The latest Australian malting barley varieties will have the potential to hit malthouses and breweries sooner under an improved national accreditation system launched today.
Pilot Malting Australia will enhance flexibility for barley promoters in Stage 1 by removing the need for commercial quantities of grain.
PMA simulates large-scale commercial malting using much smaller batch sizes, 100kg versus 200 tonne.
This will allow promoters to complete Stage 0 application approval and Stage 1 evaluation in the same year.
The new model is a joint investment by stakeholders, including breeders, maltsters and Australian farmers through the Grains Research and Development Corporation.
The aim was to recognise the value of accreditation to the industry, while ensuring the system is flexible and robust, with the ability to deliver information to industry in a timely manner.
Barley Australia Executive chairperson Megan Sheehy said using PMA would potentially accelerate the evaluation process and give growers access to malting barley price premiums sooner.
"As well as being more flexible, the new system will mean the Malting and Brewing Industry Barley Technical Committee will have more robust data at hand when making accreditation decisions," Dr Sheehy said.
"Importantly, the new system also recognises the need for post-accreditation market support to ensure Australian malt barley customers understand and accept newly-accredited varieties," she said.
Seasonal and regional malting data, generated by PMA, will be made available to the Australian industry to support marketing of new malting barley varieties."
Work commenced on a thorough review of the accreditation system in 2016.
Barley Australia directors were integral to this process, collaborating with all sectors in the supply chain.
New malting barley varieties will continue to be rigorously evaluated in a multi-stage process to ensure they meet the quality expectations of customers.
The program has an improved funding model, and will be more equitable, sustainable and transparent.
The Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre provided funding for PMA for five years to help establish its important role in the industry.
AEGIC is an initiative of GRDC and the WA State Government.
Start the day with all the big news in agriculture. Click here to sign up to receive our daily Stock Journal newsletter.
