Pure Local

The Pure Local team is a group of motivated Belgian farmers, maltsers and agronomists who want to bring brewing barley back to the Belgian soils. With a passion for nature, cereals and regenerative  farming practices  we manage to grow high quality barley on our soil. Protecting our natural sources and climate are key.

Pure Local

The Pure Local team is a group of motivated Belgian farmers, maltsers and agronomists who want to bring brewing barley back to the Belgian soils. With a passion for nature, cereals and regenerative  farming practices  we manage to grow high quality barley on our soil. Protecting our natural sources and climate are key.

PURE

For an agriculture that respects
the soil and the planet,
and a malt of exceptional quality

LOCAL

 +97% of the Barley malted in Belgium is imported.

We want to change this and support our local farmers.

VIDEO

Learn about Pure Local

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PURE LOCAL FIELD MAP

Find and visit a Pure Local field

PURE LOCAL VALUES

The philosophy behind Pure Local

WE CARE FOR OUR SOIL

Healthy soils for healthy barley

At Belgomalt, we care about our fields. We realize that it is not an endless source of nutrients and we deeply respect its value. Healthy soil is the basis for growing healthy barley.

soil_pic@2x

A healthy soil filled with carbon and micro organisms

RegenerativeAgriculture

A covered and non-covered land

LESS CO2, MORE WATER ABSORPTION

Environmentally-friendly regenerative agriculture

Throughout the years, traditional agricultural techniques proved their purpose, but more than ever we realize they make our soils very vulnerable. Today, agriculture contributes to a large proportion of worldwide CO2 emissions, this doesn’t have to be the case. Regenerative agriculture can lead to crops extracting more carbon from the air, strengthening the vitality of the soil and reducing CO2 emission.

CARBON IS KEY

More natural nutrients and less added fertilizer

Organisms in uncultivated soils emit a continuous amount of CO2. Instead of laying the fields fallow, we can sow it with ground-covering crops. These crops extract CO2 from the air and store it in the earth as nutrition. Moreover, the soil will be protected by a natural cover and it will be easier for rootlets to find their way to deeper layers of the soil to find water and nutrients, therefore use of fertilizers will become less crucial.

sheeps_pic@2x

A flock of sheep is the perfect natural fertiliser

AGRICULTARAL COOPERATIVE

38 committed Belgian farmers

In the Gembloux region we have a group of farmers who grow malting barley. They take the best possible measures to meet the high quality standards of our brewers. All the farmers apply regenerative farming techniques. They signed a specification guiding their farms to fully regenerative. We are able to measure the carbon footprint of these farms. The goal is to extract as much carbon as possible from the air and store it in the fields. In return for these efforts, our farmers are rewarded with a fair and stable price per ton of barley.

SUSTAINABILITY

Regenerative agriculture

With Pure Local, Belgomalt is fully committed to regenerative agriculture. To this end, we are working with agricultural advisory organization: Regenacterre.

They have since the end of 2021, the EU trade mark
“regenerative agriculture ” obtained.

The label guarantees the application of the following regenerative agriculture techniques:

  • Reducing the use of pesticides (priority for insecticides and fungicides) and eliminating the presence of measurable pesticide residues in the malt;
  • Replacing chemical fertilizers (NPK) with organic fertilizers (manure, compost, etc.)
  • Protect and nourish the soil with plant cover sown before and/or after the crop.
  • Reduce intensive soil tillage to encourage the development of fauna, flora and microbial life in the soil, which promote plant health;
  • Promote biodiversity and encourage organisms beneficial to crops (birds of prey, hoverflies, beetles, ladybugs, etc.)
  • Capture of atmospheric CO2 to reduce its impact on the climate and promote soil fertility (humus).

THE DATA

The data proves it works

We have had all Pure Local farmers of harvest 2020 evaluated by the “My Soil Capital” tool and the results are already very promising. The cultivation shows a negative CO2 balance.
Per hectare of Pure Local field, on average more CO2 was stored in the soil than was emitted.

Our farmers are convinced that in the course of the coming years they will reduce these negative emissions even further. Help them by believing with them in the power of agriculture as a CO2 sequestrant!

ARE YOU INTERESTED?

BUY PURE LOCAL MALT

Are you interested to use our local malt in your beer? Take a look at our webshop, or contact Alexander, as our stocks are limited!