Shona, an exciting dual-purpose spring malting barley with very high malting quality traits, looks a strong future choice for both maltsters and growers in the East according to Elsoms Ackermann Barley Breeder George Hebdon.

George says: “New to the Recommend List (RL) for use in the East, Shona is currently under testing for both brewing and distilling. Across 3 years of trials in the East region, it has achieved average treated yields of 106% to controls, underlining its consistency as a high yielding dual-purpose spring malting barley.

“Although possessing a solid set of disease resistance scores, where Shona really catches the eye is in its malting characteristics. It has one of the highest hot water extracts and predicted spirit yields of any spring malting barley on the RL, enhancing its appeal to maltsters.  

“With two years of micro malt testing already under its belt, and a third year of testing due to commence in 2026, the variety looks in a strong position to achieve full Malting Barley Committee approval with no negative reports on its performance in tests so far” he confirms.

Also endorsing Shona’s credentials, Aberdeenshire farmer Harry Smith, of Nethermill Farm near Cruden Bay, who grew the variety in crop25, believes it has all the right agronomic traits to establish itself as a key choice for growers in the East.

He says:” We annually grow 728ha of spring malting barley, so it’s our most important individual crop and, in 2022, we established our own independent seed production business, trading as Nethermill Seed, so we’re always looking to source new high-yielding varieties.

“On April 11^th we drilled 6ha of Shona into a loamy soil at a seed rate of 190kg/ha. Racing through its early growth stages, Shona progressed well through late spring and summer despite the very low rainfall and was one of our first spring barleys to come to ear, ripening almost 2 weeks before our crop of Laureate, despite sharing the same +1 ripening score.

“On May 3^rd we applied a post emergence herbicide of Fluroxypyr at 0.5l/ha with 10g/ha of metsulfuron-methyl + tribenuron-methyl alongside our key fungicide spray made up of prothioconazole at 0.4l/ha + Folpet at 1l/ha. This was swiftly followed by a second split of N on May 13th, this time applied as liquid N to combat the drying ground conditions and get some much needed moisture into the crop.  

“All in all, Shona seemed straightforward to manage, coping better with the dry conditions than our other spring barleys and maintaining its green colour into early August. Harvesting on August 25^th, Shona averaged 5.5t/ha, understandably below our 5 year average due to the near drought conditions, but still comfortably outyielding many of our other varieties.

“For crop26 our plan is to increase our area of Shona to 30-40ha depending on seed availability. If the variety achieves full malting approval, that area will increase substantially again if the commercial interest in Shona continues to grow” he adds.

Toby Reich, Head of Agriculture at Elsoms Seeds, sees the addition of Shona to the new RL as timely for both growers and the malting industry.

He says” The domestic malting industry annually purchases around 1.9 million tonnes of UK-grown malting barley. Introducing a new, robust variety in the East gives growers and maltsters a fresh option. Shona not only offers an improved agronomic performance, but also a step change in the malting-spec quality required for the brewing/distilling sector.

“This, in turn, could help the UK sector remain competitive, maintaining domestic supply of high-quality malting barley, and supporting its long-term sustainability - especially given changing market dynamics, climate challenges, and the need for more resilient crops.

“In short, Shona represents a timely opportunity for the UK malting barley supply chain, giving growers a forward-looking variety and maltsters a new source of quality grain at a moment when innovation and resilience are becoming increasingly important” he concludes.