Malting and distilling promotion for barleys

Two Syngenta malting barley varieties have been fully approved by the Malting Barley Committee for harvest 2025.

Spring barley variety SY Tennyson has secured full approval for brewing, having previously been provisionally approved. It was already fully approved for distilling – underlining its potential as a dual-purpose variety.

Described as the next generation of malted barley, SY Tennyson offers a treated yield of 101.5% of control and good agronomics. It has a specific weight of 66.5kg/hl and 1.44% nitrogen content.

SY Vessel

Meanwhile, SY Vessel has secured special use full approval for malt distilling – making it the only winter variety on the MBC list with this accreditation. Traditionally, spring varieties have been used for malt distilling.

Syngenta says SY Vessel has now broken the dependency on the spring crop as the sole source of grain for malt distilling, with competitive yields on-farm and high grain nitrogen contracts available from certain maltsters.

Syngenta seeds marketing manager Kathryn Hamlen says both promotions are great news for malting barley growers. Having a winter variety as another option helps growers and end users to manage risk, she adds.

Approval process

UK maltsters are expected to buy around 1.9 million tonnes of malting barley from the 2024 crop. Barleys are given provisional approval when maltsters believe they have malting potential – with a final decision made after a further season.

Farmers are advised to check whether their grain buyer wants a particular variety before growing it. But Ms Hamlen says growers should now have extra confidence to include SY Tennyson and SY Vessel among the varieties they consider.