USA: Heart-healthy barleys could add zest to already strong markets

Just a half year ago, the Idaho Barley Commission shipped Japanese buyers a specialty barley that looks, cooks, tastes and feels almost like rice, but its high levels of a soluble fiber called beta glucan make it healthier for Japanese-and American-hearts, Seed Quest reported May 31.

"The Japanese are very deliberative. It can take a year to come into their market," says administrator Kelly Olson. But within three months, the Japanese were buying 'Salute,' a WestBred high beta-glucan barley, from a southern Idaho firm, and within six months, growers in northern Idaho were contracting with Genesee Union to produce a Japan-bound crop for 2007.

"It's definitely new to us," says Sam White, the cooperative's grain department manager. "I'm going to be as interested watching it as the next person out there."

It's not quite so new to University of Idaho crop management specialist Brad Brown, who has included barleys with elevated levels of beta glucan in his variety and fertilizer trials for the past few years. Brown says they've yielded 80 to 90 percent as much as typical feed barleys in his southwestern Idaho and eastern Oregon tests. In Moscow, counterpart Stephen Guy is examining the extent to which different seed treatments and seeding rates can improve yields, while colleague Juliet Windes in southeastern Idaho is investigating whether plant physiology or plant diseases may be undermining seedling emergence under challenging conditions.

Even without focused breeding for high beta glucan content, barley contains more of the soluble fiber than other grains. In part, that's because beta glucan is found throughout the kernel: remove the bran and you've still got a heart-healthy product. But demand for malt and animal feed-not human food-have historically driven barley's markets, and Olson says less than 3 percent of the U.S. crop goes to human consumption. Since May 2006, however, the Food and Drug Administration has allowed foods containing at least 0.75 grams of soluble fiber per serving to bear the health claim that they "may reduce the risk of heart disease"-and Olson expects that labeling to start making a difference.

"There's a huge amount of excitement out there," she says. "You can get health benefits without taking a pill. It's more natural, it's less expensive and it works."

Idaho growers-who produce the nation's second-largest barley crop-are already enjoying healthy barley prices. Demand for biofuel corn boosted barley prices beyond $7 a hundredweight earlier this season-a whopping $3 more than a year ago-and growers have responded by increasing plantings to an estimated 550,000 acres. Previously, Idaho acreage had slipped steadily from 1,370,000 in 1984 to 530,000 last year, says Paul Patterson, University of Idaho Extension agricultural economist.

Patterson says demand for high beta-glucan barleys could be the icing on the cake-or even help keep the cake from caving in. "Diversification improves your position in the market from a risk management standpoint," he says. "If we have feed barley prices between $7 and $8, anybody can make money growing feed barley. If things drop back to a more normal level, specialty varieties may be beneficial, particularly if they are grown under a contract."

The driving force behind the demand for healthy diets is independent of the driving force for ethanol, Patterson notes. "If the ethanol thing collapses, you'll still have a demand for healthy diets, which is what drives the interest in beta glucan."

Much of what's fueling the interest in high beta-glucan barleys among Idaho growers is Treasure Valley Renewable Resources' fractionation plant, soon to be under construction in Ontario, Ore. Project manager John Hamilton says the plant will feed both the demand for healthy foods and the demand for domestic fuels by separating barley's components. The crop's beta glucan will go to nutraceutical markets, its protein will be sold for fish feed and the rest will be converted to ethanol.

Hamilton has hopes for both WestBred's 'Salute'-the same variety that Genesee Union is growing for Japan-and for an especially promising WestBred line called YU 599-006. Under irrigated conditions, 'Salute' offers nearly the yield of standard-setter Baronesse and-at 6 to 7 percent-about twice the beta glucan, says WestBred barley breeder Dale Clark. He notes that YU 599-006's beta glucan content is even higher-in the 8 to 9 percent range-and so is its irrigated yield.

Although the market for food barleys is still developing, WestBred commercial manager Kevin Hodges says "we do see a lot of interest, and a growing interest, and we're very excited about the food barley market."

Three other high beta-glucan lines-all from the USDA Agricultural Research Center at Aberdeen-have also captured Hamilton's eye. At Aberdeen, barley breeder Don Obert says the challenge has been developing high beta-glucan barleys that give producers the yields they've come to expect in feed and malting barleys. Hulls add 10-15 percent to yields and most high beta-glucan lines are hulless, Obert says. Hulless varieties are an advantage for buyers-who don't have to pay for hulls they'll only have to remove-but not necessarily for growers, who aren't reliably compensated for the characteristic. Plus, the high beta-glucan quality comes at a genetic cost. "Typically, with 10 percent or more beta glucan, you get a lot of agronomic problems," Obert says. "I'm more apt to look at something that has 8 percent beta glucan that yields significantly better."

Later this year, the ARS plans to release a new line, 01AH2812, with 8.5 percent beta glucan. It averages about 65 percent of Baronesse's yield across both irrigated and dryland conditions, Obert says, and should be followed in 2009 or 2010 with superior varieties. "That's always your goal-to continually be releasing something that's better than its predecessor."

"We're trying to make sure we have sustainable, productive, agricultural systems for our growers," says Windes of the University of Idaho research and extension trials. "We really do have a great market potential for these food-barley varieties. The future is bright."

Founded in 1889, the University of Idaho is the state's flagship higher-education institution and its principal graduate education and research university, bringing insight and innovation to the state, the nation and the world. University researchers attract nearly $100 million in research grants and contracts each year; the University of Idaho is the only institution in the state to earn the prestigious Carnegie Foundation ranking for high research activity. The university's student population includes first-generation college students and ethnically diverse scholars. Its high academic performers include 42 National Merit Scholars and a 2006-07 freshman class with an average high school grade point average of 3.42. Offering more than 150 degree options in 10 colleges, the university combines the strengths of a large university with the intimacy of small learning communities.

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