Hop and Barley conference slated for Grand Rapids

This will be one conference where, besides networking and information, you can guarantee the 'craic' will be good.

Educators from Michigan State University Extension, the Michigan State University AgBioResearch, the Michigan Brewers Guild and ISLAND are hosting the Great Lakes Hop and Barley Conference at the Eberhard Center on GVSU's downtown campus on April 10-11.

One of the organizers, Rob Sirrine, Ph.D., a community food systems educator with Greening Michigan Institute Affiliate, MSU Center for Regional Food Systems, says this year's conference reflects  the unique collaborative spirt that makes up the industry in Michigan: "We have the best brewers guild in the country. I hear this time and time again as I attend conferences across the country."

Sirrine says that besides everyone working well together Michigan has the most robust industry east of the Rockies, citing the 18 percent annual growth, the 200-plus craft breweries and the increasing acreage devoted to hops and barley farming.

The conference will feature three tracks, including beginning hop management, advanced hop management, and malting barley production and malthouse opportunities.

Friday's program will offer a wide range of presentations from speakers across the country focusing on growing and strengthening the vibrant craft ingredient industry in the state. Featured speakers include Lester Jones, Chief Economist for the National Beer Wholesalers Association, and Dr. Bart Watson, Chief Economist from the Brewers Association. Experts from Michigan State University will also be on hand to discuss best management practices for hop and malting barley production.

On Saturday, the malting barley track will tour Pilot Malt House, Michigan's largest craft malthouse, and experience a hop yard tour and lunch at the Hopyards of Kent.

Sirrine says it is estimated that 15,000 acres of hops will be needed to meet the demand of craft beer (assuming it continues to grow at the same pace) and that Michigan is in prime position to fill at least some of that niche. "If you can do it well and economically, you will have a market for hops in the Great Lakes," he says. "Growers are already getting requests internationally. Someone will fill the niche but it will take a lot of work."

To learn more about the conference, visit: events.anr.msu.edu/hopandbarley15.

Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs News Editor