Sundre Barley
The First of a New Generation

In last year's newsletter we spoke briefly about this promising new variety. Sundre barley is a top yielding, six row, smooth awned conventional barley with class-leading grain and forage yields. It has the highest grain yield of any barley ever developed at Lacombe, out yielding the previous champion, Vivar. It also has one of the highest forage yields, out performing AC Lacombe and Vivar by a huge margin of 12%. Sundre barley has excellent multiple gene disease resistance and was found to be resistant to disease in Canada, the United States and Mexico. It is susceptible to some diseases, which are controlled with seed treatments, and could be susceptible to lodging under very high fertility conditions. Last years dry conditions didn't seem to affect Sundre like it affected the other barleys. The reason was that Sundre has genetic material from the Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (I.C.A.R.D.A) in its makeup, giving an excellent resistance to drought conditions. Another unique feature of this variety is the fact that it is not being distributed by a seed company. Mastin Seeds of Sundre have the multiplication rights, and are trying a new concept with lower royalties, which translates to a lower seed cost compared to the others. We have the limited supply of this variety available this year, so if you are interested in more info about growing Sundre. Give us a call or check out our website.