Charles Faram team inspect the new varieties on their hop breeding programme
After a whirlwind few weeks of visiting Herefordshire and Worcestershire hop yards before the September harvest, the Charles Faram sales team and potential new variety hop growers inspected the new plants being grown on the Charles Faram Breeding Programme.
Five information packed hours were spent walking the plots and the nursery, last Friday night, while getting updated by Peter Glendinning the breeding expert.
Peter demonstrated the new varieties and took the team to visit the rows of parent plants, while identifying each one by memory, including how long they had been in the ground for and which specific plants were parents to each new variety, identified only by a number.
Paul Corbett, Managing Director said that “We are especially looking for intense fruity, floral or citrus flavours whilst also trying to find wilt resistant Fuggle and Golding types. It is also important that they are strong and resistant to petalling once dried”.
The hop growers taking part in the programme are mostly concerned with the yield from the crop, pickability and resistance to diseases. Low yields, difficulty with the picking machines and disease can of course mean higher costs with time, resource and a bad harvest.
The Charles Faram Pre-hopwalk seminars on 8th September are focussing purely on hops this year, and include a “not to be missed” update on the breeding programme.
To see more photos from Friday, visit the Charles Faram facebook page or follow us on twitter @charlesfaram
