2024…Here We Go!

We’ve been waiting all Winter to dive back into the hop hills, and if Punxsutawney Phil is correct, shouldn’t be much longer now. A recent walk of the fields, checking for the emergence of shoots, although turning up negative, did once again inspire your hop Farmer to dive back in as soon as conditions allowed.

So why the reference in our featured image to the classic Disney animated film, “UP!”? Well, it’s a reference – honestly admitted to by this Farmer – that my focus and interest can and does get pulled in a hundred different directions. In particular, as we’ve been planning and making ready for the upcoming season, we have a couple of “irons in the fire” we’d like to share.

When we applied to compete and were selected to do so in the 2023 PA Wilds Big Idea Contest, the obvious hope would’ve been we’d walk away with some funds to tackle the multitude of projects here that we just haven’t been able to afford, but very much need; a new or modified hops harvester, larger drying capacity for the hops, pelletization and packing, replanting of our larger hopyard, compost windrow turner, etc. And although we didn’t walk away with any prize monies, we made some incredible connections that have been paying off in different ways ever since.

Our biggest connection has been to the incredible team at the Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program (PennTAP) at Penn State, which is “a statewide technical assistance organization charged with supporting Pennsylvania businesses and anchor institutions — including manufacturers, municipalities, educational institutions, entrepreneurs, farmers, and economic development agencies.” In particular, we’d like to call out and thank Heidi Shadeck and Krista Schneider for putting us in touch with two teams at Penn State who are working on two separate projects. One is the re-engineering of our hops harvester to improve the speed and efficiency of the machine, and the second on the creation of a much larger and higher capacity oast (hops dryer) as part of Penn State College of Engineering’s Learning Factory.

Not only were they able to coordinate and assist our applications to the programs, but they were also able to use related grant funding to pay for the vast majority of the work being done; CAD design, materials, construction costs, etc. We can’t thank Heidi, Krista, and the entire PennTAP team enough. More on these projects coming soon!

In addition to our work with hops, we’ve also been looking into hemp, biochar, small grains such as malting barley and Kernza®. As part of our ongoing efforts to keep up and implement (when we can) the latest in sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices, we’ve been on the lookout for No-Till equipment. Our goal is to build the health and vitality of our soil first, which will then translate into healthy crops which are less dependent on off-Farm inputs, more resilient to pest and weed pressure, and with greater yields as a result.

After many years of searching for No-Till equipment to rent or lease – a difficult endeavor as it’s not a practice that has seen much interest in our region up in the PA Wilds – knocking on enough doors paid off! In a recent email with the good folks at the Elk County Conservation District, we got the great news that funding was put towards the purchase of a No-Till seed drill and it would be made available to Farms in Elk County in 2024. Score another for us, and collectively, for all Farms in the county!

Members of the Elk County Farm Bureau, Ernie Mattuiz and Rodger Auman, are shown with Elk County Conservation District board members Way McMinn and Joe Labant, along with District Manager Kate Wehler and Resource Conservation Technician Alyson Bevacqua (photo submitted)

Earlier this month, we also attended the annual Pasa Sustainable Agriculture Conference in Lancaster, PA as your friendly local hop Farmer began a part-time position with the heralded organization in February 2023 as a Research Data Technology Specialist. Hard to think of a better way to match the efforts at our Farm, with the larger sustainable Ag community than working directly for it.

It was at this conference we met up with another great group of Penn State folks involved in a new Solar in Agriculture research study. This began with a survey we participated in during the Summer of 2023. Given our recent foray, albeit somewhat small, into solar with our pump, storage tank, and drip irrigation system, we were glad to be part of the wave of Farms exploring this technology. We were honored to then have the team visit the Farm last week to see our application of the technology firsthand and discuss our plans for it down the road.

So by now, you might better understand the reference to Dug’s “squirrel” reference. Head on a swivel nowadays, from one project to the next!