Is ’Buck-a-Beer’ good for barley growers?

Aug 07, 2018

Premier Ford challenged brewers to lower prices by Labour Day

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

The reintroduction of a low-cost beer program could be good news for Ontario’s barley producers.

Today, Premier Ford announced that his campaign promise of ‘Buck-a-Beer’ will be back in Ontario and challenged brewers to make the necessary price adjustments by Labour Day. Those that do could receive preferable LCBO store displays and advertising.

“We were elected on a promise to reduce red tape and put the people first,” he said today at Barley Days Brewery in Picton, Ont. “This included a promise to bring ‘Buck-a-Beer’ back to Ontario. Today I am proud to say: promise made, promise kept.”

Left to right: Finance Minister Vic Fedeli, Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Government and Consumer Services Todd Smith.
Photo: Amanda Smith/Quinte News

The minimum price for a bottle of beer at the LCBO was $1.00 from 2005 until 2008. Then, the Liberal government raised the minimum price to $1.25.

While several breweries have said they will not participate in the dollar beer program, some of the ingredient producers are happy about the announcement.

If brewers decide to develop a new beer to meet the requirements of the program, that could mean increased market opportunities.

“The announcement is great news for me and other barley growers,” Gord Masters, a producer from Kawartha Lakes, Ont., told Farms.com today. “Any initiative that can provide another way for farmers to market their crops is always welcomed. I’m sure hop growers would feel the same way.”

Masters also thinks $1.00 beer is a good way to attract new connoisseurs to beer.

“I know some people who don’t buy much beer because it’s too expensive,” he said. Someone “can spend a dollar to try a beer and he or she does not end up with a case just sitting at home.”

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.