Grain Chain brings supply chain together

The 2^nd annual Colorado Grain Summit will be hosted March 7 at the SteamPlant Event Center in Salida, Colo. The event is hosted by Colorado Grain Chain, a nonprofit created to grow and connect the state’s grain economy.

The one-day conference, according to Colorado Grain Chain Executive Director Lisa Boldt, is for anyone interested in producing products with grains, who handles grains, grows grains, or anyone who is interested in increasing the local sourcing of grains in Colorado, anyone in our food ecosystem,” Boldt said. “We anticipate farmers, bakers, brewers, maltsters, millers, distillers and chefs joining us and we have three different tracts of content for all types of people within the grain supply chain.”

SPEAKERS

The summit’s opening keynote features Andrea Stanley, co-founder of Valley Malt and Ground Up Grain in Massachusetts, where she has built community-centered grain supply chains that connect local farmers with brewers, distillers, and bakers — creating distinctive “taste of place” products. In 2016, Stanley was honored by Food and Wine and Fortune Magazine as one of the 20 Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink.

Andrew Heyn, of New American Stone Mills will also lead a breakout session. Heyn co-owns New American Stone Mills with his wife, Blair Marvin of Elmore Mountain Bread. Wanting to ensure that Elmore Mountain Bread could use fresh-milled, locally sourced grain in all of their loaves, the two sought to create bread that connected the land, the farmer, the baker and the community. In the end, he reimagined, designed, and built a stone mill using locally quarried Vermont granite to grind grain that keeps its nutritional properties and unique flavor of place. Theirs has become a working model of how any bakery can source grain locally and mill fresh, nutritious flour onsite to produce healthy, delicious bread.

Subsequent breakout sessions target different aspects of the grain supply chain and include discussions about Heritage Grains: Modern Markets; Food Quality and Nutrient Density; Storytelling and Marketing; Grains to Schools; Soil Health Strategies, among others.

“We are excited to have all of these grain experts, enthusiasts and producers under one roof to foster partnerships, provide pathways to market expansion and connect with businesses across Colorado,” Boldt said.

Colorado Grain Chain stemmed from an in-person event prior to 2020 called Grain School in the Field led by Nanna Meyer, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs associate professor, sport dietician, healthy campus nutritionist. The course, now online, featured a different grain each year.

Each year students visited a farm, a miller, and a baker, completing hands-on activities throughout the experience.

“After one of the early classes, the people attending all realized they were in the grain network, but really disconnected,” Boldt said. “People who were growing grains didn’t know who to sell to, especially small farms. People who were producing products with really high-quality Colorado grains needed access to new grains, so they realized they needed to fix our food ecosystem, our grain chain, get it linked up, and figure out a way to work together to have a way to communicate in a clear and cohesive way.”

Colorado Grain Chain was founded and run by a volunteer board and two part-time employees. Today, through a variety of grants, those part-time employees have become full time and two additional part-time employees have been added. With more than 100 business members, the connection potential has grown. Boldt, who was one of the initial part-time employees, said it’s rewarding to watch and hear the conversations unfold and benefit all members.

“One of the things so many of us are looking for is connection, human connection, being in the same place at the same time, and I found, especially at last year’s event, talking with people in between sessions and in the hallway, those were some of the most rewarding conversations and some of the best connections,” she said.

The Grain to Glass Happy Hour after the last session will feature six different grains and attendees will be able to see, touch, smell and taste each grain and a food item.

This year’s Summit is sponsored by the City of Salida Arts and Culture and co-hosted by the Northwest Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center. The Colorado Grain Chain, a nonprofit organization that grows and connects a vibrant community-centered grain economy in the state, will hold its second annual Colorado Grain Summit on March 7, a day after Guidestone’s 11th annual AgriSummit wraps up. For those who plan to attend both conferences, special pricing and registration are available at https://www.coloradograinchain.com/page/colorado_grain_summit2025. Early bird tickets are available until Feb. 1. There are access scholarships available for new, beginning and aspiring food and farm industry professionals. Apply at coloradograinchain.com.