Feed barley is barley sold to compound feed mills and livestock farms. It is bought mainly on test weight, moisture, protein and admixture, under trade contract forms. Feed law adds two layers: registered feed business operators and maximum contents of undesirable substances, which a buyer should name in the contract.
At a glance
- Key numbers: test weight, moisture, protein, admixture, broken grains
- Feed law: Regulation (EC) No 767/2009 and Regulation (EC) No 183/2005
- Undesirable substances: Directive 2002/32/EC
- Assurance schemes: GMP+ and similar (private schemes)
- Trade: bulk vessel or truck under GAFTA-type contracts
Grades, cuts and calibration
Hectolitre weight (test weight) is the headline number: higher values mean plumper grain and more feed energy. Moisture, protein, broken grains, admixture and heat-damaged grains complete the specification. Typical export contracts quote a minimum test weight and a maximum moisture as trade conventions.
Feed buyers also check the feed safety position: the supplier must be a registered feed business operator, and many EU buyers require GMP+ or an equivalent assurance scheme in the supply chain.
Feed barley is usually traded on a basis of test weight, moisture, admixture and broken kernels, with discounts or rejection beyond agreed limits. The values sit in the contract, not in law.
Seasonality and availability
Winter barley is harvested from late June, spring barley in July; supply is steady from storage. Winter barley is the first cereal harvested in Ukraine, from late June, followed by spring barley in July and August; export offers for new crop appear as soon as harvest results are known.
What the buyer checks at intake
- Test weight, moisture and protein.
- Admixture, broken and heat-damaged grains.
- Mycotoxins against Directive 2002/32/EC and the guidance values the buyer applies.
- Feed business registration and assurance scheme certificates.
Where it is used
Compound feed for pigs, poultry and ruminants; on-farm rations.
Where feed barley goes
Feed barley is an energy grain for pig and ruminant rations and for compound feed. In poultry diets its beta-glucans raise digesta viscosity, so nutritionists cap the inclusion or add enzymes. Rolled or ground barley is the usual form on farm; compound feed mills take whole grain and grind it into the formula.
Hectolitre weight is the quickest proxy for energy and starch: a light, thin lot carries more husk and less starch. Protein, moisture and admixture complete the picture, and nutritionists use NIR or wet chemistry to update the energy value of each lot.
Standards and routes
Bulk vessel from Black Sea and Danube ports, or bulk truck and rail.
Contracts, inspection and documents
Most seaborne feed barley trades under GAFTA-type contracts; GAFTA forms are an industry convention chosen by the parties, not law. See what a GAFTA contract is for how quality, weight and arbitration clauses work. Delivery is usually FOB a Black Sea or Danube port, or CIF the destination, and an independent superintendent samples and weighs at loading.
Undesirable substances are checked against Directive 2002/32/EC, and DON and zearalenone are compared with the guidance values in Recommendation 2006/576/EC. Ask for results on the loading sample, not only on farm lots.
Exporters often fumigate grain in the hold or in the silo; the fumigant, the dose and the ventilation period belong on the documents. See does exported grain need fumigation.
Store barley dry and cool, below the moisture at which moulds and insects grow, and aerate silos to prevent hot spots. Lots rejected for malting add volume to the feed market after harvest.
Common specification mistakes
- No feed business registration check
- No mycotoxin clause
- Test weight without a named method
How to brief a supplier
- Give test weight, moisture and protein limits
- State admixture and broken grain tolerances
- Require feed registration and any assurance scheme
- State the mycotoxin position
- Agree contract form and sampling