Barley is one of the oldest agricultural crops in the world, along with wheat. Its distinctive characteristics: high productivity, unpretentiousness, as well as different harvesting times, depending on the variety. In nature, there are more than thirty types of barley, the most popular variety in Eastern Europe is Helios, Duncan, Viscount, Vakula.

What harvesting time depends on

The time when agrarians begin to remove barley from the field depends on several factors at once: this is the type (variety) of the crop, and the ripeness of the grain, the height of the ears, and the moisture content of the mature grains, the color of the ears and many other agricultural parameters. Traditionally, the best month for harvesting spring barley is 60-100 days after planting, for harvesting winter crops in spring, the next year after sowing in August or September.

Barley is an ideal forage and food crop; it is cultivated on an industrial scale in 12 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, the USA, France, Australia, Canada, Spain, Great Britain, Turkey, and Germany. These countries are rightfully considered world leaders in the cultivation of winter and spring barley; they have advanced technologies for growing this plant. The main plus of barley raw materials is that it is an important fodder crop (up to 70% of all crops in the Russian Federation go to feed livestock in private and state farms).

Did you know? Barley is the oldest farm plant. Its remains are found in the tombs of the ancient Sumerians, and later the Egyptians.

Type of culture

Globally, barley is divided into two types: spring and winter. The first is traditionally planted in early summer and harvested in August or September (vegetation is 60–110 days), the second is sown after the cutting of its predecessor and harvested in mid-spring (the average ripening period is 270–295 days).

In turn, each of the categories described is divided into varieties. The most common varieties of winter barley:

• Borisfen;
• Hard worker;
• Diet;
• Aboriginal
• Frost;
• Cinderella;
• Worthy;
• Science fiction;
• The ark.

Important! The quality of raw materials of both types is approximately the same, however, there is an opinion among farmers that winter is more unpretentious to storage conditions.

Varietal or spring:

• Priazovsky;
• Duncan
• Sir;
• Reliable;
• Moscow.

Cleaning method

In traditional agriculture, there are two methods of harvesting:

• direct combining (single phase);
• separate (two-phase).

Important! For the harvest of barley, special plastic reapers are used: they raise the fallen stem of the plant, without breaking it off.

In the second method, it is noteworthy that it requires a lot of effort and two-time use of combines. Harvesting machines pass the sowing zone two times: for cutting plants, and then for threshing. With this method, grain loss is higher than with direct harvesting. Single-phase harvesting or one pass of the combine in the field is used if the grain on the field is about the same ripeness level.

Degree of humidity

A real business executive must be well versed in the degree of moisture of barley grains. Agrotechnological classification in this case prescribes several stages of vegetation, directly related to moisture indicator in percent:

• milk phase (65%);
• pastry (50%);
• wax ripeness - the beginning (40%);
• wax ripeness - the middle (35%);
• end of the wax phase (24%);
• full ripeness - the beginning (20%);
• full ripeness (17%).

Weather

The best period for mowing barley is sunny, dry weather without rains, which lasts 3 or more days. Soil moisture should be minimal. The best months are August and September. It is necessary to adjust for seasonal factors, as well as the degree of maturity of the culture.

How to determine ripening

The main signs that barley is ready for harvest:

• the upper part of the stem of the spikelet easily breaks off;
• the grains are slightly wrinkled, hard and crack when bitten;
• the seed can be removed from the spikelet, but at the same time it does not fall out, if it is not helped, the spikelet is full;
• straw of yellow and dirty gray shade;
• knots of culture are brown and solid;
• the color of the grains is golden, dark golden.

Did you know? The goddess Demeter in ancient Greece was called the "mother of barley."

Optimum cleaning time

The standard duration of the harvesting campaign is 10-12 days. If we are talking about more delicate cultures, then sometimes it takes only 4-8 days. In the southern regions of Eastern Europe, the harvest of barley is completed before July 30, in the northern - by August 10 (adjusted for seasonal temperature and humidity of raw materials). The yield loss ratio is, on average, 0.8% per harvesting period. Daytime air temperature in this period should not fall below + 18 ° C.

Cleaning process

In the process of removing ripe barley, there is one important parameter: this is the height of the spikelet. For each culture, this indicator is individual. Its observance is of great importance for the quality of raw materials, the work of combines and the subsequent processing of the collected product. You should also pay attention to the direction of the ears. If the cornfield has died, the course of the combine should be in the direction opposite to the lodging. The areas of the field that are heavily overgrown with weeds and grass are treated in a two-phase way.

Important! Recommended hours for collecting raw materials: in the morning from 9:00 to 11:00, in the evening - after 17:00.

According to the standard, the cutting height should be 15–30 cm. This figure automatically reduces the loss of ripe grain and also improves the threshing process. If the harvesting time has come, and the crops and soil are moist, the stems are dried using herbicides such as “Tornado” or “Glyphos”.

Grain cleaning and storage

Cleaning and storage of grain are perhaps the most important stages in the procurement of feed and food raw materials. After all, no matter how huge the stocks are, improper storage conditions will nullify the final result. From the field, the grain goes to the elevator, which creates optimal conditions for storage. All modern combines are equipped with a humidity sensor, so the harvested crop will probably not go bad.

Important! If the collection was performed at the optimum moisture content in the raw materials, additional drying is not required.

The use of barley grain is huge: it produces barley, pearl barley, it contains a lot of protein and healthy carbohydrates, as well as a whole complex of vitamins. And, of course, it is used in the brewing industry, and also contributes to weight loss and improving the quality of hair, nails and skin.