Unique Hops Operation Right in Clark County
Tuesday, October 9th, 2018 -- 1:27 PM
-Sometimes to find unique operations, you don’t need to travel far in Clark County.For example, just north of Neillsville, right off Highway 73, you’ll find Sunnybrook Hops, started by Jeff and Maxine Kluckhohn. Jeff and Maxine told me how they got into growing hops.
Jeff: “Years back, 20 some years ago, we used to farm. Then we got into the fence business. And then, we rented the land out and we’ve got these small parcels that nobody will farm anymore because they’re too small. And we started looking at what option we could do to use this land and try and make a profit or something off it. And we both stumbled on to the hops. I looked more at the hops itself for the brewery and she was looking for the vines for decorating and that type of stuff.”
The Kluckhohn’s did an extensive amount of research into the different hops plants.
Jeff: “We did some research. Mostly online research to start with. And then we found a grower to get our plants from. And through him, we got hooked up with the Minnesota Hops Growers Association. And they were very helpful. Especially for new growers and even growers that have been in it for a long time if they run into problems. So, they work back and forth. Especially now. There’s emails going back and forth all the time regarding problems or if they’ve seen something. Things that farmers run into.”
Maxine: “A lot of seminars. They were great!”
Jeff: “Seminars. They have seminars for new growers.”
Maxine: “Before you even get started.”
Jeff: “Before you even get started, we recommend that you come in and go through a one day seminar. You can pick those people out that are not going to grow, usually within half an hour, because they’re looking around going, ‘uh oh, what have I gotten myself into.’ It sounds like there’s a lot of money in it. But they don’t realize how much money you have to stick into it to start. You can stick $20,000 an acre to be up in running if you buy everything. So, people start looking at the numbers and they realize it’s going to take some time before they start making a profit.”
Maxine: “For us, we cut the poles down out of our woods.”
Jeff: “Cables. I got that from some ginseng farmers who were transitioning out, so I could get their cable for a reasonable price. Pretty much everything is either off our land, used or we made.”
Maxine: “Yeah, we made.”
The Kluckhon’s talked about how long they’ve been growing the hops and some of the unique challenges that can occur in growing the plant.
Jeff: “Two years growing. We’re actually in the third year. First year, you, basically, got to prep the land and get your poles and the type of stuff in. In 2017, which was our first growing year, it was very wet. So, we had fungus problems. Some varieties are more susceptible to fungus than others. That was the main thing. One of the other issues with hops is the height. You have to have special equipment to harvest or just put up the cables. It’s a specialty crop, so you have to have specialty equipment. And it’s nothing that you have to buy. You can build it all yourself. It’s just trying to figure out how do I do it right the first time.”
Maxine: “And because of their height, when you’re trying to mix fertilizer or insecticide or fungicide, you have to know that you’re not spraying horizontal, you’re spraying vertical. So, even though you may only have a quarter to half an acre, it translates differently, because the crop is tall”
Jeff: “Depending on your spray, you literally have to calculate up and down. Some chemical companies don’t, so you use the acreage that you're spraying. So, you have to figure this all out. We don’t use much for sprays. We try not too.”
Maxine: “So far, no insecticides. They have a lot of good bugs that we want to keep. So, we haven’t sprayed insecticides.”
Jeff: “That’s a last ditch effort to save the crop for us.”
Maxine: “Fertilizer is on a schedule. Fungicides.”
Jeff: “We put a small amount on periodically. I hate to dump it all on and then get a big rain and have it leech away. It’s easier to put on a little bit at a time.”
Maxine: “In increments. And then you’re on a schedule.”
Jeff: “Two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, whatever you decide. You can just go up and down the row. Kinda like how you fertilize a lawn. You don’t want to put it all on for the whole year. You might want to do a little bit now, a little bit in the summer, a little bit in the fall.”
Jeff and Maxine explained what they’re actually trying to harvest once the plant is grown and what they have to do to get it there.
“When we’re ready to harvest, like the 2nd year, we actually cut everything down and we take it up to our shed with the picker. All we want is the flower. Basically, a hop is a flower. Like all flowers, what you smell is the smell of the oil. And literally, all we want is that oil. That’s what flavors your beers.”
Jeff and Maxine ended our interview by talking about what hops can be used before, beside the obvious, and it’s not easy to do.
Jeff: “There’s been some, I guess, in the organic/natural realm of the community, working on using some variety of the hops more for a sleep aid. Back, I can’t remember exactly when it was, I think it was in the 40’s and 50’s, when it was pretty much all handpicked, they started to notice that the workers that were picking, about mid afternoon, they’d all want to take a break and take a nap. And they were the same workers that were stringing and planting, but they only did it when they were harvesting. They started to look through it and there are oils in there, and they’re an essential oil, and some essential oils help you sleep. There’s been a little bit of research, but it’s not really mainstream. It’s something that we may play around with with a few people here and there to see if it works.”
Maxine: “It’s a lot of work!”
Jeff: “It’s a lot of work. It’s not something you’re going to jump into overnight and be a billionaire at it. Like any farming venture, it’s a lot of work and it takes a lot of time.”
If you’d like to learn more about the Kluckhohn’s operation, you can check out Sunnybrook Hops on Facebook.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.