Hop Growers Report Another Strong Year

MOXEE — With the popularity of craft beers continuing to soar, U.S. hop growers -- more than 75 percent of whom are in the Yakima Valley -- are reporting another strong year.

This year's harvest was 87.1 million pounds, an 8.3 million-pound increase from last year, according to a USDA National Agriculture Statistics Service report released Friday (Dec. 16). The overall 11 percent increase in production showed gains in all three of the nation's top hop-producing states -- Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

Average yields per acre, however, declined because more land is being planted in hops and many of those hops are lower-yielding varieties. Craft brewers favor special varieties that put added demands on growers, resulting in the lower per-acre yields of recent years.

“As an industry, we are happy to plant these, but more acres are required to deliver the same amount, pound for pound,” Hop Growers of America Vice President Blake Crosby explained in a news release from the association.

“As the changing landscape of the hop and brewing industries adjust together, both are working simultaneously to ensure they are communicating effectively through contracts,” added Ann George, executive director of Hop Growers of America. “Our growers are working hard to meet what can feel like an insatiable demand.”