AC Ranger, set for limited release this spring, represents the vanguard of the new forage barley class, with greater flexibility and feed quality for western cattle producers.

As Western Canada’s cattle industry expands, producers want multi-purpose varieties that are suitable for silage, greenfeed or grain, says barley breeder Dr. Mario Therrien, of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Brandon Research Centre, who developed AC Ranger. That’s what the new forage barley class delivers.

"AC Ranger gives the expanding cattle industry a new, more flexible option when it comes to forage," he says. It has high biomass for silage, but also features good grain yield and quality. This variety is widely adapted across the Canadian prairies.

Therrien’s breeding program is supported by the Barley Check-off Fund, administered by Western Grains Research Foundation. AC Ranger will be widely available in 2003, and further improvements are on the way, he says. A forage line developed by Therrien, entering its second year of co-op trials in 2002, appears to have stronger straw and better disease resistance.

The new class represents fresh thinking in the cattle industry, says Therrien. "The industry is recognizing that forage barley is a class by itself. Tonnage is always the big concern for producers, but the quality of that tonnage is also important."

Silage made from AC Ranger is dairy quality, he says. "Of course, high quality is important for dairy producers, but it also helps cow-calf producers who want to keep breeding stock producing calves as long as possible."

AC Ranger is a smooth-awned variety, meaning no barbs will irritate an animal’s mouth, he says.

The variety’s advantages are many, but it does have poor resistance to diseases that attack the head, such as Fusarium Head Blight and glume blotch, he says.

As well, the variety tends to lodge as most forage production is managed for maximum biomass.

Since the Brandon Research Centre also carries out beef research, the resident ruminant nutritionist helps with small-scale feeding trials. "We use these trials to assess whether a forage barley line’s quality is up to snuff. If it’s not, or if its feed conversion is low, a line is nixed from the program," says Therrien.

At the breeding level, Therrien is using a different trick for forage barley than he and most other breeders are using in plant breeding. Instead of using the doubled haploid technique, which produces pure lines more quickly, he is using a hybrid method for breeding. "It’s actually the antithesis of the doubled haploid system, but hybrid lines have more vigour and better growth," he explains.

For example, in the field, purity in malting barley is essential, he says. "But you want forage barley to be more heterogeneous because it’s typically grown with less management and under a wider variety of conditions."

The Barley Check-off Fund contributes over $600,000 annually to barley breeding programs in Western Canada. Breeding targets include improved agronomy, disease resistance and quality for both feed and malting varieties.