Feed Barley Varieties, Agronomy, PGR's, Tillers, Fertility & Pests

8/2/2025

Barley is one of the crops we have later bookings for usually, but in recent years it's surprising how well it can fit into a rotation and price point when feed prices are good. Here are some varieties and where they fit.

All the European type barley can be slightly lower bu weight vs other barley and we recommend using them in medium to high moisture situations. They stand better and net returns are typically better even with tighter variety rules attached to them.
- SY Stanza (new)
  - 2 row European style feed barley (or non GN malt)
  - stood the best and won our 2024 grain yield demo
  - grower agreement needed
- Esma
  - 2 row European style feed barley
  - VUA on farm saved seed of $2 per ac
- Sirish
  - Feed Barley
  - It can perform amazing but is easily impacted by stress periods.
  - grower agreement needed
AB Tofield
- 6 row smooth awn barley
- As long as there is later season moisture, 6 row varieties can withstand early to mid season stress better vs 2 row's
CDC Durango (new)
- 2 row feed barley
- Canadian bred so better bushel weights on dryland vs others.
- Austenson replacement
CDC Renegade
- 2 row smooth awn
- Grain or forage flex
- Grain yields like an Austenson but has swath/ bale grazing options
- taller so perfect for Dryland, but can lodge on irrigation

Barley Agronomy

Barley Plant Population:
On dryland we see a wide range of plant populations from 12-28 plants per square foot target (I'd suggest about 20 plants). On irrigation we see 20 to 30 plants per square foot with 28 being pretty common. Where we see some changes are with European types and Bill Coors 100 where people are dropping plant populations lower because they tiller more. So 20-25 plants seems to be where people are going to on those.

Barley PGR's
We love to use PGR's on barley. Generally we like to use Modus on barley, its window is tight so make sure you are at the right timing: https://www.syngenta.ca/productsdetail/moddus/multiple%20crops#application We usually like to spray it as a separate pass from herbicides, although you can tank mix.
Sometimes we will even do 2 passes or 1.5 passes in crop depending on the lodging risk.
Here is a link to a lodging webinar we hosted: https://youtu.be/iFk9Y4YL4pg?si=WfWRV8nLLqSn8SLR

Barley Fertility
Generally we make sure there is about 250-275+ lbs per ac of nitrogen on our barley crops.
This past year we had high residual N in the soil and we do variable rate so here was one fields example:

95 lbs per ac residual N
Applied 130-160 lbs of 46-0-0 in MRB and 80 lbs 11-52 with seed

Some years and fields we will place a lower rate of N at seeding so the tanks on the drill empty at the same time as the seed and then we come back and spin spread on at the 3-4 leaf stage and water the nitrogen in.

This article below showcases old research on advanced barley management's impact on yield, and I think it would be even more with the higher yielding European varieties:
https://canadianagronomist.ca/9-3-higher-feed-barley-yield-with-advanced-agronomic-practices/

And a barley fertility article comparing malts to feeds: https://www.topcropmanager.com/does-feed-barley-really-require-more-n-than-malt/

Barley Pests
Thrips can impact barley and we have seen them in the boot stage of the crop: https://www.syngenta.ca/pests/insects/thrips--barley/barley

Barley can be more prone to disease vs other cereals.
This is a crop where I recommend 100% of the time to seed treat as smut can be controlled this way.
Net & Spot Blotch, Scald are main diseases of barley:
Here are pictures: https://www.countygp.ab.ca/en/living-in-our-community/Pest%20And%20Disease/Barley-Scald.pdf

A great disease diagnostic video for barley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2supHVg2Plc

Barley Agronomy from the UK
I was sent this link about barley agronomy & seeding rates from the UK for spring barley there and about tiller retention and found it interesting: https://lgseeds.co.uk/barley-yield-is-all-about-tiller-retention/