Hops Tours Offered First Fridays in Spring, Early Summer

PIKETON, Ohio – Learn about hops and how to grow the increasingly popular crop during the First Fridays Hops Tours at the Ohio State University South Centers in Piketon.

The tours, which are offered on the first Friday of the months of May, June and July, will allow participants to learn more about the Ohio hops research being conducted by the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University.

The tours are part of the Hop Production to Enhance Economic Opportunities for Farmers and Brewers project. They include a classroom session on hops led by researchers with Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, and a tour of the hop fields at the Piketon facility, said Charissa Gardner, program assistant with South Centers.

OSU Extension and OARDC are the outreach and research arms, respectively, of the college. The South Centers are also a part of the college.

In addition to basic information on the ins and outs of hops production, topics addressed at the First Fridays sessions will include:

• Hop yard construction.
• Establishment costs.
• Bine training.
• Irrigation.
• Variety selection.
• Fertilization.

The sessions are from 10 a.m. to noon on May 6, June 3 and July 1, she said.

The tours are hosted by Brad Bergefurd, an OSU Extension educator, and assisted by Thom Harker, a horticulture research assistant with the South Centers.

Interested parties must register by the Wednesday before the tour by contacting Gardner at 740-289-2071, ext. 132, or mcglothin.4@osu.edu. Registration is $15 per family or farm.