Moderated by Ashley McFarland, vice president and technical director of the American Malting Barley Association (AMBA), this roundtable explores our changing climate and the impacts it will have on the growing conditions and resulting quality of the U.S. malting barley crop. Joined by a climate scientist and barley breeder, McFarland guides the discussion on how the climate is changing and what our research community is doing to bring forward more resilient barley varieties to combat increasing abiotic stressors, including winter and facultative varieties. Hear from a barley grower that has first hand experience with getting a malting barley crop off the field despite the drought, warmer evenings, and untimely rains. The roundtable wrap ups with a discussion on how to pivot from this certain fate and how to support the domestic malting barley industry despite evolving quality challenges.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the impact of our changing climate on growing conditions for malting barley
• Learn about the impact of abiotic stressors (drought, heat, etc.) on malting barley quality
• Hear about progress being made by the research community to bring forward more climate resilient varieties, including winter and facultative varieties
• Explore strategies for how to best work with the barley that is available, and how to support resilience within the industry moving forward