Low Trellis Production and Harvesting System for Hops

There is a large demand for high quality, locally-grown hops by craft brewers throughout the U.S. Farmers are increasingly looking at establishing small-scale (1/4 to 5 acres) commercial hop yards to supply this demand. Typically, commercial hop farmers use a high trellis system for large-scale production on 60 acres or more. Their hop yard start-up cost (excluding harvesting and processing equipment) is about $6,300 per acre which is roughly 1/2 the cost to put in a small-scale high trellis hop yard. This factor plus a lack of ecnomony of scale for harvesting and post-harvest processing limit the ability of small farms to establish high trellis systems. A much more feasible option is low trellis production. Even though existing low trellis production yields less per acre compared to high trellis production, the plants and pests are significantly easier to manage. If current low trellis production and harvesting technology were improved, then net revenues per acre could be comparable to high trellis production. This would make hop growing a viable option for small growers across the U.S.The objective of this Phase I SBIR project is to assess the technical feasibility of a novel articulating low trellis structure, hardware and harvesting system for growing hops. The system is designed to be practical for small-scale conventional and organic hop production. Harvest equipment will be efficient and more economical than current technology. Other expected advantages of the system's new cultural technique include hop quality exceeding industry standards, easy cultivar rotation and better disease prevention.