Análisis de la calidad comercial de cebada cervecera en condiciones de producción

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is a key crop in Uruguay, ranking fourth in sown area and standing out in winter production. It is mainly concentrated in the western and central regions of the country. Its main uses are animal feed, malt production, and human consumption; in Uruguay, more than 90% is exported as malt. Its production is commercialized through contracts with malting companies, where strict quality requirements are established, which are essential for a proper malting process. In this context, the present study focuses on analyzing the effect of the environment on commercial quality parameters in malting barley varieties, particularly the impact of precipitation and temperature during grain filling on Falling Number and grain size. First, a phenological model was fitted using the INIA–INASE database. Five malting barley varieties (INIA Arrayán, INIA Osiris, Fana, Danielle, and Nahara) were considered, using records of sowing date, flowering, and physiological maturity. From these data, the variables days to flowering and days to physiological maturity were generated and modeled using linear mixed models, considering variety, sowing date, and growing season as random effects. This procedure allowed the generation of diagnostic plots to compare observed and predicted values, as well as to analyze the distribution of residuals. To apply the fitted models, a database provided by the company MOSA was also used, corresponding to commercial malting barley fields, which enabled the prediction of days to flowering and physiological maturity. To ensure spatial representativeness, fields located within the range defined by the La Estanzuela and EEMAC locations, which were used for model fitting, were selected. Based on the phenological models, the dates of flowering, physiological maturity, and harvest (considered ten days after maturity) were reconstructed. The grain filling period was subdivided into three phases (p1, p2, and p3) to characterize critical stages in quality determination. Climatic data were obtained from the NASA POWER database, considering daily mean temperature and corrected total precipitation, and accumulated values and averages were calculated for the intervals flowering–p1, p1–p2, p2–physiological maturity, and maturity–harvest. Finally, varietal, spatial, phenological, and climatic data were integrated into an expanded database, which was used in statistical analyses to evaluate the influence of environmental conditions on crop performance. The results showed a good model fit and calibration, with high agreement between observed and predicted values, supporting its reliability. This enabled its application to the malting database to analyze the relationship between environment and grain quality under real production conditions. It was found that Falling Number is particularly sensitive during the first third of grain filling, influenced by precipitation and temperature, while grain size is significantly related to temperature toward the end of grain filling and prior to harvest. Additionally, an effect of geographic location on both attributes was observed. In summary, the integration of phenological, climatic, and varietal data provides useful evidence to reduce rejection risks and guide management decisions at the production level.