Tsingtao adds CDC Churchill as CMBTC unveils 2027-28 malting barley list

Tsingtao Brewery, China's second-largest brewer, has added CDC Churchill to its list of accepted malting barley varieties, strengthening the export case for a Canadian cultivar that is still building commercial demand. The acceptance headline arrives alongside the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre's release of its 2027-28 Recommended Malting Barley Varieties List, compiled in consultation with maltsters, brewers, grain companies and Western Canadian producer associations.

The list names recommended Canadian varieties that carry current domestic and export demand, and its category shifts signal where the market is moving. CMBTC has moved CDC Copeland, a long-standing workhorse, into the additional varieties category for 2027-28. The variety remains available for both domestic and export contracting, but its demotion from the core recommendations marks a generational handover in Western Canadian barley acres.

Peter Watts, managing director of CMBTC, framed the breeding pipeline as the engine behind the list. "Canada's breeding programs continue to deliver improved barley varieties for farmers, and we're seeing encouraging progress as international customers evaluate and accept them," Watts said. "As farmers adopt newer varieties, our priority is to build customer acceptance that can lead to long-term commercial demand. That work is important to maintaining Canada's established markets as our production changes."

What does the Chinese acceptance change?

The Chinese brewing industry has already accepted AAC Connect and CDC Fraser. CDC Churchill now joins them through Tsingtao's decision, giving growers one more variety with a defined export endpoint. That matters because acceptance by a major brewer converts a breeder's line into a contractable commodity with a price signal, rather than a variety farmers can grow but cannot reliably sell at malting premiums.

China is the anchor customer for Canadian malting barley and malt. Each variety a Chinese brewer accepts widens the contracting menu that grain companies can offer Western Canadian growers, and reduces the risk that a single variety's agronomic weakness disrupts export volumes.

Which varieties dominate the acres?

AAC Synergy covered almost 38 per cent of Western Canadian malting barley acres in 2026, making it the leading Canadian malting barley export. That concentration means CMBTC's customer-acceptance work now centres on ensuring the next generation earns the same dependability that AAC Synergy and CDC Copeland built over years of repeat processing.

Jon White, CMBTC board chair, said variety recognition is Canada's commercial edge in both bulk barley and malt. "Our barley varieties are our competitive advantage, whether we're exporting barley or Canadian-made malt," White said. "Customers value established varieties because they know how to process them and what results to expect. Canada's strength is combining that dependability with a strong pipeline of improved genetics. We want the next generation of Canadian barley varieties to earn that same long-term customer acceptance."

What should growers do before seeding?

CMBTC advises growers to consult grain company or malting company representatives before committing acreage, because variety selection and contracting opportunities vary by buyer. Contracting decisions for the 2027-28 crop will hinge on which varieties each maltster and exporter is actively soliciting, and the full recommended list is available on the CMBTC website.

Growers watching the export picture should track two signals over the coming season: whether further Chinese brewers follow Tsingtao in accepting CDC Churchill, and how quickly AAC Synergy's 38 per cent acreage share shifts toward newer entries such as AAC Connect and CDC Fraser as their commercial footprints expand.