Barley

High barley yields come from achieving the correct ear numbers, maintaining a healthy, green leaf canopy, increasing grain numbers per ear and grain size.

To achieve high barley yields, having established the correct canopy structure, it is important to maintain the green leaf area right through to the final grain filling period, capturing as much of the incident light as possible and converting it to yield

The number of tillers, leaves and shoots determines the size of the canopy and the final ear density at harvest.

Barley grain size is strongly influenced by plant nutrition particularly during the important grain filling period.

The number of grains in each ear of barley depends on the number of fertile spikelets on the central stem of the ear.

Crop nutrition can have a great impact on the quality of the harvested barley and fertiliser applications should be planned to help achieve the highest value for the barley often through a combination of specifications.

Plant nutrients predominantly increase barley yield and quality through ensuring no mineral deficiency is restricting growth and development.

Correct rate and timing of the application of fertilisers to barley is important to achieve the highest level of nutrient use efficiency which maximises crop productivity whilst minimising any environmental impact.

It is important to determine Thousand Grain Weight (TGW) in Barley to enable an accurate control of the seed when sowing to obtain the correct plant population target.

The number of leaves and shoots determines the size of the canopy and the final ear (spike) density at harvest.