200 hectares of low-carbon barley: the start of a first experiment
The Cooperative is working with its members on a first experiment in partnership with our company Malteurop and its customer, Heineken. Together, we are testing new low-carbon practices for the brewing industry.
"This spring, 200 hectares will be sown on 15 farms, explains Armand Gandon, a low-carbon project manager on the Cooperative’s agronomy team. The fields will be divided in two: conventional practices used on one half with low-carbon practices used on the other." Nitrogenous fertiliser is added exclusively in the form of organic fertiliser during the summer preceding sowing, and ammonium nitrate is added during the crop season to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Legumes are sown as cover crops in the summer before brewing barley is seeded. This cover crop is destroyed when the soil is prepared for the spring barley.
"This experiment, which started last summer with the first dose of chicken manure, should last three years," adds Armand Gandon. The agronomic results and barley quality, as well as environmental and economic data related to these low-carbon practices will be monitored closely.
The aim is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15-35%.