THE first week of March marks the start of another Victorian hop harvest for Hop Products Australia (HPA), with a decrease in production and international demand among changes effecting this year’s crop.
HPA Victorian farm manager Aaron Bailey said he and his team have been busy executing bine control, herbicide, and fertiliser programs over the past few months.
“We had a few minor setbacks earlier in the growing season, including flooding in localised areas and repeated cold spells that initially hindered plant growth,” he said.
“But thanks to some warmer weather in recent months, the crop is shaping up well.”
It’s in very good hands too, with a large percentage of return applicants among more than 250 seasonal workers who will help HPA’s permanent team of hop experts bring in the crop.
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HPA director Tim Lord said crop 2024 looks a little different to previous years.
Some late changes to international demand resulted in HPA idling around 25 per cent of their hop gardens this year.
The planned decrease is a reflection of global oversupply.
“The hop market has always been cyclical,” Mr Lord said.
“We’ve enjoyed several good years thanks to the craft beer boom that led to an increase in more hop-centric beer production and a hop infrastructure where supply exceeded demand.
“Now we’re experiencing a dip, that has been somewhat exacerbated by COVID, trends toward less hop-centric beer production, and the growth of alternative beverages.”
Many hop growers are decreasing production this year, aiming to rebalance supply and demand.
“The decrease in production was not an easy decision, but it’s better than sitting on aging hops we can’t sell,” Mr Lord said.
“HPA will continue to care for the idle fields, keep them healthy and ready to be strung again for next crop.
“We are using the reduced crop as an opportunity to focus on quality, with greater flexibility to harvest each variety at optimal maturity and refine production processes.
HPA recently invested in a new site to house a state-of-the-art pelleting and packaging facility.
Mr Lord said the building project was taking slightly longer than anticipated.
“The whole project team has been working incredibly hard to ensure the facility is operational as soon as humanly possible,” he said.
“They are currently working on assembling a 24-metre tower that will house a fully temperature-controlled pellet plant.
“The resulting improvements in capacity from the modern equipment mean brewers can expect an overall increase in quality, which will translate to more consistent performance in beer.”
