USA: Idaho hop farmers reduce acreage this year

According to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Idaho hop farmers strung 5,109 acres of hops this year, down from 5,797 acres last year, AgInfo reported on June 25.

Oregon looks to re-pass Idaho this year as the No. 2 hop state, at least as far as total acreage goes. NASS estimates Oregon farmers strung 5,421 acres of hops in 2025, down 4 percent from 5,635 last year.

Idaho passed Oregon in 2018 to become the No. 2 state in total hop acres.

However, when it comes to total hop production, Idaho has been the No. 2 state for even longer because of higher average hop yields per acre.

Idaho hop acres typically average 100-400 pounds per acre more than Oregon hop acres.

For example, hop acres in Idaho averaged 2,273 pounds per acre in 2024 compared with 1,732 in Oregon, according to NASS.

However, there have been years when the two states were close in hop yields. In 2022, yields averaged 1,733 pounds per acre in Idaho and 1,729 in Oregon.

So, whether Idaho will hang onto the No. 2 spot in total hop production this year will come down to agronomic conditions and how yields fare in both states.

Washington is the unchallenged leader nationally in hop acres and production. NASS estimates Washington growers strung a total of 31,701 hop acres this year, down 5 percent from last year.

The vast majority of the nation’s hop production comes from Washington, Idaho and Oregon.

Beginning in 2011, Idaho hop acres began to soar year after year, going from 2,265 acres in 2011 to 9,694 acres in 2021.

Led by the craft beer craze, total hop acres in the Pacific Northwest rose from 29,787 acres in 2011 to 60,872 acres in 2021.

Now, as the craft beer craze slows, acres are going the other way. PNW hop acres totaled 44,793 in 2024, according to Hop Growers of America.

In Idaho, they are dropping even faster. They fell from a high of 9,694 acres in 2021 to 9,561 in 2022 to 8,645 in 2023 to 5,797 in 2024 and now 5,109 in 2025.

The acreage decline boils down to a simple supply and demand situation.

“In 2024, a striking long inventory of hops triggered widespread acreage reductions of 18 percent in the Pacific Northwest, eliminating over 9,500 acres from production,” according to a 2024 report by HGA.

Considering the expansion of PNW hops from 29,787 acres in 2011 to 60,872 in 2021, “In three short years, roughly half of this expansion has been removed,” according to the HGA report.

NASS forecasts total PNW acreage at 42,231 acres this year, down 6 percent from last year.

In addition to a reduction in acreage, according to HGA, “Growers have faced substantial increases in the cost of production, driven by expansion of harvesting and production capacity to handle a doubling of acreage over the past 10 years, updating equipment, increased labor costs … and inflation in the cost of production inputs.”

“Administrative and operating costs associated with food safety, best practices compliance and other customer requirements have also increased,” the HGA report added.

Industry leaders told Idaho Farm Bureau Federation last year that Idaho’s recent hop acreage reduction has been greater than the PNW as a whole from a percentage standpoint because the overall acreage decline is a result of less demand for certain varieties that were planted here in large numbers.

Hops are used as a bittering and flavoring agent in beer production. Idaho’s hop industry is centered in the southwestern part of the state, around Wilder.

In recent years, hops became one of Idaho’s top 10 crops in terms of total farm-gate receipts. However, the crop may be posed to drop out of the top 10 this year.

According to NASS, the total value of Idaho’s hop crop has declined from $101 million in 2022 to $91 million in 2023 to $69 million in 2024.

25 June, 2025