The Saskatchewan Barley Development Commission (SaskBarley) and Labatt announced on Thursday a new graduate scholarship program that will support research into improved barley varieties.
"A scholarship focused on the advancement of barley production, so graduate students that are researching barley production in Canada, they are eligible for a $10,000 scholarship. Master's students are eligible to receive up to $4,000, with PhD students eligible to receive up to $6,000 annually. It's a partnership with SaskBarley, and we're really excited about it." said Ivana Yelich, the Head of Government Affairs for Labatt.
"Without new research and new innovation, we don't have an industry, really, it comes down to it, right? Look at the innovation we've had over the last 40, 50 years, we drive the yield growth for farmers (and) drive their profitability. We need that looking forward for the next 20, 30, 40 years." said Jillian McDonald, Executive Director of SaskBarley."
"There are so many different aspects in varieties. Yield is, of course, really important for farmers, that's how they make their money. But we also look at the disease resistance; the better disease resistance we can put into the varieties, the fewer chemicals that need to be used, so that's kind of the sustainability piece, and then what we're focused on is that end-use quality and making sure that those malt barley varieties work well for processors. Within our evaluations of these new varieties, we probably look at 20 or 25 different specifications on quality alone." said Gina Feist, the Executive Director of the Brewing and Malting Barley Research Institute.
Thursday's announcement as made on Stewart Lawrence’s farm in the Rosetown area. He supports the investment in malt barley research and loves to do his own “on-farm research."
"I love to work on the things that I call "free." I have to seed a crop every year; but the date that I seed, the depth that I seed it, how fast I drive the drill, and how much seed I'm putting in the ground—those things are within my management control. I like to play with those variables to see how I can improve my yields without adding more inputs. It's just a honing of your process." said Lawrence.
The barley scholarship will be administered through SaskBarley’s existing application process.
(With files from Neil Billinger, CJWW)
