The breed of barley developed by one of Australia’s leading science research bodies, the CSIRO, has now reached national distribution status in Australia’s leading supermarkets three years after being introduced as a breakfast cereal ingredient. The BARLEYmax™ ingredient is said to help control diabetes, improve digestion, reduce weight and lower cholesterol. It is a natural wholegrain with enhanced nutritional benefits, containing twice the dietary fibre of regular grains and four times the... ...Read more »

The 2011 total winter wheat crop is expected to be Australia’s third-largest on record, according to a new industry report released by specialist agribusiness bank, Rabobank. Rabobank estimates the wheat crop at 25.6 million tones for winter, despite variable crop conditions along the east coast and in South Australia. The expected increase in Western Australian production should compensate for the anticipated fall in the East Coast production. Rabobank senior analyst Dean Smith said that Spring... ...Read more »

France will use talks with other G20 nations to argue for tougher rules on global food commodities trading, as surging prices pose a risk to businesses and consumers. France kicked-off two-day talks in Paris yesterday (22 June) to persuade G20 nations to impose caps on investments in food commodities, such as wheat, barley and sugar. Under its proposals, investors would also have to declare themselves as either speculative or commercial traders. It is the first time that agriculture ministers have... ...Read more »

Ants and termites may be the earthworms of dry-land agriculture, with a paper by scientists at CSIRO and the Univeristy of Sydney showing that the insects have a significant positive impact on crop yields in dryland agriculture. “Ants and termites perform the same ecosystem service functions in dryland agriculture that earthworms perform in cooler and wetter areas, but the potential for ants and termites to provide these benefits has received little attention until now,” said CSIRO’s... ...Read more »

Despite floods, locusts and heavy rain, Victoria’s food producers have broken production records for wheat, barley and canola, said Victorian Minister for Agriculture and Food Security Peter Walsh today. Walsh said the season’s results were an absolute credit to the state’s grains industry, which had faced extremely difficult conditions this year. “Although quality suffered because of the wet and results varied from paddock to paddock and farm to farm, the season still produced a big harvest,”... ...Read more »

Four of Australia’s leading research institutions will collaborate closely over the next three years to fast-track development of new ‘healthier’ varieties of three of the world’s most widely cultivated cereal grains. The new ‘High Fibre Grains Cluster’ will focus on wheat, barley and rice. One of the primary research goals is to boost the amount of beneficial compounds, such as beta glucans and arabinoxylans, which are key contributors to the soluble component of dietary fibre in the... ...Read more »

Researchers at California’s Agricultural Research Service have released research highlighting the possibility of replacing gluten in oat and barley loaves to make fluffy, attractive wheat-free breads. In wheat and other gluten-containing breads, gluten traps air bubbles formed by yeast in the rising process, giving a high, soft, attractive loaf.  Existing oat and barley breads tend to be dense, heavy and less attractive to the consumer. Chemist Wallace Yokohama and nutritionist Hyunsook Kim... ...Read more »

U.S. Department of Agriculture’s principal intramural scientific research agency, the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is investigating exactly what happens inside barley grains when they germinate in the malt house, as part of their cereal crops research. Malt is the ingredient responsible for providing the smooth, rich taste in many popular foods and beverages, particularly breakfast cereals, beer, and confectionery.  By looking into malting barley germination, or sprouting – just... ...Read more »

New South Wales Primary Industries Minister, Ian Macdonald, has advised that higher food prices over Christmas can be expected if rain is not forthcoming over the coming fortnight. Mr Macdonald yesterday said that the drought situation in the state remained alarming despite a slight improvement in the latest drought figures – which showed 63.9 per cent of NSW was in drought. As a result, key crops such as canola, wheat and barley are under pressure. “If we don’t get some reasonable... ...Read more »

A new low-gluten beer that allows coeliacs and gluten intolerant people to enjoy a cold beer without the gastric problems triggered by regular beer is being developed by the CSIRO Food Futures National Research Flagship, Melbourne Health and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, supported by the GRDC (Grains Resource and Development Corporation). The team has already developed a new barley which can be used to make coeliac friendly beer with an ultra-low gluten level, expected to be 20 times lower... ...Read more »