Ag Producers Attract Attention

by Rachel Dahl -- When visiting dignitaries stop by Fallon on their "Rural Tours" through Nevada, the Frey Ranch and Desert Oasis Teff have become mandatory attractions. Visited recently by Senator Jacky Rosen, Senator Kathrine Cortez-Masto, and Lieutenant Governor Kate Marshall, these Churchill County agriculture producers hosted staff from the Small Business Administration, US Department of Agriculture, the Nevada Department of Agriculture, JOIN, Nevada State Development Corporation, and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development this week. State Director for the SBA, Joe Amato was joined by USDA Director Phil Cowee in their annual swing through the rurals on the I-80/Highway 50 loop. They were joined at each stop by various other administrators for state and federal agencies as well as bankers and industry leaders. Touring the Frey Ranch Distillery, the group heard from Andy Reimold who explains the distilling process for visitors and shows of the distillery equipment and on this day, the process of making bourbon. On day four of the bourbon process, there was 600 gallons of alcohol being distilled in small batches from 9,000 pounds of grain. “We won’t know for four years if it works,” joked Reimold as he explained that the bourbon is put into white-oak barrels where it will stay for four years before it is ready for bottling. He explained how the grain is grown on the ranch and the left-over mash is sold next-door to a neighboring dairy. The entire process happens right on the ranch and makes Frey’s the original Nevada “ground to glass” distillery. Colby and Ashley Frey were recently recognized by the Churchill County Commission for their contributions to the community with a proclamation, and gratitude for the contributions made by the Frey Ranch for their contributions and betterment of Churchill County. The Frey family has been farming in the county since the mid 1800’s, surviving flood and drought and economic volatility across the years. In the early 1990’s Colby’s father Charlie thought it would be important to diversify their alfalfa operation and diversify with high value crops that used less water. He planted three acres of grapes and began producing wine. As the wine making became successful, Colby and his dad began experimenting with distillation, and in July 2013 received Nevada’s first craft distillery license. The Freys irrigate, grow, harvest, mill, distill, age, and bottles 100% of the spirits on site at the farm, which qualifies the ranch as Nevada’s first estate distillery.