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Vertical integration has farmer/brewer less concerned about inflation

The owner of an Illinois brewery says growing their own grain and processing it on the farm has him less concerned about the impact inflation will have on his business.

Matt Riggs with Riggs Beer Company in Urbana, IL recently fulfilled his dream of running a brewery with grain sourced from his own farm. He tells Brownfield with inflation up well over 7% on many raw materials, this business model could pay off more than he originally thought.

“When commodities skyrocket and I am able to keep that in house, that makes this model even more competitive.”

He says the ability to source his own grain has him a little more at ease as inflation rises.

“But, if I were sourcing a bunch of commercial grain to make beer, I would be sweating bullets right now. I feel a little bit better because I can control those costs and everything by growing our own. So we are comparatively probably in a little bit better position when commodity prices increase due to our vertical integration.”

Riggs was awarded the Glen “GB” Brandt Prize for Ag Entrepreneurship at the University of Illinois’ Ag Tech Innovation Summit.