US: Could hops be Florida's next big crop?

University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers are in the second year of a $158,000 grant from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumers Services to develop a viable hops crop that could work in the Sunshine State — and local craft beer brewers are taking notice.

Right now at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Wimauma, the researchers are gearing up for a next planting. Tiny seedlings grow under lights in a stark white laboratory. In another space, on a long shelf near a window, slightly larger plants have been potted in soil, zip-top baggies popped over their shaggy green heads to preserve moisture. And out in the hops field, the post-and-trellising and irrigation systems await this season's assay.

Zhanao Deng, a principal investigator and professor of environmental horticulture who works at the Wimauma facility, said the idea to grow Florida hops wasn't theirs.

Simon Bollin, who is the agribusiness development manager for the Hillsborough County Economic Development, came to the center and said, :There are so many microbrewers in Florida now, what if you could develop hops that would work here?" Deng said during a recent visit to the hops field.

Deng, a plant breeder who also works on flowering plants like gerbera daisies, lantana and petunias, heeded the call along with Shinsuke Agehara, an assistant professor of horticultural sciences who has studied tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, bell peppers and cucumbers, and Brian Pearson, an assistant professor of environmental horticulture at the center.

The researchers' funding ends in December, and they have just submitted a proposal for additional funding to test different varieties and the LED lighting so that plants can reach their maximum size. They are also hoping to spend more time looking at potential pests like nematodes.

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