I brought in 3 loads of compost/manure to work into the hills to plant my mt hood rhizomes in but after that storm i will be lucky if i dont loose 2 1/2 of those loads down the ohio river. At least i didnt have the roots in the hills.
New Kentucky commercial hop farm
- Thread starter dlaramie08
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dlaramie08
Well-Known Member
Yeah I bet. It lost a lot of energy by the time it made it here. Plenty of rain, though. Lots of water for the heavy nitrogen I put on my current hops.
The damage was minimum, i didnt loose much compost. I just hope it blows out because i want to get these roots in the ground while the planting signs are in. I always like to plant my perrenials when cancer is in. They seem to take hold better. So do u have an idea what the local market value is for a pound of hops?
dlaramie08
Well-Known Member
I think it would depend on if you were selling to brewery or homebrewers. I haven't thought that far ahead though. You'll want to take your yearly costs into consideration when setting your price. I think pricing may be easier once you get a season or two under your belt. You'll know costs and have an idea of what the market may sustain. Just make sure not to low ball yourself. You can always come down, it's harder to go up.
A local brewmaster mentioned $10/lb contracted price. Like u said the amount of work involved makes it worth a lot to me and i need to get a few seasons in. I just dont want get a bunch of hours in, produce a crop then some one not want to pay a decent price.
If you want to get a feel for what your bottom price will be, check out Lupulin Exchange. Its basically a open market where you can buy or sell hops in whatever quantities you want (or can find). You can sort based on variety and price. Assuming you don't find any local buyers, this is the place to go.
Before you ask, yes there should be a premium for your hops because they are local but only if they are at least the same quality as the hops they can get from a large merchant and in a form that is useful (i.e. pellets for most).
Before you ask, yes there should be a premium for your hops because they are local but only if they are at least the same quality as the hops they can get from a large merchant and in a form that is useful (i.e. pellets for most).
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
Killer, thanks dan, that was exactly the intel i was looking for. The local brew master did say that the local hops are sought after. I just want to make sure its all worth the work, especially since i am not using any equipment, this is all a unmechanized set up. I feel like a renegade amish man.
Here's some folks you can contact to get an idea on how it's working out for them; http://www.kentucky.com/news/business/article44503551.html and they're on fb: https://www.facebook.com/kentuckyhopgrowersalliance/.
The university of kentucky experimented with a new tobacco housing technique. Thw outcome was a complete failure. Part of the material list included turnbuckles and anchors, and high tension wire. I recently scavenged a doz anchors and a half doz turnbuckles and that is only a fraction of what can be found. I dont know if you got tobacco farmers there who experimented with these structures but if you did, it could be a resource. I am gonna try to twist 4 strands of the wire together to make some cable. Anyhow, just thought i would share.
HotRodTractor
Member
Thanks for this! I have been looking around for this as I am contemplating starting a hops growing operation in Central Ohio to diversify my current farming operations and was having a little difficulty determining actual market values.
The guys at LE just made it even easier. They now include the price history so you can see high and low prices for hops sold instead of guessing it yourself.
http://blog.lupulinexchange.com/feature-update-variety-price-history/
http://blog.lupulinexchange.com/feature-update-variety-price-history/
The Lupulin Exchange is a good reference point but the 'locally grown' hop market can be quite a different story when it comes to pricing. I'm up in NE Ohio and from the folks I know who grow across the state, there's plenty of variability from region to region when it comes to what will or won't perform well here. For pricing info, join up with OHGG: http://ohgg.org/. There are small breweries who may take 5 pounds wet hops (undried) or there are some that may sign a contract with you and buy your whole crop in pellet form. Knowing where you plan of fitting into this equation will help you determine some of your equipment costs. Give them a call!
dlaramie08
Well-Known Member
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1474410894.427756.jpg
My free telephone pole lead fell through so I have reverted to cutting trees from our property. Gonna skin them and cover the underground part in roofing tar as a barrier.
My free telephone pole lead fell through so I have reverted to cutting trees from our property. Gonna skin them and cover the underground part in roofing tar as a barrier.
dlaramie08
Well-Known Member
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1486353292.790575.jpg
I finally finished stripping the poles of bark, now I just need to coat them in weather proofing. I found cabling online for about 28 cents a foot shipped for free, no hassle. I should be getting these in the ground soon and ordering rhizomes as well.
I finally finished stripping the poles of bark, now I just need to coat them in weather proofing. I found cabling online for about 28 cents a foot shipped for free, no hassle. I should be getting these in the ground soon and ordering rhizomes as well.
dlaramie08
Well-Known Member
Gonna cover them in driveway sealant or some other form of asphalt of some sort. I'm not going to tilt the poles they will all be vertical. I haven't done the math on how far out the anchors will be, but I think I'll settle on 10 feet out.
Greatlakeshops
Well-Known Member
Any updated pics of the yard? We love to see new yards take shape! Also, how has your take rate been with rhizome stock? We've heard very mixed results with rhizome planting in commercial yards.
dlaramie08
Well-Known Member
Not much to see yet. When I get the poles in the ground I'll do some picture updates. I haven't seen many good deals with rhizomes just yet. I have seen where some people put two rhizomes in each hill, that seems pricey to me. We'll see if I need to buy extra rhizomes to cover some that don't come up.
Greatlakeshops
Well-Known Member
Large yards rarely use rhizomes for a few reasons. As you mentioned they recommend planting 2, 3, sometimes 4 per hill to help guarantee the best possible take rate for a consistent looking yard. The cost does add up. This is why companies like ours offer plant material. One live plant per hill that prices out the same as 2-3 rhizomes per hill. 99% take rate for a perfectly uniform field.
Where the rhizomes are sourced from is also huge. A local hop yard would be best so you know the age and quality of the plants they are sourced from. Varieties like Cascade have roughly an 8 or so year life in a commercial field before yields decrease due to age and virus load naturally acquired by the plants. If your unfortunate enough to be obtaining your rhizomes unknowingly from an old field out west that's being plowed under you're starting with heavy disease loaded poor producing material. Rhizomes are not new and fresh simply because you are growing them for the first time, they are a piece of the plant directly out of the older field and carry with them disease and virus.
The healthiest planting material you can obtain will be propagated from Virus indexed stock with VF numbers obtained from the national clean plant network. The material is not much more expensive than rhizomes and offers far superior growing, yield, vigor, uniformity, etc.
This would be the best option always.
2nd best is locally obtained rhizomes from a relatively new yard. <--- Provided this yard was just planted with clean plant material.
:rockin:
dlaramie08
Well-Known Member
Large yards rarely use rhizomes for a few reasons. As you mentioned they recommend planting 2, 3, sometimes 4 per hill to help guarantee the best possible take rate for a consistent looking yard. The cost does add up. This is why companies like ours offer plant material. One live plant per hill that prices out the same as 2-3 rhizomes per hill. 99% take rate for a perfectly uniform field.
Where the rhizomes are sourced from is also huge. A local hop yard would be best so you know the age and quality of the plants they are sourced from. Varieties like Cascade have roughly an 8 or so year life in a commercial field before yields decrease due to age and virus load naturally acquired by the plants. If your unfortunate enough to be obtaining your rhizomes unknowingly from an old field out west that's being plowed under you're starting with heavy disease loaded poor producing material. Rhizomes are not new and fresh simply because you are growing them for the first time, they are a piece of the plant directly out of the older field and carry with them disease and virus.
The healthiest planting material you can obtain will be propagated from Virus indexed stock with VF numbers obtained from the national clean plant network. The material is not much more expensive than rhizomes and offers far superior growing, yield, vigor, uniformity, etc.
This would be the best option always.
2nd best is locally obtained rhizomes from a relatively new yard. <--- Provided this yard was just planted with clean plant material.
:rockin:
This is something I have been mulling for some time and your explanation comes at a decision making time. Thanks for the info! It only makes sense to invest in what will literally be the money maker.
dlaramie08
Well-Known Member
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1496265202.751882.jpg
Got the first line planted with rhizomes. Now to start the next 3 lines.
Got the first line planted with rhizomes. Now to start the next 3 lines.
Large yards rarely use rhizomes for a few reasons. As you mentioned they recommend planting 2, 3, sometimes 4 per hill to help guarantee the best possible take rate for a consistent looking yard. The cost does add up. This is why companies like ours offer plant material. One live plant per hill that prices out the same as 2-3 rhizomes per hill. 99% take rate for a perfectly uniform field.
Where the rhizomes are sourced from is also huge. A local hop yard would be best so you know the age and quality of the plants they are sourced from. Varieties like Cascade have roughly an 8 or so year life in a commercial field before yields decrease due to age and virus load naturally acquired by the plants. If your unfortunate enough to be obtaining your rhizomes unknowingly from an old field out west that's being plowed under you're starting with heavy disease loaded poor producing material. Rhizomes are not new and fresh simply because you are growing them for the first time, they are a piece of the plant directly out of the older field and carry with them disease and virus.
The healthiest planting material you can obtain will be propagated from Virus indexed stock with VF numbers obtained from the national clean plant network. The material is not much more expensive than rhizomes and offers far superior growing, yield, vigor, uniformity, etc.
This would be the best option always.
2nd best is locally obtained rhizomes from a relatively new yard. <--- Provided this yard was just planted with clean plant material.
:rockin:
Yea, I've heard the same from local experts.
dlaramie08
Well-Known Member
Next year I will have enough need to be able to get plants. This year I could not justify the cost. I only had 1 line able to be planted, next year I will have 3 ready. There were other factor as well including time. I know this year had I got plants I would not have been able to get them in the ground as soon as they would have needed to be.
Bullshivit-brew
Well-Known Member
Greatlakeshops I Just ordered hops from you this spring. Didn't know you were on homebrew talk. I am glad to see I ordered from a supporter of the sight.
Not to divert the thread but,
+1 I did see them on here and between supporting a HBT supporter and the fact that you are getting plant stock instead of rhizomes, made my decision to order from them pretty easy.
My Willow Creek has been in the ground for 6 weeks now and it's almost 5 feet tall. If I would have started with rhizomes I would be lucky to have more than just a shoot or 2 barely poking out of the ground by now.
Who's that?
