Where Beer Begins: Malting Barley on a Fourth-Generation Manitoba Farm

What	Barley
Where	Central
Who	Jeff

Where Local Beer Begins

On Great Tastes of Manitoba, we like to show you a different side of farming.

In this day in the life video, spend time with a fourth-generation farmer who grows and malts barley for Manitoba craft breweries and home brew supply shops. We follow the journey from seed to pint glass, starting at Wiebe Family Farms and Scythe Malting Company in Springstein, just west of Winnipeg.

It’s a closer look at where beer really begins, long before it reaches a tap or can.

Not Your Typical Manitoba Farmer

When you picture a farmer, who do you see?

Jeff Stobbe-Wiebe might not fit that image. After high school, he heads to brewing school and later completes an intensive malting course at the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre. He works as a brewer at PEG Beer Co. in Winnipeg before returning home to farm full-time.

Back on the family land, Jeff teams up with his dad and brother to launch Scythe Malting Company. The idea for the malt house feels natural to him, seeing it as a “linear transition” between farming and brewing beer.

How Manitoba Barley Becomes Beer

Today, the family grows barley and malts it on-site, selling to Manitoba’s craft breweries and home brew supply shops. Having a malt house on the farm means Jeff can oversee each stage of the process. He grows the grain, tracks its quality, and then sees where it ends up.

From planting seed rates and fertilizer planning to monitoring moisture levels (13.5% at harvest, 45% during steeping), Jeff walks through the science behind a great base malt. He highlights the importance of consistency in their product, as this ensures a consistent beer for drinkers. Jeff states that the better quality a grain they start with, the better end product the brewers will have.

He also enjoys the day-to-day work of farming. One day he’s hauling grain. The next he’s fixing equipment. Farming is a passion that brings new challenges each day.

Why Consistency Matters

Part of Jeff’s day includes delivering malt to Grain to Glass, where he meets with brewers and talks shop. For them, consistency is everything. Flavour and colour matter, but so does knowing each batch of craft beer performs the same way.

Jeff explains that great malt starts in the field. It means choosing the right seed rate, applying fertilizer carefully, and working with agronomy experts through the growing season. It means harvesting at the right moisture level and then monitoring temperatures, timelines, and data inside the malt house.

Growing a Legacy Sustainably

Jeff is a fourth-generation farmer, and the farm is approaching its centennial, or 100th year of farming. He is keenly aware that the decisions made today shape what the next generation inherits. Jeff is committed to leaving a legacy of healthy soil for the future generations of farmers in his family.

He is a member of the Manitoba Crop Alliance, which represents Manitoba’s wheat, barley, corn, flax, and sunflower farmers. Together, members support research, responsible growing practices, and stronger connections between farmers and the people who rely on what they produce.

Not every barley grower in Manitoba malts their own grain. But farmers like Jeff are keeping Manitoba’s grain story moving forward through innovation and dedication.