Hops Production 2019 Pt 2

Hops Production 2019 Pt 2

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
I’m Bob Larson. Washington’s hop harvest is almost complete and this year’s crop looks pretty good even if production is just about where it was last year.

Washington Hop Commission’s Jacki Brophy says production was down in some acreage thanks to the many new varieties that haven’t reach full capacity yet …

BROPHY … “You know, next year we will see a bump back up in production again and acreage did increase again this year, but it’s more kind of the overall conditions, meaning that we’re going to be about flat this year to what we were last year.”

Brophy says the numbers of varieties have continued to grow with a new release every year or so …

BROPHY … “You know, a lot of the merchants are certainly looking at anything exciting, keeping in mind that the industry tries to not release anything that really isn’t going to be beneficial to the industry.”

But, Brophy says these changes don’t happen overnight …

BROPHY … “So, it does take some time. You know, there’s a lot of things in the pipeline, the different programs including the public breeding program as well is looking to just have a dialogue with the industry right now, sending things out, getting feedback before seeing what should continue on in the process.”

So, are we still the top hop growing region?

BROPHY … “Yes, absolutely. So, between Washington, Oregon and Idaho, we say it’s between 95%, but I think we’re actually at 96% of the country’s production. The next biggest one would be Michigan.”

Brophy says growers sound like they’re pretty pleased this year and are expecting the newer plantings to bring in bigger yields next year.

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