“Barley is the clear winner when it comes to functional fibre and it’s probably an aspect we need to promote more when we’re promoting Australian barley,” Dr Edwards told the forum. Cassava and broken rice are also popular sources of starch in Asian feed mixes. She said a missed opportunity for Australian feed barley may be its lower beta glucan levels when compared to supply from other countries. However, Dr Edwards said barley comes to the Asian feed market with precious little other information. She said relatively low levels of fertiliser run in favour of feed barley.