Barley and beer industry veteran named Technical Director for the American Malting Barley Association
The American Malting Barley Association (AMBA), a trade organization representing end users of malting barley including maltsters, brewers, and distillers, has named Wade Malchow their new technical director. Malchow most recently served as Barley Program Manager for the Molson Coors Beverage Company before retiring at the end of 2025. This part-time, contract role will assume many of the duties held previously by Ashley McFarland, who was named president of the association January 1.
Wade started with Coors Brewing Company in 1999 as an agronomist, and over 25+ years built a career within the company in diverse and growing roles. His sourcing team was responsible for barley origination, which included grower production programs and barley elevator operations throughout Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. He also worked with barley sourcing in Canada and central Europe. Additionally, he managed the in-house barley breeding program. Wade holds an M.S. in Agronomy and B.S. in Horticulture from Montana State University.
The technical director’s primary responsibility will be coordination of the association’s Quality Evaluation Program (QEP), an industry driven effort to support development of relevant barley varieties by U.S. public breeding programs. This will include fully managing QEP operations and optimizing data management and workflows to support informed barley improvement. The technical director will work closely with barley breeders to communicate industry needs and support development of educational materials. Finally, they will work closely with AMBA’s research grant program to ensure alignment of priorities and investment accountability.
“It was a humbling experience to review so many highly qualified candidates for this work - people that all believe in AMBA’s mission and want to move our industry forward,” commented McFarland. “But we knew Wade offered the right balance of expertise and experience and would be able to hit the ground running. He shares an inspiring vision for the role and I am very excited to see where the program goes under his leadership.” Wade will formally start March 1 and will begin supporting the QEP immediately through the spring QEP and Technical Committee meetings.
“I look forward to working with U.S. barley breeders and malt barley supply chain stakeholders to drive value for our members and the entire supply chain,” stated Malchow. “Working together, we’ll strive to solve big challenges facing malt barley.”
