PORTLAND, OR -- When Oregon hops farmers begin harvesting their crop next week, there will be fewer acres to manage. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, hop acreage is down 18% nationwide, compared to a year ago. The same is true in Oregon for this critical beer-making ingredient.

"This is not an environmental impact," says Sam Pecoraro, brewmaster for Portland-based Von Ebert Brewing, "This is the result of farmers adjusting to demand and adjusting to the amount of hops that are in storage right now, and planting less acreage." Oregon hop growers will harvest around 5,500 acres this season, compared to 7,000 acres just two years ago. "It's a significant amount of hop trellises that don't have hops on them right now," says Pecoraro.

He says growers are reducing their acreage because demand for craft beer is down 2% this year, "I think the pandemic changed a lot of people's habits. People are not going out and drinking at establishments quite as much anymore. There's different lifestyles and a lot of people go into grocery stores and maybe spending their money in different ways today." 

Pecoraro says, "There's an ebb and a flow to all industries and right now we're in that ebb. And it's not just hop oversupply, it's also the cost of packaging materials, the cost of shipping, the cost of other raw materials like barley. We've seen an increase in all that." He adds, "We work together, here in Oregon. And if growers need to correct an oversupply, then we have to be there with them."

He says Von Ebert Brewing is also adjusting to the changing market, "We're building out a new facility that's going to allow us to get six-pack beers into grocery stores and get them where people are tending to buy more beer today."

Oregon is the third largest hop producer, behind Washington and Idaho. The industry is responsible for around 50,000 jobs in the state; nearly 1,300 are in the agriculture sector.

Photo courtesy of the Oregon Hop Commission