BMBRI Announces Research Grants for 2012-13

New research funding for 2012-13 has been announced by the Brewing and Malting Barley Research Institute (BMBRI).

“We recognize that barley has been competing for acres with other crops in recent years. Therefore our members want to contribute to research that will, in the long term, make barley a competitive choice for Prairie grain growers in their crop rotation, while at the same time maintain or improve malting and brewing quality. Our board of directors has approved research grants of $81,000 in the current year to date for projects ultimately related to the improvement of malting barley varieties, barley production and processing quality. These ‘industry’ grants are used by researchers to leverage very significant additional federal and provincial grants for their projects”, stated BMBRI president and CEO Michael Brophy.

BMBRI represents brewing, malting companies and related value chain stakeholders from Canada and across North America that produce and use Canadian malting barley or malt. The group focuses on pre-competitive breeding, research and development needs that affect all members such as ensuring raw material supplies through better varieties and production practices. In addition to grants for research BMBRI also undertakes and invests member funds towards important collaborative malting evaluation of elite malting barley breeder lines and reports on these tests to the official variety registration process in Canada.

The following malting barley related research projects have been recently approved for grant funding in 2012-13 to be undertaken by the specified scientists and institution:

(Year 3) Improvement of malting barley quality characteristics through production of more homogeneous seed that results in better endosperm modification
Project Lead: Dr. John O’Donovan, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Lacombe, Alberta

(Year 2) Detection of partial resistance in barley to Fusarium Head Blight using multiple assays
Alberta Agriculture Field Crop Development Centre, Lacombe, Alberta
Project lead – Dr. Pat Juskiw, Alberta Agriculture Field Crop Development Centre, Lacombe, Alberta

(Year 1) New Phoenix Micro malting Unit to support CDC’s 2R malting barley breeding program and related quality evaluation
Project Lead: Dr. Aaron Beattie, Crop Development Centre, University of Saskatchewan

This grant funding is made possible by contributions from the following BMBRI members: Brewing Company Members: Anheuser-Busch InBev, Big Rock Brewery, MolsonCoors Canada, New Belgium Brewing Company Inc., Sleeman Breweries, Sierra Nevada Brewing, Great Western Brewing Company Malting Company Members: Malteurop North America Inc., Rahr Malting Canada Ltd, Canada Malting Co., Prairie Malt Limited Associate Members: Alberta Barley Commission, Canterra Seeds, FP Genetics, Viterra, SeCan, Syngenta Seeds Canada

This grant funding is made possible from financial contributions from these BMBRI members:

Brewing Company Members: Anheuser-Busch InBev, Big Rock Brewery, New Belgium Brewing Company Inc., Sleeman Breweries, Sierra Nevada Brewing, Great Western Brewing Company

Malting Company Members: Malteurop North America Inc., Rahr Malting Canada Ltd, Canada Malting Co., Prairie Malt Limited

Associate Members: Alberta Barley Commission, Canterra Seeds, FP Genetics, Viterra, SeCan, Syngenta Seeds Canada

Over the past five years, BMBRI has provided nearly over $400,000 in various grants to research and development projects related to malting barley breeding, production and innovations in the science of malting and brewing. BMBRI’s commitment to supporting vibrant, innovative, industry-focused researchers and institutions working in malting barley breeding and related science within Canada has been a priority since it was founded in 1948. For additional information regarding the projects that have been previously funded, please visit www.bmbri.ca and click on ‘Research Funding’.

For further information on this year’s projects, please contact Michael Brophy at 204-927-1401 or the principle investigators the projects listed:

Michael Brophy , President and CEO
Brewing and Malting Barley Research Institute
P.O. Box 1497, Station Main
Winnipeg , Manitoba R3C 2Z4
Ph: 204-927-1401
Email: mbrophy@bmbri.ca