Colorado Grain Chain Announces Micro-Grants Available for Organic Grain Producers

Colorado Grain Chain is a nonprofit organization that develops and connects community-centered grain economies. The organization will award six $5,000 grants to companies in the middle phase – after harvest and before retail sale – of the organic grain supply chain.

Grant applications are being accepted until September 27 and can be found on the Colorado Grain Chain website.

This year’s micro-grant program is made possible by a USDA Organic Market Development Grant.

Colorado Grain Chain Executive Director Lisa Boldt explained that the organization works to “expand market opportunities” for both producers and processors of organic grain in Colorado.

“Those involved in the middle of the supply chain play a critical role in increasing the availability of grains to brewers, bakers, food producers, and ultimately consumers. We are excited to offer this micro-grant program to help increase awareness and demand for Colorado-grown grain products,” Boldt said.

Interested candidates must have an organic certificate or be in the process of obtaining an organic certificate.Those involved in milling, malting, processing, manufacturing, cleaning, storage, transport or distribution are invited to apply for a grant.

Eric Larkin is the co-founder of Cohesion Brewing in Denver and a 2023 micro-grant recipient.

“Getting the micro-funding allowed us to produce our beer with a larger partner brewery that could package and distribute the beer to a wider audience,” Larkin said. “We’ve always been big believers in using locally grown grains, and the opportunity to educate people about the grains available here in Colorado while continuing to find new ways to use those raw materials was incredibly exciting.”

The press release outlines several eligible projects that could benefit from the grant funding:

• Increasing your organic grain storage capacity by purchasing pallet racks, rigid grain bins or other containers.
• Purchase of specialized equipment for malting, milling, cleaning, sorting and labeling seeds.
• Hiring a public relations firm to market and advertise your value-added products or your company’s role in the organic grain value chain.
• Purchase of a delivery vehicle to alleviate bottlenecks in the organic grain supply chain.
• Making improvements or changes to an existing building to make more efficient use of space or to accommodate new equipment.