Many possibilities remain in play, of course. Yet the horizon is shaping up to suggest decreased reliance on just-in-time supply chains and decreased opportunities to export American grain harvests. For both practical and traditional reasons, one way to create a store of value from surplus grain is to produce distilled spirits. Because some vintages accumulate value over time and all of them feature extremely low rates of spoilage, booze is a fine way to occupy a warehouse.
Thus my question to the group is about new and/or growing distillery operations. Is this predictable economic change likely to drive the rise of many new local businesses? Might it instead be absorbed by industrial producers like BUD and ADM? As spring rains wash over the cornfields in my county, I know a strong harvest is on a collision course for a shortage of storage space in grain elevators. I'm not even a proper capitalist, yet I can't help but wonder how this inevitable tension will resolve.