North Carolina has always had a strong agricultural economy, with much of the Western part of the state rich with farmland and livestock. Many of these farmers produce products for North Carolina businesses, and the recent boom of the craft beer industry in particular has increased the demand for area produced barley. This increase in demand has prompted research into developing barley suitable for our environment, and these research efforts are happening right in our backyard.
David Marshall is the location coordinator and research leader of the Plant Science Research Unit at N.C. State University, as well as a professor of plant pathology and crop science. Marshall’s team, which includes himself, a molecular biologist, a pathologist, and a physiologist, has been working to develop a new variety of malting barley bred for growth and production in North Carolina and surrounding states.
“Barley has always been grown here in North Carolina and was a substantial profit at one time. Its main use back in the ‘70s was for animal feed and rations,” Marshall said “A few years ago, we started a barley breeding program to extend the end use of barley for North Carolina.”
Marshall said the expansion of the craft beer industry in the area is one of the factors that led to begin research on developing malting barley that could be grown locally.
“In recent years, the brewing of barley has really caught on, for micro-breweries and things of that nature,” Marshall said. “People have been wanting to get more of a local product.”
Marshall took time to explain some of the specific goals of his research, including some of the technicalities behind the science.
“What we wanted to do was to take the barleys that were adapted to North Carolina, and put malt qualities into them,” Marshall said. “That’s a higher enzyme ability, to break down starch and make alcohol, as well as what’s called an extract ability, which comes from a starch that’s in the barley grain. The more starch you have in there, the higher the amount of malt you get. We tried to increase the amount of that starch and also increase the enzyme ability.”
Though this research has been going on for a few years, it takes a considerable amount of time to develop a sizable amount of any new breed of barley.
“It takes about seven to 10 years from when you make a cross between two wheats or barleys and when you have enough seed of the type you really want,” Marshall said. “Our first crosses for malting were started in 2008. So right now things are progressing, we’re making crosses in the greenhouse and selecting out the types we want in each generation.
“We’re to the point where we think we’re 2 or 3 years away from having something farmers can actually grow. And that’s a variety that can be completely grown and produced in North Carolina.”
Marshall said there has already been interest in using this new barley from breweries large and small.
“Some of the big brewers are interested in North Carolina barleys as well,” Marshall said. “Sierra Nevada is putting in a very large brew plant just outside of Asheville. They’re going to be some major users of barley from North Carolina, as well as the hundreds of microbreweries throughout the state. And hopefully, we’ll have enough interest from the maltsters to develop a good malt that can be purchased by the brewers.”
According to Marshall, the current results of the project are promising.
“We think we have types now that look pretty good, as far as their adaptation to the state,” Marshall said. “They have all the characteristics a farmer would want, plus have the malting characteristics as well.”
