With the explosion of craft brewing comes a food waste problem. Spent grain accounts for about 85 per cent of brewing byproduct. Big breweries generate thousands of tonnes daily that is sold or given away as animal feed. Craft breweries, especially those in urban areas, don’t produce enough to make its distribution as feed financially viable. They have little choice, but to dispose of it as compost.
Through the Keep it Clean! program, partner groups communicate a clear and consistent message to farmers about on-farm practices that will help reduce market risk.
Unless one is specifically growing a feed variety of barley, or a class of wheat intended for the livestock or ethanol market, a crop that grades as feed can be an unwelcome surprise.
Held in late July of 2019, the Made in Canada Crop Tour was conducted with the co-operation of four industry groups to help create just such barley buy in.
Every farmer will experience it
at some point. Making a grain
delivery at their local elevator, a sinister sample downgrades the entire load of a crop so dutifully grown.
Expanding the farm isn’t something you do overnight and shouldn’t be done without planning.
Increasing wheat yields in
the Black Sea region of Russia and Ukraine may send chills down the spines of Canadian farmers, but those in the know say changes in global production spell opportunity, not catastrophe, for Canadian wheat farmers.
Esther Salvano assumed directorship of the Canadian Grain Commission’s Grain Research Laboratory in July of 2019, bringing with her an affinity for the strong science-based programs and policies the agency maintains.
Encompassing land in the Calgary, Strathmore and Drumheller areas, the multi-generational Hilton Ventures grain farm produces high-quality malting barley, and family members operate Origin Malting and Brewing.
Global Food Safety Initiative’s (GFSI) move to recognize the “rigour” of Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) programs will increase market access for Canadian grain companies in years to come, according to those in the industry.
