Washington hop growers are dramatically curtailing production amid a crushing glut and chilling demand for both craft and commercial beer. In the language of the hop industry, growers “strung” about 33,000 acres in 2024. That was a 15% drop from the year before, which was already reduced by 10%, according to figures released this month by the National Agricultural Statistics Service, the statistical arm of the U.
S. Department of Agriculture. A hop glut coupled with a dip in demand and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are behind the striking drop, said Maggie Elliot, science and communications director for the Hop Growers of Washington, a nonprofit industry association based in Yakima.
She said a record harvest in 2021 contributed to a massive oversupply. Hops are viable for up to five years. A bumper crop one year can influence supplies for years.
That said, growers are making long-term decisions as alcohol consumption trends shift away from both beer and wine, Elliot said. “Craft beer has plateaued,” she said. Some growers idled their hop fields while they wait for the supply to balance demand and for new contracts.
But others are removing the trellis structures that hop vines cling to. They’re replanting with Concord grapes and in some cases, row crops. Washington is the nation’s top hop grower, accounting for nearly 75% of the nation’s total hop crop.
Most hop farms are in the Yakima Valley, putting the Tri-Cities at the heart of the industry. H.