2019 Grow Skagit - Spring by Skagit Publishing

FARMSTRONG BREWERY Strengthening its local commitment • Bread Lab welcomes new doctoral students • WSU Mount Vernon adds soil scientists to staff • The move to protect Skagit’s brassica seed industry

A S U P P L E M E N T T O T H E S K A G I T VA L L E Y H E R A L D A N D A N A C O RT E S A M E R I C A N

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Farmstrong Brewing

Company moves to 100 percent local grain Story by LEAH ALLEN Photos by SCOTT TERRELL Skagit Valley Herald

“Grown here. Malted here. Brewed here.”

Adam Foy, sales manager at Skagit Valley Malting, speaks to a tour group March 2 at Farmstrong Brewing Co.

Visit growskagit.com for stories in this issue and similar content. Cover photo

Scott Terrell Skagit Valley Herald

That slogan embodies Farmstrong Brewing Co.’s recent accomplishment of using grain solely from Skagit County farmers, malting it at Skagit Valley Malting and brewing it in Mount Vernon. On March 1, Farmstrong became the only traditional brewery in Skagit County to source all of its grain from local growers. Because the entire process occurs within a 10-mile radius, sales manager Clay Christofferson said Farmstrong is able to truly showcase the valley’s terroir, or sense of place. “We feel like it’s our duty to be a 10-mile brewery,” he said. “Why not have that whole process go back to the community?”

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Even the leftover grain from the brewing process returns to the land, he said. Local farmers use the spent grain as livestock feed. The idea to brew all of Farmstrong’s beers from local grain came out of a conversation in November between Christofferson and head brewer Thane Tupper. Sitting around a bonfire on Orcas Island, Christofferson asked Tupper what he wanted to do next at Farmstrong. “We were always proud to say 80-90 percent of our beers used malt from Skagit Valley Malting, but two of our biggest beers didn’t,” Christofferson said. The Cold Beer Pilsner and La Raza Ambar were still using malt from the Midwest. Christofferson and

“We feel like it’s our duty to be a 10-mile brewery. Why not have that whole process go back to the community?” – Farmstrong sales manager Clay Christofferson

Tupper decided to change that. Back in Mount Vernon, Tupper began the meticulous work of bringing their flagship beers home. He said it came down to tasting grains, doing multiple trials and working closely with Skagit Valley Malting. “Cold Beer is such a light lager,” he said. “You can’t hide anything in there. You really need to dial the flavor in.” Months later, Tupper succeeded in revising the recipes to use Skagit Valley grain, and tested out the new brews in the taproom.

“People were saying this is the best La Raza they’ve ever had, but they couldn’t tell the malt had changed,” Tupper said. Standing in Farmstrong’s brewery in early March, a group of community members sipped on the local brews, commenting on their crisp flavors and lingering afternotes. Mount Vernon resident Andrew Wall said he’s been coming to Farmstrong since he turned 21. “I like that (the beer) is all local and made with Skagit Valley Malting,” the 22-year-old said. “This beer didn’t travel.”

Farmstrong head brewer Thane Tupper tastes his Skagit Pilsner during a tour of the brewery on March 2.

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Soil scientists join WSU Mount Vernon Story by LEAH ALLEN PhotoS by SCOTT TERRELL Skagit Valley Herald

For the first time in decades, the Washington State University Mount Vernon Research Center has soil scientists. Director Chad Kruger said the center has wanted a soil scientist for years. When he assumed the role of director three years ago, he said he made it a priority to make that a reality. About 140 applied for the position, Kruger said, and Deirdre Griffin LaHue, a soils and biogeochemistry doctoral candidate from the University of California at Davis, was selected. Her husband and fellow soil scientist Gabe LaHue was hired as well, Kruger said. The two joined the center’s crop and soil sciences department Jan. 1. With Griffin LaHue’s expertise in soil health and LaHue’s knowledge of soil water relations, Kruger said the center will be able to address the region’s soil needs. Both scientists said they’re excited to begin their work, which will include teaching, research and engaging with stakeholders to come up with projects that aim to solve problems in Skagit County and beyond. “We want our research questions to come from

the community,” Griffin LaHue said. Griffin LaHue said soil compaction — a form of soil degradation that reduces the space in soil available for air and water — is an ongoing challenge for growers, especially in the spring when soil becomes saturated with water. “Growers try to time it as best they can, but they have hundreds of acres and a short time window to plant their crops,” she said. “There’s work to be done about the rotation of crops in the valley and how those crops interact.” As part of her effort to address this problem, Griffin LaHue will be creating a program focused on finding ways to track the biology and health of soil. She said the program will include testing possible solutions with growers and sharing those findings with the Skagit County agriculture community. LaHue will also be developing a soil health program, which draws on his doctorate work studying the interactions between soil and water in California rice fields. LaHue’s program

above: Soil scientists Deirdre Griffin LaHue and Gabe LaHue check out soil samples Feb. 14 at the Washington State University Mount Vernon Research Center. LEFT: Soils collected from throughout Skagit County show a diversity in materials that make up the soil structure.

will explore soil water management, soil nutrient management and the impact they have on one another.

One of his first experiments this summer will investigate how different levels of organic matter affect nitrogen fertiliza-

tion in blueberries. Too much nitrogen can lead to diminished berry production and may also decrease the plant’s cold

tolerance during the winter, LaHue said. LaHue will also teach an online class on soil science this fall.

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WSU Bread Lab welcomes new doctoral students Story by LEAH ALLEN Photo by CHARLES BILES

Washington State University doctoral students (from left) Robin Morgan, Merri Metcalfe and Laura Valli stand together Feb. 28 at the Bread Lab in Burlington.

Skagit Valley Herald

An Italian scientist, an Estonian anthropologist and an American dietitian have joined the Washington State University Bread Lab in Burlington to pursue their PhDs. Though they come from varied backgrounds, they share a passion for food and a desire to improve the relationship people have with what they eat. “These people care about their community and they care about what they’re doing,” Bread Lab Director Stephen Jones said. ROBIN MORGAN Robin Morgan joined the lab in November after his curiosity about the origins of food led him to study agricultural sciences and organic agriculture in his home country of Italy. Morgan heard about the Bread Lab during his time volunteering at Seed Savers Exchange, an Iowa nonprofit that holds the nation’s largest nongovernmental bank of heirloom seeds. “I want to bring my

passions of baking and agriculture together,” Morgan said in February. Morgan will be investigating the intersections between grain breeding and baking through a wheat breeding project started by former Bread Lab graduate student Colin Curwen-McAdams. The project aims to create regional varieties of wheat that differ from the traditional market classes of white and red wheat. Morgan said the hope is to establish wheat that has unique characteristics and flavors imparted by the Skagit Valley — also known as terroir, or sense of place. “This work is part of the larger effort to keep value in the place it was produced,” he said. LAURA VALLI Laura Valli of Estonia met Jones in September

healthy,” she said. “My approach is taste is the most important. Everything that tastes good should be good for you.” at a food conference she organized in Finland. With a background in cooking and a bachelor’s degree in social anthropology from the University of Cambridge, Valli said she’s interested in exploring the social aspects of cooking, with a particular focus on anxiety. “People get nervous about cooking,” she said. “We’re the only species that can’t manage what we eat.” In addition to studying the many meanings cooking can have for different people, Valli said she hopes to understand why rye — a staple in her home country — and porridge aren’t more popular

MERRI METCALFE The commodity grain system is designed for white flour, the product of removing the nutrientrich bran and germ portions of a grain seed, registered dietitian Merri Metcalfe said.

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in the United States. In February, Valli was working with Skagit County rye while she waited for her Czech Republic rye to arrive. “I want to make eating more pleasurable and

The result is a flour stripped of nutrition. Part of Metcalfe’s research at the Bread Lab will focus on why flour is fortified and where nutrients are lost when whole grains are refined. By sifting flour through multiple sieves stacked atop one another, Metcalfe said she hopes to test each section for nutritional value in order to pinpoint exactly where nutrients are lost during the refining process. “We want to do the study again to say this is why you should use whole grain,” she said. Another avenue of research Merri said she’d like to explore is the relationship between sound, music and growing wheat.

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Ordinance aims to protect local seed industry Skagit Valley Herald

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Story by LEAH ALLEN • Photo by CHARLES BILES

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Local seed companies and seed growers have proposed a Skagit County ordinance to protect the region’s $2.6 million brassica seed industry. Brought forward by the Puget Sound Seed Growers Association and the Western Washington Small Seed Advisory Committee, the proposed ordinance aims to promote cooperation between commercial and noncommercial growers of brassica plants by establishing a method to resolve potential crosspollination conflicts. “The purpose of this is to protect the future,” Seed Growers President Kirby Johnson said. “There’s a seed presence here and it needs to stay.” Brassica plants such as cabbage, kale, broccoli and Brussels sprouts are particularly susceptible to cross-pollination, especially when growers allow their brassica crops to live through the winter and flower in the spring. Cross-pollination can cause significant damage to the seed industry, which aims to produce

consistently pure seeds for the world market. As of mid-March, the proposed ordinance had made its way to the Skagit County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for review. If it passes review, it will be brought before the Skagit County commissioners for approval. In Skagit County, commercial brassica growers are required by law to coordinate where they plant in order to prevent cross-pollination, but noncommercial growers, such as homeowners, are not. Skagit County is responsible for 25 percent of the world’s cabbage seed, according to the Washington State University Skagit County Extension’s 2017 Agriculture Statistics. Michael Picha of Universal Seed Company said those in the industry must abide by certain

terms. If those terms aren’t met, seeds can get rejected and seed companies and growers won’t get paid. “If it becomes a consistent factor, it’s going to come to the point where the companies we’re growing seed for aren’t going to want to do business in this region,” he said. Those in the seed industry said the ordinance was spurred by an incident in 2017 in which a homeowner allowed his brassica plants to flower near a commercial hybrid cabbage seed crop. While most homeowners remove their plants when asked, Johnson said this one refused. Though there is a state law that discourages homeowners from allowing their brassica plants to flower, Washington State University Skagit County Extension Director Don McMoran said going through that process of enforcing that law would take months — long enough to ruin a crop. “We need something at a local level,” he said. If passed, the ordi-

“THE PURPOSE OF THIS IS TO PROTECT THE FUTURE. THERE’S A SEED PRESENCE HERE AND IT NEEDS TO STAY” – Puget Sound Seed Growers President Kirby Johnson

nance would create a mandatory dispute resolution process between farmers and the owner of the flowering brassica, said Will Honea, a Skagit County deputy prosecuting attorney who wrote the proposed ordinance. If communication doesn’t resolve the issue, the ordinance would give farmers the option of tak-

ing the matter to court. “The point is, if you grow these brassicas, you have to be responsible to the industry here,” Johnson said. For many seed growers, the ordinance is a necessary measure to protect the industry, but one they hope to never use. Bob Peterson, experimental production manager with Sakata Seed Company, said Sakata has always had good relationships with growers and the community at large. In Skagit County, Peterson said Sakata has never had an issue like the one that spurred the proposed ordinance. “I believe this ordinance just heightens awareness that we’re all here as a community base,” he said. “It provides some next level of accountability.”

Lake Cavanaugh Farm Fourth-generation Skagit Valley seed farmer Jack Hulbert shows a field of cabbage March 8 near La Conner.

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Skagit Seed Services co-owner Jack Hulbert said he and other farmers keep close watch of nearby plants that could contaminate their crops. The lifelong farmer said incidents of homeowners letting their brassicas flower happens every few years. “I think we need this ordinance because we’re being encroached on by urban sprawl,” he said. “Every road you go down, someone has a little garden where they’re growing kale.” At the end of the day, those in the industry say this ordinance is a way to resolve conflict in a fast, fair and effective manner. “The main goal is everyone works together,” Picha said. “That’s the overall goal. So that everyone works together as a collective unit.”

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