Entrepreneurship, Training and Trade
Commodities: Barley
About the Industry | Processing | Trade | Tradition & Quality | Info | Industry Links
The Manitoba Advantage
Manitoba's unique climate and central location make it one of the most productive barley-growing areas in the world.
The long warm summer days characteristic of the Canadian prairies, our clean environment and the large fertile land base provide excellent growing conditions for some of the world's highest quality barley.
Our cold winter months also greatly reduce our exposure to some of the crop diseases more commonly found in warmer climates.
Manitoba's location, in the heart of North America, is close to major processors in Canada and the United States and, being directly located on north-south and east-west shipping routes, Manitoba receives superior service by road, air and rail.
Thus, our central location coupled with its unique climate results in accessible, high quality barley.
About the Industry
Canada is one of the world's largest barley producers and exporters, and its barley is renowned for a consistent high quality, which is advantageous to the malt, feed, and food industries.
Over 50 barley varieties are registered for production in Western Canada including 8 hulless, 13 malting and several others ideally suited to feed.
Within Manitoba, the level of barley production peaked in the early 1980s with annual harvests of greater than 2 million acres. In recent years however, barley production has declined, largely resulting from low barley prices on the world market.
Manitoba's year 2001 level of barley production was 1.10 million acres, which represents approximately 10% of Canada's annual barley crop.
Processing
Each year a portion of Manitoba's barley crop is selected for use by either the domestic or foreign food and beverage industries.
Some of the selected or designated barley is processed into food, such as pot or pearl barley, while the remainder is used for malt. Manitoba has one major maltster, Dominion Malting Ltd., and the malt is either used by the province's breweries, such as Fort Garry Brewing Co. Ltd., or exported.
The remaining barley that was not selected for the food and beverage industries is used domestically for animal feed, mainly in Manitoba's growing pork industry. Contracts and options for feed barley can be traded on the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange.
Trade
The majority of Manitoba's exported barley is malting barley in the unprocessed form, while smaller amounts of barley malt and malt extract is also exported.
Our barley products are exported to several different countries around the world including the United States, China, Japan and Mexico.
The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) represents western Canadian barley producers as their sole exporter of barley, providing the producers with the competitive advantage of the single-desk selling of barley.
While many of the export contracts are negotiated directly between the CWB and the buyer, there are also sales through a CWB Accredited Exporter, which is a national or multinational company authorized to purchase barley from the CWB for resale to consumers.
Tradition & Quality
Canada has consistently been a major producer of high-quality barley on the world stage.
Canada's barley is subject to the strict quality standards of the Canadian Grain Commission's grain quality control program, which includes varietal control, licensing of elevators, product inspection and weighing, and sanitation and quality monitoring programs.
As well, extensive research and development, focussing on barley technology, is conducted each year at the University of Manitoba, government locations and processing facilities.
Some of the ongoing research in the province focuses on the development of enhanced barley cultivars with those qualities that meet specific customer needs.
These projects, and those ongoing in other provinces in Canada, continually make Manitoba, and Canada, a leader in barley varietal and processing development.
