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were some rejections, but everybody
knew what was going on. It just wasn’t a
great year.
GW:
Is it ever difficult to balance the
interests of farmers with those of
brewers?
KS:
Sometimes, because you do create a
personal relationship. Most times, I feel
even if you can’t take the guy’s barley, he
feels you were actually trying for him.
That’s the benefit to a hands-on relation-
ship, because you can talk to them and
tell them what’s going on. Ten years ago,
that didn’t happen as often. The farmer
just heard his barley was rejected and that
doesn’t go over well.
GW:
Rahr’s Chinook Arch Growers pro-
gram with the Lagunitas Brewing Com-
pany is one of your most well-known
programs. How did it come to be?
KS:
At the end of the Canadian Wheat
Board, Lagunitas wanted to meet some
farmers. When the free market started,
they came up to Canada. I arranged a
meeting and brought five local farmers,
and it was born. I didn’t realize that day
what was happening, I was just told this
brewer wanted to talk to farmers.
Little did I know they were making a
sales pitch to the growers, asking them
to grow under contract. It was the first
contract of its kind, and we were proud to
make it happen. As Lagunitas became a
powerhouse in the craft brewing indus-
try, it was a great synergy because they
needed more barley, so we brought more
accounts on.
We do have other brewers with three-
year contracts, you just don’t hear quite
as much about them. The farmers are
loving it because they’ve got a profitable
price for their barley for the next three
years.
GW:
Can you tell us about Rahr’s
traceability program?
KS:
In 2010, we were the first malt
company in Canada to have one. We
said we want a total trace on the crop
from seeding to harvesting. We wanted
to know all the pesticides and fertilizers
used. We were also trying to establish
best management practices. Why are
certain producers better at growing malt?
We’ve seen things get more uniform and
consistent. We can go to all our brewers
and say, “Hey, we know pretty much right
to the field where your product is coming
from.” That’s powerful stuff.
GW:
What excites you the most about
the future of barley in Alberta?
KS:
Malt barley is really taking hold
as a specialty crop. In the past, we saw
barley acres declining in Canada, and
there has been a lot of doom and gloom
about barley. By capturing that specialty
crop and all the little niches and quirks
of the market, you can be doing these
three-year contracts with craft brewers
and you can be doing one-offs here and
there. There are not many other crops
you can do that with. It took a while to
get moving because barley was not a sexy
crop. Now a lot of farmers will come to
meetings and say “Hey, I’m a malt barley
grower,” and they’re proud of it because
they’re growing a specialty crop. That’s
what I find rewarding.
Winter
2018
Grains
West
18
Kevin Sich looks over the expansive Rahr Malting facility in Alix, AB. Its tower malt house has the capacity to process nine million bushels of barley annually.