The prognoses for this year are good: throughout Germany, the Association of Hop Growers expects a harvest of 47,845 tons of hops.
According
to the experts,
the
hop harvest
forecast
is good!
Although the conditions were not always favorable.
The wilt, for example, was technically not able to cause much damage with so much moisture.
On the other hand, the weather favors fungal diseases, against which the hop growers literally have to fight over and over again.
That, in turn, was difficult again because the floors could often hardly be driven on.
The association expects
47,845 tons across
Germany
. "This is a good harvest, it gives us pleasure," said Schapfl. That is a total of around two percent more than in the previous year, and this despite two opposing things: Firstly, the flood disaster destroyed half of the harvest in the Bitburg area and, secondly, the structural change in agriculture has left its mark on the hop farms. There are 860 businesses, 20 fewer than in the previous year in the
Hallertau
. Schapfl and Managing Director Erich Lehmair gave these figures when asked by the editorial team. In fact, there is also a tendency towards concentration among the hop growers.
The area under cultivation has decreased less. As far as quality is concerned - and the so-called alpha values are the most important here - the association is cautiously optimistic. "The first indications give hope for good values", it says carefully in a message from the association that was still warm at the press conference from the copier. A new hop disease, which was detected for the first time in 2019, is still well under control. The Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture (LfL) supports them massively with a so-called monitoring program. It is a virus that comes from citrus fruits and therefore has its name: "Citrus Bark Cracking Viroid". Schapfl: "We respect the viroid, but it won't destroy our plantings."
Two farms were added with a low infestation rate. The observations continue. The hops queen Theresa Hagl couldn't be there. But she had already told the editors months ago that around 90 percent of the hop harvest was so-called "contract hops" and was basically already sold before the harvest, which gives the growers planning security. The market is surprisingly stable: The gentlemen on the podium - the deputy managing director Gabriel Krieglmeier was also there - expressly confirmed the findings of their Royal Highness, and this also for the future: some of the dealers would even offer ten-year contracts again, and with prices roughly at the previous year's level. The background to this is a certain tendency towards recovery in beer consumption.With a wink, Schapfl spoke of a certain amount of catching up to do after the pandemic, an increase of two percent
