Says regulations "absurd"; FDA chief promises "reasonable solution"


Congresswoman Chellie Pingree questioned the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today about a proposed rule that would end a longtime arrangement between beer brewers and farmers that allows spent grain used in the brewing process to be utilized as cattle and pig feed.

Pingree challenged Dr. Margaret Hamburg, Commissioner of FDA, about a proposal that would require brewers to package and dry the grain before giving it to farmers to be used as feed, a process that would be so expensive that brewers would instead be forced to dispose of the grain in a landfill. Traditionally, brewers give the spent grain to farmers for free, in exchange for hauling it off from brewing facilities.

"This rule has gotten absurd. I'm not really sure how we can say these grains are safe enough for human consumption but then on the other side they are not safe enough to feed to a cow. This is very hard to explain to my dairy farmers," Pingree said.

Hamburg was appearing in front of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, which sets the budget for the FDA. Pingree is a member of the Subcommittee.

Pingree talked about how the traditional arrangement works well for brewers and farmers.

"For the farmers, it’s a no-cost, natural, high-protein food source for their cattle. It’s the kind of handshake agreement that strengthens community. One example in my state—farmer Norm Justice—takes all the spent grain from the Allagash Brewing Company and feeds not only to his own beef cattle but distributes it to dairy farmers around the state who feed literally thousands of head of cattle with it. When the supply of spent grain runs low, then they have to buy very expensive feed to replace it," she said to Hamburg.

Hamburg promised Pingree to find a "reasonable solution" and said she understood "why it makes economic and sustainable agriculture sense to look towards these kinds of approaches."

Hamburg also told Pingree that the FDA would reopen the comment period for the proposed rule to give time to come up with a solution that would benefit farmers and brewers.