From Family Farm to Pint Glass: Rural Development Funds Supporting Small Business Growing Barley for Brewers

Alamosa-based company supplying Colorado craft brewers

Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet announced that The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded a small business in the San Luis Valley a grant of $39,000 to help it develop a business plan to expand its production of locally-grown, high-quality malts for Colorado craft brewers.

What began as Cody’s farm, a family farm in Alamosa that’s been growing high-quality barley for generations, in 2008 spun-off into Colorado Malting Company, a small business that locally sources malts for craft brewers.

This grant – part of the USDA’s Rural Business Development Grant Program – will enable the rapidly growing business to expand operations and improve efficiency.

“The USDA’s rural development program, an important piece of the recently-passed Farm Bill, provides vital support for small, rural businesses like Colorado Malting Company,” Bennet said. “It’s a great example of how the Farm Bill benefits Colorado and why it was so important to get that bill passed, despite a dysfunctional Washington. This is the kind of innovation and creativity that helps support our rural economies.”

As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Farm Bill conference committee, Bennet helped write and pass the 2014 Farm Bill, which includes important rural development provisions, such as the Rural Business Development Grant Program.