September 3, 2018: PNW Hop Crop Report

Weather continues to cooperate with PNW hop growers as temperatures have been in the 80’s so far and the weather report calls for cool and dry temperatures for the next week or so, also.  All growers are now picking hops in all growing regions and quality appears to be excellent.

Many Centennial growers are reporting disappointing yields as the picking window closes and growers move on to different varieties.  Willamette and Cascade yields in Oregon are good and quality is exceptional in most cases.  Simcoe® harvest is nearly complete with yields near expectations.  The Nugget crop looks good, but harvest is still a few days away.

In Idaho, there was minor mite pressure early, but the cool weather has allowed growers to either pick ahead of problem areas or catch up with pest control programs.  Simcoe® yields have been lower than 5-year average, but better than originally expected on most farms.  Cascades are picking out per expectations and the Chinook crop looks slightly better than average.  The Idaho CTZ crop looks good.

In Washington, the cooler weather has decreased the mite threat and control appears to be manageable in most areas.   Like Oregon, Centennial yields were down from last year on most farms. Early trained Cascades are picking out light, but late trained Cascade yields are good, making the crop average overall.  The quality on all varieties, with few exceptions, looks excellent.  Alpha varieties continue to mature and the crop looks above average on most farms.  We should have some early alpha analyses complete in time for our next report.

We’ll have a new report out next week with the latest results of the 2018 harvest.