Did you end up harvesting this year, and if so how was your yield & did you do it by hand? My husband & I own 20 acres in Victor, ID and are seriously considering dropping into organic hops up to 17 acres. We don't have the funds for a Wolf picker at this point so were thinking of starting with just a few acres, sourcing out pelletizing, etc., but after some research we're wondering if that's too much to hand pick? (we'd hire staff too but ...?). Thanks so much for sharing your experiences!
Yes, that's WAY too much to handpick.
For handpicking, figure 30 to 60 minutes per bine at 2nd year or after. This assumes you are being somewhat selective and only picking the top 1/3 to 1/2, which is where the bulk of your mature cones will be. If you really want to get the whole bine, double that time but you'll only bring in 10% to 25% more.
Assuming you have an acre of all one variety, you have about 1 week to get them in while maintaining them in near-peak condition. Usually an acre has 1000 to 1200 bines and you are talking at least 750 labor hours to pick it all by hand. A crew of 10 people could pick that in a 7 day week by working 12 hour days...add in clean up time, bringing the bines in from the field, disposing of old bines, etc.
There is a learning curve so people will get faster after a day or two, but they will also experience hop haze and slow down considerably as they get sleepy.
We also found that the typical migrant farm worker is no better than a homebrew club member. Bailing hay and combining corn is no preparation for picking hops. The best harvesters we had were people with experience picking organic grapes. Similar size, shape and picking style.
Take that times 17 acres, and you are managing a crew of hundred or more. That's why the Wisconsin hop farmers of the late 1800's would advertise as far as Galveston, TX for hop pickers. Around 30,000 would show up.
If you are looking to rent/buy a Wolf, talk to Glen Fuller. He's on this forum as "Hopfarmer". I can get you contact information if you like. He has lots of contacts and may have a unit sitting around. I will warn you that used Wolf harvestors are starting to become scarce.
We built a picker/sorter combo that we sell, too. But its really only sized to take care of 1 to 3 acres. It could maybe stretch to 5 but if you were looking at 17 acres, even with the decreased production of organic, I would look into a Wolf. Probably even a new one would be your best bet. That's what Hop Head Farms in MI is doing for their 20 acre farm.
. Back to your project, I've tried to find some resources on the organic malted barley trade but haven't had much luck, can you point me in a direction? What kind of return are you expecting per acre? And are you sourcing out the malting process this year till your drying floor is done or expecting to keep it in house? Thanks!
