News & Events
Here’s What’s Happening Around the Ohio Valley Region & Beyond
Help Bring Rye Back to Kentucky
Distillers | Explore Kentucky-Grown Rye
Kentucky once grew significant acres of rye. Today, most rye uses in Kentucky distilling is sources from outside the state.
Since 2017, growers in partnership with the University of Kentucky have been trialing production systems for Kentucky-grown rye suitable for distilling. Woodford Reserve has conducted distillation and flavor trials to validate grain quality and performance.
We are now exploring the next phase: coordinated distillery interest in sourcing Kentucky-grown rye.
We are seeking to connect with distillers who are interested in including locally grown rye in their mash bill, want to support the program in other ways, or join a conversation in September, please click the link below to get in touch with us!
2026 Southeastern Grain Gathering
Save the Date | September 13–14, 2026 | Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill | Harrodsburg, Kentucky
Regional grain markets do not build themselves. They take coordination, trust, infrastructure, and shared risk.
The 2026 Southeastern Grain Gathering returns this fall as an immersive, working convening focused on the structural questions shaping small grain economies across the Ohio Valley grainshed. Together, farmers, millers, bakers, brewers, researchers, processors, and capital partners will move between field, mill, and table to examine how durable markets are formed and sustained. This is not a traditional conference. It is a working session rooted in place.
Hosted at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, a historic agricultural landscape with on-site milling infrastructure, SEGG 2026 will center on practical learning and candid conversation across the regional grain value chain.
Topics will include:
Aligning ecological practice with economic durability
Infrastructure gaps and right-sizing
Risk distribution across the value chain
Pricing transparency and parity
Coordination between seed systems, growers, and end markets
If you are actively shaping our regional grain economy or seeking to better understand how it is taking root, this gathering is for you.
Celebrating Barbara Hurt
Barbara Hurt stepped down as Executive Director of Dendrifund on April 30, 2025. Since 2015, she brought a steady, thoughtful presence to the regional grains community.
Those of us who spent long hours around conference tables with Barbara came to recognize her particular gift: she could gently draw an idea into the room, shape it with care, and then hand it back to someone else to carry forward. She made space for voices that might otherwise have been overlooked — circling back to lift up a comment, reinforcing a thread that deserved more attention, and ensuring credit landed where it belonged. These traits, coupled with her joyful enthusiasm for life, made her a “must have” meeting companion and friend.
While her formal role has changed, OVGE and the Initiative to Bring Rye Back to Kentucky will always consider Barbara a founding partner in this work. We look forward to the moments when her path crosses ours again, ideally around a shared table, where the next good idea is just beginning to take shape.
Upcoming Partner Events
OVGE engages with aligned national gatherings that advance resilient regional grain economies. We encourage our network to participate in the following partner convenings:
2026 Mid-Atlantic Grain Fair and Grain Conference | March 15-16, 2026 in Pennsylvania
Hosted by the Common Grain Alliance, this national conference convenes farmers, millers, bakers, and supply chain partners rebuilding regional grain systems across the U.S. Focused on market viability, seed systems, infrastructure, and equitable value capture.
The Kneading Conference | July 22-24, 2026 in Skowhegan, Maine
Hosted by the Main Grain Alliance, this long-running gathering brings together growers, millers, and bakers to advance artisan baking, regional grain production, and farmer-aligned markets.