LOCAL GRAIN ORGANIZATIONS
As supply chains squeeze, a community grows
Written by GABE TOTH
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that are grown locally were expensive at the time, but we any distillers have responded to three years of supply are now paying less for heritage grain grown locally than it chain woes by looking closer to home for their raw would cost us to buy commoditized grain on the open marmaterials, such as grain. It’s not always a simple matter of ket,” he said. changing out a national or international supplier for a local Zachary Robinson, owner and distiller at Short Path operation, but a few organizations are there to help make the Distillery, said his involvement with the Northeast Grainshed shift from the commodity supply chain to a local one built Alliance has already paid dividends by connecting him to a on relationships. farmer 40 miles away. Short Path now gets 100 percent of Nels Wroe, co-founder at Dry Land Distillers and a board their rye, as well as some barley, from that farm. Getting a member of the Colorado Grain Chain, said the recent discommitment from the distillery meant that the farmer was ruptions have been “a huge wake-up call” for a lot of grain able to take the plunge without having to shoulder all of the users. It’s created a situation where growers are receiving the risk involved. highest prices they’ve seen in years, but producers and con“It was really beneficial for him,” Robinson said. “He’s a sumers are being squeezed. dairy farmer and is trying to diversify and get out of grow“Producers are realizing that being beholden to these huge ing just feed crop for cows, and he didn’t want to commit a international supply chains has made it extraordinarily diffibunch of fields, but we committed to buy a certain tonnage cult and expensive to get some of the raw materials that they of grain.” need,” he said. “They’ve been hit by lack of availability, lack He noted that the arrangement also gives the distillery inof supply, huge increases in transportation costs, and just creased security in their grain supply. “This year when comoverall cost increases. If I could just go to my neighboring modity (prices) went through the roof after the invasion of farm and have the grain grown there, and cleaned and milled Ukraine, we were already locked in with these agreements locally, a lot of the supply chain constraints or costs either go with the farmer,” he said. “Their away or are mitigated.” prices didn’t change, so we were He said Dryland was able “Producers are realizing that able to weather that very well. to pay their growers market Having a good relationship rates — without all the layers being beholden to these huge with the farmers and the maltof transportation and handling international supply chains sters has provided a consistent whittling that margin down for flow, consistent pricing, and the farmer — and minimize has made it extraordinarily consistent quality.” their in-house transportation difficult and expensive Facilitating and encouraging costs once they started sourcto get some of the raw networking and those types ing grain from within 50 miles of relationships are key goals of the distillery. Their contracts materials that they need.” for these organizations. At the also offer price stability for the Artisan Grain Collaborative distillery as well as the grower. — NELS WROE (AGC), executive director “The price we locked in three Co-founder at Dry Land Distillers and Alyssa Hartman said, “basically years ago for our heritage grains board member of the Colorado Grain Chain
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