TASMANIA’S hop harvest is coming up quickly, and from early reports it’s good news for the country’s beer lovers.
Owen Johnston, Head of Sales and Marketing at Hops Products Australia, said like so many crops in the state, the kind weather of the past few months have been a boon on their vines in Bushy Park.
“Like a lot of places, the wetter, cooler spring seemed to work well on the farms,” Mr Johnston said.
“We’ve been able to achieve some really even growth across the crop, though that’s come with some weed pressure – they like the wet, cool springs just as much as the hops.
“We were able to execute our on-farm calendar of events, our fertilising and stringing was all finished on time, which has set us up well for our crop to be harvested in March.”
As for labour, HPA are keeping their eyes open to fill their workforce and are hoping Derwent Valley locals will answer their call in the coming weeks.
“Of all the pandemic years, this looks like the toughest. “
“We’re 20 per cent shorter on our labour supplies, so there are plenty of opportunities for workers, it’s beautiful part of the country to be sitting on a tractor. We have a true backpacker workforce, but we do have a preference for locals.
“You can just rock up at our farm office, knock on the door and ask for a job this harvest.”
“We’ve managed to get through with our labour shortages unscathed, and while it’s a little too early to make any yield predictions and we’re not expecting a bumper crop, it’ll be a good season.”
The hop harvest is set to begin in the coming weeks, and Hop Products Australia have invited anyone keen on working through the harvest to contact them as soon as possible.