After more than a month of cutting, picking, drying, pressing, pelletising and packaging, the numbers are in. HPA harvested 631 hectares across our three farms in 2020, which resulted in a production volume of 1,554 metric tonnes. This was a 42 hectare (7.1%), 81 metric tonne (5.5%) increase year-on-year across six proprietary varieties – Ella™, Enigma™, Galaxy™, HPA-016, Topaz™ and Vic Secret™ – as well as Cascade and Super Pride. Harvest commenced at the start of March and was completed by early April.
The 5.5% increase in overall production volume will allow us to meet all contractual obligations. Yield was a bit of a mixed bag this year. There were some individual performances that exceeded expectations, including notable increases in Galaxy™ and Topaz™ as well as a bumper crop of HPA-016 in its first year of commercialisation. We’re particularly looking forward to placing this in the hands of as many brewers as possible in the coming years. The rest of the varieties were down, but stayed within the normal range of variation. This was due to the conditions during the growing season rather than reductions in acreage.
Despite an increase in hectares planted and production volume, the highly contracted position of our 2020 crop means that a limited amount of hops will be available in the short-term. We are continuing to move forward with our Buffalo River Valley expansion to improve supply surety and increase varietal diversity.
