Oregon hop crop declines along with craft beer sales

Next week, many of Oregon’s hop farmers will begin harvest but less was planted this year because of declining craft beer sales.

“Beer is usually only four ingredients – water, malt, yeast and hops, which makes the quality of those ingredients all the more important,” said Sam Pecoraro, brewmaster at Von Ebert Brewing and Secretary of the Oregon Brewers Guild. “We’re lucky to be in the Northwest where nearly all of America’s hops are grown but with beer sales down across the country, that significantly impacts our local agricultural community as well as brewers.”

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture, hop acreage decreased nationally by -18% from 2023, and that’s true for Oregon hop growers, who are also down -18% compared to last year. Oregon is the third largest hop producing state going from more than 7,000 acres in 2022 to now just 5,500 acres, only behind Washington and Idaho.

“It’s been tough to say the least with the Oregon hop harvest down -12% last year and now -18% this year,” said fourth generation hop farmer Erica Lorentz of Sodbuster Farms. “Sometimes it’s simply a variety of hop going out of style, but now all hops are down because of declining beer sales.”

Oregon’s more than 300 breweries generate more than $8.7 billion in economic output, $2.8 billion in wages and help create 50,000 jobs in the state, of those nearly 1,300 are Oregon agriculture jobs. But craft beer sales are down -2.1% halfway through 2024 according to the U.S. Brewers Association.