Mark Sorrells, Ph.D., has been teaching plant breeding and genetics at Cornell University for the past 36 years. Today, though, he's talking about beer — and he couldn't sound happier.

Thanks to an explosion in craft breweries over the past 5-10 years, specifically an increase in New York City microbreweries and a newly adopted brewery law, the malting barley plant integral to beer production is in high demand. The main problem is that the northeast agricultural region of the U.S. isn't very hospitable to the plant.

Last year, Sorrells began a three-year project to determine what type of barley plant — if any — could thrive there.

Finding a suitable crop for the region could reduce transportation costs of shipping. The crop is typically grown in and exported from the Midwest region of the country. Plus, it would grant brewers the bragging rights for being legitimately local. For farmers, it could open up an all new economy of goods to sell to city-slicking beer makers.

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"We can't meet the demand. We'd need to triple acreage just to meet what locals are asking for," Sorrells says. "It's all about finding the right varieties right now."

So why is it that barley — specifically malting barley — is so rare on the eastern side of the country? Let's hop back to the 17th century to find out.

A brief history of barley in the U.S.

A field of barley. Mmm ... almost beer. Image: Flickr, NIck Page

Barley was first introduced to New England by European colonists around 1602. Conditions in the region weren't ideal for the crop's growth, though, and production remained limited. According to a journal presented by the American Barley Association of America, fewer than 20 breweries existed in New York and Pennsylvania between 1630 and 1800.

As the U.S. population grew and shifted westward, so, too, did barley. Farmers in Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Minnesota and California started growing the planet in large quantities. The drier climates were much more hospitable to it. But in 1920 Prohibition created an even larger gap in local products. When the ban lifted in 1933, barley production in New York was bleak. Maltsers realized they couldn't compete with the new plants in the west, and most moved away from barley altogether.

As of 2010, North Dakota, Idaho and Montana accounted for almost 70% of the country's crop.

The plan

In 2012, the New York State Legislature adopted a "farm brewery law" that created a new demand for the old plant. The bill mandates that small breweries will need to use a minimum 20% of a New York-grown barley product to officially be dubbed a New York beer. The requirement will increment over the years, up to 90% by 2020.

Enter Sorrells.

"We're not creating so much as we're searching," he says. "We're doing a set of controlled experiments to find which crops from across the world will thrive in New York's environment. Then it's up to me to make the right recommendation."

What he's doing now is essentially a long trial and error period. So far, he's accumulated barley crops from Germany, France, Canada and western portions of the U.S., and he's planting them near campus and monitoring how they fare. It takes about three years to be able to make a good recommendation — right now, he's only about a year in.

"One of the most shocking discoveries we found is that the barley varieties we've collected from around the world are susceptible to diseases in the Northeast," he says. "So, you obviously can't have a diseased plant used in beer production."

Cross those off the list.

Other scientists have tried to bring barley back east. David Marshall, a research leader and location coordinator at the USDA, is working to expand the plant along the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., via breeding.

Unlike Sorrells' trial-and-error method, Marshall is crossbreeding various barley plants in hopes of finding a new mix that's friendly to his area's climate, near Raleigh, North Carolina.

"We select different types that have the characteristics we wants. Once we get those seeds, we grow the population up, about four or five generations," he says. "Each generation can take about a year. But that's a true breed, which is what we want."

So all of this means ... ?

You know what you're looking at. Image: Flickr, Quinn Dombrowski

We'll have to sit tight — for now, at least.

Sorrells says he should have an idea in the next two years. Marshall's project is ongoing. To truly conclude anything, through trial and error or breeding, is a long, tedious process.

But that doesn't mean you should worry about your favorite happy hour spot running out of that pale ale you love. The overall supply of beer (thankfully) is fine. And if Sorrells, Marshall or anyone else working on Project: Bring Barley Back East come up dry, things will stay the same, just the way they have been for years.

They argue it's simply worth trying something new. The benefits on the horizon could mean big things for farmers, breweries and the environment. Just all in due time.

"The carbon footprint of transporting these is quite high," Marshall says. "If you can decrease that, plus be able to benefit the local economy, in New York, North Carolina or wherever else, you're in a good spot. Everybody wins."

Cheers to that.

You can stay up to date with these projects — and similar ones — by visiting the American Malting Barley Association.