The expansion of the microbrewery industry in Tennessee is stimulating an interest for locally produced hops and other crops used in brewing and distilling.

To help producers understand the potential for hops as a crop in Tennessee, experts from the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture will present informational workshops on the production and marketing of hops across the state.

A workshop will be held in Murfreesboro on Tuesday, January 29, 2019 at the Rutherford County Extension Office on John R. Rice Blvd. The workshop will feature hops production information from Extension Specialists David Lockwood and Eric Walker from the Department of Plant Sciences. David Hughes and Aaron Smith from the Department of Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics will cover economic and marketing trends for the crop.

In August 2018, more than 77 experts from UTIA and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture gathered to learn more about the hops industry and its potential value to Tennessee producers. These regional hops workshops spurred from the interest formed during that meeting. The regional workshops are also part of the project funded by the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, which is administered by TDA and USDA. This project is intended to strengthen the competitiveness of Tennessee hops production.

The workshop details:

Tuesday, January 29
Rutherford County Extension Office
315 John R. Rice Blvd, Murfreesboro, TN 37129
9 to 11:30 a.m.
Contact: Rachel Painter, 615-896-7710, reather1@utk.edu