Are your hops already skyrocketing out of the ground? Ours are! While it might seem that there isn’t much to do until the hops are ready for training, it is important to be vigilant in fighting disease. This week we plan to spray Champ WG copper-based fungicide on our yard as a preventative measure against …
Continue reading “Downy mildew protection and early-season fertility”
Please note that the UVM Cereal Grain Testing Laboratory will be closed for the holidays beginning Monday, Dec 22, 2014 and reopening Monday, Jan 5, 2015. It would be best to hold on to your hop samples until after the 5th. Thanks. Best wishes for happy holidays! And, keep calm and hop on…
We tested ~ 30g of our early varieties on August 8th and harvested our first Saaz plot of the season on August 12th at the research hopyard in Alburgh, VT. Several of our early and mid-season varieties are ready to harvest. Please continue to practice meticulous hop processing so that our local brewers have excellent …
Take a deep breath; help is on the way! While scouting a hopyard in central Vermont, UVM Extension Entomologist Scott Lewins photographed these Japanese beetles last week with some deadly companions on their backs (Figure 1). The white dots on the thorax of the Japanese beetle in the picture are eggs of a parasitic fly brought …
We are excited to announce that Trevor Hardy from Brookdale Fruit Farm will be at our Annual Crops and Soil Field Day THIS THURSDAY, July 24th in Alburgh, VT. He owns an irrigation company in Hollis, NH and will be sharing his expertise on the important topics of irrigation and fertigation. Please join us!
Disease: Downy mildew is our biggest pest problem this year in Vermont. Due to the lasting rainy weather, we continue to see aerial and basal spikes appear. For disease control in the Alburgh, VT research hopyard, we spray an organic fungicide weekly. We also have a new crowning trial this season that you can check …
We began irrigating on the week of June 1st and will continue to irrigate until harvest at the end of August. Hops require a lot of water! We strongly recommend that you irrigate, and once you are done, irrigate some more. Chris Lattak of the Trickl-eez irrigation company recommends 16 gallons per plant per week. …
Yellow, stunted basal spike = downy mildew.
The UVM Mobile Hops Harvester visited six hop yards this year, harvesting approximately 400 dry pounds of hops over a 4 week period, plus harvesting the UVM research hop yard. This harvester, developed as a result of a Northeast Hops Alliance, UVM Extension, VT Agency of Ag Food and Markets, and MA Department of Agriculture …
Hops Quality Analysis is now available through the UVM Lab. At this time we have one test available for Brewing Values (BV’s). This test determines Alpha acids, Beta acids and Hops Storage Index (HSI) and cost $30 for each sample. We follow the ASBC Hops-6a methodology to ensure accuracy for all values. Click here for …
Continue reading “Hops Quality Analysis available now at UVM Lab!”