The Importance Of Testing Hop Fertility

Jul 06, 2016

By Rob Sirrine

Petiole testing can help growers dial in plant nutrient needs.

While it is advisable to soil sample each year to determine soil nutrient levels, there is no guarantee that the nutrients present are available for uptake by the hop plant (See Figure 1).

Figure 1. A comparison of petiole vs. soil nitrate levels for hops. Source: Sara Del Moro, 2014 Great Lakes Hop & Barley Conference.

Figure 1. A comparison of petiole vs. soil nitrate levels for hops. Source: Sara Del Moro, 2014 Great Lakes Hop & Barley Conference.

In addition to annual soil tests, tissue testing is a recommended method for determining plant nutrient needs and to help detect potential deficiencies. Hop petioles from mature leaves (5-6 ft. off the ground) should be collected just prior to the plant reaching the wire (likely early July in Northwest Michigan). Petioles should be sent to a tissue-testing laboratory such as the Michigan State University Soil and Plant Nutrient Lab, for nutrient analysis. N,P,K and Magnesium, Calcium, Sodium, Sulfur, Zinc, Copper, Boron, Iron, and Manganese should be measured. If results show deficiencies, foliar nutrients may be applied at that time or granularly applied throughout the year. Figure 2 represents an example of hop petiole complete tissue analysis with low-optimum-high nutrient level ranges. To convert from ppm to lbs/acre multiply ppm x 2 and vice versa (ppm x .5 = lbs/ac).

Figure 2. Hope petiole test result examples for macro and micronutrients. Source: Sara Del Moro, 2014 Great Lakes Hop & Barley Conference

Please continue to visit Michigan State University Extension’s hop webpage or the MSU Hops News Facebook site for up to date information. The 9th Annual MSU Hop tour and Field Day registration is now live! Please register as soon as possible-there are limited spaces available.

Source:msu.edu

Video: Seeing the Whole Season: How Continuous Crop Modeling Is Changing Breeding

Plant breeding has long been shaped by snapshots. A walk through a plot. A single set of notes. A yield check at the end of the season. But crops do not grow in moments. They change every day.

In this conversation, Gary Nijak of AerialPLOT explains how continuous crop modeling is changing the way breeders see, measure, and select plants by capturing growth, stress, and recovery across the entire season, not just at isolated points in time.

Nijak breaks down why point-in-time observations can miss critical performance signals, how repeated, season-long data collection removes the human bottleneck in breeding, and what becomes possible when every plot is treated as a living data set. He also explores how continuous modeling allows breeding programs to move beyond vague descriptors and toward measurable, repeatable insights that connect directly to on-farm outcomes.

This conversation explores:

• What continuous crop modeling is and how it works

• Why traditional field observations fall short over a full growing season

• How scale and repeated measurement change breeding decisions

• What “digital twins” of plots mean for selection and performance

• Why data, not hardware, is driving the next shift in breeding innovation As data-driven breeding moves from research into real-world programs, this discussion offers a clear look at how seeing the whole season is reshaping value for breeders, seed companies, and farmers, and why this may be only the beginning.