Industry Updates from SEABAC Autumn Meeting

Industry Updates from Autumn Meeting

30 industry representatives joined the autumn meeting via a virtual Teams meeting on the 9th of March 2022. SEABAC values the vital and ongoing support of the barley industry for these important meetings.

There were 8 topics on the agenda for discussion, with some key points as follows:

SEABAC page on the Barley Australia website is now live. This includes regional industry news section and a calendar of events, plus a members only online section where upcoming and previous meeting documents can be accessed.
Barley Australia has released its 1^st Accredited Variety Malt Performance Summary for the recently accredited variety Maximus.
Grains Australia recently appointed international specialist Dr John Ackerman as General Manager Trade and Market Access and experienced leader Dr Megan Sheehy as General Manager Classification.
The MBIBTC provided an update on newly accredited varieties and varieties progressing through the program in 2022 and beyond.
Grower and agronomy seasonal harvest updates were presented for the various regions. Very successful harvest overall. Quality depending on areas affected by the late rain. Updates on barley receivals, container shortages, shipping and the Black Sea instability were provided, along with discussions on varietal integrity, season related brackling issues and increase in on farm storage.
The Australian trade provided insight to the conflict in the Black Sea area focusing on Ukraine and Russia impact on global grain supplies.
AGT Grains, InterGrain and SECOBRA Recherches/Seednet updated the council on current barley varieties, and also provided an overview of what is coming through the pipeline. Discussion was held around recently accredited malt varieties as well as new varieties developed purely for the feed market.
AEGIC summarised market outreach activities to date and advised they will continue online malting and feed barley webinars and grower seasonal updates in 2022.