07/23/08 Barley industry reaction to Imbev-Busch deal

Idaho Barley Commission administrator Kelly Olson wasn't surprised by the Belgian brewer Imbev's takeover of Anheuser Busch given the global consolidation of that industry. Olson doesn't foresee any immediate negative impact from the Imbev purchase of Idaho's largest barley buyer. She says they are still going to brew Budweiser and Bud-Lite in America and malting barley is a key raw material for those products. OLSON "I just don't anticipate that it's going to affect the grain operations. I could be all wrong about that down the road. None of us have a perfect crystal ball about what decisions they will make but I don't anticipate any dramatic changes." Anheuser Busch has been buying Idaho barley under contract and on the open market for more than three decades and the company has a malting plant, grain elevator and seed plant in eastern Idaho where the majority of the state's barley production takes place. OLSON "I know for a fact that Anheuser Busch is making plans right now in terms of what their 2009 malting barley contracts will look like and they're likely to roll them out to producers in September like they did last year and what I hear not a lot of change in store there." The 52 billion dollar takeover needs Busch shareholders support and regulators approval. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott