Final report for ONE21-400
Project Information
The "Hopping on Hops" project set out to support West Virginia's emerging hops producers by evaluating six hops varieties—Cashmere, Centennial, Comet, Saaz 72, Triumph, and Zeus—across multiple farms to identify which varieties are best suited to the state's climate. Farmers collected data on yield, pest and disease resistance, and overall growth performance.
Conclusions and Outcomes:
- Varietal Suitability: Of the six varieties tested, Comet, Saaz 72, and Zeus demonstrated better adaptability to West Virginia’s climate, showing higher resilience to pests and environmental stresses.
- Impact of Environmental Conditions: One farm experienced significant crop loss from heavy rains, highlighting the need for water mitigation practices in sloped fields. Similarly, farms lacking proper irrigation, suffered crop failures during drought conditions. These findings emphasize the need for irrigation and water mitigation infrastructure investments.
- Pest Pressure Management: Several farms encountered pest challenges, including caterpillars as well as significant damage from Japanese beetles. This indicates that integrated pest management practices, including timely interventions, are essential for maintaining healthy hop yields.
- Delayed Planting and Its Consequences: Delayed planting and late-season start-ups, especially for the farms that joined the study late, resulted in crop failure due to heat stress. This highlights the importance of timely planting and the risks of late season stress, particularly in warmer months.
- Challenges with Perennial Crop Assessment: As hops are a perennial crop, their full productive potential is usually reached after three to five years. The limited three-year timeframe of the study may not have captured the peak yield performance of the varieties, which would likely improve in subsequent years. Extending the study to at least five years would provide more robust data on long-term production capacity, plant resilience, and consistency of yields.
- Cooperative Model Benefits: The formation of the Mountain State Co-Hops cooperative provided a framework for collective marketing and resource-sharing among growers. By pooling resources and knowledge, farmers can better mitigate risks, access grants, and scale production efficiently. The cooperative also allows for shared marketing strategies, potentially increasing craft brewers’ purchases of locally grown hops by 15%, which will translate into higher revenue for participating farmers.
Outreach Efforts:
Outreach efforts included eight workshops, 60 cooperative and steering committee meetings, and the development of a "Hop Growing Toolkit," which was presented at the Small Farms Conference. These initiatives have laid the groundwork for sustainable hops production and market expansion within West Virginia's growing craft brewing industry.
This project seeks to catalyze nascent West Virginia-based hops growers collective by providing technical assistance and peer to peer mentorship to determine which of six market-demanded hops varieties are most suitable in West Virginia’s climate and develop the collective's overall capability to market their hops products.
Objective 1) Provide technical assistance and peer to peer mentorship to determine which of six market-demanded hops varieties, Cashmere, Centennial, Triumph, Saaz 72, Comet, and Zeus, are most suitable in West Virginia’s climate.
Discovery: Identify the varieties that yield the best production by collecting data regarding a) Pest and disease pressure b) Yield c) Variety quality/profile.
Objective 2) Provide technical assistance in order to facilitate cooperative marketing of hops amongst participating and future farmers
Discovery: By developing relationships amongst hops producers and buyers this project will create a collective marketing strategy to increase the amount of hops product grown in West Virginia that is utilized in craft brewing.
Farmer Impact: This project will produce a toolkit with specific data collected by the participating farmers, which will both mitigate risk for future producers and inform craft beverage makers about the hops that they can feasibly source in West Virginia.
West Virginia’s rolling rocky mountainous terrain and deep hollows between peaks trends agriculture towards diversified, small-scale farms. Physical geographical and topographic limitations that encourage crop diversity also requires that farmers work together collaboratively to meet demands of varied market sectors. It is becoming more common for producers to form cooperatives or growing groups and the Coalition is trying to encourage this with regards to hops production within the state. By assisting producers in diversifying into stable markets we aid in increasing farm profit, allowing them to live more equitably and expand sustainable farming efforts. This will allow for improvements to be made to farms and facilities, in turn improving the quality of life for individuals and communities.
The Craft beverage industry made an entrance into West Virginia in the mid 2000’s and is proving to be a stable industry. The emergence and stability of this industry have provided farmers with new market opportunities to produce honey, stone fruits, herbs, grains, and hops. Freefolk Brewery, for example, currently procures 2,600 pounds of hops annually. Two acres of hops are needed to serve this brewery. If small-scale producers produced .25 acres of hops, it would increase revenue by approximately $4,600-$8,600 per producer.
Due to the growth in the craft beverage industry, supported by the growing tourism industry, and community partners, such as the Coalition and Robert C. Byrd Institute, there is a real vocalized need for West Virginia grown hops. The Robert C. Byrd Institute has been supporting “Farm to Bottle” for several years, and the need for more farm products is expressed by craft beverage manufacturers at every event.
Farmers are working to establish a network of hops growers to provide for this market demand. This project will support these efforts through technical assistance and peer to peer mentorship as four growers help determine which of six market-demanded varieties of hops provide the best yields while also working together to establish a market plan for hops in the state. This project will build on past studies on the viability of commercial hops production within the state by expanding the varietal research which will aid in mitigating risk for future producers. The previous study, ‘Specialty Hops In West Virginia’ (Martel, 2017), was conducted by West Virginia State University. This study showcased the viability of three hops varieties for commercial-scale growth. It established growers on a commercial scale.
Cooperators
- - Producer
- - Producer
- - Producer
- - Producer
Research
Methods as proposed:
Objective 1) Provide technical assistance and peer to peer mentorship to determine which of six market-demanded hops varieties, Cashmere, Centennial, Comet, Saaz 72, Triumph, and Zeus, are most suitable in West Virginia’s climate.
Methodology - Technical assistance and peer to peer mentorship; Production Quantitative and Qualitative Data Collection
Prior to project commencement, The Coalition and technical assistance providers will determine growing techniques for each variety to be tested and create a best practices guide for participants.
The Coalition will facilitate a workshop amongst the farmer-participants on project installation and growing techniques with regards to each variety with regional hops growers. Throughout the life of this project, The Coalition will retain at least one direct production technical assistance advisor.
The Coalition will facilitate quarterly peer-to-peer meet-ups amongst project participants. These quarterly meetings will be opportunities to deposit data, coordinate with peers, and develop marketing strategies.
Technical assistance providers will also attend these to hear and respond to larger production concerns.
In order to determine the most suitable hops varieties, project participants will be provided data collection sheets (see attached) in order to collect data related to production amounts and perceived ease of growth and production management. Participants will be instructed on the frequency of online submission, which varies seasonally but will be required at least quarterly.
Measurement: Hops varieties will be viewed as successful if it demonstrates high yield and qualities that are desirable to the market as determined by partnering craft breweries as well as perceived as easy for production management.
Objective 2) Provide technical assistance in order to facilitate cooperative marketing of hops amongst participating and future farmers
Methodology: The Coalition will facilitate quarterly meetings amongst program participants and other producers who wish to join the hops growers collective. During the quarterly meetings, the Coalition will facilitate the development of a collective marketing strategy. This strategy will be determined by program participants through a participatory process. The Coalition believes that in order to catalyze the cohesive development of the West Virginia Hops Growers Collective, the Collective must buy-in and feel ownership of the work. The Coalition will bring in resources to conduct the work. This includes buy/grower mixers, cooperative development trainers, moderated panel discussion, etc.
Measurement: Five craft brewers will purchase 15% more of their hops from West Virginia farmers.
The NE SARE-funded project, "Hopping on Hops," conducted by the West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition, focused on analyzing the viability of six market-identified hops varieties—Cashmere, Centennial, Comet, Saaz 72, Triumph, and Zeus—within West Virginia’s unique growing conditions. The primary goal was to identify which varieties could thrive and become profitable for local hops growers, while simultaneously addressing the practical challenges faced in growing hops in this region. This study also aimed to support the development of a West Virginia hops growers cooperative by providing technical assistance, peer-to-peer mentorship and marketing support:
Measured:
Throughout the study, growth rates, disease and pest resistance, yield per acre, and overall quality of the hops produced were measured. Specific data was collected on planting dates, pest pressure, weather impacts, and harvesting results. Each variety was monitored for its adaptability to West Virginia's climate, focusing on both its yield potential and its appeal to the local craft brewing market.
Observed:
The study’s observations confirmed that out of the six varieties tested, Comet, Saaz 72, and Zeus performed best in West Virginia's climate. These varieties showed higher yields and stronger resistance to pests like caterpillars and Japanese beetles, which were prevalent in some locations. In contrast, varieties like Cashmere and Centennial had lower yields and, in some cases, total crop failure.
Two key environmental factors affected the study: heavy rainfall and drought conditions. One participant experienced total crop failure after heavy rains washed out their hops yard, illustrating the need for better water management systems in sloped areas. Another participant suffered from drought due to a lack of irrigation infrastructure, further highlighting the importance of preparing land with appropriate irrigation and water management systems before planting. These environmental challenges delayed certain aspects of the project and impacted the overall data collected.
An additional challenge faced during the study was recruiting and retaining participating farms. Two participants dropped out after receiving trellis poles, forcing the team to pivot and identify two new producers, this led to delays and late-season planting. Because planting was delayed until mid August that year, extreme heat stress resulted in crop loss for the new participants.
Uncovered:
- Varietal Suitability: Of the six varieties tested, Comet, Saaz 72, and Zeus demonstrated better adaptability to West Virginia’s climate, showing higher resilience to pests and environmental stresses.
- Impact of Environmental Conditions: One farm experienced significant crop loss from heavy rains, highlighting the need for water mitigation practices in sloped fields. Similarly, farms lacking proper irrigation, suffered crop failures during drought conditions. These findings emphasize the need for irrigation and water mitigation infrastructure investments.
- Pest Pressure Management: Several farms encountered pest challenges, including caterpillars as well as significant damage from Japanese beetles. This indicates that integrated pest management practices, including timely interventions, are essential for maintaining healthy hop yields.
- Delayed Planting and Its Consequences: Delayed planting and late-season start-ups, especially for the farms that joined the study late, resulted in crop failure due to heat stress. This highlights the importance of timely planting and the risks of late season stress, particularly in warmer months.
- Challenges with Perennial Crop Assessment: As hops are a perennial crop, their full productive potential is usually reached after three to five years. The limited three-year timeframe of the study may not have captured the peak yield performance of the varieties, which would likely improve in subsequent years. Extending the study to at least five years would provide more robust data on long-term production capacity, plant resilience, and consistency of yields.
- Cooperative Model Benefits: The formation of the Mountain State Co-Hops cooperative provided a framework for collective marketing and resource-sharing among growers. By pooling resources and knowledge, farmers can better mitigate risks, access grants, and scale production efficiently. The cooperative also allows for shared marketing strategies, potentially increasing craft brewers’ purchases of locally grown hops by 15%, which could translate into higher revenue for participating farmers.
Projected Farm Changes:
Participating farms are expected to benefit from the shift to perennial hops production, which will reduce labor needs over time and create diversified income streams. The introduction of hops as a novel crop in West Virginia has generated interest from neighboring farms, potentially increasing collaboration and expanding market opportunities. With five local craft brewers projected to increase their purchase of West Virginia-grown hops by 15%, participating farms are well-positioned to capitalize on this demand, improving profitability.
In conclusion, the "Hopping on Hops" project met its objective of identifying viable hops varieties for West Virginia while supporting the development of a regional growers’ collective. The project’s findings underscore the importance of thorough site preparation, long-term study for perennial crops, and continued infrastructure improvements to achieve greater success in future hops production.
The goal of this project was to support emerging hops producers in West Virginia by helping them establish profitable, high-quality hops production for the state's growing craft brewing industry. Through this initiative, we aimed to catalyze the formation of a West Virginia-based hops growers cooperative (the Mountain State Co-Hops) by providing technical assistance, peer-to-peer mentorship, and guidance on the suitability of six key hops varieties in the state's unique climate. Additionally, the project sought to strengthen the cooperative’s marketing capabilities to ensure their hops products met market demands and positioned them competitively within the craft brewing sector.
These efforts allowed producers to trial various hops varieties, including Cashmere, Centennial, Comet, Saaz 72, Triumph, and Zeus, determining their viability within West Virginia's specific growing conditions. Throughout the project, technical support was provided to growers across multiple locations, addressing challenges such as pest infestations, heavy rainfall, and soil fertility. For instance, certain farms faced pest pressure from caterpillars and Japanese beetles, while others contended with the effects of heavy rain on their sloped hop yards. The technical assistance providers responded by recommending targeted interventions like pest control through milky spore applications and water mitigation strategies to preserve crops during extreme weather events.The results indicated that Saaz 72 showed particular promise in terms of yield and marketability with craft brewers, followed by Zeus, Comet, and Centennial.
The project successfully laid the groundwork for the formation of the West Virginia Mountain State Co-Hops Cooperative, which to date has secured over $150,000 in grant support to build the infrastructure needed for long-term business growth and financial sustainability of participating farmers. By fostering a supportive network among farmers, the co-operative now has the tools and knowledge to continue improving their production techniques and scaling their operations. Importantly, the cooperative has begun marketing efforts to position their hops as a premium, locally grown product that meets the specific needs of the state's craft brewing industry. Five West Virginia craft brewers are projected to increase their local hops purchases by 15%, providing a stable market for the growers involved in the study. This demand aligns with the project’s overarching goal of connecting West Virginia growers to the craft beer industry and expanding the market for locally produced hops.
Education & Outreach Activities and Participation Summary
48 cooperative steering committee meetings
Participation Summary:
Education/outreach description:
Co-op Model & Development Process December 2021
Small Farms Conference Presentation
August 2021-January 2022:
Consultations: The four producers were consulted by Schmidt's Farm regarding hop yard locations and hop yard design layout.
Curricula, factsheets, and educational tools: Four power point presentations were created and shared with the producers on soil sample analysis and interpretation, best growing practices for hop production, trellising designs, and cooperative formation.
Webinars, talks, and presentations:
Four virtual presentations were hosted by West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition on soil sample analysis and interpretation, best growing practices for hop production, trellising designs, and cooperative formation. There were question and answer segments for all four virtual presentations. One to 8 participants joined for each presentation.
Three workshops were held at Hopped Up Farm for making products for pest and disease management, soil amendments, and on cultural yard management practices. Six to eight participants were in attendance.
Two workshops were held at Turtle on a Post and led by Fred Antolini from Hopped Up Farm for when to harvest hops and how/when to prune. Six to eight participants were in attendance.
January 2022-January 2023:
Curricula, factsheets, and educational tools:
Four self paced hops growing courses were provided through Michigan State University. Three out of four of the farmers enrolled in the course.
One in person workshop was held at Scott’s Farm in Ohio. One farm out of the four participated in the workshop.
Four hop yard installation workshops were held and completed by all four participating farms.
Four cooperative formation meetings were held with the larger group.
Fourteen educational meetings were held with Ohio State University and the Cooperative’s Steering Committee on the formation of a cooperative.
January 2023-January 2024:
Curricula, factsheets, and educational tools:
One workshop was held for making products for pest and disease management.
One workshop was held for making soil amendments.
One workshop was held for cultural yard management practices.
One workshop was held for when to harvest hops.
One workshop was held on building a hops picker for harvesting.
One workshop was held for pruning.
One workshop was held at Random Rabbit and led by Fred Antolini on building a hops picker for harvesting. Nine participants were in attendance.
January 2024-June 2024:
Presentation given at the WV Small Farms Conference on NE SARE Hops Varietal Research Study and Lessons Learned. Information on the formation of the Cooperative was also provided during the presentation.
Hops Growing Toolkit was completed.
Final analysis of data was compared over two years. We have concluded that according to the data Saaz 72 performed the best followed by Zeus, Comet, and then Centennial. Triumph and Cashmere did not perform well.
General Outreach to Hops Growers Collective Events
Mountain State Co-Hop has officially been formed and has been attending events throughout the state in 2023 to educate about the Cooperative. The cooperative has grown to have 10 hops growing members and 30 members in total.
Conference Presentation
A presentation was given at the 2024 Small Farms Conference in February on the NE SARE Varietal Research Study/Lessons Learned/Forming A Cooperative. This presentation was in the form of a panel discussion with the project's participants. 10 conference participants attended the presentation.
Hop Growing Toolkit was completed and shared at the Small Farms Conference. The Cooperative has shared the resource with its members along with new members that have interest.
Learning Outcomes
From the workshops that have already been held, participants have learned the following skills:
- Trellising requirements for hops.
- Fertilization and water requirements for hops.
- How to dry and process hops.
- Pest and disease identification and management.
- How to install trellising for a hop yard.
- Best practices for growing hops.
- How to form a cooperative and market as a cooperative.
From the workshops, participants have learned the following skills:
- Trellising requirements for hops.
- Fertilization and water requirements for hops.
- How to dry and process hops.
- Pest and disease identification and management.
- How to install trellising for a hop yard.
- Best practices for growing hops.
- How to form a cooperative and market as a cooperative.
- How to make soil amendments.
- How to make products for pest and disease management.
- How and when to prune hops.
- How and when to harvest hops.
- How to build a hops picker.
- Hop yard cultural management practice
Project Outcomes
August 2021-January 2022:
It's still early in the project to talk about changes in practices or behaviors, however, there are some updates to be shared. The participants have been meeting regularly and discussing all of the details of their cooperative development. They've also met with the Ohio State University's Cooperative Development Center. Additionally, getting equipment from other grants will likely help to catalyze this group.
January 2022-January 2023:
All four ¼ acre hop yards have been installed and planted. Due to late planting the data isn’t as robust as we had hoped. Thus far, Comet and Saaz 72 show the most promise for growing in West Virginia’s climate.
January 2023-January 2024:
At the beginning of the project two participants decided they could no longer participate. This led to a delay in installation of two yards. We had already delivered the materials and had to identify two new participants and arrange to have the materials transferred to the new locations.
One of the four sites was successful in growing their hops. Turtle on a Post was a new participant that was identified and their yard was successfully grown and provided adequate data for the trail. Turtle on a Post was also successful in propagating from clones and we will use this success in helping cooperative members replace plant loss.
Hinerman Hill Farm had 100% failure due to wash out from torrential rains. The Cooperative will aid them in water mitigation efforts and propagate plants for them to replace their yard.
WV Briarpatch had 100% failure. We were not able to determine the reason for failure but we are suspect that they suffered nitrogen burn from over application to young plants. They replanted in the spring of 2023 and we will aid them as needed.
Mountain Life Farm was a new participant and experienced 100% failure. Their failure was due to an extremely late planting and an inability to amend their site and install irrigation in time for the planting. They were not able to plant until mid August. The plants went through a great deal of stress during the holding process and during transplant. This was just not an ideal situation. The Cooperative will aid them in replacing their plants and amending their yard prior to planting.
January 2024-June 2024:
We presented at the WV Small Farms Conference on our research findings, lessons learned, and forming a cooperative. While our attendance was low the individuals present were very engaged. We presented with a panel of the research study participants and they were very transparent in relating their experiences with growing hops.
We have completed the ‘Hop Growing for Beginners Toolkit’ and presented the document at the WV Small Farms Conference. Mountain State Co-Hop has also provided the resource to it’s members and new members that are interested. Mountain State Co-Hop plans to have a resource page on their website and intends to share the toolkit on their website. The West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition has published it on their website as well.
Mountain State Co-Hop has grown to 30 members with 10 being hop growers. We are in the final stages of installing five more hop yards in addition to the four installed for this research study.
Our study concluded that Saaz 72 performed the best in our climate with Zeus, Comet, and Centennial following in adequate production. Cashmere and Triumph did not perform well in WV’s climate.