Pretoria Fields delivers organic wheat to local bakery

ALBANY — With construction set to commence on Pretoria Fields’ 19,000-square-foot downtown craft brewery facility in the next 30 days and preparations ongoing for a groundbreaking ceremony, the brewery’s farm operation in southwest Dougherty County has already been put to good use.

On Friday, Pretoria Fields COO Chris Willis delivered bags of organic red wheat berries grown on the farmland to the local Bread House and Granary. Bread House owner Debbie Mazur and her staff will mill the wheat into flour that will be used in the baked goods sold at the bakery.

Willis noted that the wheat is from the first winter crop grown on 60 of the 75 certified-organic acres of land that Pretoria Fields owns in Dougherty County. The company will use the wheat and other organic products it will grow to produce a unique line of craft beers.

“Our products will be a little different than most breweries,” Willis said Friday. “With the 300-plus acres of farmland we own, we will be able to really express the character of Southwest Georgia in both our production beers and in limited production specialty beers we release from time to time. As we continue our research and development, we’re experimenting with local yeast and planting test plots of barley, rye, and triticale in addition to wheat. If possible, we want to make a true South Georgia beer.”

As for delivering the wheat berries to the Bread House, Pretoria Fields spokesman Albert Etheridge said that too is part of the company’s business plan.

“In addition to impacting local farming economies, one of Pretoria Fields’ top priorities is to help reestablish downtown as a destination and give back to this community as much as possible,” Etheridge said. “We will foster local relationships and be very active and involved with many regional 501(c)3 charities.”

Mazur said finding locally grown organic wheat was something of a godsend for the Bread House, which specializes in healthy baked goods.

“This is awesome, I can’t wait to mill it,” Mazur said after the wheat berries were unloaded Friday. “We normally buy our organic wheat from Montana, and we have to ship in a full semi load at a time. To find certified-organic product just around the corner is amazing. I’m excited to start baking with it.”

Much of Pretoria Fields’ first crop of winter wheat, which was harvested in June, is being shipped to H&F Bread Co. of Atlanta, which supplies organic products to bakeries around the state’s capital. Willis said the company expects to continue supplying its surplus grains and produce to farmers markets and artisanal producers.

“For the first two to three years, we won’t be able to use all the grains from our farms in our recipes, so we will keep supplying local companies to the extent we can,” he said. “Another goal of ours is to use produce from other farmers throughout Georgia in our beers. We’d like to raise awareness of how beneficial craft breweries can be to agriculture economies as well as society and culture as a whole.”

In addition to the 75 acres of land in Dougherty County, Pretoria Fields is “transitioning” farmland in Mitchell and Lee counties to obtain organic certification on that land as well.

“It’s a three-year process, and we are one year in” Willis said. “The grains we grow on the other land will be naturally grown, creating, for now, what is known as ‘transition-to-organic’ products. After that period, all of our crops will be certified organic.”

Willis said the farming operation of Pretoria Field will also grow citrus fruits (lemons, satsumas, lowquats, kumquats) and berries (blueberries, blackberries — both of which are currently being grown — strawberries), feijoa, and mayhaws, as well as organic honey and heirloom varieties of watermelons. All will be part of a never-ending quest, the Pretoria Fields COO said, to produce fresh, well-balanced, uniquely crafted “Georgia-grown” beers.