When You Attend a Beer and Hops Class, You Don't Expect to Talk about This:

There's a lot to consider when starting a farm business. For months, I've been filling my head with the names of plant varieties, soil compositions, water tables and irrigation techniques. Not long ago, I'd have guessed the lupulin gland was something that swelled when a werewolf got the flu. And isn't a rhizome a kind of Transformer?

To keep my ignorance at bay, I've jumped at the opportunity to attend classes and to talk to anyone with experience growing plants. But farming is unique. Along with weather, bugs, funguses, weeds, and water, there's the actual business to consider. Sales, budgets and (gulp) taxes. I'm still learning so my only advice there is to start keeping your receipts and get a good accountant.

And there's something else. Farming affects the environment. Farmers take from the Earth, and they don't always give the right stuff back. The Gulf of Mexico, right near the Mississippi Delta, is home to the second largest dead zone in the world, and it's caused by modern farming.

I bring this up because while you're considering cover crops and manure, the government is considering what you're putting in, and on, the soil.

Frankly, it was a surprise to hear Jane Larson and Jennifer Statz, both from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection, talk about safe pesticide and herbicide use at the UW Extension's Hop Production for the Wisconsin Craft Beer Industry seminar. I'd never considered using much of them, but chemicals are the lynchpin of modern farming. And with downy mildew, powdery mildew, spider mites and aphids all looking to feed on your humulus lupulus bines, they are often necessary.

So, what did they say? Well, if you plan to hire workers, or your in-laws and cousins, then the Worker Protection Standard applies to your farm. See the link to the EPA's website for the nuts and bolts of the standard, but the gist of it as it applies to hop farmers is this:

1. Keep information on pesticides at a central location — have an EPA WPS poster, documentation of pesticide applications (time, location, description, date, restricted-entry interval). 
2. Provide worker training — check the EPA WPS website for these materials. 
3. Keep decontamination supplies accessible — this includes water, soap, single-use towels, clean coveralls. 

A more comprehensive summary can be found on pages 15 and 16 of the WPS handbook:

There's a whole lot more to complying than just the few points I listed. That's why I suggest you check the links I embedded in the post. 

It's not as much fun as thinking about your hops filling a brew kettle, but it's necessary. I hope it helps. 

Thanks for reading.