- Barley is a cereal crop.
- It is a strain of grass that is cultivated and harvested for it’s grain.
- There are many different varieties of barley, some are sown in the Spring and some in the Autumn.
- Spring sown barley is known as Spring barley and is harvested in early August.
- Autumn sown barley is known as Winter barley and is harvested in mid July.
- Winter barley is higher yielding than Spring barley.
- Barley is grown for it’s high food value for animals.
- The energy content of barley is lower than that of wheat.
- An ear of barley has long spikes on it known as awns.
- When the barley crop is ripe the ear points towards the ground.
- A barley ear contains an average of 30 grains.
- Barley is used mainly for malting and as animal feed.
- Malting is the process where barley grain is germinated, converting the starch into maltose sugar.
- This sugar is then used in brewing and distilling to produce alcohol.
- Barley used for malting must be low in protein. The grower achieves this by controlling nitrogen fertiliser input.
- High protein barley is used as animal feed for pigs and cattle.
- Barley used for human consumption is dehusked to get rid of the fibre and sold as pearl barley or as a breakfast cereal.
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