After completing the harvest, Hop Products Australia, a part of the privately-owned Barth-Haas Group of companies, issued its Crop Report 2024 today. In response to the current global oversupply of hops, the company has reduced its acreage by 21%, resulting in a 26% decrease in volume year-on-year.
The overall quality of the crop appears promising, with this year's average oil content either matching or surpassing the 5-year average for all proprietary hops. Among the standouts were the Galaxy and Enigma varieties, both boasting oils and alphas above the 5-year average.
Although the construction of the new Victorian pellet plant faced delays, preventing the processing of the new crop as initially planned, this setback was mitigated as the old plant was kept in a state of readiness for such contingencies.
