Farmers Boost Value Of Crop By Brewing Soybean Beer

Farmers Boost Value Of Crop By Brewing Soybean Beer FARM HOME Food 28-4-26 A 100 percent farmer-owned co-op in Belton, Mo. has found a way to boost the value of beans and wheat by brewing it into beer. It looks like the effort is paying off big time. "Sales have been good," says Joe Effertz, president and CEO of TransCon Ag. "We are busting at the seams, and our biggest challenge has been finding workers." Pony Express Gold, the first of several soy-based beers, has been marketed in Kansas, Missouri and Wisconsin for the past year. The beer, promoted as having added protein, is about 6 percent soy based. The brewery co-op hopes to add Nebraska, Iowa and Arkansas to their distribution soon. The soy beer is also being exported to China and Taiwan, countries where soy products are highly valued. "Our goal is to keep building business," says Effertz. "We have just brewed our first light beer. Because it has soy in it, it's considered a health beer. It is also low carb and has other key marketing components. We are also trying to develop a hard lemonade with soy." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Joe Effertz, TransCon AG, LLC, 2301 E. Oilwell Drive, Belton, Mo. 64012 (ph 816 581-7310; website: www.transconag.com) or Great Plains Brewing Company, P.O. Box 379, Garden City, Mo. 64747 (ph 816 581-7310; website: www.ponygold.com).

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