U.S. Hop Report shows production declined by 7% in 2020

Recently the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released their 2020 hop crop report that shows a precipitous 7% drop in U.S. production from the year prior.

Doug Weathers of Sodbuster Hop Farm in Salem, OR

Production for Idaho, Oregon, and Washington in 2020 totaled 104 million pounds, down 7 percent from the 2019 crop of 112 million pounds. Combined area harvested for Idaho, Oregon, and Washington in 2020 totaled a record high 58,641 acres, up 4 percent from the 2019 level of 56,544 acres. Harvested acreage increased in Idaho and Washington, but declined in Oregon. The United States hop yield, at 1,770 pounds per acre, down 211 pounds from a year ago.

Washington produced 71 percent of the United States hop crop for 2020; while Idaho accounted for 17 percent and Oregon accounted for 12 percent. In Washington, Citra, Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus, Mosaic , Simcoe , and Cascade were the five leading varieties, accounting for 54 percent of the State’s hop production. In Idaho, Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus, Mosaic, Citra, Idaho 7, and Chinook were the major varieties, accounting for 68 percent of the State’s hop production. In Oregon, Citra , Nugget, Mosaic , Cascade, and Willamette were the major varieties, accounting for 57 percent of the State’s hop production. The 2020 value of production for the United States totaled $619 million, down 3 percent from the previous year.

Crosby Hops of Woodburn, Oregon recently published some of their own analysis and takeaways from the 2020 report. Part of their more detailed report points to the rise of proprietary hop varieties and new breeds like Talus as more brewers abandon classical standby varieties that are more accessible. Read Crosby’s own report here.

Todd Koch, a hop grower from Oregon’s Coleman Agriculture won the Hop Quality Group’s annual Cascade Cup award for 2020

The Cascade Cup is a yearly competition that allows growers from all over the US to showcase their best Cascade hops. Cascade hops have long been an important part of craft brewing. Dating back to 2013, the HQG awards the traveling Cascade Cup to the best Cascade hops as judged by the HQG. This friendly but competitive competition among hop growers has been a fun addition to the Hop Convention.

A panel made up of brewing professionals in the HQG will blindly pick a winner based on appearance, aroma, and hop analysis of the submitted brewer’s cut.

National Hop Report (December 2020)

USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service

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