Willamette Valley

So I live in Willamette valley; there are certain areas in the valley that are famous for its grape vine production. Im curious about growing hops this spring and was curious if there way anyone else on the boards who grows hops in the valley? Or does anyone have any second hand knowledge concerning growing hops in Willamette valley. I have access to a two acre lot in the foothills where all the vineyards are. I assume that same soil should do great for hops. I guess I should go ahead and plant some grape vines too eh? Anyway just putting the feelers out to see if anyone in my area has grown good hops. It seems like a blast and can't wait to get started!

Rogue's hops come from independence...

Many of the hop "nurseries" where people here get their hop plants from are in the valley...

There are quite a few people around this part of the Valley who are successful in growing hops for their own use. There is some good information on growing hops at the Freshops web site.

If you are looking to do it commercially, then you need to ask yourself questions like, who will you be selling them to, how do you plan to process them (it takes a long time to had pick the cones off of a bine), what sort of trellising to use and the terrain.

West of I5 at Brooks, there are several hop farms. These are all on flat land. This is required so that they can run their machinery through the rows. If these were planted on a slope, the machines would topple over.

As far as the wine grapes, it really pays to do research. We planted a quarter acre of vines this last spring, which was 256 vines. We'll be planting another 62 vines this coming spring. That will be about all that we can handle on our own. I recommend two books on the subject, From Vines to Wines by Jeff Cox, and Oregon Viticulture edited by Edward Hellman. The latter one is geared specifically to the Willamette Valley.

One final note, you will absolutely need deer fencing around what ever you plant.

Yeah...I guess I just need to do my research from now until time to plant the hops. I will just be doing a few plants for my own personal use. Thanks for the info...

The Willamette Valley of Oregon and the Yakima Valley of Washington are where pretty much all US hops are grown. I live in Salem and know a couple brewers who grow their own quite successfully with very little effort. I plan to start growing them next season.

Your in the right place to grow lots of hops. Just go up towards Mt. Angel and St. Paul and you'll find lots of hop fields.

I think Im going to give it shot this year! How much do Rhizomes cost? and any suggestions on which kind to buy?

Thanks,

Rhizomes typically run between 5-7bucks and the best place for you to buy them would probably be Freshops.

As far a what to grow, I think that should be based on what you like to brew. If you make IPA's, then definately some C-hops. I'd also suggest some fuggles and willamette for those stouts and porters as well.

I have a friend out there that coon hunts in the valley, and she says that there are lots of hop farms. I keep asking her to just pluck a few and send them to me, but she(rightly) doesn't want to screw up her hunting priviledges on those farms.

I was just in Hubbard, OR this past weekend (near Woodburn and Canby) and there are huge hop fields all around. It doesn't look like much in December, but I can imagine that it is amazing to see when they have their annual hop festival.

If you ever take the train, heading north before Portland they are visible on the right (east side of tracks) around Hubbard. It was a beautiful sight last August. Rows upon rows of hops vines, as far as the eye could see. Glorious.

PROST!

I just had to chuckle a bit, as someone who lives in 2nd biggest hop producing state in the nation is asking 'can I grow hops here?' is somewhat amusing

If you don't know anyone that has rhizomes, Freshops would be your best bet as to ordering them. They usually have them available some time in March.

I am in a similar situation. My land is in Tehama county, CA. in the wine country. Hops used to be grown here, but gave way to grapes and nut trees. Anyway, I have done a lot of research and basically the factors to consider are:

$5000-$10000 per acre for trellising, irrigation (drip system) and rhizomes. This is a one time start up cost. After this you have maybe $500-1000 a year in expenses such as rental equipment, labor, repair, etc.

Labor: basically anything over an acre and you can hardly hand pick unless you have a lot of cheap and skilled laborers. Harvesting the bines and renting a picking machine may be an option in the Willamette Valley?

The upside is that if you get a license, you can sell to brokers or brewers at $10-40 a pound...at about 1400-2200 lbs per acre, it could be a great business.

Dave Willis at Freshops gives a bulk rate(over 100 I think) on hops rhizomes. Contact him.

Crannogales in BC has a downloadable guide on small scale hops farming. Check it out.

For me, I am just doing a test plot this year of 1/4 acre. If all goes well it should produce around 500 lbs by 2010. The temptation to go bigger is there, but the hops market is going to be crazy over the next few years, and with planting up everywhere, there may be another bust (low prices) after this boom?

Going organic, which is my plan does allow a grower to charge more, and supply a market segment that is crying out for locally grown hops.

Good luck!

Tim

You need to take a close look at the climate charts for the exact area. Most of the Willamette Valley is Zone 6. I live in the foothills and Western Gardening says I'm Zone 1. Growing hops has been a real struggle. They don't root deeply the way grape vines do and they regrow from the ground up each year. This year, I had snow in April and freezing temperatures in July and August. Even though most of the plants were on their third year, the crop was so poor, I didn't bother trying to harvest. Wasn't just the hops, the wild blackberries didn't ripen at all on my property. 6 miles south, no problems.

Ironically, I gave some rhizomes to a friend back in May and his plants did just fine! He's smack in the middle of the Valley, though.