This September, farmers across the country are harvesting grain from their fields and transporting it for drying, or otherwise processing it as fodder for livestock. Farmers grow primarily barley, though oat cultivation is on the rise. Grain cultivation generally performs well in Iceland, but weather conditions vary from year to year. It can happen that the grain does not reach full maturity. Can the grain be utilized in such cases?
To answer that question, Eiríkur Blöndal, a farmer and agricultural engineer at Jaðar in Borgarfjörður, applied for funding from the Icelandic Food Innovation Fund. Funding was granted and the project was carried out in collaboration with Matís. Immature barley was named léttbygg in Icelandic. In brief, the results showed that with simple measures it was possible to use the léttbygg alongside other feed for dairy cows, and it was also possible to bake bread from the léttbygg.
The results are described in more detail here: