Bayerische Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft Gesellschaft für Hopfenforschung e.V. Annual Report 2018 Special Crop: Hops Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture - Institute for Crop Science and Plant Breeding - and Society of Hop Research e.V. March 2019 LfL-Information 1 Publishing information: Published by: Bayerische Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft (LfL) (Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture) Vöttinger Straße 38, 85354 Freising-Weihenstephan Internet: http://www.LfL.bayern.de Edited by: Institut für Pflanzenbau und Pflanzenzüchtung, Arbeitsbereich Hopfen (Institute for Crop Science and Plant Breeding, Hops Department) Hüll 5 1/3, 85283 Wolnzach E-Mail:
[email protected] Tel.: +49 84 42/92 57-0 Translated by: Patricia Ziegler B.A. Hons. (London) First edition: March 2019 Nominal2 fee: 5,-- € © LfL Foreword Each year is different; and each year brings new challenges for hop growing. Generally speaking, there is no denying that climate change is upon us, and hot, arid summers are becoming increasingly common. 2018, too, was characterized by global warming. For the initial two-thirds of March it was still definitely winter, but then spring arrived and went straight into summer with no transition period. The growing season was atypically warm and dry, with the result that the hops soon started flowering and the hop harvest began earlier than ever before. Yields were slightly below average and alpha acids content con- siderably below average, underlining the up-to-the minute importance of research into irrigation. First and foremost, breeding research is crucial to addressing the problems of adapting to climate change. The new cultivars from Hüll, Mandarina Bavaria, Hallertau Blanc, Herkules, and Polaris, demonstrated once again their enhanced stress tolerance in the face of the extremes of 2018’s weather conditions.