'Project Thoroughbred' provides effort to build regional grain terminal
By Olivia Bailey
WCYB
New breweries, cideries, and distilleries are springing up all over southwest Virginia, creating a booming new industry. Now, there is a project to make the entire brewing process more local.
Lee County farmers were some of the first to begin growing barley in southwest Virginia this summer.
“We harvested over 1,300 bushels. We malted over 17,600 pounds of barley and delivered that barley to 18 breweries all around Virginia," project manager Will Payne. He has been overseeing the farming of the grains with Appalachian Grains, LLC, as well as the new efforts to build a grain terminal with Project Thoroughbred.
Among those who received the grain, local breweries like Wolf Hills in Abingdon, Sugar Hill Brewing Company in St. Paul, startup 36 Fifty Brewing Marion, and Devils Backbone in Lexington, which is a Budweiser brand.
“Brewing, in particular, is a very collaborative industry," Wolf Hills owner Cameron Bell said.
Payne has been trying to make the process of getting the crop to breweries more local with Project Thoroughbred.
It is an effort to build a grain terminal in the region.
“Locating a grain terminal in the region is essential to both reducing costs and food miles," Payne said.
The terminal is a middle step in the preparation process, cleaning the grain from the field to prepare for malting.
In the past, it is a process that's been outsourced to other states.
“Having something from a local production is something that we haven’t had before. We order grain from all over the world,” Bell said.
The terminal will be staffed by interns from Mountain Empire Community College, which is in the process of developing a grain management certificate. The grain is in demand by local breweries.
“Something that we could do on a local level and have, as they say, from grain to glass in southwest Virginia would be very important." Bell said.
Payne expects production to triple this year by adding rye, wheat, and non-GMO corn to the harvest at the request of farmers.
The grain terminal is estimated to cost $2.5 million.
Project Thoroughbred just received 2-million grant through a federal abandoned mine land program.The funds are expected to cover the cost of construction and equipment.
Link: https://wcyb.com/news/local/project-thoroughbred-provides-effort-to-build-regional-grain-terminal
