June 9, 2008

US develops eco-friendly feed barley

The US Agricultural Research Service (ARS) recently announced that it has developed a new feed barley that not only benefits farm animals but also the environment.

ARS said that the Clearwater hulless barley is rich in the kinds of phosphorus that pigs, fish and other single-stomached, or monogastric, animals can use.

The new barley is unlike conventional barleys because it contains less of the phytate type of phosphorus, the kind that monogastric animals find difficult to digest.

Indigestible phosphorus, released from animal manure, can sometimes end up polluting groundwater or streams.

Clearwater barley has been researched for decades by plant geneticists Victor Raboy, Phil Bregitzer and the ARS Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research Unit at Idaho.

Raboy uses conventional plant-breeding procedures to chemically tweak the seeds' phosphorus makeup.

The US research team has also produced other low-phytate barleys, such as a hulled type called "Herald," as well as low-phytate corn and soy.

Bregitzer said that Clearwater yields are about the same as those of other niche-market barleys.