USA: Coors said Idaho barley growers had a great year in 2004

The third-largest beer maker in America, Coors Brewing Company praised southern Idaho barley growers this week for growing some of the best crops they've ever seen, The Associated Press communicated on June 24. J-D Lowe, a quality control specialist for the brewer, said southern Idaho produced world-class barley in last year's harvest.

Coors sent a contingent of company executives to Idaho this week to meet and thank Idaho farmers.

According to Lowe about 28 % of all the barley used to make beer at the company's plant in Golden, Colorado, comes from southern Idaho. The company has been buying Idaho barley since about 1968.

Coors Brewing Company operates a huge barley cleaning and storage site near Burley. The facility can handle a nine (M) million bushels of barley from 220 contractors.

26 June, 2005