Hop Trellis Planner

Design a small-to-medium hop yard. Trellis height, row spacing, materials BOM, plant count, expected yield. Backyard scale through small-commercial.

Plan your hop yard

Yard dimensions

Trellis style Commercial 18 ft (standard) Commercial 20 ft (high yield) Reduced 12 ft (small farm) Backyard 8 ft Low-trellis 8 ft (commercial dwarf)

Number of rows

Row length (ft)

Spacing between rows (ft) Tractor-passable: 14 ft. Hand: 8-10 ft.

Plants

Plant spacing in row (ft) 3-4 ft typical; 5 ft for vigorous cultivars

Strings per plant 2 strings (training to 4 bines) 3 strings (6 bines, vigorous cultivars)

Primary cultivar (yield estimate) Cascade: 1.5 lb/plant dry Centennial: 1.8 lb/plant dry Chinook: 2.0 lb/plant dry Citra: 1.2 lb/plant dry Columbus / CTZ, 2.3 lb/plant dry Mosaic: 1.0 lb/plant dry Willamette: 1.6 lb/plant dry Nugget: 2.0 lb/plant dry East Kent Goldings, 1.4 lb/plant dry Hallertau: 1.4 lb/plant dry

Trellis style comparison

Style	Height	Use case	Cones / acre
Commercial 18 ft	18 ft	US standard commercial	800-1500 lb dry
Commercial 20 ft	20 ft	Pacific NW high-yield	1500-2200 lb dry
Reduced 12 ft	12 ft	Small farm; easier harvest	400-700 lb dry
Backyard 8 ft	8 ft	Home brewing	~50-100 lb at scale
Low-trellis 8 ft (dwarf cultivars)	8 ft	Mechanical harvest; specialty cultivars (Summit, Comet)	600-900 lb dry

Building the trellis

Standard 18-ft commercial hop yard structure:

• Posts: 25-foot pressure-treated poles (Class 4 / Class 5 utility poles), set 5-6 ft deep. End posts with deadman anchors. Line posts every 30-45 ft within rows.
• Top wire: 12.5-gauge high-tensile galvanized wire across the top, anchored to end posts.
• String / coir: Coir twine or sisal, dropped from top wire to ground for each bine. Replaced annually.
• End-anchors: Deadman blocks (precast concrete or wood), or screw anchors, set 8-10 ft into the ground at angles opposing the wire pull.
• Spacing: Rows 14 ft apart (tractor) or 10-12 ft (hand). Plants 3-4 ft within rows. Plants per acre at 14×3.5 ft spacing: ~890 plants.

Year-by-year yield expectations

Year	What happens	Yield (% of mature)
Year 1	Establishing crowns; minimal aboveground growth; do not train aggressively	0-25% (often pinched off)
Year 2	First real harvest; partial vigor	50-75%
Year 3+	Full vigor; sustainable production	100% of cultivar potential
Year 10-15	Crown decline begins; consider replanting	Decreasing

Critical management notes

• Hops are heavy feeders. N applications: ~150-200 lb/acre annually, split between bud-break and pre-bloom.
• Disease pressure is high. Downy mildew is the main threat. Fungicide rotation needed for most cultivars in humid regions.
• Hops are dioecious: only female plants produce cones. Buy named female cultivars, never volunteer seedlings.
• Crowning / training is annual. Cut early-emerging shoots in spring (these are weaker), train second-flush bines clockwise around strings (their natural rotation).
• Wind exposure matters. Hops in heavy wind tear off the trellis. Site selection and trellis stability are critical.
• Hop yards last 10-20 years per planting. Cultivar replacement requires complete removal. Crowns persist for years.

Free under CC BY 4.0. Cite as "Open Agriculture Technology Hop Trellis Planner (openagriculturetechnology.com)". Yield estimates from USDA Hop Production literature and small-commercial growers.