My friend wants to grow commercial hops...

It goes like this:

A coworker of mine has a 200 acre farm in South Jersey that was most recently used for Christmas trees. He no longer grows Christmas trees and wants to convert at least some of the property over to hops. He asked which hop strains grow well given the growing season and conditions that Jersey has to offer.

I suspect he has decent soil, probably a bit on the acidic side due to the many many pine trees once grown there. However there are hundreds of acres of open air farm. Plenty of sunshine, and he has around 10 miles of plumbed irrigation already in place.

I've already told him that much more research is needed, however I could really use practical growing logic from those who are located on the East Coast and have grown successful hops here. I may not be his only source of information but I would like to help him where I can. Thanks for the input.

Call me 970-209-8684 Cheers Glen

SteveHeff said:

It goes like this:

A coworker of mine has a 200 acre farm in South Jersey that was most recently used for Christmas trees. He no longer grows Christmas trees and wants to convert at least some of the property over to hops. He asked which hop strains grow well given the growing season and conditions that Jersey has to offer.

I suspect he has decent soil, probably a bit on the acidic side due to the many many pine trees once grown there. However there are hundreds of acres of open air farm. Plenty of sunshine, and he has around 10 miles of plumbed irrigation already in place.

I've already told him that much more research is needed, however I could really use practical growing logic from those who are located on the East Coast and have grown successful hops here. I may not be his only source of information but I would like to help him where I can. Thanks for the input.

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well not to mention christmas tree farms use herbicides to control weeds arounds trees. Soil is honestly is probably your biggest issue… I'm an organic farmer and soil is the most important role in growing.. Tell him he absolutely needs to get a soil sample and send it in for testing. If your going to invest in anything invest in your soil quality. once he gets the test back i assure there like you said, on the acidic side. tell him to look into lime, its a powdered stone used in the agricultural industry to lower ph which should be adjusted to what hops like also taking into consideration what fertilizers need to be spread there ph and what adjustment will need to be made for that as well. Where is his water source thats usually a huge issue for growing farms. then obviously varieties need to be chosen then the trellising system chosen. also when its time to harvest its a HUUUUGGGEEE JOB it takes either large machinery or many many hands and time involved. not to mention packing drying and storing.. I've been thinking about starting a hops farm here in the pacific northwest but I'm just not ready i have many years of farm experience but the money is the issue… isn't it always…..

Well, he's got the first hurdle out of the way. He's comfortable with an agricultural product that you invest thousands per acre to instal without seeing a return for years.

I wouldn't worry too much about the soil. Nearly all soil needs to get amended in one direction or the other but you only have to really worry about a couple of feet on either side of the row.

The irrigation, if it matches where the rows should go, will save a bit but he needs to understand that he's looking at around $10k/acre for instal. Then there is any tractors or other equipment, harvesting equipment, drying, etc.

What to grow? I've seen varieties do well at one farm and not so well at a farm two valleys away. The microclimate has huge effects. The big ones to stay away from are Nobel hops (traditional European).

What specific question/concerns does he have?

Gese Dan 10k per/acre is way high I can trellis plant and drip for 10k per/acre
actually less now

GVH_Dan said:

Well, he's got the first hurdle out of the way. He's comfortable with an agricultural product that you invest thousands per acre to instal without seeing a return for years.

I wouldn't worry too much about the soil. Nearly all soil needs to get amended in one direction or the other but you only have to really worry about a couple of feet on either side of the row.

The irrigation, if it matches where the rows should go, will save a bit but he needs to understand that he's looking at around $10k/acre for instal. Then there is any tractors or other equipment, harvesting equipment, drying, etc.

What to grow? I've seen varieties do well at one farm and not so well at a farm two valleys away. The microclimate has huge effects. The big ones to stay away from are Nobel hops (traditional European).

What specific question/concerns does he have?

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I personally, until you have your feet wet would go with whats easy to grow and what sells. From what I've seen thats Cascade, easy. As far as the soil its more complicated then that. Soil is the key to success in agriculture.
One major concern you are going to have is powdery mildew, Downy mildew and Spider Mites. You will have to have a System in which you supply fertility, and possibly fungicides and herbicides. Now i get back to the soil, If you have healthy soil high in Organic material your plants will be more healthy and will be able to fight things off easier. This is a proven fact. If you want to do this year after year, i promise this will become your main issue, DIRT. The rest is already available commercially, the poles, wires, twine, even the rhizome but the soil science is up to you.. and excuse me for having too much sammy clone but i really hope this can help!

Hopfarmer said:

Gese Dan 10k per/acre is way high I can trellis plant and drip for 10k per/acre
actually less now

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As do we, Glen. But for a newbie the first acre is always going to be the most expensive acre. Besides, even if someone does put it in at less, you know there are a thousand ways to screw up and add cost. It will be over $10k no matter how hard you try.

I'd say If your going to go for it. Do more than an acre. Yes u will have a huge work load but as far as trellis and poles. You can save thousands just on material. When buying poles freight normally cost about the same. So the more you buy the lower per pole cost you have. We are just over 2 acres and we're able to do a true "v" style trellis for around 15k. This includes all cables, anchors, drip, poles and rhizomes(not including well of course). We're prob just over 2 hrs away from you if you and you buddy ever want to come check out what we have going on.

It's everything else that cost lots of money. Tractor, attachments, harvesting equipment, oast, Theirs another 20-60k depending on size of each

But either way I'm avail. Look us up on Facebook.


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For varieties, you/your friend should give rutgers a call. They did hop growing trials and collected all sorts of data.

We can supply commercial growers and are willing to share growing knowledge and techniques to get new farmers started.

Great Lakes Hops is a reputable company and we can handle any size order as long as we have enough lead time. We have been a source clean hops taken from visually inspected virus index plants for many commercial growers nationwide. We have orders for the installation of at least 100 acres for just this Spring. Great Lakes Hops also has more hop varieties than any other source on the market. Although arguably, there are about a dozen or so that are the 'most popular' and sought after cultivars.

Feel free to have your friend give us a call if he is interested in putting in hops in the next couple of seasons. 616-777-7105. We can also be reached via email at [email protected] . Ask for Brian.

GVH_Dan said:

As do we, Glen. But for a newbie the first acre is always going to be the most expensive acre. Besides, even if someone does put it in at less, you know there are a thousand ways to screw up and add cost. It will be over $10k no matter how hard you try.

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For the record most growers in Michigan are paying between $12,000 and $18,000 per acre (Including Trellis, Cable, Plants, and Irrigation)


If you guys are installing yards at $10,000 per acre: I would love to have the contact details of your suppliers. Growers in Oregon/Washington are able to install yards for as cheap as $6,000 they claim, although I would imaging this wouldn't include plants.

What are you paying per pole on average?

-Brian
GLH

No special deal on pole, we just try to minimize the amount we need. The key is buying cable and hardware plus irrigation and rhizome/plants in major bulk for all our growers to bring the price down. The key to that number is that it does not include well/source of water. Yeah, that add's a bunch to the price if you don't have something at hand.

Subscribed. I have a friend thinking about commercial hop growing too.

This is why I use this forum whenever I have questions like these. Thanks for the input. I've forwarded this page to him so that he can go over the information that he needs.

News on hop farm. My friend decided on ordering 4 different types of rhizomes. He purchased (6-10 of each) Cascade, Centennial, Fuggles and one other variety, I can't remember currently. After consulting with a few informational websites, as well as individuals, he decided on the hops, here, due to their heartiness. He's testing out a 1-2 acre lot within his farm. I'm not sure what he's planning as far as a trellis is concerned, but I know that he is only looking to install something temporary. If this works out, he'll go with a rather traditional hop farm style trellis.

At most, 40 rhizomes? That's about 4% of an acre. That's fine if he wants to try something out but why not experiment with a few more? You never know what will work until you try it out.

Piece of advice, though. Don't plant them all in a single row. First, you need a lot of separation between each variety to make sure they don't reach over and mix together. Plus once he decides on what he wants, the only real way to move them is to either poison them out or make sure he gets the whole crown. It would be better to just start building a trellised row for each variety. If they work out, keep planting down the row. If they don't. poison them out and start again.

He's spreading them out over 1-2 acres. He has 2 areas on his farm that he's testing out. He'll divide the hops, 50/50, between the two areas. One of them is a gentle slope/hill (very slight slope) and the other is a very flat area, about 1/4 mile from there.

He doesn't want to invest heavily until he knows, 1. that they'll grow without an issue and 2. that he actually wants to completely pursue this venture.

Ha...


1. There will be issues. There always are.

2. If he wants to gain knowledge quickly, either volunteer at someone's farm for a week or take a class. NeHA offers them, Glenn (hop farmer) does, we do, as do many others. Just be sure you are learning from someone that has at least 3 years experience. That means they have probably turned the corner and are making a profit so they can tell you how they did it.


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^Ha, I don't get it whats funny?.... ^

I think your buddy is on the right path. The ag industry is tuff and is rarely forgiving. If he has patience and passion this will work for him!
Don't let guys like this ^ discourage you, and the internet is a fine place to learn. Trial and error is absolutely necessary, one thing I've learned as a farmer is to make as many mistakes as you can on someone else's farm before you start your own obviously not intentional mistakes but i think u get the idea though. For him he doesn't have anyone to glean knowledge from so trial and error will absolutely take place, all you can do is learn from it. Mother Nature is a bi**h sometimes!!! Just don't let him give up and in time, it'll work!!!



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oregonbrew541 said:

^Ha, I don't get it whats funny?.... ^

I think your buddy is on the right path. The ag industry is tuff and is rarely forgiving. If he has patience and passion this will work for him!
Don't let guys like this ^ discourage you, and the internet is a fine place to learn. Trial and error is absolutely necessary, one thing I've learned as a farmer is to make as many mistakes as you can on someone else's farm before you start your own obviously not intentional mistakes but i think u get the idea though. For him he doesn't have anyone to glean knowledge from so trial and error will absolutely take place, all you can do is learn from it. Mother Nature is a bi**h sometimes!!! Just don't let him give up and in time, it'll work!!!



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Thanks. His family has owned this farm for 3 generations. I'm fairly certain that they know what the likely return on investment is. EVERY person who tries something new runs into problems one way or another. It will be 3 years before he sees the true potential of his harvest. I believe he'll have this hop growing thing figured out before then.

My wife and I are thinking of starting a small hops farm. We are located in NE PA. After reading your post, I was wondering if you have a web site or catalog I could look at. Thanks

Tommyedge1 said:

My wife and I are thinking of starting a small hops farm. We are located in NE PA. After reading your post, I was wondering if you have a web site or catalog I could look at. Thanks

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Not sure who you are talking to, so...

Glen (Hop Farmer) is: http://www.coloradoorganichops.com

Greatlakeshops is: www.greatlakeshops.com/

And I (Dan or gvh_dan) am at: www.gorstvalleyhops.com