What's in a Name?

Kindred Community Days. Kindred Wild West Days. Barley Days...

When we announced the change to Kindred Barley Days, not everyone understood why. After nearly six years of slowly leaning into the barley story, we were excited to finally make the change—but the history behind the name isn't widely known.

While Kindred may not grow as much barley today as it once did, our community played a remarkable role in the history of barley across North America.

Early Norwegian settlers arrived in the Kindred area in 1871, bringing with them a strong farming tradition. Then, in the 1930s, farmers across the Northern Great Plains and Canadian Prairies faced a devastating threat: stem rust, a fungal disease made even worse by years of drought.

In 1935, Kindred farmer Sam Lykken noticed something unusual in one of his fields—a single green, rust-free barley plant standing among diseased crops. He carefully nurtured that lone plant to maturity, harvesting just 18 kernels.

Recognizing its potential, Sam shared part of his harvest with agronomists at the North Dakota Agricultural College for testing and breeding. The disease-resistant gene found in that tiny harvest proved to be extraordinary. When the improved variety was released to Upper Midwest farmers in the 1940s, it carried the name "Kindred."

Over the following decade, four major stem rust epidemics swept across the region, yet the Kindred barley variety suffered very little damage. Its resilience helped stabilize grain production and protected the livelihoods of farmers throughout the Upper Midwest.

Even decades later, the Kindred T-gene continues to provide valuable resistance in many modern barley varieties.

That's a pretty incredible legacy for a small town.

So, when we began adding a beer tasting to our celebration several years ago, it felt like the perfect opportunity to start embracing that heritage. We even joked that someday we'd have our own Kindred Barley Beer. We're not quite there yet—but we're proudly celebrating our barley roots, our Scandinavian heritage, and the people who helped shape both.

So raise a glass, celebrate our history, and Skål to the Vikings, the amber fields, and the remarkable story behind the name Kindred Barley Days.