Growing Barley in New Zealand?

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Permalink Reply by Chris Banks on April 27, 2013 at 2:08pm

I played around with growing some barley seed I found at the garden centre a 3mx3m plot yielded a couple of kg it grew well and looks cool when it goes golden ! - the work involved in threshing and winnowing the barley was probably the most time consuming bit!

I never got as far as malting the barley I grew as I was unsure of its variety/quality etc but there are some great videos on youtube about home malting barley.

In the Homebrewers Garden book they reckon you need 2-3kg to seed 74 square metres.

I imagine the barley seed in cattle/horse feed and the likes of what I brought at the garden centre is probably the grain that wasnt up to scratch for malting or reseeding.

Maybe try Mateurop if you want a proper malting barley from what I remember they supply the seed barley to the farmers also - http://www.malteurop.com/who-we-are/our-malting-plants/new-zealand - dont quite know what the reaction would be if you only want a couple of kg's though;-)

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Permalink Reply by John Austin on April 29, 2013 at 12:34pm

Thanks for the tip. I contacted MaltEurop to see if they can at least point me in the right direction.

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Permalink Reply by Chad Keven on April 27, 2013 at 10:15pm

I once grew some probably a 16m sq patch I did my best to separate it from the chaff or whatever. I got a couple kgs, I started to malt it but it went stinky when I didn't replace the water often enough. Plus my grain was uneven in size. But it did look cool. I got my seed from a seed specialist, but I think they sold it for bird seed.
Pretty lame and un helpful advice.........

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Permalink Reply by Ralph on April 29, 2013 at 7:34pm

Gladfields might be a more helpful place to ask. The barley they use for malting is grown in specific plots right next to the malting plant...  http://gladfieldmalt.co.nz/

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Permalink Reply by John Austin on April 30, 2013 at 6:46am

Thanks, I've reached out to them now as well. Still haven't heard back from either yet. I'll post details if ever I solve this :-)

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Permalink Reply by Robbo on May 12, 2013 at 5:30pm

also in northland and also considered this. i have ~5 acres of north facing that i need o decide on.... hops, hemp, cannabis, maize.... i just don't know.
lattitude 35, 50

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Permalink Reply by John Austin on May 13, 2013 at 7:51am

I did hear back from Gladfields and they can supply me with seed. Only concern is that it needs to be part of a bulk shipping order which is $60 or so. They sell malted grain as well so I can fill the order with barley at a great price, but then I need to get a mill... starting to sound expensive. Still, it's at least one option.

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Permalink Reply by jm on May 26, 2013 at 11:01am

http://www.biograins.co.nz/

http://www.milmoredowns.co.nz/

You can source whole barley suitable for sprouting/growing from either of these places both located in the South Island.

It would pay to check what strains they currently have. Last time I checked BioGrains had Optic but I can't find the email from Milmoredowns it was a different variety though. I'm pretty sure Koanga just repackage the MilmoreDown stuff. I've used quite a few of their whole grains as cover crops and they have excellent germination rates.

I usually buy a few things to make the shipping more economical. They both sell flaked rye, barley, oats and flour. Their is bound to be something useful you can use in a brew or bread making.

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Permalink Reply by John Austin on May 27, 2013 at 9:08am

Thanks, I had already bought from http://gladfieldmalt.co.nz/, but I was able to get the shipping down to $10. So for $40 (after shipping) I got 5 kgs of seed. Hardly economical but this is obviously more for pleasure that economics. I just want the satisfaction of drinking a completely home grown beer and sharing it with friends. We'll see what happens. Thanks for the suggestions though. I'll keep them handy.

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Permalink Reply by Nick on September 1, 2015 at 3:00am

I saw this thread and wondered if anyone has been growing malting barley recently?

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Permalink Reply by John Austin on September 8, 2015 at 11:22am

I tried it last year but had no luck. I think I planted it too thick. It just fell over on itself and literally cooked itself. I am finding it hard ti get any clear advice on how to grow the stuff. I have been told to grow it in the winter but in the winter months it;s quite wet. And I've also read that it can't be grown in very wet soil. I'mr eally not sure the best way to grow it in NZ.

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