Date of Planting and Nitrogen Management for Winter Malt Barley Production in the Northeast, USA

Abstract

There is an increasing market for locally grown malting barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) in the Northeast US. Malting barley must meet certain quality standards for acceptability in the brewing market. Up-to-date recommendations are needed regionally for adaptation to ongoing climate change. A two-year field experiment was conducted to assess the interactive influence of three dates of planting (5 September, 15 September, and 25 September), two levels of fall N (0 or 28 kg ha−1), and three levels of spring N (28, 50.5, and 73 kg ha−1). No significant difference was detected in grain yield amongst the treatments. The date of planting and fall N application mainly affected crop growth while spring N impacted grain quality. Delayed planting led to better winter survival and reduced lodging and foliar disease. Fall N application reduced winter survival for the early September planting but had minimal other agronomic impacts. An increased spring N application rate increased grain protein and lowered falling number, but there were no treatment differences in other quality parameters. Results indicated that late September planting, application of no fall N, and moderate spring N (28 kg ha−1) resulted in the highest agronomic N efficiency and grain quality for malting barley in Northeast.

The Effect of N Fertilizer Application Timing on Wheat Yield on Chernozem Soil

“…Considering the rate of rapid climate change in the past decade, whose major implications directly affect open-sky agriculture, studies must be continued [19] regionally towards the mitigation of its negative impact, by efficient and less environmentally hazardous management of any available resource. Nitrogen fertilizers are of the most utilized artificially produced chemical compounds in agriculture worldwide due to the importance of nitrogen in crop growth.…”

Winter Malting Barley Growth, Yield, and Quality following Leguminous Cover Crops in the Northeast United States

“…This experiment indicated that even though malting barley is quite sensitive to nitrogen level in grains [13,14,18], leguminous crops may be grown before winter malting barley without damaging the yield or malting quality of the barley crop (Table 5). This result differs somewhat from research on malting barley production following legume cover crops further north in New England.…”

“…To be acceptable for malting, the barley grains should be large, low in protein, free of or very low in carcinogenic deoxynivalenol (DON) toxin [8], and sprout well during the malting process [9]. Farmers can successfully grow malting barley by combining three methods: (1) choosing a site-appropriate variety that will overwinter, resist locally common diseases, and remain upright after heading [10,11]; (2) correctly timing their harvest to avoid partial sprouting in the field and using forced air dryers if weather does not permit dry-down in the field [2,12]; and (3) using growing practices that have been shown to promote good malting quality [1,13].…”

“…Previous research has produced varietal recommendations for malting barley growing in the Northeast [10,11] as well as recommendations for planting dates and fertilization rates [13,14]. However, winter malting barley is still a relatively new and minor crop in the Northeast [15] and most scientific reports are related to the drier areas of western North America.…”

“…Since nitrogen can affect many aspects of barley malting quality, nitrogen cycling is of particular interest when considering how to integrate malting barley into a larger crop rotation. High levels of nitrogen fertilization can increase malting barley yields and grain size [17,18] but can also lead to excessive protein content [13,[17][18][19][20], lower nitrogen use efficiency [13,17,19,21], and lower falling number [13]. While leguminous crops can contribute substantial amounts of nitrogen to subsequent crops, it is unknown whether nitrogen from legumes would have the same effects on winter malting barley as soluble nitrogen sources.…”