| | Chair's message | Secretary's message
Chair's Message (2006)
The Barley Development Council promotes collaborative barley research and encourages production of quality malting barley. Research is promoted through a biennial report listing major projects and players involved with barley research in Canada. The Council helps organize the biennial Canadian Barley Symposium which provides a venue to publicize results from Canadian barley research. Finally the Council is involved with coordination of the Malting Barley Quality Competition which promotes the growing of quality malting barley.
This year’s biennial report has seen extra effort as barley workers from across the industry have ensured the authenticity of the lists as well as their relevancy. The report has a directory of breeders, marketers, researchers and others from the Canadian barley industry, be it for feed, food or malt. A list of research projects, while not exhaustive, does give a cross section of barley research in Canada. The barley industry as whole also provides information on where research efforts are best directed for the areas of agronomy, pathology and quality. The report is a useful tool for making funding decisions and for the pursuit of collaborative research. Thanks goes out to all the contributors who have taken the time to ensure the accuracy, and thus the value, of this year’s report with special thanks to Lori Oatway of Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development in Lacombe, Alberta for gathering all the information together in the final report.
The 4th Canadian Barley Symposium was held in conjunction with the North American Barley Researchers Workshop in Red Deer, July 2005. The joint meeting was a great success with representation from across Canada, the USA as well as Australia, Mexico and Uruguay. Thanks goes out to all the organizers from Lacombe who made this meeting the success it was. Plans for the 5th Canadian Barley Symposium are well underway with a joint meeting of the Western Canadian District of the Master Brewers Association of the Americas and the Barley Symposium planned for late June 2007 in Winnipeg . We look forward to seeing you all there.
The Malting Barley Quality Competition promotes the production in western Canada of malting barley with world class quality. The competition acknowledges growers of quality malting barley and provides the winners with the opportunity to experience other aspects of malting barley including its handling, processing and its final uses. Plans for the 2006 competition are progressing and notices will soon be appearing across the prairies.
The Barley Development Council, with its present membership of 25 members, has used a passive approach to promote barley research in Canada over the 12 years since its inception at its first annual meeting in June 1994. In recent months a more active role has been suggested for the Council and as a result the Council will discuss and debate possible changes at its annual meeting in Brandon, July 2006. The coming 12 months will also see the Council involved in the publication of this report, providing support for the 2006 barley competition as well as being associated with the 5th Canadian Barley Symposium.
Michael Edney
Chair
Secretary's Message (2006)
We are pleased to release the 2006 report of the Barley Development Council. The Council is now entering its thirteenth year of operations and I am pleased with the direction the Council has taken since its inception. It takes a lot of time and effort from the members of the Council to compile all the information in this report and we hope you find it both useful and informative.
As in previous years, the report contains lists of priorities for all areas of the barley industry. These priorities have been set by the Council and are areas that we feel are most important to focus on. The report also contains a list of current barley research projects and a list of important players in the barley industry. Our hope is that these lists will be used to form collaborative research projects to address the concerns of the barley industry and make the best use of the limited funds available for research.
The BDC website continues to be a work in progress. Even though we will only be publishing a report every other year, we will be keeping our website current with changes to the report, information on upcoming conferences hosted by the BDC and other changes.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the Council, the board members and the technical committees for all their hard work and support. Without the support of our members the council would not be able to accomplish our goals. The Barley Development Council will continue to grow with an active membership group. We also encourage new members to join the council so that we can represent all areas of the barley industry and remain active in the barley industry.
Please feel free to distribute this report to other colleagues that may be interested. I hope that this report will be an important resource for all areas of the barley industry. The priorities set by the BDC not only provide important direction for project funding, but it gives direction for barley researchers as well. We have tried to encompass all areas of the barley industry to provide a comprehensive report that will be useful for all.
James H. Helm
Secretary |
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