Grown in the North and West of Britain

Barley is a type of grass that has grain like wheat.  Grain is the seeds that grow at the end of the stalk.  These can be ground up to make flour that can be used to make bread.   But Barley is very important for the production of beer and ales.  It is the second most grown crop in the UK and has a history going back 10,000 years.

The growing conditions in the North and West of Britain are far less favourable for wheat.  This is why Barley is grown there.  It has a short growing time and 6.5 million tonnes of Barley are grown each year in the UK.  About 1.5 tonnes are sent abroad, 2 million tonnes are used for making beer and 3 million tonnes are used to feed animals.

It is easy to spot Barley because of the long spikes that come out of each grain.  These are called awns.  It can also be seen easily when the wind blows in early summer as the wind makes waves through the Barley crop.

Barley can be used for different things and can put up with bad weather but it does not produce as big a crop as wheat.  This is why it is often grown as the second cereal. For example a field might grow wheat first, then barley, then a crop like sugar beet before returning to wheat and so on.  In the 1970s and 1980s Barley was grown continuously in the same field but this does not happen very often now.

Winter barley is planted in the autumn and barley is also planted in the spring.  About half is grown in the winter.  Winter barley produces more but it is a poorer quality so it is mostly used in animal feeds whereas the spring varieties are often used for malting (see below). The winter crop is normally harvested in July with the spring sown crops following about a month later.

Malting is where the barley has water added to encourage it to start growing again.  Then it is dried in kilns to stop the process. The malted barley has lots more flavour and is used by brewers and distillers in the production of beers and spirits as well as in a number of other food products. The quality of barley needed for malting is higher and usually achieved by the lower yielding spring varieties.

Barley for malting is sent all over the world, often to countries like China that have developed the western taste for beer. Barley that is sold for malting is more expensive to buy.  Half of all the barley produced becomes animal feed.

So next summer if you are in the countryside can you see barley and wheat growing?

Date

3/3/2008