Life has a lot of symbiosis. Your lower intestines contain bacteria that break down sugars you can’t digest. Sea anenome help protect the clownfish from predators. Brewers help farmers feed and nourish cattle by passing on their spent grain from the beer making process. The latter goes back for centuries. Thanks to the Federal Food & Drug Administration, that could change.

A new proposed rule would prevent breweries from passing off spent grain to farmers. The rule is meant to “ensure the safety of animal food for animals consuming the food and ensuring the safety of animal food for humans handling the food, particularly pet food…”

The rule essentially would require breweries to dry, analyze and package the grain before sending it to the brewers. All without any of it touching human hands. The process would be too time consuming and too costly for small craft brewers. The grain would have to be dumped. The farmers would be barred from picking it up. The free grain is a big help financially to the farmer, offsetting food costs for the animals.

Public comment on on the proposed rule has been extended until March 31, 2014. The Brewers Association is calling for a brewer exemption for the nearly 3 million pounds of spent grain produced annually each year.

View the proposed rule here: http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/ucm366510.htm