Barley farmers seek options in wake of Appomattox surrender

In Virginia, farmers who had planted barley in hopes of supplying the Appomattox Bio Energy plant that will now be sold before it is even commissioned are being told not to worry, the intermediary agricultural company will market the grain anyway. Some farmers have said they won’t plant barley in the autumn in hopes of there being a new buyer for the ethanol plant and will instead wait until they have contracts requiring them to plant barley. The plant would have needed 30 million bushels of barely, though it’s not clear exactly how much was to be harvested this year. Farmers unable to sell their crop from last year and who have stored it had hoped to sell it to Appomattox as well.