Large scale hop growing in the southeast

My family has a peice of land in south carolina that has been ours for my whole life. My father is expected to die soon, and when he does, the property will be passed on to me and my siblings. Out of the five of us I am the only one who consistently uses the property, so I am afraid that my siblings will want to sell it off. I was thinking. There is about 9 acres of pasture on a south facing slope that is currently unused. The yeild of a cascade hop crop is supposed to be 22000 pounds per acre per year.

Thats alot of hops. Perhaps enough to make me able to afford the property, which has deep sentimental value.

Is the climate in the peidmont of south carolina conducive to hop growing? Are hops a relatively high maintainence or low maintainence crop?

Im certainly not going to jump into a 9 acre farming opperation without growing the crop on a smaller scale first, but I would love to know if the plan is viable.

I would contact someone in the hop business, like Hopunion or Yakima Chief to see if it is even feasible. Even better, try the Hop Growers of America, Welcome to Hop Growers of America

Yes its viable. Hop growing on a large scale takes a TON of capital. I have 60 plants I spent over $1500 just on the set up alone (and I have ONLY 60 plants) can you do it cheaper? YES! Can you do it RIGHT cheaper? NO! I did an enormous amount of research into hop growing. I wanted to supply my brewery w/ hops at least a few brews a year. Look into, and take a tour through a few hop yards. If your just going to grow then your OK. If your talking drying and packaging, forget it. Unless you have capitol, if you do, then I say go for it. I would do like we did and do a small test field (60 plants) and see how they grow. You may find that cascade doesn’t do well there but Magnum or Horizon does.
Good luck in whatever you do. And I am sorry to hear about your father.
JJ

Also, you might contact the local breweries in your area and see if they are interested in the idea. You might end up with a buyer before you even start. Breweries in the south have a hard time getting fresh hops, especially when trying to do a wet hopped beer.

Having never harvested or dried hops im a bit in the dark, but If the hops are harvested in the summer, I have a barn with a tin roof that easily gets over 115 in the summer, If i Painted the roof black and possitioned fans to improve air circulation, would that dry the hops out fast enough?

I wouldn't know. That's why I suggested getting breweries to buy the wet, undried hops

hi - I'm also tinking of growing some hops here in the piedmont area - can I ask you if you tried it and whether you had good results or not?

thanks

NC State has a research hops garden. I wonder if any universities in SC have the same. I would contact them (even NC State) and start learning.

Ive got 200 rhizomes planted, most of them are breaking ground; however im going to have to move my operation off of the family farm next season due to rancor amongst the family.

And by the way. That first post was a huge lie. I am actually a generation younger than I made myself out to be, I was just paranoid about admitting to being under age at that point. Im a 19 year old freshman at USC.


and I no longer have any desire to grow hops on that enormous (9 acre) scale.

I also will never be able to afford the property, because would cost about 4 million dollars.

What? Giving up on the 9 acre dream? Yeah, those cute little rhizomes grow into a heck of a lot of work.

Don't give up yet. You still have a lot of life yet and some experience to boot. See if you can find somewhere safe to transplant those crowns until you are ready to expand. But when you expand, go to 1 acre and see how that goes.

Good luck with the family issues. I got no advice there.

I know the Moravians used to grow hops in that area (Winston-Salem area for sure), so I am sure there is some literature and history of varieties in the region.

The typical yield on Cascade is 1800-2200 lbs/acre per the USDA.

But, x9 is a lot of hops.

sorry to hear about your dad...life is short; go for it

Orangevango said:

I also will never be able to afford the property, because would cost about 4 million dollars.

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Well, 9 acres divided by however many siblings. I don't see why you would have to sell your "share" as long as you're willing to pay taxes on the property. Likewise, you could use your portion of funds from the sale to buy property in a better hop growing area... Good luck either way and sorry to hear about your father.

The pasture is 9 acres, the property is over 100. The ownership is a limited partnership, if a majority decides to sell it is all sold. In any case, my hop farm will go on! Ive secured a small place in town rent-free for the next 5 or 6 years. Im hoping to grow enough hops to supply my future brewpub with a fresh hopped batch or two, Ive got no illusions about the hop farming itself being a cash cow any more.

the carolinas seem to be pretty conducive to hop growing...i've even heard rumors of some farms in WNC converting to hop fields...

...and just because it's done a certain way in one place, doesn't mean that you can't figure out a cheaper, better, or completely different way to do it yourself - you ARE a homebrewer!

SevenSeaScourge said:

the carolinas seem to be pretty conducive to hop growing...i've even heard rumors of some farms in WNC converting to hop fields...

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I believe there are some issue with downy mildew in the area to be aware of, but here is a link to NC State extension Q&A about it and it will at least give growers in the area a resource. You can likely contact her directly:

Hop information is about half way down:
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/fletcher/programs/herbs/FAQ/index.html

One more link for growers in the southeast:

http://easternhopsguild.blogspot.com/

I have an acre of organic hops growing in camden. 22000 lbs is just crazy. You can expect between 1-2 lbs per plant of dried hops in a 3 yr old plant. Growing hops in South Carolina has a few challenges. Japanese Beetles are like locusts. and a few of those 107 degree days can hurt your crop so you've got to have a good irrigation. It's possible and fun, but its definatly a full time job. downy mildew is also a threat with all of our humidity. If you've got any questions let me know.

WatereeBrew , I'm located about 50 miles north of camden near rock hill . I'm new to home brew and am wanting to get into the brewing business some day but right now growing hops might be my best bet to stay connected . Organic ,I believe is the way to go . i have access to horse manure compost (free) . would this be the way to go or are there other nutrients that i might need .any advice is welcomed ,thanks