Hops Harvest Ongoing in Ontario

Sep 12, 2014

Everything Old is New Again – Growing Hops is catching the attention of Several Producers in Ontario

You may have noticed something different in a few fields in Ontario. Since mid-August, hop harvest has begun in Ontario, and depending on location and weather conditions, will likely be underway for another few weeks. Melanie Doerksen, President of the Ontario Hop Growers’ Association (OHGA) and co-owner of the “Carolinian Hop Yard”, says hop farmers are accustomed to people stopping their cars to look at the hops growing in the field. “Most people who stop have never seen hops growing in Ontario before.”

It hasn’t been a great growing season, with the wet spring and start to the summer. Many hop producers saw their fields impacted by downy mildew and similar problems, then later the “the pests came” says Doerksen, who has been grown hops for the past 4 growing seasons with her husband on their farm in Norfolk County. “Unfortunately, yields will be lower than in previous years,” Doersken continues, “The good news is, the crops that thrived are looking good in terms of quality.”

Hop producers had virtually disappeared in Ontario; up until the early 1900s hops were a crop that you would have seen in many parts of the province. But, for a variety of reasons, such as fewer independent brewers, hops virtually disappeared as a crop in Ontario. When asked what is causing the return of hops as a viable crop in Ontario, Doerken responds that the growth in craft brewers and the push towards local food/drink has encouraged producers to grow hops.

There are currently only about 30 acres of hops grown in Ontario; several different varieties are grown. The challenge for hop producers is that there is no infrastructure to help harvest and process the crop, so getting into the hop growing business is expensive. But Doerken and the OHGA are eager to see the return of hops as a commercially grown crop in Ontario.

Think your farm is up to the hop growing challenge? Doerken recommends asking yourself two key questions before you plant your hops:

“Have you spoken to a brewer for a contract?” she highly recommends having a contract with an established brewer before you get started.
“How do you plan on processing, picking, drying, bailing, and pelletizing your hops?” Doerken says it OK if you do not currently own all of the necessary equipment, but you need to have access to, or make arrangements to access the right equipment and processing facilities.

Resource: Ontario Hop Growers Association

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.