Farmer who likes our waste

[jtomelia]

I'm in the process of contacting local farmers who may be interested in hauling away our spent grain. As I know nothing about cows I'm hoping to put them in touch with a farmer who's using spent grain. Can anybody out there provide a contact who might be willing to discuss the pros and cons of spent grain with farmer's in my area?

If you can provide some help we'll toast you and yours at our next tasting.

JohnO
Bawlmer Craft Beers, LLC

[lhall]

My suggestion - post an ad in your state's Cattleman's Association newsletter. We were unhappy with the farmer we were using, and I posted an ad for one month. We were overwhelmed with responses, some of whom were willing to pay to get it. You won't have to justify it to any farmer who knows his stuff. Now we have a farmer who we still give it to, and he drops off an empty trailer every week for us to fill.

[troybinso]

Cows love spent grain, so farmers love it too. Pigs will eat anything. Apparently horses can't handle it, and they get bloated. Anyway, if you can't find a cattleman who won't come and pick your spent grains up for free, then just keep looking. One will turn up eventually.

[Coast]

you can try contacting a local agricultural college. They can get you some info. on people in your area who do the cattle thing. Personally we don't sell the grain to the farmer. If we didn't have them to take it away then we would have to pay somebody to haul off a stinky mess! And what a waste that would be. But if a bag of spent grain, locally raised, juicy steaks fall off his trailer then I am not complaining. And most farmers (like most brewers) are not making the Forbes 500 anytime soon either. Trade and Barter.

[gitchegumee]

We don't have cows here, but the pig farmer loves us! All of our grain gets disposed of within an hour or two of grain-out. In exchange, we get a few pigs each year. What a deal! I'm hosting a 10th year anniversary party for Palau Brewing Company this coming weekend and we'll have a lovely grain-fed, island-roasted pig to go with our beer! Good for everybody. Cheers!