It’s no secret that northern Michigan has become something of a craft beer Mecca. From Short’s in Bellaire (the third biggest brewery in the state in terms of production volume, after Bell’s and Founder’s) to the collection of breweries scattered around downtown Traverse City, you don’t need to go far in northern Michigan to find someone who brews beer.

But what about someone who grows barley, one of beer’s key ingredients? As Craig Manning writes in this week's Northern Express - sister publication of The Ticker - while hops have become a somewhat common agricultural export in the region, barley remains more of an anomaly. In fact, even the producers who are making malted barley locally have only been at it for less than a decade. One of those producers is Empire Malting Company, which planted its first barley crop in 2013.

In the years since that first crop, Empire Malting Company has grown considerably. This year, the business is aiming to grow 300 acres of barley, up from 280 last year. Along the way, founder and and director Alison Babb and her team also built a malt house, cultivated relationships with local brewers, and expanded their portfolio to include six types of barley (and counting). Crucial to Empire Malting Company’s success so far, Babb says, is the push among breweries throughout the region (and across the state as a whole) to source their ingredients from close-to-home sources and producers.

Read more about the growth of Empire Malting Company and the local barley industry in this week's Northern Express, available to read online or at newsstand locations in 14 counties across northern Michigan.