4-19 IAN Barley Beer

 “Beer is the number 1 use for Idaho Barley and we make no apologies for that. I am happy to say there are signs that beer is making a comeback In US consumption. that is important because that is what drives demand for malt barley. Through the fall of 2012 we saw a total of US beer production of about 1.3% overall and that is a significant shift from the 2 previous years. We were down 1.7% last year and 1.5% in 2010. We definitely turned an important corner there. Now there are several variables that are driving that. One is an improvement in the economy. We definitely want that unemployment number to come down. There is a direct link between very high unemployment rate among blue-collar working class males and ages 21 to 35 where the unemployment rate has been above 10% for about 3 years and that number is slowly coming down. that improves their economic outlook and their purchasing power and their ability to be back buying beer on a more regular basis. That is an important  indicator. We see strong growth in the craft beer segment and they tend to use a lot more barley.”