Agriculture
Entrepreneurs turning beer byproduct into bread, cookies and profits
VANCOUVER — When Jeff Dornan opened a brewery six years ago, he knew the brewing process would produce hundreds of kilograms of spent grain, and he had a plan for it.
Rather than pay to dump it in a landfill, he partnered with a farmer to haul it away and feed it to his animals.
Not every craft brewer can access farmers in need of feed, so an industry has formed around spent grain with entrepreneurs turning it into cookies, breads and even dog treats.
“Everyone’s trying to think of creative ways of minimizing their carbon footprint,” said Dornan, who is also chairman of Ontario Craft Brewers, a trade association representing more than 80 members.
During the brewing process, grain is separated from sugars, starches and other minerals, leaving behind spent grain, which accounts for about 85 per cent of all brewing byproducts.
For one 2,200-litre batch at Dornan’s All or Nothing Brewery in Oshawa, Ont, he uses about 400 kilograms of grain, producing an equal amount of spent grain.
“It would be quite expensive to send to a landfill and it’s something we never want to do,” he said.
The amount of spent grain produced has increased sharply as craft beers explode in popularity. In 2018, Canada boasted 995 breweries — up nearly 22 per cent from the previous year — which produced about 2.17 billion litres of suds.
Some of these breweries turn to entrepreneurs looking to turn spent grain into treats for people and their pets.
Marc Wandler seized on the opportunity to turn waste into a profitable product while studying business. He knew brewers needed help disposing of spent grain and believed consumers could be sold on the byproduct’s benefits, which include high amounts of fibre and protein.
He co-founded Vancouver-based Susgrainable in 2018 and started selling baked goods made with spent grain flour that it mills.
It sells a staple line of banana bread and cookies, as well as seasonal products. Baked goods start at $2.50 and sell for up to $5.
Starting in one Vancouver coffee shop, the company expanded to a local grocery store and the farmers’ market circuit before partnering with Fresh Prep, a meal-kit delivery service that offers Susgrainable cookies as an additional purchase.
The three-person team recently hired a baker to create more recipes for their spent grain flour, which they started selling earlier this month for $9 a bag. They plan to sell more sizes in the future and hope the flour will become their primary product. They’ll continue selling baked goods as a way to introduce consumers to the benefits and flavours of spent grain.
“There’s a lot of people who want to bake their own things with it,” said Wandler.
The company is looking to secure financing to open a manufacturing facility where it can dehydrate spent grain and mill the flour, he said.
Companies in other parts of the country are also finding uses for spent grain.
Barb Rideout co-founded Two Spent Grains with her friend in Simcoe, Ont., in 2015 after travelling through U.S. with her husband and visiting craft breweries that made spent-grain bread and other baked goods. Rideout started baking spent-grain bread at home before realizing the ingredient could be a business opportunity.
Her friend and co-founder owns The Blue Elephant Craft Brew House, which provides the byproduct for their dog treats, Brew’ed Biscuits. A 170-gram bag of the spent grain treats retails for $9.25.
Now, when the company needs more spent grain than The Blue Elephant can provide, she finds any brewery they ask is happy to give it to them free of charge.
The duo toured more than a dozen dog shows last year to promote the product and recently signed a distribution agreement with a wholesale baked goods provider, she said, adding the product is sold in nearly 30 locations.
The entrepreneurs are now testing their biscuit on other animals, including rabbits, hamsters, pigs and horses. It’s also testing a cookie for human consumption.
“We would like to be as big as we can be,” said Rideout, adding the company’s future remains fluid as the industry around spent grain grows.
“Our plan kind of changes as we grow into this and we see the needs and the niches.”
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Aleksandra Sagan, The Canadian Press
Why Canadians Should Care About Land Loss
Developments are increasingly taking over Canadian farmland. Farms once took up much of Canadian land. However, that case is not true today. Only about 5% of Canada’s land is considered prime farmland. This prime land borders one of Canada’s fastest-growing regions, and once suburban development overtakes it, Canadian farmers will have a challenging time providing food for the cities.
Farmers in Canada make their livelihood by planting, growing, harvesting and distributing food to the Canadian populations. Without land, both farmers and the rest of those living in Canada will not get fresh, Canadian grown produce.
Here are some reasons why Canadian farmers should care about land loss:
- Farmland Provides Food
While this is an apparent reason, it’s an essential one. Prime farmland in Canada produces food for major Canadian cities. As farmers continue to lose land, they have to rely on a smaller acreage to make the same amount of food — if not more — for the growing population.
Over the past 10 years, almost 1 million hectares of agricultural land has diminished due to development and growing populations. Agriculture continues to adapt to land loss. However, further technological advancements must first take place to grow enough produce vertically rather than horizontally.
- Land Preservation Will Help the Economy
Farmland preservations come with a wealth of economic benefits. Agriculture contributes to the economy through the following ways:
- Sales: For the economy to survive, there needs to be consumer demands and sales. Almost everyone purchases produce, so there will always be a demand for those goods. Without land to grow agricultural products, no sales will be made, and the economy could suffer.
- Job opportunities: Less than 2% of Canada’s population works in the agriculture industry. While it’s not much, that’s still over 750,000 people. Preserving farmland shows a commitment to the industry. Land loss would create job loss. However, maintaining the farmland — and even reclaiming it, along with pastures — could boost the sector and, therefore, the economy. It would provide unemployed people with job security.
- Secondary markets: Farmers are just one part of the food business. Because of farmers and farmland, secondary markets can thrive. These would include processing businesses, restaurants, schools, grocery stores and even waste management companies.
Canadian farmers should care about land loss because standing back and allowing companies to overtake the farmland could seriously affect the economy.
- Farmland Benefits the Environment
Wildlife often depends upon farmland for both food and habitat. Various types of farmland create diverse habitats for many different species. Without land protection, these habitats and food sources would be destroyed, leaving many animals without a place to survive. Many would have difficulty finding a native habitat.
Additionally, growing crops helps eliminate some of the carbon dioxide released into the air. Air pollution could decrease for Canadian cities as long as no more farmland is used for development.
One major problem occurring with Canadian farmland is desertification. This happens when the soil loses nutrients and becomes barren. The urbanization of Canadian farmland is the primary contributor to desertification, which speeds up climate change and harms the environment. Keeping farmland as-is will slow down climate change.
- Land Loss Affects Farmers’ Jobs
Perhaps the main reason why Canadian farmers should care about land loss is because their livelihood could be taken away. If they don’t have the means to keep up with technological advancements in the agricultural industry, they will not be able to continue their jobs if they experience land loss.
Agriculture is an essential industry. Not everyone can pick up the skills needed to grow their own food, and so many people depend upon farmers for nutrition and goods.
Take a Stand to Preserve Farmland
Farmland is a worthwhile and precious resource for many people. Reduction in farmland acreage will hurt Canadian farmers and the rest of the population, the economy and the environment. Taking steps to prevent more land loss can slow the rates of destruction and keep natural habitats thriving for both humans and animalls.
Click here read more stories by Emily Folk.
I’m Emily Folk, and I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania. Growing up I had a love of animals, and after countless marathons of watching Animal Planet documentaries, I developed a passion for ecology and conservation.
Canadian Agriculture More Energy Intensive, More Efficient
It’s no secret that agriculture has contributed to climate change through various means. For example, you may know that livestock generates greenhouse gas emissions due to how farms process it. That said, it’s now clear that farmers have found sustainable ways to offset those contributions. In Canada, it’s all about energy use.
Here’s how Canadian farmers have become more efficient as they raise crops and livestock, setting a standard the world should follow.
Energy Demand and Consumption Have Fluctuated
The demand for energy has increased across the agricultural sector as a whole. However, it’s key to note that farmers have begun to use less energy despite that fact. That points to more efficient practices. The farmers who complete their work productively save time, money and energy. As a result, Canadian workers have reduced their energy consumption per dollar by 17%. That’s thanks to sustainability.
The most common energy sources include fuel, gas and electricity. It’s how farmers use those resources that counts. Combined with technology choices and new practices, it’s clear that efficiency is more achievable than ever.
What Contributes to This Phenomenon?
It’s crucial for people in agriculture to explore eco-friendly alternatives. The grasslands that many western Canadian farmers cultivate contains excess carbon, so you can imagine what the country as a whole holds underneath its surface. Farmers have now adopted new methods to adjust how they harvest their crops. These systems are better for production, as well as soil and seed health overall.
The agriculture industry has gone through many changes, too. There are fewer farms — but those that still operate have employed agricultural technology to be as efficient as possible. These tools include different equipment that cuts down on time to increase proficiency. Plus, it’s now more common to use solar power as an alternative to traditional energy solutions.
Why Accuracy and Precision Matters
It’s a lot easier to be energy efficient when you don’t waste your resources. The means farmers practiced before they used specific innovations often created a time deficit. If you have a smaller machine, you likely need to do twice as much work. However, when you have access to equipment that fits your field, you don’t have to be as wasteful. The accuracy and precision created by technology make this a reality.
Soil Conservation Is Led by Ranchers
Many farmers have looked to ranchers for help. It’s a native part of ranching to preserve topsoil and other elements that are inherently sustainable. As a result, it seems like ranchers have been leading the charge against climate change for decades. The tactics they use to avoid tilling soil, for example, help preserve the amount of carbon that lies underneath the Earth’s surface.
The “no-till” practice is efficient in its own right. Rather than till your soil to plant a new crop, you simply leave behind what’s already there. This method is much better for soil nutrition, and it can keep carbon exposure at bay. As a result, you have much fewer carbon emissions. In general, the idea of soil conservation isn’t a new one, but old tricks can still work alongside modern technology.
The Future of Agriculture in Canada Looks Bright
If farmers continue on this path, it’ll be clear that climate solutions are at the forefront of their minds. These efforts create more benefits for them as they save time and money. Plus, there’s always the responsibility of maintaining the planet’s health. After all, without a strong ecosystem, agriculture would suffer. Through means that are more accurate and conservative, Canadian farmers have been able to become more efficient. Click here read more stories by Emily Folk.
I’m Emily Folk, and I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania. Growing up I had a love of animals, and after countless marathons of watching Animal Planet documentaries, I developed a passion for ecology and conservation.
