of the technical requirements for cereals in the distilling process.
Julian Bell, Senior Rural Business consultant at SAC Consulting, will highlight how the expected tightening of global and UK grain stocks could affect local grain markets and opportunities for farmers to improve the resilience of their arable businesses.
“Rising grain prices are welcome, but will need to be maximised given concern over cereal yield potential and higher costs,” said Bell.