Check with the local microbreweries around you and the many brewer sites that sell over a dozen different varieties of hops for different kinds of beer, as you'll probably want the higher price they pay in exchange for your high labor costs. You should also sell direct, but that requires growing at least a dozen different varieties to cover the market. Contact the big domestic brewers too to see what their needs are and how much they pay. If I'm correct, you can't harvest during the first year(s) of growing, to give roots the time to develop. The plant climbs up to 8 meters (26 feet) during its 6-month growing period, so it needs all the reserves from the roots and all the root system to feed this growth. That plus the irrigation required makes it a rather expensive crop. Add the best paying hops variety first, then more of it or new varieties every few years. Current hops varieties are barely different from the wild plant they come from, so they have few pests and are traditionally grown the organic way. They're reproduced vegetally though, cutting out new plants from the roots, so a high population of identical clones could theoretically be devastated by a single pest, not very likely though. A hops plantation is kind of like a vineyard, living up to a few dozen years. Hops are very intensive to grow and mostly harvest. Below are some facts and pictures from the Wolnzach region of Germany (naturally) that's been growing hops for 200 years and got it to a science. They're growing 370,000 acres of it over 1,500 farms these days, that's an average of 250 acres per farm. I added the pictures, as I was quite impressed when I saw my first hop field riding my bicycle in Germany. Each hectare (2.47 acres) of hops requires 250-300 hours of labor a year, compared to grains that require only 10. Guiding the bines (3x a year, to help climb) and cutback is done by hand, although the harvest is semi-automated. The hanging lines are 7.5m tall (24.6 ft), over 4 times a 1.8-meter/6-feet high person. Each hectare of hops field has 3500-4300 lines (2 per bine); this plus the main structure requires 30 kilometers/18.6 miles of wire. At harvest, one hectare yields 1,500-2,500 kg (3,300-5,500 pounds) of dried hops. The flowers from one hops vine contain ~450 g of resin, which is enough for 350 liters of pale lager. As a rule, wheat beer uses 80 g of dried hops per 100 liters, pale lager uses 120-150 g, and pilsner uses 200-400 g. Sign #4 shows what to expect in the fields throughout the year, from the winter rest (Oct-Feb) to first growth (Apr-May) to bloom (July) and harvest (Aug-Sept). The bines are cut back aggressively after the harvest for the winter. The plant can live up to 50 years but is mainly productive between years 3 and 18 (then removed.) Another impressive looking plant that grows on wire is the kiwi, with a lattice of horizontal wires just above a person's height, with all the fruits hanging down at arm's reach, this is the true Eden I'm sure. There were a couple of kiwi plantations alongside a river where I lived in my late teens. |