Press Releases
Congresswoman Pingree helps lead bipartisan effort to support hops researchWith Maine's agricultural resources and growing brewing industry, hops has exciting potential
Washington, DC,
December 19, 2016
The Members wrote in the letter: “Overall, the brewing industry generated more than $250 billion in economic activity in 2014, directly and indirectly employing over 1.75 million Americans. This activity is only sustained through a healthy, stable hop market. Hop growers face a variety of challenges, including mites, mildews, blights, and other pests that harm production….The development of new hop varieties that are pest-resistant and climate-tolerant would help growers increase yields while reducing pesticide use. Additionally, while commercial hop production now exists in 29 states, developing new climate-tolerant varieties could help further expand commercial production, putting growers closer to their customers and reducing the threat that a disaster in the Pacific Northwest would affect U.S. and global supplies.” "Maine brewers are buying up every ounce of locally grown hops, yet less than 1 percent of hops used by Maine brewers are supplied by local growers. The barrier to growth in the hop farming industry is not a lack of market demand. The barrier to growth is at the ground level; it is the ongoing challenges presented by pests and diseases that are slowing the growth of the hop farming sector while driving up costs for Maine's brewers and beer consumers," said Sean Sullivan, Executive Director of the Maine Brewers' Guild. "Maine brewers applaud Congresswoman Pingree and her colleagues for their efforts to increase funding for hops research. We are confident that Maine's hop growers, brewers, and institutions that perform hops research, like UMaine Cooperative Extension, would directly benefit." BackgroundCurrently, USDA’s Agriculture Research Service (ARS) has committed 1.7 full time employee (FTE) scientists to conduct research into hops – one scientist who researches hops pathology, and another who commits 70 percent of efforts to hops genetics research. Despite the growth of the U.S. brewing industry over the past decade to generate more than $250 billion in economic activity, and indirectly support more than 1.75 million jobs, ARS research still only offers a 1.7 FTEs in hop research. Additionally, it has been reported that many brewers are having trouble procuring the types of hops that they need for brewing because the slowly-increasing supplies cannot keep up with the rapidly-growing demand. Signers of the letter include Reps. Newhouse, DeFazio, Paulsen, Pingree, Bilirakis, Bishop (GA), Blumenauer, Bonamici, Bost, Boustany, Butterfield, Cárdenas, Carter (GA), Chabot, Cicilline, Comstock, Conyers, Costello, Cramer, DelBene, DesJarlais, Duffy, Emmer, Farenthold, Farr, Fudge, Gallego, Garamendi, Hanna, Heck (WA), Herrera Beutler, Higgins, Hudson, Huizenga, Huffman, Hurd, Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX), Jones, Kaptur, Kelly (PA), Kilmer, Kind, King (NY), Kuster, Lamborn, Larsen, Lieu, Lipinski, LoBiondo, Loebsack, Lofgren, Lowenthal, Lucas, Luetkemeyer, Lujan Grisham, Lynch, Marino, McCaul, McCollum, McGovern, McHenry, McMorris Rodgers, Meadows, Meehan, Moore, Moulton, Neal, Nolan, Norton, Pascrell, Payne, Pearce, Plaskett, Pocan, Polis, Reichert, Renacci, Rooney, Rouzer, Rush, Sensenbrenner, Schrader, David Scott (GA), Simpson, Sinema, Smith (NE), Speier, Stefanik, Thompson (MS), Thompson (PA), Tipton, Titus, Tonko, Tsongas, Vargas, Wagner, Walberg, Watson Coleman, Welch, Yarmuth, Yoder, Young (AK), Zeldin, Zinke. Full letter textDecember 1, 2016 The Honorable Tom Vilsack Dr. Cathie Woteki Dear Secretary Vilsack and Under Secretary Woteki: We write to request your support for an industry that has been a model of U.S. economic growth over the past decade. The brewing industry sustains millions of jobs in the U.S., and especially through the emerging popularity of craft brewing, has boosted domestic sales and exports, and supports a growing supply chain of U.S. farmers, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. U.S. hop cultivation is central to this industry, and we request USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) increase its commitment to hop-related research to reflect the growing cultural and economic importance of this crop for FY 2017. Overall, the brewing industry generated more than $250 billion in economic activity in 2014, directly and indirectly employing over 1.75 million Americans. This activity is only sustained through a healthy, stable hop market. Hop growers face a variety of challenges, including mites, mildews, blights, and other pests that harm production. It is estimated that 15 percent of hop yields are lost to pests annually. The increased threat of drought and extreme heat in the Pacific Northwest, where the majority of U.S. commercially-produced hops are grown, is also a persistent threat to crops. The development of new hop varieties that are pest-resistant and climate-tolerant would help growers increase yields while reducing pesticide use. Additionally, while commercial hop production now exists in 29 states, developing new climate-tolerant varieties could help further expand commercial production, putting growers closer to their customers and reducing the threat that a disaster in the Pacific Northwest would affect U.S. and global supplies. USDA’s previous hop research has resulted in the development of varieties that are now universal to the industry. The two largest varieties of U.S.-produced hops, Cascade and Centennial, are products of public hop breeding programs. As consumers continue to demand beers with new aroma and flavor traits, research into developing these characteristics could result in significant benefit to growers, brewers, and the customers they serve. Given these great advantages that would come with additional research, we request that USDA-ARS increase the commitment to hops genetics/molecular biology from 0.7 full time employees (FTE) to 1.0 FTE, while continuing to fund the existing 1.0 FTE pathology research program for FY 2017. This critical boost in research would result in breakthroughs in hop cultivation that will help sustain the significant growth of this important industry. |
