VITERRA is considering special segregations for hindmarsh barley in South Australia and is offering a premium above the feed price to growers of the variety.

Viterra grain division executive manager Dean McQueen said the moves were in response to the huge uptake of the variety and interest from Chinese buyers for malting.

Hindmarsh is currently classified as a feed variety but it is awaiting malting evaluation trial results, expected next March.

GrainCorp spokesman David Ginns said the bulk handler might offer segregations of hindmarsh in some Victorian and NSW areas on a trial basis.

But Mr Ginns said the industry was in the early phases of analysing the suitability hindmarsh as a malting variety and growers needed to be cautious on their expectations.

"No Australian brewer is willing to buy hindmarsh," he said.

"The Chinese may well be interested in it."

Mr Ginns said China had been using lower-quality barley for malting purposes in the past due to the huge size of its market and the range of beer quality.

Viterra last week announced it was offering a premium to growers of hindmarsh but only for cash and forward and multi-grade contracts.

It was considering a pool option but no announcement had been made.

Mr McQueen said the premium for the cash and contract options would be higher than the feed price but less than the malting price.

The differential between feed and malting barley in recent months had fluctuated between $30 and $40 a tonne.

The key decision for growers of hindmarsh barley is whether to sell at harvest or hold until next March in the hope the variety is lifted into the malting category.

The decision could mean as much as $15-$20 a tonne in price.

Mr McQueen said there was no guarantee hindmarsh would make the malting grade, so the company was willing to carry some of the risk with growers by offering a premium.

"Growers will make the best decision (on whether to take the premium or not) for their farming business," he said.

"We expect some growers will be willing to sell (at harvest).

"It comes down to their needs.

"It's whether they have a cash-flow problem or are willing to stay in the market to see whether it becomes malting barley or not."

Mr McQueen said hindmarsh had the largest uptake ever of a new barley variety.

"It's got really good yield characteristics," he said.