ACRA ?D Aspiring hops producers attended a tutorial at the Agroforesty Resource Center on Saturday, receiving instruction on the do’s and don’ts of growing the crop.

Rick Pederson, a successful producer from the Finger Lakes whose crop was used in 2004 to create the first beer brewed using only New York hops, spoke to more than 10 attendees via teleconference from the New York state Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva.

Hops, which add bitterness to beer, are often used as an ingredient in the brewing process.

A hops grower, Pederson told the crowd, must be willing to do a lot of work for little reward ?D at least temporarily. “You’re just not going to develop much of a crop at all the first year,” Pederson said.

“The (hops) yard will last as long as it doesn’t get a disease in it and as long as you take care of it.”

 Pederson said a potential grower should not go into it blindly. They must know who wants to buy their product before they start, he said. “You need to find a brewer who’s willing to work with your variable quality, your (hop) varieties and variable yield.”

Aspirants must also have an intense knowledge of the soil. “If the water puddles at any time during the year, do not plant hops there,” Pederson advised the crowd. Anyone interested in growing hops should get a soil test before they start, he said.

In addition, growers should be able to scout for insects and diseases that often plague the crop.

“It also helps if you’re currently a farmer, and more specifically, a vegetable grower or a fruit grower,” Pederson added.

To minimize consequences of the shipping process, Pederson said growers should look for a brewer closest to where the crop is being grown.

Commercial hop production was pushed out of the Northeast in the 1920s by plant diseases such as downy mildew. Most production today takes place in Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

However, small-scale production is still possible in states like New York.

The only brewery currently operating in Greene County is Cave Mountain Brewing Company in Windham. A second brewery, Crossroad Brewing Company, is scheduled to open in the Village of Athens sometime this summer.

(from:thedailymail.net)