North Dakota barley farmers form national association in Grand Forks

A newly formed commodity group sought to consolidate the North Dakota and Minnesota barley sector during a three-day gathering at the Grand Forks Armory. The National Malting Barley Growers Association convened more than 200 farmers from 17 counties in the two states for its first annual convention. The event marked the debut of the nation's newest farm commodity organization.

F. O. Ottem of Osnabrock, North Dakota, was elected president by a meeting of county directors held prior to the main session. George C. Howe Jr. of Casselton, North Dakota, took the vice presidency, while Elmer Bredlie of Eldred, Minnesota, was selected as secretary-treasurer. Ottem had led a 17-member steering committee that built the group from a concept into an organization with 1,400 members and distinct county chapters across the Red River Valley in under a year.

Market conditions and logistics dominated the morning presentations. George Wilkens, executive vice president of the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, forecast higher profits for growers over the next five years. He cited the transition to hopper-style railroad cars, which can carry nearly twice the volume of standard boxcars and unload in minutes, as a key driver. Wilkens also pointed to the adoption of automatic sampling devices to create a standard acceptable to all buyers and sellers.

Lars Jensen, a North Dakota State extension agronomist, quantified the financial impact of new crop varieties. He noted that Trophy and Larker barley, developed at NDS, contributed $10,000 to farm income in production areas. Approximately 60 percent of North Dakota barley acreage in 1963 was planted to these varieties, with per-acre yield and quality gains accounting for $5,000 of that additional income.

Billy Martin, a former New York Yankees star and sales agent for the Minneapolis Brewing Company, represented the brewing industry at the event. He thanked the growers for improving barley quality and shared anecdotes from his baseball career. In the afternoon, delegates adopted the group's constitution and bylaws. Irven Hagen, assistant director of the State Seed Department in Fargo, spoke on federal grading standards affecting the commodity.

Robert W. Dibble, manager of sales operations research at International Harvester, addressed the group at the banquet. He argued that the last 50 years of agricultural progress surpassed that of the preceding 19 centuries. Dibble predicted the next 25 years could be more productive, noting that population growth would require increased output to ensure food security. He stated a preference for a 5 percent surplus in farm products over a 5 percent deficit to meet future demands.