ATTRA Question of the Week

C.A.
New York

Answer: I am pleased to provide you with information regarding spelt production.

The following articles provide descriptions of the agronomic requirements for growing spelt. One is titled “Spelt” from the Alternative Field Crops Manual published cooperatively by the University of Wisconsin and University of Minnesota Extension. The next article is “Alternative Wheat Cereals as Food Grains: Einkorn, Emmer, Spelt, Kamut, and Triticale” by Stallknecht, Gilbertson, and Ranney. And finally, the University of Kentucky Extension Service has published an article on spelt.

These resources are interviews or case studies of current spelt farmers. The first is an article from the NorthEast Organic Network’s (NEON) website. This article has photos of Klaas and Mary-Howell Martens and some of their spelt crops. You may want to contact NEON in order to connect with other spelt farmers in your area. Their contact information is:

NEON
Anusuya Rangarajan
Executive Director
ar47@cornell.edu
Department of Horticulture
121 Plant Science Building
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
Phone:(607) 255-1780
Fax: (607) 255-9998

The next article is an interview with Joel Steigman, a spelt farmer and processor in Pennsylvania. I found this article on the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center’s website at www.agmrc.org. In addition, they have a few other articles on spelt on their website. The AMRC is located at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. You can call them directly at 1-866-277-5567.

The last article is from an Ohio website, www.ourohio.org. This article profiles an Ohio spelt grower and some of the food trends that have lead to the popularity of spelt.

Ohio and Michigan are the top producing spelt states in the US. You may want to connect with farmer groups in these states for more information. I do know that Purity Foods is one of the main suppliers of spelt in the country. They may have contacts with spelt growers to share with you. You can contact them at:

Purity Foods
2871 W. Jolly Road
Okemos, MI 48864
info@purityfoods.com
www.purityfoods.com
Phone: (517) 351-9231
Fax: (517) 351-9391