Wyden joins calls for FDA ‘spent grain’ rule fix

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Monday to fix a proposed rule on the use of brewery by-products, known as spent grain, for agricultural purposes, including livestock feed.

“The alliance between one of Oregon’s oldest industries, agriculture, and one of the newest, craft beer, is at risk of being torn apart by federal regulators,” Wyden said during a Portland news conference with members of the Oregon craft brewing industry.

Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., expressed similar concerns to the FDA recently, as Central Oregon brewers, among others, voiced concerns over the proposed rule’s impacts on their operations.

Wyden, co-chair with Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-AK, of the Senate Bipartisan Small Brewers Caucus, said in a letter to USDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg that the spent grain rule as currently written “would be onerous, costly and even wasteful” and urged her to adjust it in favor of something more workable for both brewers and farmers while protecting public health. Murkowski co-signed the letter.

“After the brewing process the remaining materials, commonly known as spent grains, are often given or sold to farmers and ranchers for use as animal feed and compost,” the letter reads. “This historically standard practice provides nutritious silage for animals and saves the brewers from having to pay for expensive disposal in landfills, many of which are already overflowing.”

“It is our understanding that there are no documented cases of contamination or health threats caused by livestock consuming spent grains,” the senators added.

According to the Oregon Brewers Guild, Oregon has more than 200 brewing facilities employing 6,400 full- and part-time workers.

The brewing supply chain, from the growers who produce the hops and barley to the welders who fabricate the fermenting tanks to the farmers and ranchers whose cattle eat the spent grain, generates $2.8 billion in direct and indirect economic impact.

The Brewers Guild also estimates that sending spent grains to landfills or turning it into compost would cost millions of dollars.

Wyden said that in recent hearings, the FDA acknowledged the problems associated with the proposed rule and indicated a willingness to reconsider the above-mentioned provisions.

The senator offered to work with the agency to ensure that any new rules avoid proposing costly and unnecessary burdens on this important industry and asked to updated in the next 30 days.