The hop harvest will be lower than last year in the Czech Republic

Hop

Czechia

Published Oct 14, 2020

Tridge summary

The hop harvest will be 15 to 20 percent lower than last year due to droughts in the areas with the largest crops in the Czech Republic. The quality is above average. Growers, who have had higher costs this year due to the coronavirus epidemic, expect sales to decline, said Michal Kovařík, Secretary of the Association of Hop Producers of the Czech Republic. The hops harvest is still adding up and the exact amount will be known in December. - said Kovařík.

Original content

Last year, the hop harvest in the Czech Republic increased by 39.4 percent year-on-year to 7,145 tons with an average yield of 1.43 tons per hectare. Harvest was above the five-year average. According to Kovařík, growers expected a good harvest in late July and early August. Then the cooler and warmer days, complemented by the cold nights, began to change many times, and with very below-average rainfall in July and early August, the hops were damaged as their growth almost stopped. Damage from hail and storms was added, and hop gardens fell to an area of approximately 60 hectares. According to Čestmír Hesse of the Louny Regional Agricultural Chamber in Žatec, which has the largest number of hop plantations in the entire Czech Republic, downtime for some growers varied from 20 to 35 percent last year. According to the breeders, the good news is the above-average quality of the hops. According to the purchase samples collected so far, alpha bitter substances are on average higher in ...

Source: SwiatRolnika