Gillibrand: Hartwick’s Center for Craft Food & Beverage seeks funding for equipment

ONEONTA, N.Y. — The Hartwick College Center for Craft Food & Beverage is pursuing funding to purchase additional analytical equipment for grain testing, research, and processing.

The equipment will help farmers to “cultivate value-added crops,” including malting barley and other practices “important” to the craft food and beverage industry.

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D–N.Y.) has written to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) urging them to fund the equipment purchase, Gillibrand’s office said in a news release issued Monday.

Hartwick opened its Center for Craft Food and Beverage in January, according to the school’s website.

It aims to become a quality testing site and technical-assistance center for craft food and beverage producers, focusing on locally-grown and locally-sourced material.

Once approved, the center will use the federal funds to purchase a laboratory scale micro-malting system, Gillibrand’s office said.

“The demand for New York barley and other small grains from craft brewers continues to increase and testing labs like the Center at Hartwick College will be vital to help farmers get their products to beverage producers,” Gillibrand said in the release. “Once the Center for Craft Food and Beverage is expanded, growers and small businesses will have the additional support they need to compete in the farm brewery and craft food and beverage industry. The Center will help lower the cost of production, ensure the consistent, high quality of New York grains, and help our producers build their brands and compete in New York and beyond.”

Gillibrand on July 22 announced that the USDA will be expanding conventional barley-crop insurance to 13 new counties this year and an additional 16 counties for crop year 2017.

Additionally, the USDA’s risk-management agency (RMA) will begin offering coverage for malting barley in four counties beginning in 2017.

Surrounding counties added to the conventional barley-crop insurance expansion include Oneida in 2016 and Chenango and Broome in 2017.

RMA will add Otsego County to the malting-barley expansion list in 2017, the Democrat’s office said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com