March 13, 2015
SEED & ROW
CROPS
s
Capital A Pres
g
The West’s
Weekly
SEE THE ANNUAL SEED & ROW CROPS SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE
Capital
Press
The West s
Weekly
FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2015
VOLUME 88, NUMBER 11
WWW.CAPITALPRESS.COM
$2.00
Wash.
preps
case for
drought
advisory
BREEDING
FOR A DIFFERENT
Turn to BREEDERS, Page 12
Turn to DROUGHT, Page 12
Breeders work on malting barleys specifi cally for craft brewers
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
200 million barrels
150
15.6 million: Up
17.7% from 2012
U.S. craft brewery
production * ,
25 years
(31-gallon craft barrels)
100
*Includes brewpubs, contract,
regional and microbreweries.
50
491,394
0
1989 ’91
Photo submitted
Dan Carey, brewmaster with New
Glarus Brewing in Wisonsin, brews a
batch of beer. Carey recently tested
some barley varieties developed in
Aberdeen, Idaho, for all-malt brewing.
ing industry. As the number of craft
breweries continues to grow, barley
breeders are placing a greater emphasis
on meeting their needs. Chief among
them is developing low-protein variet-
ies of barley.
“We’re asking that there be a fork in
the road,” Carey said. “It’s great that they
continue to breed for the large brewers,
but we also need a second (malt) type
for small brewers.”
’93
’95
’97
’99
Source: Brewers Association
’01
’03
’05
’07
’09
’11 2013
Alan Kenaga/Capital Press
Barley guidelines
In early 2014, the American Malting
Barley Association and the Brewers As-
sociation adopted guidelines for all-malt
brewing, also called all-grain brewing.
The guidelines, which provide targets
for barley breeders and malting compa-
nies, call for malted barley with protein
levels a percentage point lower than that
of malt developed for blending with rice
and corn and with up to one-third less
free amino nitrogen. The free amino ni-
trogen supports vigorous fermentation
but at excessive levels may contribute to
spoilage or off fl avors.
Capital Press
“Crafts have grown and have be-
come part of our organization, and they
are having input,” said AMBA President
Mike Davis.
The Idaho Barley Commission ac-
knowledged the increasing importance
of the craft industry when it led its fi rst
craft brewery-specifi c tour of southeast
Idaho barley country in 2014.
Barley breeding programs, includ-
ing those at the USDA Agricultural
Research Service facility in Aberdeen,
Idaho, and at Oregon State University,
Photo submitted
Idaho Falls grower Matt Gellings loads malt barley on March 5 for transport to Anheuser-Busch to use as seed. Gellings would be interested in planting all-grain malt
varieties, which are a recent emphasis of barley breeding programs, if there’s a market and a slight premium.
D
By DON JENKINS
LACEY, Wash. — Washing-
ton offi cials are preparing to de-
clare a drought emergency, re-
viewing water supply forecasts
and lining up money to make
the most of every drop.
Offi cials from state agen-
cies, cities, tribes and irrigation
districts met Tuesday for a com-
prehensive review of 62 water-
sheds.
More than half, 33, were
marked down as likely this sum-
mer to have less than 75 percent
of their normal water supplies,
the benchmark for a drought
declaration.
Only seven watersheds, all
in the northeast, were chalked
down as, for now, safe from
drought. They are the Methow,
Lower Lake Roosevelt, Upper
Lake Roosevelt, Middle Lake
Roosevelt, Upper Lake Roos-
evelt, Kettle and Pend Oreille.
The other watersheds went
down as too close to call — ei-
ther because of a lack of infor-
mation about snow and river
fl ows or because conditions
were hovering around the 75
percent mark.
Many watersheds facing
drought have received above
average rainfall over the winter,
but warm temperatures have
made snowpacks a fraction of
their normal levels.
“We have a lot of areas in the
state, based on snowpack condi-
tions, forecast to have fl ows sig-
nifi cantly below normal, even in
some places reaching extreme
conditions,” the Department of
Ecology’s drought response co-
ordinator, Jeff Marti, said.
Marti presided over Tues-
day’s meeting of the Water Sup-
ply Availability Committee. He
planned to present the review
Wednesday to state agency di-
rectors. The directors will talk
about the hardships a drought
might bring and make a recom-
mendation to Gov. Jay Inslee.
BREW
omestic malt barley va-
rieties just weren’t bred
with small craft brewer-
ies such as New Glarus
in mind.
Like most craft brewers, Dan Carey,
brewmaster at the microbrewery near
Madison, Wisconsin, uses only malted
barley, also known as malt, as a carbo-
hydrate source for his recipes.
But the vast majority of the malt
available was developed to meet the
specifi cations of the mass-production
brewing giants that dominate the do-
mestic beer market. Their beers, mainly
Pilsner lagers, typically involve adding
carbohydrates from rice or corn to sup-
plement the malt — a practice known
as adjunct brewing. Because most U.S.
malts were developed to be mixed with
those non-barley starches, their charac-
teristics pose challenges for craft brew-
ers, who use only malted barley in their
all-grain process.
For example, a slightly higher pro-
tein level in the malt aids in the fermen-
tation of the mass-produced adjunct
beers, but in malt-only brewing the extra
protein can make fermentation too vig-
orous and hurt the taste. In addition to
lower-protein malts, craft brewers also
prefer malts that lend a richer fl avor to
their beer.
No longer, however, will the craft
beer sector be overlooked by the malt-
Most watersheds
falling below drought
benchmark
County in Washington may sue to stop grizzly restoration
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
OKANOGAN, Wash. — Okanogan
County commissioners are exploring
the possibility of a lawsuit to prevent the
U.S. Department of Interior from restor-
ing grizzly bears to the North Cascades.
“We think we have uncovered
enough of where they did not follow pro-
cedure and process. They’re no different
than their commander in D.C. running
rogue with his pencil and phone. Yes,
Obama,” said Jim DeTro, Okanogan
County commissioner.
The county was talking to state legis-
lators in Olympia about its options after
the National Park Service and U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service held open houses
in Winthrop on March 3 and in Okano-
gan on March 4 to help them determine
whether to take an active role in grizzly
restoration. It could include moving griz-
zlies into the North Cascades from other
places in the U.S. and Canada.
Commissioners strongly oppose res-
toration and say a majority of county res-
idents do. Ranchers, back country horse-
men, ATV users, hobby farmers and
rural residents don’t want another apex
predator to worry about, DeTro said.
About 100 people attended the open
house in Okanogan, he said.
“It’s a very, very disgruntled public.
They’re not happy with the process. It
was set up so you really couldn’t com-
ment. It’s divide and conquer. They dif-
fuse the situation as best they can so they
can check the box when they go back to
wherever they go and say, ‘Yes we had a
meeting in Okanogan County,’” DeTro
said.
There was no general forum for oral
presentations by federal employees or
Turn to BEARS, Page 12
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Monte and Judy Olson, East Wenatchee, at right, listen to Hilary Cooley of the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service talk about grizzlies at the agency open house in Wenatchee, Wash., March 5.
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