Loopy as it may sound, Foster has been fighting algae with barley, from the Carolinas into Ohio and Indiana, for nearly three years. We first heard stories of people in Europe using barley straw for algae control. We started researching it and, sure enough, we found that the technique had been developed in England other countries. Once we found it on the internet, we started studying it and trying to find some barley here. Foster found a producer, bought a few bales and put some in a few test ponds the first spring.
Ponds once overrun with filamentous algae had noticeably less greenish-yellow goo floating on top.
Foster, a veteran fisheries consultant, does not know exactly what the barley straw does to the algae, he just, knows that, in 70-80 percent of his ponds, it works. It is not well understood, but when the barley decomposes in the water, that process produces hydrogen peroxide which controls algae. Encouraged by the early returns, he expanded to 30 ponds last year, and shipped bales to pond owners as far away as Illinois, Connecticut and Texas. This spring Foster plans to use as much of it as possible. He thinks barley could be used to control algae, not just in fishing lakes, but golf courses, backyard ornamental koi ponds, livestock watering holes, wetlands, municipal waste water reservoirs, water gardens and dairy operations.