A HYBRID cereal crop being grown for the first time in SA this year could present a new option for graingrowers in coming seasons.
Tritordeum is a newly-created cereal stemming from the crossbreeding of a wild barley native to Chile and Argentina and durum wheat, with seed suppliers hopeful it can carve a foothold in the artisan bakery market.
Neesh Foods, a niche seed developer and supplier, say Tritordeum is renowned for its mineral content, easy digestion and distinctive yellow hue and can be used in any products that traditionally use wheat or barley.
"We have been building up seed quantities since 2018 and have about 20 hectares being conventionally grown across Vic and SA, including an organically grown crop," Neesh Foods' Sam Toose said.
Mr Toose said Neesh were presently focusing on four lines of Tritordeum and comparing their agronomic fit with their baking and brewing performance.
Tritordeum has been trialled in Vic and Narrabri, NSW, with Mr Toose saying it had been consistent in many of its agronomical aspects and had stood up to common cereal diseases.
The trials concluded it preferred a similar pH to durum, while its yields in the Vic high-rainfall zone was 15 per cent below spring milling wheat yields.
"There has also been no lodging in yields of 7 tonnes a hectare, which aligns with feedback from Spain and the Netherlands where it is also being grown," Mr Toose said.
There are only two trial crops in SA, including one being grown by CamBen Farms at Finniss
CamBen's Ben Dohnt, who farms with business partner Cameron Hallett, said his baker father-in-law recently built a test bakery and said they should try out the new cereal.
"Neesh Foods sent us a batch to mill and 60 kilograms of grain to plant out and try build up a supply," Mr Dohnt said.
"From what we understand, Tritordeum is attractive to bakers because of its mineral content.
"My father-in-law is wanting to develop a few recipes for the Australian market."
MORE READING: Producers call for more home-grown fert
Mr Dohnt said the Tritordeum was sown in late July and coped well with both wet and dry spells.
He is expecting to reap 1.5-2t of grain from the 0.6ha trial paddock.
"It has powered on through and has competed well with the weed load," he said.
"Being an untested variety and not a lot of information on what chemicals can and can't be used, we've let it grow wild in this first year."
Tritordeum has performed well in Spanish trials in environments with less than 350mm rainfall and Mr Dohnt said his parents would trial the crop at Snowtown next year to gauge its potential as another crop option.
BAKERS SEE PROMISE
TRITORDEUM has the potential to create a niche market, according to wife and husband team Emily Salkeld and Chris Duffy at Small World Bakery, Langhorne Creek, who used its flour in a trial run in 2018.
Small World source particular types of grain from SA farmers for stone-milling, selling the resulting sourdough bread and flour.
While seed was being put through quarantine by Neesh Foods and bulked up in Vic, Small World were sent some stone-milled and cylinder-milled flour from Spain to test in a baking run.
"I made it into pasta, pastry and bread loaves and it was brilliant," Ms Salkeld said.
"It had a gorgeous bright yellow colour and our customers thought it not only looked great, but were very impressed with the flavour.
"I think it could go really well in the Australian market."
Ms Salkeld said if local Tritordeum was to become available, Small World would be keen to put the grain through their stone mill and see how the locally-sourced and made flour performed.
Start the day with all the big news in agriculture. Sign up here to receive our daily Stock Journal newsletter.
