Australia: ABB Grain-owned Joe White Maltings will cease to accept Dhow grain as malting variety from 2007

ABB Grain’s wholly owned malting subsidiary, Joe White Maltings, will cease accepting Dhow grain as a malting barley variety from the 2007/2008 harvest, ABB Grain released September 27.

The decision is the result of continued, reduced South Australian production of the variety and availability of more suitable varieties, including Baudin and the higher yielding, more disease-resistant Flagship.

ABB Grain will continue receiving Dhow but from the 2007/2008 harvest will segregate it as feed barley.

Joe White Maltings’ chief operating officer, Andrew Gee, said that Dhow was being superseded by varieties more suitable for malting.

“There’s been a steady move by maltsters around Australia to reduce the number of varieties used for malt making and, from Joe White’s point of view, Baudin is a variety we particularly can’t get enough of,” Mr Gee said.

“Also, Flagship, which was developed by the University of Adelaide’s barley breeding program, and commercialised by ABB Grain, has far greater potential than Dhow, being specifically developed for large brewing and malting markets in Japan, China and South East Asia.”

Mr Gee said ABB was sending a clear market signal to growers of its preferred varieties that best suited the needs of customers in Australia and overseas.

“We’re asking growers to seriously look at Baudin or Flagship as a replacement for Dhow, when they come to consider planting next year,” he said.

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