If you’ve ever done a beer tour before or perhaps you’re just a knowledgeable fan of beer, then you know how important barley is as an ingredient. It is said to be the soul of beer, and the growers who harvest it, the heart.
This year, Anheuser-Busch is celebrating 50 years of working with Idaho Falls barley growers during their annual Grower Days event, taking place Friday, July 13.
It’s important for Anheuser-Busch to not only invest in themselves, but their partners as well. Through the recently announced Anheuser-Busch U.S. 2025 Sustainability Goals, the company has committed to Smart Agriculture by making sure that every single one of their farmers are skilled, connected and financially empowered within the next eight years. Grower Days is an opportunity to drive this forward, bringing Anheuser-Busch grower partners together with experts in innovation and sustainability.
“As a truly global brewer, we rely on a healthy natural environment and thriving communities in order to brew beers that will continue to bring people together into the future. These ambitious new goals require participation and marked improvement across every piece of our business, from the wholesalers and brewers, to the growers nurturing our barley from the ground up.”
– Ingrid De Ryck, vice president, Procurement & Sustainability for Anheuser-Busch
Continuing their efforts to improve their overall sustainability, Anheuser-Busch has focused on what makes great beer, great, the barley! During their upcoming Grower Days event, best practices and education for their growers will focus highly on Smart Agriculture programs and global sustainability goals. Here is what they can expect:
- SmartBarley, which helps growers produce the most “crop per drop” of water through benchmarking.
- LESA, a pivot irrigation technology that waters closer to the ground to save up to 20 percent of the water and energy required to irrigate.
- AgriMet, an irrigation scheduler that gives growers real-time access to weather and water data.
- New Barley Varieties, see the latest improved varieties from Anheuser-Busch’s barley breeding team.
- Crop Management Trials, which provide key management information about proprietary barley varieties, including seeding rate, fertilizer rate, growth regulators, and more.
The 2018 Grower Days event welcomes not just the growers themselves, but also their families and other select attendees, taking them behind the scenes of the Anheuser-Busch Idaho Falls Malt Plant. There they will be able to see firsthand the state-of-the art technology used to process the Idaho barley that makes its way into almost three beers in every six-pack of Budweiser sold in America. Additionally, the event will award farmers under the age of 35 who are running their own business or continuing their families legacy of growing barley. It should be quite the event!
