Hops grow best in loose, well-drained, fertile soils. The soil should not be prone to waterlogging and have good nutrient and water retention.

Growing hops are suited to flat or gently rolling whenua. This is to simplify the establishment and management of the crop. Erosion risk increases with slope - sloping whenua of less than 7 degrees is recommended.

Hops grow from rhizomes, and need a soil depth of at least 100 cm to grow well. Their shallow root system absorbs nutrients and water in the upper soil layers but deeper than 10cm is required for optimal plant health.

Hops are heavy users of soil nutrients, so soil fertility and regular application of fertiliser are essential.

For good hop growth and yields, various nutrients are required. This includes:

• Phosphorus - to stimulate root growth.
• Potassium - to contribute to healthy leaf development, bine growth & cone development.
• Nitrogen - carefully managed to achieve strong canopy growth.

Boron, magnesium, and zinc - in smaller quantities to produce premium cones.

It's important to test your soils before planting your crop. Many companies offer this service. This will help you understand the current fertility of your block and nutrient requirements. Optimal soil pH 5.5 to 6.5.

Soil safe Aotearoa

In Aotearoa, hops require a sheltered position protected from wind. They need full sun and a minimum of 120 frost-free days to mature the hop cones. Hops are a perennial plant that becomes dormant over winter. This period of winter cold is essential to prepare the plant for a strong and regulated period of spring and summer growth. The mean temperature during cone development needs to be greater than 20°C from 1 Feb to 15 March. The mean temperature for bud bursting needs to be greater than 3°C from 15 Aug to 15 Oct. Heat stress may be an issue and there should be no more than 3 days in a week with mean maximum temperatures greater than 35°C from 1 Mar to 20 Apr. Chill hours required are more than 700 hours (less than 7°C) from 1 May to 30 Aug.

Hops are a big user of water and nutrients. Annual rainfall needs to be more than 800mm.

The hop plant is deep-rooted but most of the feeder roots are located in the upper portion of the soil and need to be kept moist during critical growth periods. Too much rain can lead to rot and too little rain can affect the growth of plant shoots and hop cones.

At harvesting, dry weather is ideal.

If you're thinking about growing hops on your whenua, check the rainfall and rain intensity in your region. This is important while your hops are growing and before harvesting.

Visit NIWA for more information.

Hops are a perennial crop that becomes dormant over the winter, meaning you will get one crop every year over the productive lifetime of the plants.

When planning to plant hops, you will need to consider your geographic location, the types of hops suited to this location, and your end market. Different varieties of hops will provide unique taste profiles to the craft beer brewing industry due to the alpha-acid content of the hops. For this reason, it is important to seek advice on what types of hops suit your whenua and the brewing requirements of the industry.

There are several good practical guides about growing hops available online.

There are nine phases of hop growth which determine key seasonal management tasks:

1. sprouting,
2. leaf development
3. elongation of bines
4. formation of side shoots
5. flower emergence
6. flowering
7. development of cones
8. maturity of cones
9. start of dormancy

You will need machinery to prepare your whenua for planting hops and the associated construction of structural support for your hop plants.

When the hop plants are supplied from the nursery, they are delicate and require particular care to ensure successful transplant into the ground. Hops are planted by hand.

Read more about planting hops

Hops will grow for 3 - 4 seasons before they're fully established and ready to be harvested from. The two main methods used to determine the maturity of your crop are;

1. look, feel, and smell
2. dry matter percentage.

Harvesting is the busiest period in your hops garden.

Hops will be harvested by machine once they have reached maturity. There are two methods of harvesting;

1. In-field - where the cones are removed from the bines in the field, or
2. In-shed - where the entire bine is removed to the shed before the cones are picked from the bine.

This is dependent on what machinery is available to you.

After harvesting the hop cones from the bine, they're dried down to 8 - 10% moisture in a kiln room and then left to sit for a period. This helps redistribute the remaining moisture content to achieve consistency in your harvested crop. After drying out and conditioning, they're collected and compacted into bales.

After harvesting and packing your hops, the storage of your crop is very important. This ensures your crop can get to international and domestic markets in the best possible quality.

Hops will be stored in a cool store for up to 12 months. This allows processing and marketing to occur year-round.

Aotearoa is relatively free of pests and disease affecting hops, but you should consider using pest management methods as required, such as:

• counting the number and species of pests weekly
• monitoring crops to assess plant health
• making the environment attractive to insects that can eat pests
• targeted use of fungicides and pesticides.

Learn more about pest management.

New Zealand’s hop industry is based in Nelson and until recently was heavily regulated. Deregulation has provided opportunities for new entrants.

NZ Hops Limited

NZ Hops Limited is a cooperative of 27 growers and has partnered with New Zealand Plant and Food Research and the New Zealand Hop Research Committee to drive the hops industry in New Zealand. Hops currently grown include 18 unique New Zealand varieties, 3 specially selected northern varieties, and some conventional NZ hops grown as certified Organics.

In 2021 NZ Hops Ltd. produced 1,046 tonnes of hops, from 2.3 million plants across 763 hectares and covering 18 different varieties of hops.

Read more about NZ Hops Ltd.

Export market

In 2021 NZ Hops Ltd. was exporting to over 40 countries around the world with key markets being the USA, UK, Australia, and Asia, representing $40 million in sales. Some 80% of the hops produced by the NZ Hops cooperative are exported.

The New Zealand craft beer industry accounted for the remaining 20 percent of its total hops yield.

Read more about NZ Hops Ltd's success.

Hāpi Hop Research Centre

Hāpi Research is a collaborative, industry-led hop breeding and market development programme to drive the growth of craft beer and hop farming in New Zealand. They support the growth of thriving and sustainable New Zealand hop and craft beer industries through programmes and initiatives that support industry best practices, innovations, and sustainability best practices. Funding comes from a mixture of cash and in-kind contributions from industry, matched by a portion of New Zealand government-backed funding. Hāpi are always looking for growers to participate in their research trials.

Read more about Hāpi here

Scale

Hops can return a profit from a minimum of 40 hectares but 150 hectares is likely to be more commercially viable. Turning a profit from growing hops depends on several factors, like:

• your location - access to the market, or infrastructure (like a pelletising plant or supercritical CO₂ extractor), but also your wind and climate will be critical
• your production practices - modern machinery and equipment or smaller scale efficiencies
• your access to an experienced workforce
• the market demand and access to the market (there may be plant variety rights licencing conditions that restrict their use in your region)
• your operational efficiencies - larger hop gardens may benefit from economies of scale.

The hop industry is expensive to get into because it is capital-intensive and is dominated by a few key players including NZ Hops Ltd (biggest), Hop Revolution, and Freestyle Farms.

Branching out blueprint - Hops

Equipment and infrastructure

Hops are very vulnerable to weather conditions and need to be protected from winds and heavy rain. The big players in the industry are investing in covered cropping and this is very expensive. There are various tools and equipment needed for growing and harvesting hops. These include:

• equipment and supplies needed for orchard establishment and operation
• trellis
• artificial shelter
• a picking machine
• a drying facility (with kilns)
• pelletising company (there are 2 plants in Nelson)
• provider of supercritical CO₂ extraction (there is 1 near Nelson), and
• irrigation systems.

It's estimated that you'll need to grow at least 40 hectares of hops to offset the costs of investing in machinery and equipment. Contractors could be used to provide some of these services.

After harvesting your crop, you'll need to strip and clean the hops using a picking machine and dry them to remove water so they can be stored until they are needed. If you're located near a drying facility and can partner with them, they'll help you with this. The dried hops need to be stored in cool storage.

Read more about producing hops in New Zealand here

Jobs and people

Your people and labour requirements are seasonal, based on key milestones, like planting and harvesting. You'll need a mixture of unskilled labour, as well as specialists. The specialists will help you with:

• managing the crop cycle,
• pest management techniques,
• harvesting and,
• post-harvest management.

The peak demand for labour and specialists by hop growers is during planting and harvesting times. The Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme which brings labour from some Pacific Islands into New Zealand may need to be considered to meet your labour demands.

Case study - Nelson Hop Garden

Here is an example of a hop garden in Nelson, let's imagine it had 40 hectares of hops grown last year.

It yielded 70 tonnes of hops, bringing in a revenue of $2,500,000

It had $600,000 in expenses, and the farm made a profit of $1,900,000.

It took 1 year to first harvest, and 3 years to achieve full harvest potential (time to commercial yield).

Operational costs

The estimated operational costs to grow hops are around $15,000 per hectare per year. This depends on factors, like:

• scale of the operation
• level of mechanisation
• specific farming practices
• regional and locational factors
• market conditions.

Labour costs can be significant, especially when you're first setting up your farm. Some other examples of costs that you'll need to consider are:

• plants
• fertilisers
• pesticides and herbicides
• skilled and unskilled labour
• permits, licenses, or certifications

compliance with regulations and food safety standards.

Costs

There are some costs you will need to consider, and these will change with the amount produced. Here are some examples:

Yield (and time to profit)

It typically takes several years to establish a sustainable and profitable operation.

Maximising the number of good-quality hops grown will increase the profits you earn. Factors that can contribute to higher hop yields include:

• crop management
• variety selection (some will perform better than others in your soils and climate)
• planting density
• nutrient management
• weed control
• harvesting at the right time.

Here is a detailed business plan for a hop garden

Revenue

Returns from hop growing are influenced by a variety of factors, including:

• market conditions
• yield
• quality
• production costs
• pricing strategies
• events beyond your control, for example, weather conditions or market fluctuations.

Things we can do to create better returns include:

• efficient practices to maximise yield and production
• form a cooperative and share costs
• market demand and pricing
• quality and grading
• cost management
• storage and post-harvest handling
• value-added opportunities

To help you make informed decisions and maximise returns, it's important for you to:

• stay informed about market trends through research.
• maintain good relationships with buyers.
• regularly assess your orchard's production and financial performance through tracking costs.

The demand for hops from brewers is tightly linked to fluctuating demand for craft beer.

Operating profit

To estimate your operating profit, you'll need to look at the amount of money generated from selling your hops, minus your production costs. Some factors may affect your revenue and influence your orchard's operating profit. These include:

• orchard size or the size of your hop garden
• yield - the quantity of hops sold
• market conditions and fluctuations
• production costs and efficient horticultural practices
• pricing strategies
• weather conditions.

You will need to consider your production costs, which can include:

• labour
• nursery plant costs
• fertilisers
• irrigation
• pest and disease management
• machinery maintenance
• storage
• packaging
• marketing costs.

These costs can be affected by having efficient horticultural practices and effective cost management.

Each orchard will have factors specific to them and different market dynamics. Keeping accurate records of your production and financial records can help you see where improvements could be made and increase your operating profit.

Aotearoa exports hops to over 40 countries. The export market is dominated by the NZ Hops Ltd. cooperative. You need to discuss with the cooperative to understand whether there is an opportunity to contribute to export production.

NZ Hops Ltd. can provide information on what's needed to export hops, including:

• procedures
• documentation
• fees or licences
• packaging standards
• biosecurity requirements.

A first step for you to understand opportunities and challenges in the New Zealand hop industry would be to contact Hāpi.

Hapi.co.nz

You must comply with National Programme 1 requirements under the Food Act 2014. This includes:

• following safe food practices, like checking for pests and using clean water
• registering your business with either your local council or MPI
• getting your business verified.

Learn more about National Programme 1.

You will need a freshwater farm plan, either now or by 2025 if your whenua will have:

• 20 hectares or more of arable and/or pastoral use, or
• 5 hectares or more of horticultural use, or
• 20 hectares or more of combined uses.

These plans identify actions to manage and mitigate risks of on-farm activity to freshwater. They must be certified and audited, then recertified every 5 years.

Learn more about freshwater farm plans.

Some additional certifications and registrations may make your hops more appealing to buyers.

You can choose to get certified with NZGAP for a yearly fee. Some retailers and wholesalers only take crops from an NZGAP-certified supply channel.

Organic production may bring premium prices.