Episode 212: Maine Grains Alliance

Get ready to learn a whole lot about grains on a special episode of The Farm Report. Erin Fairbanks is joined by Amber Lambke, Executive Director of the Maine Grains Alliance and host of the annual KNEADING Conference. Amber knows her grains and talks about everything from infrastructure to economics. The Maine Grains Alliance’s mission is to preserve and promote grain traditions, from earth to hearth. They provide opportunities to learn and share how best to grow and use grains, using a combination of traditional, innovative, and sustainable techniques. The KNEADING conference brings together farmers, professional and home bakers, chefs, cooks, grain researchers, maltsters, food entrepreneurs, and wood-fired oven enthusiasts to educate one another about the art and science of growing and milling grains and baking artisan breads. Over the next 5-10 years the landscape of grains will change dramatically. Find out why on The Farm Report. This program was brought to you by Whole Foods Market. “What we’re finding is that grains make a lot of sense in a diversified crop rotation. Many farmers starting to sell us grains also sell other things.” [7:13] “We lost grain production to an economy of scale that made it cheaper to grow high yielding varieties of grain in the midwest.” [9:19] “In the US right now the percentage of organic grain production happening is still less than 1% of the grain production in our country. We have an opportunity in New England to stay focused on organic and non-GMO grain production.” [12:17] “Over the next 5-10 years the landscape of grains will change dramatically. We’re not just buying white flour, we’re paying a lot more attention to what we’re buying.” [24:53] –Amber Lambke on The Farm ReportSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.