Washington Hops Harvest Pt 1

Washington Hops Harvest Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
I'm Bob Larson. If you've driven through the Yakima Valley recently, you've probably noticed the absence of hops on the vines as another harvest has come and gone.

Jaki Brophy, with the Washington Hop Commission, says overall, it was another good year ...

BROPHY ... "I would say that things look about average this year. You know, it's not going to be a bumper crop as far as we know it. There were some split bloom issues this year, but as I've heard about them it's mostly on varieties that we actually don't mind that happening to. But, overall it looks like the crop is about average this year which we are happy about."

Brophy says weather always plays a role in crop development ...

BROPHY ... "From what our growers are saying it sounded like because it was a warmer spring, but then also it kind of cold again for a little bit, that kind of back and forth and yes early warmth this spring caused a little bit of confusion with the plants."

With regards to the growth in the number of varieties, she says things have slowed, but up a bit ...

BROPHY ... "There was, I believe, two new varieties released this year. So, you know, things are still looking like we have a lot of variety out there which our customers really enjoy, but not, you know, a huge amount of things released this year, but yes there's still a good amount of variety out there for brewers."

Listen tomorrow for more on Washington hops and the demand that keeps on growing.

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