Malt whisky and cereal experts at Heriot-Watt University are testing barley grown with greener fertilisers to make sure it's still fit for consumption.
Barley makes up 63% of Scotland's cereal crop and is used for malting, distilling, and animal feed. Its production depends heavily on nitrogen fertilisers that are made from fossil fuels.
Using more sustainable fertilisers will help make barley 'greener', but farmers and the whisky industry need to be certain that the crop will still be suitable for whisky production. Heriot-Watt University has been funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh to put this barley to the test over two years and make sure it doesn't damage the dram.
Furthermore, the Heriot-Watt team is working with scientists from University College Dublin in Ireland to test three types of sustainable biostimulants, or fertilisers, on barley.
