Bavaria's Green Gold
July 30, 2007
Giant green vines, rising up to seven meters (23 feet), dominate the Hallertau during summer. The hilly region between Munich and the town of Ingolstadt to the northwest is famous for an agricultural product that's been grown here since the eighth century and is known as Bavaria's "green gold": hops.
Some 14,220 hectares (35,120 acres) of hops are grown there and harvested in mid-August. In Germany, the total hops-growing area amounts to 19,000 hectares and makes up a third of global production, according to Bernhard Engelhard, who heads the hops research center in Hüll near the town of Wolnzach.
Another third is produced in the northwestern US, with the rest coming from other parts of the globe that lie between the 35th and 55th latitude in the northern and southern hemispheres, as the long days during summer support the plant's blooming process.
Fighting pesticides with text messages
In order to prevent an excessive use of pesticides, Hallertau hops farmers have developed a warning system: seven testing stations throughout the region suck in the air throughout the day and it is checked for spores each morning. When a critical level is reached, a fax or mobile phone text message is sent to all farmers advising them to treat their crop against the spores in question.
While hops research has helped to drastically cut the amount of labor needed to look after the plants, the business remains work-intensive. New farmers also need to be patient as the plants cannot be harvested during the first year after they've been planted. Once they've gotten over the initial phase, the plants can produce for decades.
"There are examples of plants that have stayed productive for 70 years," Engelhard said.
Dropping prices
Hops production is still in the hands of small farmers, who cultivate about 11 hectares and pre-sell their crop to breweries. Due to low prices, production has been going down over the last couple of years. But a bad harvest in 2006 and China's entry into the market as a buyer has tripled prices.
"Now hops farmers can cover their costs again," Engelhard said, adding that it makes no sense for breweries to blame rising beer prices on rising hops prices as the crop costs less than the label or the cap per bottle.
More than just a beer ingredient
While beer demand in Asia, South America and eastern Europe is growing, bitter beers with a high hops content are not wanted there.
"We cannot have a lot of success with out typical German Pilsner there," said Fritz Ludwig Schmuckner of Hüll's Society for Hops Research.
That's also one of the reasons why hops farmer are no longer just looking at breweries as potential customers. Researchers are developing new crops that can be used in the pharmaceutical and food industries.
"There's great potential there," Schmuckner said, adding that the changing climate has also led to research into crops that can resist heat and drought.