The Virginia Tech Barley Breeding program is in the third season (98-99) of its hulless barley project. We are continuing to evaluate six hulless barley lines acquired from South Carolina for yield and test weight. The hulless lines and two hulled checks (Callao and Starling) were evaluated at eight locations (four locations in Virginia, one location in Kentucky, one location in Maryland, one location in South Carolina, and one location in North Carolina). Yield was calculated on a lbs/A basis for easier comparison since traditional hulless barley yield is calculated on a 60 lb/bu test weight, while hulled barley yield is calculated on a 48 lb/bu test weight. Over locations, the hulless barley yields ranged from 3540-4380 lbs/A, which was 636-1476 lbs/A less than the hulled checks, but similar to that of wheat. Test weights of the hulless lines were also similar to those of wheat. We expect yields to be improved as more adapted lines are selected from the breeding program.

The six hulless lines, two hulled checks, triticale, and wheat were analyzed for true metabolizable energy, protein, fat, and fiber content. Analysis of the data indicates that hulless barley possesses a combination of the desirable nutritive traits of wheat and hulled barley. It is high in true metabolizable energy and fat (similar to hulled barley), and is high in protein and low in fiber (similar to wheat). We feel that these results reveal the potential for hulless barley as an improved crop for both animal and human consumption.

This spring (1998) we made 450 crosses in the greenhouse involving hulless barley, and have recently harvested the progeny (F₂) from 100 crosses made in 1997. We currently have 1600 headrows derived from 12 hulless populations which will be evaluated and selected in 1999. The most advanced hulless materials are the F₅ headrows from which we advanced 34 lines to observation tests.

Increase blocks of two hulless South Carolina lines and Callao were used by the University of Maryland in a poultry-feeding study this fall. This study primarily examined the effects of hulled versus hulless barley in poultry diets. The ration including hulless barley did not differ significantly from the corn/soybean diet for rate of gain or percent shell. The ration including one of the hulless lines had a significantly higher percent shell than that of Callao. From the test, we concluded that hulless barley might have some advantage when considering cost/lb of gain.