Meeting 9 - Grains for Brewing and Distilling Virtual Happy Hour
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EmailDr. Rich Horsley, barley breeder at North Dakota State University, shared his thoughts and experiences in breeding malting barley for “non-traditional” barley growing regions, like… the Great Lakes and the Northeast!
There are a few malting barley lines that originated from NDSU that will look very familiar to Michigan growers and maltsters: Conlon, Pinnacle, and ND Genesis.
Their performance here is very different than in their “home” region in the Red River Valley of North Dakota, but they have provided us with valuable insights into how barley genetics can interact with the local environments in different and sometimes unexpected ways.
As a primary force behind the Eastern Spring Barley Nursery (ESBN), which has been testing spring barley varieties across multiple states for over 6 years, Dr. Horsley has been targeting barley lines that possess the disease and sprout resistance needed for success in places like Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Massachusetts, New York, etc.