Agronomy Mimeo. No. 26
February 1942
SPRING BARLEY UNDER INDIANA CONDITIONS Prepared by R. R. Mulvey, Agronomy Department, Purdue University Agricultural Experiment Station
FARMERS FIND SPRING BARLEY UNPROFITABLE IN INDIANA:	Barley is by
no means a new crop for this state. It has probably been grown in Indiana as Long as oats, yet the acreage has always remained relatively small. The average spring barley crop of Indiana in recent years comprised less than one percent of all the small grain crops, yet the Station receives many inquiries about this crop. This interest is chiefly due to the low acre value of oats and the desire to know the relative profitableness of barley. Several farmers are interested in it’s feeding value as compared with corn, especially for hogs.
A COOL WEATHER CROP:	The climate of this state as a whole, is not
favorable to the profitable production of spring barley. The crop is sensitive to hot winds, hot sultry weather, and drought. The crop should be seeded early, which is frequently impossible, especially on the heavier types of soil, due to frequent spring rains.
WHERE ADAPTED? Spring barley is not recommended for the state as a whole. In the northern two tiers of counties and the northeast section it can be profitably grown as compared with oats on the fertile loam soils. Acid soils and light sandy soils are less adapted to the profitable production of this crop than oats. The data collected by the Agronomy Department of the Purdue Aricultural Experiment Station indicates what one should expect from this crop as compared with the other small grain crops. These results were obtained on the Soils and Crops Farm, the soil of which is commonly called "black and clay" and will apply to the greater part of central Indiana.
THIRTY - TWO YEAR AVERAGES FOR SMALL GRAINS AT PURDUE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION1
	Average yield,	Average Indiana Average		Ave. pounds
Crop	bushels per	farm price,	gross	of grain
	acre	Dec. 1	return	per acre
Winter wheat	30.4		333.74	1824
Winter rye	34.0	.31	27.54	1904
Spring oats	53.4	.39	22.78	1869
Winter barley	33.72	.64	21.57	1618
Spring barley	27.2	.64	17.41	1306
Spring wheat	13.6	1.10	14.96	816
1. 1910 - 1941				
2. No crop two	years due to winter killing. Not		included in average.