I’m sure this has been discussed, but can hops grow and do well in North Texas?
My friend has 100 acres, and wants to get into growing hops.
I’m sure this has been discussed, but can hops grow and do well in North Texas?
My friend has 100 acres, and wants to get into growing hops.
He might want to talk to the State AG extension first.
Hops can grow there, I think, but will they produce enough to be economically viable. Daylight length, water (Irrigate?), pests, soil, and so on are factors.
Find out if it has been tried in TX or neighboring states.
The rule of thumb is that the closer you are to the 45th parallel the better the hops will do. I dont think hops will be commercially viable in TX, but check with a local ag person.
Look into Neomexicanus hops. They are native American and do well in a similar latitude.
“Well” or “they’ll grow”?
This is a good read.
I visited a hop farm outside Knoxville a year and a half ago, they were fairly new at the game and I don’t think they were all that successful yet. How much of that was climate and how much was learning the ropes I can’t say. K-ville is 35* N. which is still within the 30*-50* zone where hops generally can be grown commercially. Very different local climate than any parts of northern Texas that I know of.
I few years back I was at an AHA rally in Asheville NC. Talked to some hop growers. Said Michigan has about half the yield of Yakima. They said they were half of that. What kept them viable was selling all of the harvest as wet hops to local brewerirs.
I was there summer of 2018, the local hop farm had yet to plant in early July [???] but Elkmont Exchange had a batch of fresh hops, I still wonder where the heck they got them at that time of year.