Originally published in the 6/22/18 print and online edition of Yellowstone County News.
HUNTLEY — Want a beer? How about a sandwich on really good bread?
How about some sugar for your coffee or to bake a cake?
Plant research happening today at Montana State University’s Southern Agricultural Research Center at Huntley could affect all of those menu items.
Tuesday’s field day at SARC included tours of dozens of research test plots where the future of sugar beets, barley, wheat, lentils, peas and other crops is taking shape.
Dr. Kent McVay, a researcher at SARC, and Jamie Sherman, a plant pathologist assigned to the Bozeman campus, are in the midst of a multi-year study crossing a gene from a barley variety called Karl with a barley variety called Hockett, which has shown higher yields. The study is designed to measure how using fertilizer to increase yields affects protein levels.
In malt barley, lower protein levels are useful in the malting process, McVay said. The experiment is duplicated in Bozeman and at the Moccasin station, he said. The Moccasin trial had poor results last year because of drought, but may turn out better after this year’s wet spring, he said.
Yields at Huntley, on the other hand, may be lower because wet conditions delayed spring planting into May, McVay said.
Lower protein levels can lead to better results during malting, where barley is soaked in water and heat-dried to reach a preferred ratio of starch and enzymes, which are later converted to sugars.
At a separate test plot, Sherman told growers and others attending the tour that some of her work is honing in on one gene that reduces protein in barley seed.
“A really important malt quality trait is malt extract,” Sherman said. The right level of malt extract leads to better yeast fermentation in the beer brewing process and is sought after by brewing companies who buy barley from growers, she said. Too much protein can limit malt extract.
After several years of studying barley varieties, genes and selective plant breeding, Sherman said, a new barley variety — so new it doesn’t even have a name yet — is scheduled to be released later this year.
She and other plant breeders are also developing new lines of winter barley, which they expect to do well in Montana’s growing conditions, and forage barley.
Wheat researchers growing test plots at SARC said there is a continuing search for just the right varieties. The plants need to be just the right height so they can put energy into seed development, rather than stem growth, and need higher protein levels for use in both breads and pasta.
Dr. Luther Talbert of the MSU Plant Science and Plant Pathology Department said the key appears to be combining … Read full story in print and/or online edition of Yellowstone County News here.
