C.O. brewers, farmers applaud FDA reversal

The federal Food and Drug Administration has revised its proposed set of rules that would have directly affected the relationship between Central Oregon farmers and brewers — which means, for now, it’s business as usual.

“Largely it’s because the FDA didn’t understand the brewing process,” Deschutes Brewery Technical Director Kris Scholl said Monday of the initial proposal.

That proposal would have changed the process in which breweries sell their spent grain to local farmers for feed by making breweries dry and package their spent grain before selling it.

That would have cost breweries precious time and money.

“That gave a lot of concern to brewers at the time,” said Scholl.

It also caused concerns among lawmakers.

Sens. Ron Wyden and Lisa Murkowski wrote a letter of opposition, stating the rule would be “…costly, and even wasteful.”

Deschutes Brewery has always been a company that proudly sells spent grains to local farmers for the return of their beef, so they were understanding of the proposed rules about food safety with regard to animals.

“Because we ultimately consume the animal, so why wouldn’t you make sure the animals have a safe supply as food as well,” Scholl said — but he added, “Our spent grain lines get cleaned every day.”

The relationship between breweries and farmers has been a growing bond over many years.

For now, that won’t be changing.

“We just don’t want it to apply to areas across the country where it becomes a burden to someone or is not a problem,” said Scholl.