A Century on the Farm, 10 Years of Craft Malt: Root Shoot History Tour
Did you miss the history tour at Field Day? Or maybe you were there, but got distracted by the beer, whiskey, live music, ice bar... we get it.
This year, we're celebrating two pretty big milestones: 100 years of Olander Farms and 10 years of Root Shoot Malting.
For Field Day, we dug deep into old photo albums, family stories, farm records, and a century's worth of history to create a self-guided tour through the malthouse. Twelve photos told the story of how we got here... from Swedish immigrants farming near Longmont, to the family purchasing this farm in 1926, to cattle, pigs, combines, barley, Root Shoot Malting, and five generations figuring out how to keep a family farm going.
There are plenty of dates and numbers in this story, but some of our favorite parts are the smaller details: a blind date that connected two farming families. A tractor that left steel-wheel marks in the barn floor. Polio during wheat harvest. Pigs where the malthouse now stands. A high schooler buying an $18,000 combine with Grandma as his co-signer.
If you didn't get a chance to walk through it at Field Day, here's the whole thing.
Swedish Roots: The Beginning of the Olander Story (1887)
Long before Root Shoot Malting or even Olander Farms existed, the family's agricultural story began with Swedish immigrants August and Hannah Olander. In 1887, just eleven years after Colorado became a state, they purchased 362 acres near Longmont for $1,935.
The Olanders raised several children, including their son Carl. Carl went on to have 5 children and 7 grandchildren, all of whom grew up working the land. As Northern Colorado developed, the Olander family spread across the region, farming sugar beets, peas, grain crops, and raising sheep and cattle. Like many immigrant families, they arrived with little more than determination and built their future through agriculture.
While the original homestead has changed over time, the values established by August and Hannah - hard work, stewardship, and adaptability - continue to shape the family today. More than 130 years later, the Olander name remains connected to Colorado agriculture through the fifth generation.
Did You Know?
August Olander donated sandstone from his homestead to help build Ryssby Church on 63rd Street in Longmont. The historic church still stands today, a piece of the original Olander farm quite literally built into the community.
The Saulcy Homestead: Purchased in 1926
The story of this farm began on April 23, 1926 when William Denver ("W.D." or “Little Grandpa”) Saulcy and his wife Effie purchased 72 acres from The Phoenix Land and Cattle Company for $20,000.
The two houses on the property had already been built in 1918, and the barns followed in 1920. Over the next century, five generations of family members would live, work, and raise families here.
The farm became known as Saulcy Farms and produced many of the crops that helped build Northern Colorado agriculture: corn, alfalfa, wheat, barley, and sugar beets. Livestock also played an important role, helping diversify income during both prosperous years and difficult ones.
Remarkably, the land has remained in continuous family ownership and agricultural production ever since, and this same homestead serves as the heart of Olander Farms and Root Shoot Malting.
Did You Know?
W.D. paid $278 per acre for the farm in 1926. Today, irrigated farmland along Colorado’s Front Range can sell for $15,000-$30,000+ per acre.
And while corn sold for about $0.72 per bushel in 1926 - roughly $13.18 per bushel in today’s dollars - corn today sells for only about $4.83 per bushel. A pretty stark look at how farm economics have changed in 100 years.
Early Innovators
The Saulcy family embraced innovation long before precision agriculture and GPS-guided tractors.
Family history recalls that W.D. brought one of Colorado's first self-propelled combines to the state, an International Harvester McCormick machine that transformed grain harvesting. Later, W.D.'s son, William Richard ("Dick") Saulcy, purchased one of the first John Deere Model D tractors in Colorado.
Mechanization changed everything. Tasks that once required teams of horses and dozens of laborers could now be accomplished by a single machine. The willingness to adopt new technology helped the farm survive economic downturns, labor shortages, and changing agricultural markets.
That same spirit of innovation continues through Root Shoot Malting, and that willingness to adapt is still part of how the farm operates today. The tractor's steel wheels left marks in the barn floor that can still be seen today.
Did You Know?
A John Deere Model D cost about $1,200 in the late 1920’s and produced roughly 27 horsepower. The largest farm tractor on Olander Farms today is 530 horsepower.
Two Families Become One
The Saulcy and Olander families became connected through marriage, creating the foundation for the farm's future.
Donald Archie Olander met Martha Saulcy on a blind date in the late 1940s. She was a teacher. He was a farmer, Army veteran, and licensed pilot who farmed near Aurora, Colorado, in the area surrounding what would later become Stapleton Airport.
Their marriage in 1948 united two agricultural families with deep Northern Colorado roots.
In 1951, while harvesting wheat, Donald contracted polio during one of the largest outbreaks in American history. Despite the challenges the disease created, the family continued farming and raising children.
Their son Steve would eventually return to the farm and continue the family's agricultural legacy.
Did You Know?
57,628 cases of polio were reported in the U.S. during the epidemic year of 1952. The first widely available polio vaccine arrived in 1955.
A Farm Built Around Livestock
Cattle have been part of this farm for generations. In the early years, the barn was bustling with livestock, horses, feed, and kids growing up in the middle of a working farm.
W.R. “Dick” Saulcy operated a cattle feedlot here. Like many Western cattle operations of the era, Hereford cattle were common. Horses were part of farm life too, both for work and, as this photo shows, for the next generation of kids to ride.
Today, Steve still raises Wagyu-Angus cross cattle on Olander Farms. And the connection between crops and livestock continues: rootlets removed from the grain during the malting process are fed back to the cattle. Grain grown on the farm becomes malt, and a nutrient-rich byproduct of that malt becomes livestock feed, a modern version of the same crop-and-livestock cycle the farm has relied on for generations.
Did You Know?
An adult beef cow can eat roughly 2-3% of its body weight in dry matter each day. For a 1,300-pound cow, that's around 30 pounds of feed.
Life on the Farm
For much of its history, Olander Farms was a diversified operation. Crops and livestock worked together: corn, wheat, barley, alfalfa, and sugar beets were grown alongside cattle and pigs.
Beet pulp for Northern Colorado’s sugar factories was stored in the silo and used as livestock feed. Hay was forked and blown into the upper barn loft by hand, while loose hay was ground and mixed for feed.
Every building had a purpose and every season brought a different job.
The rhythm of farm life required adaptability, creativity, and long days. These practices formed the foundation of the stewardship principles still used on the farm today.
Did You Know?
Sugar beets were once one of Northern Colorado's major cash crops. Colorado's sugar beet industry began in the late 1800s and helped drive the development of towns, railroads, factories, and farms throughout the region.
Steve & Marsha's Return
Steve Olander was born in 1950 and spent part of his childhood in Encampment, Wyoming before returning to Colorado in 1968. The farm was already part of his family history through his mother, Martha Saulcy, and his grandfather, Dick.
In 1976, Steve and Marsha moved onto the farm and began renting and operating the property. Over the years, they expanded the operation to over 500 acres of mostly leased ground and built a custom harvesting business, cutting corn and hay silage for local dairies throughout Northern Colorado from the late 1970s through the 2021 harvest.
After farming the family property for 25 years, Steve and Marsha purchased it from the estate in 2001, keeping the farm in family hands. They have now lived and worked here longer than any previous generation.
Today, Steve continues farming alongside their son Todd as the operation carries into its fifth generation.
Did You Know?
In 1996, Steve purchased the first Claas Jaguar 695 Mega Forage Harvester to operate in Colorado. One of the reasons: its kernel processor. The technology crushed corn kernels as the crop was chopped, making the resulting silage easier for cattle to digest and helping dairies get more nutritional value from their feed.
The machine eventually left the farm, but nearly 30 years later, Steve tracked it down and bought it back in 2024. The original Jaguar is now back on the farm where its Colorado story began.
The Pig Years
Before there was a malthouse here, there were pigs.
From the 1960s through roughly 1990, the family operated a hog enterprise that raised approximately 900 pigs each year. Yorkshire, Hampshire, and black-and-white breeds were common sights around the farm.
Some pigs were raised at the original homestead while others were housed on the property where the malthouse stands today. Livestock were marketed to the Loveland Packing Company, once located south of the river in Loveland.
Visitors touring the malthouse today are often standing in spaces that once housed livestock instead of malt.
Did You Know?
A pig's gestation period is 114 days. The familiar farm shorthand - "3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days" - is close enough to be useful, but the actual number is 114 days.
Passing the Torch
Farming on this land has moved from one generation to the next. W.D. Saulcy farmed alongside his son, William Richard “Dick” Saulcy, who later took over the operation, raising crops and running a cattle feedlot. The next generation brought Steve Olander back to the farm, and today Steve farms alongside his son, Todd.
Todd grew up working on the farm and started taking on his own farming responsibilities early. While still in high school in the late 1990s, he purchased his first combine and began doing custom harvesting.
In 2006, he officially joined the family operation and today manages much of the day-to-day farming alongside Steve.
Todd represents the fifth generation of the family in agriculture, and the transition between generations is still happening.
Did You Know?
While most high schoolers were saving for their first car, Todd bought a combine: a 1983 New Holland Model TR85 for $18,000, co-signed by his grandmother.
Growing Barley for America's Brewers
For decades before Root Shoot Malting existed, Olander Farms was already growing barley for some of America's largest breweries.
Family records indicate barley was being harvested for Coors as early as 1945, shortly after World War II. Steve continued growing malting barley for Coors beginning in 1976 and later supplied grain for Budweiser.
Producing malting barley requires a higher level of consistency than growing grain simply for feed. Variety, protein, germination, kernel quality, and crop management all matter.
Those decades of experience growing barley for major breweries became the foundation for the next chapter: making the malt here on the farm.
Did You Know?
This 1983 New Holland TR85 was Todd's first combine. Built with a twin-rotor threshing system instead of the traditional cylinder design, the TR series was part of a major shift in combine technology.
From Grain to Glass: Root Shoot Malting
In 2016, Todd Olander launched Root Shoot Malting and opened a new chapter in the farm's history.
As the fifth-generation farmer, Todd saw an opportunity to bring more value back to the farm by malting barley directly where it was grown. Rather than shipping grain away, Root Shoot transforms locally-grown barley into malt for craft brewers and distillers throughout Colorado and beyond.
Today, Olander Farms operates on approximately 1,500 acres, primarily leased farmland, and Root Shoot remains one of the few estate malthouses in the country where grain is grown and malted by the same family on the same farm.
Every batch reflects generations of agricultural knowledge combined with modern craftsmanship.
Did You Know?
Root Shoot has earned 18 Malt Cup medals and is the only malthouse to medal every single year since the competition began in 2019 - an eight-year streak and counting.
Protecting the Next 100 Years
Agriculture has changed dramatically since W.D. and Effie purchased the farm in 1926.
The family has survived droughts, economic downturns, changing markets, mechanization, urban growth, and generational transitions. Through every challenge, the goal has remained the same: protect the land and keep it productive.
In December 2022, Steve, Marsha, and Todd Olander permanently protected 112 acres encompassing the homestead and malthouse through a conservation easement. The agreement ensures the land will remain agricultural ground forever.
Today, Olander Farms continues producing barley, wheat, corn, alfalfa, rye, oats, and cattle while Root Shoot Malting supplies award-winning malt to brewers and distillers.
Five generations have worked this land.The next chapter is still being written.
Did You Know?
The conserved property includes the historic homestead and malthouse farmland and Olander Farms officially earned its Centennial Farm designation in August 2026.
100 Years on the Farm. 10 Years of Root Shoot.
Field Day was a celebration of both milestones, but putting this history tour together gave us a chance to celebrate everything that came before them, too.
There are a lot more stories tucked into these 100 years than we could fit onto 12 signs. But these photos give a pretty good look at where this farm came from, how it has changed, and how each generation added something to what came next.
Thanks to everyone who walked through the tour at Field Day, shared a story with us, recognized a face in an old photo, or helped us celebrate.
And if you missed it? Now you're caught up.
