I Want That Stuff

Arnold Gonsalves loves Mount Hope Farm. He’s worked here since 1999 as Property Superintendent, and worked for the Farm’s previous owner, the Haffenreffer family, before that.

Arnold is known to have an ever-ready eye out for anything that might benefit the Farm, and some months ago his eye landed on spent grain. Brewer's spent grain is the industrial name for the remaining malt after a brewery has already used it to make beer. Malt is made from barley that has been soaked, sprouted and dried. The grain is deemed "spent" because it cannot be used to make more beer, as most of its starches have been extracted to provide fermentable sugars to the yeast.

“I want that stuff,” thought Arnold when he heard about the availability of spent grain locally. “Why not use that grain to feed our cows at the Farm? It will certainly be a lot less expensive than purchasing other feed.” And off he went to Pivotal Brewing Company, one of the new breweries in town, where he arranged with Ben Adams, the brewmaster, to collect Pivotal’s spent grain.

“The Farm's two cows took to it right away,” Arnold says, noting that the spent grain he doesn't use immediately is stored for later use. “Nothing is wasted,” says Arnold. “It is the epitome of conservation and use of resources,” says Brenda Turchetta, Executive Director of the Farm. “It makes us all proud to be part of it.”

Spent grain and our cows: one more reason to come to the Farm to experience what we do.

Fun Fact: Research suggests that cows who eat spent grains release up to 13 percent less methane than cows that eat other types of food.