Hop harvest in the Elbe-Saale region slightly below average

An initial interim assessment of this year's hop harvest in the Elbe-Saale hop-growing region indicates slightly below-average results. The harvest started at the end of August and beginning of September. According to estimates by Andreas Kunze, Managing Director of the Elbe-Saale Hop Association, it will continue for at least another week. The Elbe-Saale hop-growing region extends across Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. It is the second largest and northernmost hop-growing region in Germany.

"75 percent have been harvested so far. It won't be an excessive harvest," says Andreas Kunze. In his opinion, the quality of the hops is good - but the expected volume provides an indication of the difficulties in hop cultivation. This is because Thuringia is lagging behind the other two federal states in terms of yield: "Thuringia had significantly less rainfall in July than other federal states," says Kunze. There were also enormous temperature fluctuations during the month. In some cases, temperatures dropped below ten degrees at night - too cold for the hops. "We probably won't quite make the harvest estimate for the whole region," Kunze concludes.

Reiner Joachim, Chairman of the German Hop Growers' Association, shares a similar assessment. With regard to his own farm in Mügeln (district of North Saxony), he states: "At the moment, we are quite satisfied with the ingredients, but the quantity will be significantly less than estimated in 2024." In addition to the cool nights, he also cites heat and UV rays as sources of stress for the hops. The harvest has not yet been completed on his farm either. A precise evaluation is still pending.