Indie Hops Organics Update: 2012 Will Be a Big Year for the Big O

Organic hops got a boost recently when the USDA ruled that beers labeled “organic” must use organic hops by January 1, 2013. Many brewers are concerned that the organic supply will fall short of the demand. Here’s an update on what IH is doing to help supply and enhance that demand.

Indie Hops began growing organic hops last year. At Goschie Farms, we currently have 12 acres established on acreage that will be certified organic for the 2012 harvest. Of those acres, ten (10) are Cascades and two (2) are Centennial. Last year, an abnormally long and wet Spring triggered a downy mildew breakout. Fortunately, the DM spores did not strike our organic fields. Whew!

We will be planting additional acreage in 2011 on Goschie Farms as follows:

3.2 acres Centennial
3 acres Newport (15% AA, 50% Magnum parentage, CoH 38, 2.0 oil, good storage, Resistant to DM)
3 acres Perle (9% AA, 28 coH, 1.1 oil, very good storage, resistant to DM)
1 acre Fuggle (6% AA, 27 CoH, .6 oil, DM Tolerant)

All of the above varieties from our 22.2 total organic acreage will be available in 2012. Our pellet mill will also be certified organic for converting the 2012 harvest into pellets. We are pleased to note that organic hops won’t need to be trucked from Oregon farms to Yakima to be pelleted and then trucked back to Oregon brewers. Our Big O hops will be both green and greenhouse friendly.

Low Trellis, High Plant Strength

Gayle Goschie, our hop whisperer, is excited about her decision to string the organic hops on a low trellis. Organic hops face all sorts of disease and pest pressures. The best bulwark against nasty invaders is a healthy plant with a strong root system (and of course a monsoon-free spring!)

By using low trellis, we will not cut the bines at the base during harvest. The picker will strip the cones and leaves from the sidearms, but let the remaining “stripped hop skeleton” live on for another two months. During that time, the nutrients and carbohydrates in the bines will continue to nourish the root system, making for a hardier plant the following season. When the bines dry out, they will be cleared.

Hope Springs Eternal but Cross Fingers

2010 was a wet year – Biblically wet. Add moisture and warmth to soil and you have a fertile soup for mildew. Last year, we waited until mid-May for the ground to dry up before planting our Cascades and Centennials. The strategy paid off, as so far our fields look great, with the caveat that our vigilance must step up as the rains begin to recede in the Willamette Valley as the sun breaks out and the soil warms up.

To be safe, we will be planting our additional ten organic acres (Centennial, Perle, Newport and Fuggle) also in mid May. At present, our wonder weeds are getting stronger in a cool greenhouse. Later on we’ll transfer them a shade house before planting in the ground.

We’re optimistic, but crossing our fingers, toes and legs that the Spring will be dry enough so that Gayle “the Hoptomist” can walk the fields and spot treat any pest or mildew sightings. Last Spring was so wet Gayle couldn't get her tractors out to aerate the soil as often as she wanted.

One thing’s for sure, we’ll have plenty of pretty photos of our organic yards this summer. Between the hop rows Gayle will be planting vetch, an excellent nitrogen-fixing legume that bears lovely lavender flowers.

The Price is Right, We Think

The first question brewers are asking is whether the variety they want will be available. The second question is how much more will they cost than conventional hops?

We chose the varieties that we think have good disease resistance (Centennial will be the biggest challenge) and strong demand by brewers. We confess that we struggled with how to price our future organic hops. Clearly, the establishment and production costs have been greater than conventional crops. It takes three years for the acreage to transition from conventional to organic. Because of the pest and disease threats, the yields will likely be significantly lower. And processing will be more labor extensive, as well need to purge our clean, green pellet mill of any conventional hop residue.

So what do we do? How about, hmmm, the honest and right thing? We talked to both our grower and to potential brewer customers. In the end, we decided on an adjustable formula that ties the price to the yield. The higher the yield, the lower the price. On the flipside, after setting a fixed maximum price, the lower the yield, the higher the price.

We’re All in this Together

Our philosophy in setting the price is simple: we’re all in this together. This is a time of transition. Organics are no longer a fad, as consumers have begun to embrace the environmental and health benefits of synthetics-free foods. But to get to that point where the price gap between organic and non-organic hops narrows, the farmers will need to get it right. That takes time, trial and error, persistence and luck.

Here’s what we came up with: a maximum “worst case scenario” price per pound has been set at $18.00. That way a brewer knows that even in an extremely low yield situation there is a ceiling to what they need to pay for organic hops. The table below shows the price decreases as yields go up. Hey.... those prices look better than conventional hop prices during recent years!

Our agreement with the farm is that revenue from organic hop sales will first go toward covering the farms costs of organically cultivating the 20+ acres of hops. Once the farms costs are covered, the sales go toward covering the smaller IH direct costs of processing and handling. With direct costs covered for both parties, any additional sales revenue will be split 50/50 since we have shared the costs of establishing the organic acreage over the four years prior to the first certified organic harvest.

Yield per Acre (lbs.)     Wholesale Price/lb.
Less than 750 lbs.             $18.00
750-849 lbs.                     $17.50
850-999 lbs.                     $17.00
1000-1199 lbs.                 $16.00
1200-1399 lbs.                 $15.00
1400-1599 lbs.                 $14.00
1600 and above                $13.00

Brewers interested in planning ahead for some of their organic hops needs are encouraged to come visit this year to see the progress of the crop themselves. We also encourage you to contract ahead for greater security of supply.

We of course remain encouraged by Gayle’s optimism. We’re also buoyed by the slow but steady progress by “chemical companies” to ramp up production on organic compounds to control the undesirable pests, weeds and mildews.

Let's raise a pint to insecticidal soaps, fish oils, garlic extracts, biopesticides and plant and soil boosters! May the salubrious lady bugs and the pernicious aphids find a happy balance. As for mildew, can we please have more sun and less rain this Spring? And, if not, a note to the nasty mildew spores: may Gayle find you and give you a farewell squirt of hot copper.

RGW
4/2/2011

For an excellent article on the challenges faced by organic hop growers, please read the April 2011 issue of The New Brewer, “ New Rules for Organic Hops: Time is of essence for brewers, growers.” Click here.

Organic Hops and OSU Breeding Program Update, 9/6/10

As previously reported, Indie Hops has contracted with Goschie Farms to grow 20 acres of USDA certified organic hop. I recently visited the fields and my goodness did they look healthy, clean and orderly. See the pictures below.

We planted both Cascades and Centennials. Here’s a thumbnail sketch of the history of these historic hops. This is the biggest single tract of USDA certified 0rganic hops in Oregon hop history.

Per Gayle: the rhizomes were planted in an organic compost mix in February and the pots were then placed on a graveled area. With the cooler and wetter than normal Spring, the pots onthe warm gravel did quite well in establishing themselves. It wasn’t long before they developed pretty white/bright feeder roots. I’m glad we planted when we did. Had the rhizomes been placed in the ground in March/April, they would have sat shivering. We waited, thank goodness.

Once the grass cover crop was worked down (grass tuffs are slow in breaking down), the pots were planted in early June. That process took a little longer than planned with the ground never drying out enough to work it without causing compaction problems, which is a fancy way of saying we would’ve got our tractor stuck in the mud.

In June, we planted into the warm ground with the now composting cover crop. The plants have been given a great start. The ground will not be certified organic until 2012 (3 year transition from conventional), but he plants will be grown under organic specifications during the transitional period. From past experience, this will give the plants a great start with this extended establishment period.

Happy Labor Day! Just another day for us in the hop world as we continue our wonderful hop harvest… Gayle

In other news, while down at GF, I spied signs of Dr. Shaun Townsends handiwork. As you know, Indie Hops has financed an aroma hop breeding program at OSU. The program has been designed to foster collaboration between academic breeders, local hop farmers and brewers. Below are a few pictures of hop vines festooned with brown bags, the insides of which contain freshly pollinated female cones.

As Shaun reports, the bags above are part of the crosses that he made in July of 2010.

For each sidearm, he clipped the major leaves off, secured a bag over that sidearm, and introduce pollen from the desired male parent to complete the cross. The plants and bags will stay in place until about October 1, 2010. At that time, Shaun will take the plants down and haul the crosses back to OSU for threshing, seed-cleaning, and pre-treatment for planting.

In addition to Goschie Farms in Silverton, Dr. Townsend is also pollinating female cones at Coleman Farms, our other farm partner (the Alluvial Farm near Independence, Oregon). The progeny from the various crosses should produce a wide range of genetic types for selection. One of the main criteria in selecting pollen and seeds for crossing, in addition to a muscular oil profile, has been downy mildew resistance.

So far, so good.
Roger Worthington
9/6/10

PS That well dressed man in the hopfields reaching for a cone on the "bag vine" is our good friend and gentleman brewer, Dan Kopman of Shlafly from St. Louis.

V for Victory! When the rain quenches and the soil nourishes and the sun shines, the hops win. When the hops win, we all win! Provided of course they’re handled just right…

Indie Hops Goes Green, Commits to 20 Acres Organic
Organic hops. Should we or shouldn’t we?

The answer is: bring it on.

Here’s why. We believe. We believe organic hops can be grown successfully. They can impart new and different flavors and aromas. They are good for the environment. And consumers will continue to give up more green for pure, green produce.

All it takes is finding the right hop farmer. A farmer with confidence, curiosity, and stamina. A farmer who’s willing to experiment, to learn from failures, to get back on that tractor. A farmer who is “intrigued” by the enormous challenge of doing it the way of her ancestors and getting it right.

We’ve found that farmer. Her name is Gayle Goschie of Goschie Farms. Since 2008, Gayle has been growing a few acres of organic hops on Goschie Farms, a venerated 350 acre hop farm in Silverton, Oregon. She’s been growing organic hops without forward contracts, a testament to her confidence as a grower and her faith that if she grows ‘em, a market will buy ‘em.

Indie Hops is betting on both counts – that Gayle can deliver, and craft brewers will continue to demand US grown organic hops. We’re contracting with Goschie Farms, which obtained its organic certification in 2009, to put in 20 acres of organic hops. To put that number in perspective, figures vary, but last year it’s estimated that 75 acres were planted organic nationwide.

Betting the Organic Farm

It’s a risky bet. The rap on organic hops has been that they’re too expensive, their yields are too low, supplies of particular varieties haven’t been available, their quality is suspect and beer drinkers really don’t care.

A bad rap, yes, but not entiredly deserved, and certainly fixable. Organic hops are more expensive than the inorganically grown kind. First, the acreage must be certified as free of residual synthetic chemicals. Second, without the use of conventional fertilizers, the grower needs to intersperse plants that help the hop vines fix nitrogen from the air and soil.

Third, you better love it, because the labor bill is not cheap. If conventionally grown hops require close attention, organically grown demand the doting, patient, tender loving care of a special needs child. The yards must be hand-weeded. They must inspected weekly if not more often for aphids, spider mites and mildew. As a rule, growing hand-crafted, hands-on organic means doubling your labor costs.

Despite being a time-vampire, Gayle loves it. “I enjoy the learning process. Right now, we’re at the lower end of the learning curve, but we’re getting smarter.” She started planting 2 acres in 2008 and now has 7 acres in production. Her varieties have included Cascade, Fuggles, Willamette, Teamaker (a zero-alpha hop), Centennial and Liberty.

Double Double, Toil and Trouble?

Material costs are also about double for organic. Applications of non-synthetic biocides (e.g. soaps and plant based oils) are more frequent. The agents are “broad spectrum,” meaning they don’t zero in on a specific pest.

“It’s a soft approach,” explained Gayle. “The agents lower the population of all insects, the good ones and bad ones. When we try to combat the aphids, we’re also impacting their predator population -- the good guys, the ladybugs. It’s a broad attack with wide consequences .”

“The trick,” she mused, “is to find that happy balance. We can’t exactly eradicate every single spider mite or soft bodied aphid, nor do we want to, as that would remove the food supply of the lady bugs, which we want. The goal is to achieve and foster a natural balance between the insects, the hops and other plants. You can’t just spray for peace.”

To attract the good insects, as well as provide ground cover between the hop rows, Goschie Farms, is experimenting with integrating her yards with other flowering plants, like Elysium. It’s critical, Gayle says, to make sure the cover crop doesn’t block too much wind, which could create the kind of stagnant air pockets in which downey mildew thrives. At the ground level, she also plants clover, which attracts the good bugs when it flowers. Again, the trick is to diversify the plants so they flower at different times.

Boldly Growing into the Ungrown

In a sense, Gayle and other organic hop growers are boldly going where none has gone before. Unlike mega-crops like corn, wheat and soybeans, there isn’t a network of USDA extension agents standing by eager to assist in the event of an imminent calamity. There’s no manual for organic hop growers. They can’t run down to the feed store for a bucket of Monsanto-made smart bombs. Much of what they do is trial and error. They’re constantly tweaking and re-tweaking until they achieve some approximation of balance. It’s a game that takes time, resilience, and patience.

For example, Goschie Farms, which specializes in aroma hop varieties, has also tapped into the power of aroma to control pests. Goschie has found success in using garlic and spearmint oils as natural weapons to limit unwanted pests by attracting their “good” predators.

The thinking goes like this: if using crushed garlic can help control aphids in rose gardens by attracting aphid-loving ladybugs, why couldn’t it work with hops? Similarly, since spearmint oil has been used in vineyards to control spider mites by attracting predators like the minute pirate bug, why couldn’t it be used in hopfields? In both cases, the idea, converted to practice, has paid out small but important dividends.

Nature Adores Balance

“Finding a balance intrigues me,” enthused Gayle, who’s clearly fond of the word “intrigue” . “That part, the learning part, that “Eureka” moment, when it all comes together, excites me. It has also made me a better farmer all around,” citing the fact that last year, in 2009, almost one-third of her 350 acres of conventionally grown hops were free of spider mite infestations.

“What I learn from growing organically,” said Gayle, “I can also apply to my conventional fields.” Goschie Farms has long been a leader in growing hops in an environmentally respectful manner. Goschie was the first hop farm to be certified as “Salmon-Safe,” an endorsement which means it uses sustainable agricultural practices which limit the kind of unhealthy water run-off that imperils native salmon. As with its organic certification (from Oregon Tilth), Gayle sought the Salmon Safe approval not for economic advantage but because it was the right thing to do.

Growing organically is, to be frank, no bed of roses. Despite big cash, time and brain power investments, the yield from organic hops for now continues to be unacceptably low. As a general rule, organic yields are about one-half the size of inorganic hops. Gayle is convinced that over time, as farmers build on their skills, develop better collaboration networks, and learn more about how to prime the hop’s nitrogen fixation pump, organic hop plants will get stronger and more vigorous. When they do, their yields will bulk upwards, as well.

As for quality, the literature is virtually blank on any reported differences in the oil or acid composition of organic varieties. In the Garden of Eden, before the onset of synthetic pesticides, the fragrances and flavors emitted from a plant’s oils served to repel certain insects, fungi and diseases. Over time, as an organic hop ecosystem finds its equilibrium, one wonders what the future will bring. What oils will nature select for their survival value? What flavors and aromas will be associated with hearty survivors? We shall see.

Have Mission, Will Prevail

Just as growing big, bold, plump hop cones presents a challenge for the farmer, finding a market for organic hops also has its challenges. Under the current USDA rules on organic products, a brewer can market its beer as USDA certified organic even though the hops used are inorganic. The rule (section 205.606) has recently been challenged by the American Organic Hop Grower Association , which consists five growers. The group argues that since 2007, when hops were exempted from the USDA organic rules, there have been tremendous strides in the availability, quality and quantity of organic hops. Anheuser-Busch, which originally supported the hops exemption, has now written a letter advocating the removal of hops from the exemption list.

The group makes the point that under the current regulatory scheme hop farmers are discouraged from growing organically since brewers can use inorganic hops but still legally market their beers as organic. They say the rules both stymie the farmers and foster dishonesty in the marketplace, as the only impediment to taking advantage of the loophole is a guilty conscience.

Our decision to contract with Goschie Farms to grow 20 acres of organic Cascade and Centennial was made long before the AOHGA filed its petition to strike humulus lupulin from the exemption list. Our decision had nothing to do with legal loopholes and everything to do with advancing progress. We believe that Goschie Farms has the stuff and the spirit to set the standard worldwide for growing the highest quality of organic hops.

It won’t be easy, but nothing that lasts is. There will be obstacles. Can we improve the yields in the next few years? Can we meet the needs of brewers for particular, perhaps unique, varieties in their beer recipes? Can we help expand the handful of brewers who regularly use bona fide organic hops in their bottled brews? Can we figure out how to reduce costs so organic hops can be priced competitively with their inorganic sisters?

Yes, we can.

Like Gayle, here at Indie Hops, we are “intrigued.” We like the challenge. We like how it feels, even if it’s not an instant home run in the marketplace. We like being on the front end of a movement to, ironically enough, do it the way of our forefathers. As Gayle says, “This is a labor of love. In 1905, my grandfather, Carl Goschie, started hop farming. He grew hops without a lot of artificial compounds. He’d be happy to know that over 100 years later we were closing the circle – growing good hops and continuing to respect the land. “

Roger Worthington
3/26/10

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Indie Hops Organic Pellets Available Fall 2012
We are planting 20 acres of organic Cascade and Centennial hops in 2010 at Goschie Farms. We will be harvesting crops in 2012 and 2013. Call for more details. Go Big Green!

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