Milling & Baking News - February 26, 2019 - 12

Business

Clif Bar helping organic growers
in partnership with Grain Millers

EMERYVILLE, CALIF. - Clif Bar & Co. from United Wind that will provide them
has launched the Clif Ag Fund, a new ini- with their electricity needs at a fixed
tiative designed to help increase the eco- monthly rate for 20 to 30 years. The farmnomic resilience of organic farmers in its ers won't have to pay upfront fees or
maintenance costs for the turbines.
supply chain.
"Farmers will experience lower energy
Clif Bar said it is providing $500,000 in
initial seed funding to a $10 million wind costs from day one, and all of them will
energy program, with other large inves- avoid rising energy prices that have eaten
tors slated to invest the remaining $9.5 million.
The wind energy proClif Bar & Co.'s new Clif Ag Fund
gram is a partnership bewill help increase the economic
tween Clif Bar; Grain Millresilience of organic farmers in its
ers, Inc.; Puris Proteins
supply chain through a variety of
creative investments.
L.L.C.; and United Wind,
Inc. Grain Millers and
Puris are two of Clif Bar's
major ingredient suppliers. Through the program
the companies hope to be
able to provide up to 80
organic farms with longterm energy cost savings
from hosting on-farm BUSINESS WIRE
into their margins and placed their profitwind turbines.
"Farming has thin margins, so it's im- ability at risk," Mr. Dillon said. "What's
portant to take advantage of opportuni- more, the installation and maintenance of
ties to reduce costs or improve efficien- the wind turbines on their farms will crecy," said Matthew Dillon, senior director ate skilled jobs."
The new program will focus on farms
of agricultural policy and programs for
Clif Bar. "The goal of the Clif Ag Fund in Midwestern states such as Iowa, Minis to invest in projects that will help our nesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.
"We're excited to pioneer this wind
farmers be more economically resilient
in producing organic crops. That benefits initiative alongside Clif Bar & Co.," said
farmers, their communities and Clif Bar." Russell Tencer, chief executive officer of
As part of the wind energy program, United Wind. "It enables their farmers to
farmers will lease a small wind turbine access clean, low-cost, distributed wind

Lactic acid shows promise cutting
pathogen risk in wheat tempering
LENEXA, KAS. - Reducing the risk of
pathogens and saving time are two goals
when tempering wheat, which involves
adding water to wheat before milling to
improve the efficiency of flour extraction.
Lactic acid shows promise in the first
goal. Lactic acid requires little modification for existing tempering systems, said
Brent Adams, national sales manager,
milling, for Corbion, Lenexa.
"While the method is still fairly new,
lactic acid is being added to the tempering process more often for a 2-3 log reduction," he said. "This helps reduce the
risk of pathogens, which can be prevalent
in wheat flour and cause foodborne diseases."
Adding chlorine gas to water during the tempering process also has been
12 / February 26, 2019

Milling & Baking News

shown to help control pH level, which
prevents the spread of bacteria.
"Anytime you can reduce the chances
of bacteria spreading during the production process or in a final application, it
will bring greater comfort and assurance
for customers," Mr. Adams said.
Another innovation in
wheat tempering is using
wheat heaters to warm the
wheat instead of using live
steam on the wheat, said Jason
Watt, Bühler instructor of milling at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kas.
High speed paddles and/or the use of
ultrasonic vibration in temper conveyors
are other options.
"This breaks the surface tension of the
water, allowing it to be absorbed into the

energy and builds on Clif's leadership in
sustainability."
Mr. Dillon said the Clif Ag Fund eventually will pursue a variety of investments on behalf of organic farmers in its
supply chain. Possible investments include new technologies or infrastructure
development, he said.
"The Clif Ag Fund is unique in its flexibility," he explained. "We're set up to
look at any of the challenges facing organic farmers in our supply chain and
craft innovative investment
solutions to meet them."
Clif Bar began using organic ingredients in 2003
and over the past 15 years
has purchased more than 1
billion lbs of organic crops.
The company is one of the
largest private funders of
organic research, funding
17 graduate fellowships in
organic plant breeding and
committing to raise $10 million to fund endowed chairs
in organic plant breeding at
U.S. universities.
Late last year Clif Bar received the Rabobank Award for Leader in Sustainability. The award recognizes an organization
that has demonstrated a deep commitment to sustainability as its core strategy
across many dimensions of its business
and ambitions.
Rabobank applauded several of Clif
Bar's efforts, including the company's
sourcing of 100% green power for its operations and its willingness to set renewable energy goals for its suppliers and
distribution centers. MBN
wheat quicker, shortening temper times,"
he said. The amount of water to be added
when tempering wheat is pivotal.
"The main things that affect the amount
of water that is applied during the conditioning stage are the initial moisture of
dry wheat and the hardness
of the wheat, which is most
often based off the types or
variety of wheat," Mr. Watt
said. "The drier the wheat,
the more water is added as
well as the longer temp time
is needed. The harder the
wheat, the longer temp time
as well."
The type of grain will play a factor, too.
"Soft wheat is going to have the lowest target moisture and shortest temper
time," Mr. Watt said. "As the wheat you
are tempering gets harder, higher protein,
the higher the target moisture and the
longer the temper time." MBN
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Milling & Baking News - February 26, 2019

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