Project Thoroughbred highlights Southwest Virginia’s potential to be a significant player in the craft beverage industry. Working with small, family farms to grow malting quality barley for the first time in the region, InvestSWVA is marketing the “Appalachian Grains” brand to breweries and distilleries across the Commonwealth. 

Southwest Virginia has a storied history of growing tobacco, red wheat, corn and feed quality barley. Working with Appalachian Grains, InvestSWVA has created a new market opportunity for farmers with Project Thoroughbred, an effort that demonstrates the region can successfully grow malting quality barley at a higher price and in significant quantities.

Project partners include Virginia Tech’s Small Grains program, Lee County Office of Virginia Cooperative Extension, Lonesome Pine Regional Industrial Facilities Authority, Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy plus Mountain Empire Community College’s Smart Farming program, which allows students the opportunity to learn best practices in farm management as well as precision farm techniques that deliver fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides to just specific location in fields with the use of agriculture drones.

Appalachian Grains Virtual Happy Hour

A celebration of the new specialty grain market opportunity in Southwest Virginia

Click HERE to view our webinar from January 27, 2021 celebrating farming innovation in Southwest Virginia with the players leading Project Thoroughbred, a nearly three-year effort to create a new speciality grain market opportunity in the craft beverage industry for Southwest Virginia’s farmers. The panel includes elected officials, farmers, maltsters and brewers as well as leaders from InvestSWVA, Virginia Tech, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, Mountain Empire Community College and LENOWISCO Planning District Commission. Thanks to Riverbend Malt House, The Virginia Beer Co., Three Notch’d Brewing Company and Wolf Hills Brewing Co. for being great partners in this project.

2020 Southwest Virginia grow project by the numbers