Barley is becoming increasingly popular among pet food manufacturers.

According to Steve Edwardson, executive administrator of the North Dakota Barley Council, 20 to 30 percent of the barley cultivated in North Dakota and Minnesota is sold to pet food processors or corporations.

The best barley isn't just for beer anymore. In the shape of pet food, Fido the dog and Fluffy the cat also get a taste of the good stuff.
According to Steve Edwardson, executive administrator of the North Dakota Barley Council, 20 to 30 percent of the barley cultivated in North Dakota and Minnesota is sold to pet food processors or corporations.
According to Kevin Pray, MGI Grain Processing LLC senior vice president sales and business development, business unit head, the amount of barley used in pet food began to increase roughly seven years ago. MGI Grain Processing LLC removes the hulls from the barley seed and polishes it, a process known as pearling.
According to Pray, barley's protein content — about 13% — and reputation as a carbohydrate that doesn't make pets as anxious as other carbohydrate sources has led to it being favoured as an ingredient over corn or rice. Meanwhile, barley is high in fiber.

Pray stated, Barley has a health halo.

Pet food demand has grown in recent years as individuals buy and rescue companion animals, which they consider to be family members, he said.
People's attitudes toward their dogs have changed in the last five years, Pray stated.
The barley industry has benefited from this. As corn and soybean acres have risen in North Dakota over the last few decades, barley acreage has continuously decreased. The loss in barley acres has accelerated during the last 15 years. Farmers in the state, for example, planted 2 million acres of barley in 2003, yielding 118.8 million bushels.
According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, North Dakota farmers planted less than half as many acres — 580,000 acres — and harvested only 430,000 acres in 2021 due to drought-related yield reductions. According to the statistics agency, production last year was 21.9 million bushels, about 90% fewer than the 1985 record of 184 million bushels.
Minnesota's barley production has been trending in the same direction as North Dakota's. In 1985, the state's production reached a high of 70 million bushels. According to NASS, a combination of acreage decrease and drought lowered last year's production, which totaled 1.7 million bushels.
The northeast and north-central parts of the state have the highest concentration of barley acres. The northwest of Minnesota produces the majority of Minnesota's barley.
The executive administrator of the North Dakota Barley Council is Steve Edwardson.
North Dakota Barley Council / Contributed
"Barley is no longer a speculative crop." "You don't see a lot of non-speculative (acres) being planted," Edwardson added. "Most of it will be contracted, whether it's malting, brewing, or pet food."
According to Greg Kessel, North Dakota Barley Council chair and owner of Arrow K Farms in Belfield, North Dakota, the North Dakota Barley Council, which is always seeking for new ways for farmers to market their product, began advertising barley to the pet food industry some years ago.

"It's like a breath of fresh air," Kessel added, "that we found another market and aren't solely kept hostage by the malt guys."
North Dakota and Minnesota barley growers have contracts with a number of processors and pet food firms in the state. Anchor Ingredient, based in Fargo, North Dakota, has mills in East Grand Forks, Minnesota, and Hillsboro, North Dakota; Engstrom Bean, situated in Leeds, North Dakota; and Valley Grain Milling, based in the North Dakota towns of Beaulah and Casselton, have barley milling plants.
KLN Family Brands, based in Perham, Minnesota, and maker of Tuffy's dog food, works directly with barley growers.
RiceBran Technologies' MGI Grain Processing LLC in East Grand Forks buys barley from farmers in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Canada, pearls it, and then sells it to pet food processors or distributors who sell it to pet food companies, according to Pray.

According to Edwardson, pet food firms are proposing contracts ranging from $6.75 to $8 per bushel.
Barley cultivated for pet food, like barley grown for malting, must meet specified requirements. For example, the barley must be toxin-free and contain a particular level of protein.

MGI Grain Processing LLC prefers 13 percent protein, according to Pray.
This spring, Wade Harpestad, a farmer from Hampton, North Dakota, contracted some of his 2022 barley with a pet food manufacturer. Despite the fact that barley is no longer popular among farmers, Harpestad continues to produce it on his property and normally contracts his production with a malting company.
It pays the bills year after year. It fits quite nicely with my schedule, he explained.

Harpestad started selling barley to a pet food processing company on the open market a year ago when a representative called and inquired whether he had any spare barley he hadn't sold for malt, according to Harpestad.
He informed the corporation of his actions.

Harpestad grows between 900 and 1,300 acres of barley each year, always planting more than he contracts with maltsters to ensure he has a buffer in case yields are below normal.
Harpestad sold the additional bushels to the company last year and again this winter.
I got paid more for the items I sold to them this winter than any malting contract, Harpestad remarked.
Pet food processors and businesses, like other commodity buyers, were paying a premium for barley, which was in short supply due to drought.
The pet food processor's deal this year is slightly smaller than his malting contract, but it's still competitive, according to Harpestad.
Jim Broten, a veteran Dazey, North Dakota, barley farmer, contracted with a pet food firm for the first time this year after selling barley to a pet food company on the open market for a couple of years.
Broten was instrumental in marketing barley to the pet food industry, and he is glad that demand has increased as a result.
We were well aware that the pet food industry was exploding. When I was a youngster, the scraps from the dinner were normally given to the pets. These days, a large number of pets eat commercial pet food, he stated. They're a family member.

He stated, It's turning out to be a very strong market for us.
According to Marv Zutz, executive director of Minnesota Barley, the pet food sector in Minnesota, which includes KLN Family Brands, is a fantastic outlet for barley.
Down in Perham, we're fortunate to have one of the largest pet food firms, Zutz added. Because of the pet food barley industry, we're witnessing a rise in barley acres in Minnesota and North Dakota. Our acreage would be significantly reduced if the pet food market did not exist.
It's been a pleasant surprise, Edwardson said, "and it appears to be displaying consistent growth.

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