News that two Syngenta malting barley varieties have been promoted on the latest Malting Barley Committee (MBC) approved list of varieties for harvest 2025 is great news for growers’ choices, says Kathryn Hamlen, seeds portfolio marketing manager for Syngenta.

“The MBC approved list is a key source of information for malting barley growers,” says Ms Hamlen. “So we are delighted that our spring barley variety, SY Tennyson, has been promoted from Provisional approval 2 to Full approval for brewing use on the latest MBC list, announced in November.

“This latest promotion complements the existing Full approval of SY Tennyson for malt distilling use on the MBC list – underlining its potential as a dual-purpose variety.

“Similarly, we are delighted that our winter barley variety, SY Vessel, has been promoted to Special Use Full approval for malt distilling use on the new MBC list.

“This is significant because, while other winter varieties on the MBC list, such as the established options of Flagon, Craft and Electrum, have Full approval for brewing use, SY Vessel is the only winter barley variety on the list with Special Use Full approval for malt distilling use. Traditionally, the majority of barley used for malt distilling has been spring barley. Having a winter variety as another option helps growers and end users to manage risk.”

Ms Hamlen says growers should always check that their grain buyer wants a particular variety before growing it. However, she says these latest promotions should give growers extra confidence to include SY Tennyson and SY Vessel among the varieties they consider.