Barley is an annual or biennial grass that is widely cultivated for yielding grain for breakfast food, animal feed and in malt beverages. Barley requires at least 90 days from seed to harvest, producing a low-gluten grain predating wheat by centuries. Inexpensive and easy to grow, barley provides exceptional erosion control and weed suppression in semi-arid regions and in light soils. It also can fill short rotation niches or serve as a topsoil protecting crop during droughty conditions in any region.