Which direction should I plant my hop yard?

I'm looking to start a little hop area that will eventually have multiple rows of hops. In the Homebrew Garden book it says that a south facing area gets the most sun. I can see how this would be correct if you just had one row running East to West, but if I have multiple rows would it be better to run them North to South that way the plants aren't shading each other as much?

Yes, run them N-S. That way each row will get benefit of some full sun before and after mid-day. The farther you can plant the rows apart, the better.

Sun = photosynthesis = vegetative growth = production.

I don't know if all the hops in the Yakima area are N-S but it looks like most are.

If you really think about it no matter what you do the plants will get sun & shade whether you plant rows west to east or north to south. North to south each plant will shade the next slightly in theory. West to east each row will shade the next slightly if not spaced. Planting West to East you should properly space the rows as to not shade. When it boils down to it during the summer the sun is at such a direct vertical angle that I don’t think you could shade a plant with another effectively enough to cause ill effects to its growth. Remember that hops are just a cultivated weed that grows wild in some places. It’s a good question that I’ve thought of before, maybe we should plant at a 45? j/k