starting a hop farm 2 acres to start..then double every year till i hit 32 acres

[rudds67]

sluggo is completely safe and works well, too. (i use it in my garden, and i've eaten it to prove it's safety)

oh wow..thats bold..i wouldnt of gone that far,,, but now i know..!

 

[Hopfarmer]

You need to come to our Hop and Brew School then you will know what you are in for

 

[rudds67]

You need to come to our Hop and Brew School then you will know what you are in for

Ahh sounds interesting.. I do love Colorado... whats the price for it? Colorado is kinda a hike from NY tho...

 

[Hopfarmer]

It is 100.00 for the weekend Cheers Glen

 

[rudds67]

sorry for the lack of update... just bought a hagger 4 foot rototiller for our tractor and will bge putting the plants in the ground in the coming days.... had a run in with too high PH in the soil mix we used..used a lot of compost and it seemed its been the culprit in some of the plants taking a big hit...i watered them with a 6 ph water ,..soo that should help them a bit.... stay tuned...

 

[Wortimer75]

Very interesting topic. I'm flirting with the idea of putting together a 1-1.5 acre Farm if I can afforfd the land. How did the season turnout? Did you build the trellis system?

 

[rudds67]

Hey beer family..sorry for the lack of update..this year was a wild year...didn't think it would be as much work as I thought and wow...I was in for a wake up call... had soo many issues ..at least I went to school this summer at the school of hard nocks... way too much rain early season.. no rain for 4 weekss mid season... bugs bombardment from every direction....slugs, aphids, leaf hoppers, weeds like no other...you learn fast with growing over 1800 plants..in hindsight I wish I started with only 200 then next year go bigger...at least I'm where I want to be now...

Got soo fed up with it all I left for a month in sept for south America to get away...but came back to winterize the beds and get a good start for next year....over the summer I marked 100 trees that I will be cutting this winter for hop poles.. 5 to 12 inch's in diameter (ironwood trees)..from 40 acres of woods we have in the back of the farm... come april or may I will be installing the poles and trellis...
Also over the winter I'm planning on setting up the paperwork for a farm brewery and planing out an area of about 30 acres to grow malting barley.. and would like to use the CSB(community supported brewery) model to start to get the local community interested...any ideas on how to set it up? Been researching the different ways others have done it..
. if anyone is in the central NYS. (Syracuse area) message me as I'm looking for people that may want to start a microbrewery/ beer farm down the road.. been brewing all summer and I'm puting the pieces together for a 1 barrel brewery to start..and I'm poring the floor for the area in the barn that will be the location for the brew kettles and malting floor... going to be a busy winter and spring..... pics to come..

 

[Gear101]

Can we take a tour, good luck with the farm.

 

[rudds67]

Can we take a tour, good luck with the farm.

i dont see why not...pack your snow boots... we have about 2 feet of snow on the way! Where are you located at?

 

[RidingDonkeys]

Awesome read and great timing. I'm ten years from an Army retirement, and the wife and I are having serious discussions about starting a farm to mug style brewery. We are looking at property in a few states and trying our best to get educated now. My intent was to timber farm until I retire, the start with hops when we retire, and eventually grow my own grains. Looks like you are on the same path. At least now I know to save some pines for hops poles!

I look forward to seeing your adventures unfold.

 

[GVH_Dan]

...didn't think it would be as much work as I thought and wow...I was in for a wake up call... had soo many issues ..

I wish I had a nickle for every time I've heard that! Don't worry, it get's better if you have been doing proper weed management, cover cropping, etc. I'm not saying the yard takes care of itself but once its firmly established things get a little easier. Of course with your expansion plans, you are starting over again and again and again...good luck.

 

[GVH_Dan]

.. and would like to use the CSB(community supported brewery) model to start to get the local community interested...any ideas on how to set it up? Been researching the different ways others have done it..

There is a "CSA" brewery that started here in Madison, WI. You may want to talk to him about his start-up process. The place is called House of Brews:http://www.houseofbrewsmadison.com/

NY is pretty friendly to hop growers and start up breweries so you may have it easier than some in other places...like MA...but I would still recommend you hire a lawyer to help you through the paperwork process. I know several people that started up nano's that were (at least temporarily) shut down because they didn't have approval of some government agency.

Also with the CSA, I believe they still consider it "selling" the beer even though its more of a dividend for your investors. So make sure you have everything in place. Besides, those in your CSA should end up picking up their share and deciding they need to buy more because its so good, right?

 

[johns]

what are the chances of getting Citra and Amarillo hop rhizomes planted?

 

[ArrowheadHops]

Play the lotto

 

[GVH_Dan]

Yep, they are patented. Win the lotto and you may have enough to buy the patent.

 

[rudds67]

what are the chances of getting Citra and Amarillo hop rhizomes planted?

Haa if you were really daring...find the farm growing them hops..go out inj the middle of the night for a late night scavenger hunt . or brib the mexicans working on the farms for rizomes.....


I looked up that one place for info on there csb... I'm half way to putting together a 1 barrel allgrain setup...I think when that is ready ill be ready to provide samples and be able todo more volume ...

 

[abSchenk]

Hey beer family..sorry for the lack of update..this year was a wild year...didn't think it would be as much work as I thought and wow...I was in for a wake up call... had soo many issues ...

Did you end up harvesting this year, and if so how was your yield & did you do it by hand? My husband & I own 20 acres in Victor, ID and are seriously considering dropping into organic hops up to 17 acres. We don't have the funds for a Wolf picker at this point so were thinking of starting with just a few acres, sourcing out pelletizing, etc., but after some research we're wondering if that's too much to hand pick? (we'd hire staff too but ...?). Thanks so much for sharing your experiences!

 

[Varmintman]

Did you end up harvesting this year, and if so how was your yield & did you do it by hand? My husband & I own 20 acres in Victor, ID and are seriously considering dropping into organic hops up to 17 acres. We don't have the funds for a Wolf picker at this point so were thinking of starting with just a few acres, sourcing out pelletizing, etc., but after some research we're wondering if that's too much to hand pick? (we'd hire staff too but ...?). Thanks so much for sharing your experiences!

AbShenck I live in Idaho Falls and would be interested in helping out a little bit if you decide to go ahead with it

 

[TyTanium]

...My husband & I own 20 acres in Victor, ID and are seriously considering dropping into organic hops up to 17 acres. ...

Sweet! Where in Victor? My family spends a lot of time out there.

 

[GVH_Dan]

Did you end up harvesting this year, and if so how was your yield & did you do it by hand? My husband & I own 20 acres in Victor, ID and are seriously considering dropping into organic hops up to 17 acres. We don't have the funds for a Wolf picker at this point so were thinking of starting with just a few acres, sourcing out pelletizing, etc., but after some research we're wondering if that's too much to hand pick? (we'd hire staff too but ...?). Thanks so much for sharing your experiences!

Yes, that's WAY too much to handpick.

For handpicking, figure 30 to 60 minutes per bine at 2nd year or after. This assumes you are being somewhat selective and only picking the top 1/3 to 1/2, which is where the bulk of your mature cones will be. If you really want to get the whole bine, double that time but you'll only bring in 10% to 25% more.

Assuming you have an acre of all one variety, you have about 1 week to get them in while maintaining them in near-peak condition. Usually an acre has 1000 to 1200 bines and you are talking at least 750 labor hours to pick it all by hand. A crew of 10 people could pick that in a 7 day week by working 12 hour days...add in clean up time, bringing the bines in from the field, disposing of old bines, etc.

There is a learning curve so people will get faster after a day or two, but they will also experience hop haze and slow down considerably as they get sleepy.

We also found that the typical migrant farm worker is no better than a homebrew club member. Bailing hay and combining corn is no preparation for picking hops. The best harvesters we had were people with experience picking organic grapes. Similar size, shape and picking style.

Take that times 17 acres, and you are managing a crew of hundred or more. That's why the Wisconsin hop farmers of the late 1800's would advertise as far as Galveston, TX for hop pickers. Around 30,000 would show up.

If you are looking to rent/buy a Wolf, talk to Glen Fuller. He's on this forum as "Hopfarmer". I can get you contact information if you like. He has lots of contacts and may have a unit sitting around. I will warn you that used Wolf harvestors are starting to become scarce.

We built a picker/sorter combo that we sell, too. But its really only sized to take care of 1 to 3 acres. It could maybe stretch to 5 but if you were looking at 17 acres, even with the decreased production of organic, I would look into a Wolf. Probably even a new one would be your best bet. That's what Hop Head Farms in MI is doing for their 20 acre farm.

 

[rudds67]

If its your first time..start with a 1/4 acre for fun..see how you like it..grow a few different types...but its a ton of work...I think I will be moving into the growing/ brokering for the organic Malting barley...there's more money in malting barley then hops.. I will keep my 2 acres and maybe go bigger down the road but growing hops is very manual labor intensive.. growing the barley for the brewerys isn't.. I have already contracted out 100 acres for 2 row and 6 row with an addition 300. Acres when I find the buyers. and I did all this with a few phone calls and I will be growing 15 to 30 acres on the farm here next to the hops.. I'm building a custom malting floor here as well but have a few malting houses that I may be using.

 

[BWN]

With NY's farm brewery law barley is going to make you a lot of money there will
Be a huge demand for NY grown barley.

 

[abSchenk]

Wow you guys thank you ALL so much for this incredible & helpful insight & so quickly!!! I think this is more support & info than I've found in many, many hours of research and number crunching. I will look at malted barley for sure & perhaps a smaller hop yard. I'll keep you posted and follow up soon! Varmintman in IF, I'll stay in touch thank you for your offer., Dan thank you & I may want to know more about your Wolf contacts, I'll contact you. Tyler, we're on 20 acres near Fox Creek between Victor & Driggs, tons of water rights, cool spot.

 

[GVH_Dan]

If its your first time..start with a 1/4 acre for fun..

...& perhaps a smaller hop yard.

In our classes we break down the financials for starting at an acre. Same with our growers, we require they start with an acre but never let them start with more than 2.

It is a HUGE investment in time and money. True, some of the costs scale up with size (# of rhizomes, amount of compost, amount of fertilizer) but others don't. For example, 1/4 acre will have more than 1/4 the number of poles than a single acre. When you rent equipment to install the poles, the rental costs will be the same. Digging a well will cost pretty much the same for a 1/4 acre vs. a full acre. The time to weed 1/4 acre is only a little less than 1 acre because you get in a groove.

But if you go above 2 acres...well, we've had a grower or two get so far in over their heads that they just surrendered and gave up. You don't want to get in the situation where you hate yourself for undertaking such an exciting endeavor.

Contact me at anytime. Just PM me on this forum and I can send you an e-mail address. Or just google...

 

[abSchenk]

In our classes we break down the financials for starting at an acre. Same with our growers, we require they start with an acre but never let them start with more than 2.

It is a HUGE investment in time and money. True, some of the costs scale up with size (# of rhizomes, amount of compost, amount of fertilizer) but others don't. For example, 1/4 acre will have more than 1/4 the number of poles than a single acre. When you rent equipment to install the poles, the rental costs will be the same. Digging a well will cost pretty much the same for a 1/4 acre vs. a full acre. The time to weed 1/4 acre is only a little less than 1 acre because you get in a groove.

But if you go above 2 acres...well, we've had a grower or two get so far in over their heads that they just surrendered and gave up. You don't want to get in the situation where you hate yourself for undertaking such an exciting endeavor.

Contact me at anytime. Just PM me on this forum and I can send you an e-mail address. Or just google...

Dan thank you, we'll be in touch for sure!

 

[TyTanium]

Tyler, we're on 20 acres near Fox Creek between Victor & Driggs, tons of water rights, cool spot.

Awesome! One of my favorite areas in the country. I have fond memories fly fishing as a kid with hops on one side of the river and barley on another. Seems to be mostly barley now (at least where I've fished), so it'd be awesome to see hops again.

My grandparents lived over the pass in Wilson until last year, now my parents are looking at places in Victor.

Also, Snake River brewery has hops growing around their brewery, so they might have some insight into specific varieties for your location.

 

[Varmintman]

AbShenck

Sigh as much as I would love to help my wife reminded me of my fear of heights. Nope I will have to withdraw my offer but I will bring up some beer someday and hope that you will help me drink it while I admire your hops.

Ty I hope your folks buy fairly soon if they want to move out here. The millionares in Jackson are getting run out of town by the billionares and housing all around is going through the roof. Heck even down to Swan Valley things are going through the roof.

I know Grand Teton Brewing have a few beers that everything comes from around the valley. I love some of their beers and everytime I am there I stop.

Dang I hope we can get some hops going here and perhaps a small malster plant.

 

[TyTanium]

Ty I hope your folks buy fairly soon if they want to move out here. The millionares in Jackson are getting run out of town by the billionares and housing all around is going through the roof. Heck even down to Swan Valley things are going through the roof.

Yeah, I hear ya. We're in neither crowd. It's quite ridiculous. I miss the good old days when you could actually find parking in Jackson.

I know Grand Teton Brewing have a few beers that everything comes from around the valley. I love some of their beers and everytime I am there I stop.

Agreed - some delicious local beers. Their distributor actually ships to a few places here in Chicago, so I can get most of their releases. Not the same as fresh at the brewery, but still good.

 

[GVH_Dan]

AbShenck

Sigh as much as I would love to help my wife reminded me of my fear of heights. Nope I will have to withdraw my offer but I will bring up some beer someday and hope that you will help me drink it while I admire your hops.

Did you know that weeds grow down at ground level and require bucketloads of work to pull. Don't worry, there are plenty of tasks you can help them with that keep your feet planted firmly on the ground.

 

[lostfish]

Any reason not to let the goats/sheep rummage through the hop field and eat all of the weeds/lower leaves of the plants? Seems like a backsaver.