Farmers in the American Northwest will reduce hop acreage by 20.5 percent, according to estimates global hop merchant Hopsteiner has shared. This isn’t exactly a surprise. In January, John I. Haas CEO Tom Davis said 10,000 acres of aroma hops needed to be eliminated.
That’s pretty much what seems to be happening. This estimate forecasts that overall 11,163 fewer acres will be harvested. It includes a significant reduction of CTZ, which is valued for its alpha, totaling about 1,627 acres. However, Hopsteiner is adding to Helios acreage and in this estimate acreage for HBC 682, another popular alpha hop, is grouped with “the rest.” As are popular aroma varieties such as Simcoe, El Dorado, Strata, and Idaho 7.
The USDA will issue its forecast in a few weeks, based on reports from growers in Washington, Idaho and Oregon. If it is close to this estimate of 43,155 acres, then farmers will harvest about the same number of acres as 2015, or 29 percent of peak acreage in 2021.
More takeaways after the chart. Acreage is listed in hectares. One hectare is equivalent to 2.47 acres.