A rise in popularity of the North’s craft brewing industry is fuelling growth potential in a niche segment of the area’s agriculture sector. Over three years, selected varieties of malting barley – a key ingredient in the beer-making process – are being planted at research stations in Emo, New Liskeard, and Thunder Bay, and in Algoma by the Rural Agri-Innovation Network (RAIN), to determine whether this could be a viable cash crop for Northern Ontario farmers. “There’s a huge demand from the craft brewery industry for locally produced malting barley so (brewers) can say that their product is both locally grown and locally produced,” said Emily Potter, who’s managing the project, which is being facilitated by the Northern Ontario Farm Innovation Alliance (NOFIA) READ HERE
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