Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 8448 / SEEDWORLD.COM OCTOBER 2016 IT’S THE SORT of statistic you might expect to hear from Cliff Clavin, the know-it-all postal worker from the sitcom “Cheers,” as he extolled wisdom from his bar stool throughout the 1980s and 1990s. “Idaho may be known for its potatoes, but it’s a little-known fact that about half the barley used to make the beers we’re drinking right now came from the Gem State, as it’s known,” Clavin might say. Unlike many of the head-scratching “Clavinisms” popular on the show, however, this one is true. John Drake, director of western malting operations for Anheuser-Busch, says that if you’re holding a six- pack of Budweiser or Bud Lite, two or three of the beers in your hand were made from Idaho barley. That says something, especially when you consider that Bud and Bud Lite are two of the top three beers in the country. “Eastern Idaho is one of the best places in the world to grow barley,” Drake says. “We have an excel- lent climate for growing barley. We have nice warm days and cool nights, and we have just the right amount of moisture as well.” Anheuser-Busch purchased an elevator and started contracting with maltsters in Idaho back in the 1970s, according to Kelly Olson, administrator at the Idaho Barley Commission. Since then, the company’s facilities have grown. Today, parent company AB-InBev operates a barley elevator, a malting plant and seed facilities in Idaho Falls. Molson Coors, another global brewing powerhouse, also purchases barley from Idaho grow- ers and operates a barley handling facility and a barley breeding research facility in the state. Great Western Malting Co., with a malting operation in Pocatello, largely serves the craft brewing industry. “Anheuser-Busch has been steadily increasing their production base in Idaho since the 1970s,” Olson says. “That’s a plus for us. All these companies have been investing for decades, and we’ve benefited from that.” Anheuser-Busch also contracts for the crop in other barley strongholds — Montana and North Dakota, in particular — but Drake says there’s some- thing special about Idaho’s crop. “That’s one of the nice things here. We wind up with nice, bright, beautiful barley,” he says. “It’s very clean when it comes in.” Climate and Disease The main reason Idaho barley is of such a high quality is because of Idaho’s climate. Most of the state is more than 2,000 feet above sea level, and the average is 5,000 feet. The average high temperature in the hottest months — July and August — is in the low 90s, and lows for those months are in the low 60s. The average rainfall in the wettest months is 1.5 inches, and most growing months receive less than an inch. “We’re a relatively high elevation, dry climate, so we’re relatively disease-free,” Olson says. Those cooler temperatures and little rainfall are key, as late precipitation can cause sprouting in the field or BRIAN WALLHEIMER is a writer based in Illinois. He has bach- elor’s and master’s degrees in journalism and has worked as a reporter in Illinois, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Indiana. He was most recently digital editor of the Rockford Register Star. He has also worked as a research news writer for the College of Agriculture at Purdue University. Idaho has become a major player in providing barley for brewers around the world, thanks to new varieties and innovative farming practices. BarleyBOOM The large, international brewing companies have their own breeding programs aimed at improving water-use efficiency, drought tolerance, disease resistance and yield. ABI Voyager and Charles have been important varieties for AB-InBev and growers.