Join Dr. Rob Sirrine and Erin Lizotte from Michigan State University Extension to talk about all-the-things hop related!
Join Dr. Rob Sirrine and Erin Lizotte from Michigan State University Extension to talk about all-the-things hop related!
Speaker 1:
This information is for educational purposes only. References to commercial products or trade names does not imply endorsement by MSU extension or bias against those not mentioned. MSU is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. Michigan State University extension programs and materials are open to all. This work is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, crop protection and pest management program. And through the North Central IPM center. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this podcast are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the US Department of Agriculture.
Erin Lizotte:
You're listening to the MSU hot podcast with extension educators, Erin Lizotte and Dr. Rob Sirrine.
Let's just try just talking like normal.
Rob Sirrine:
Yeah like this.
Erin Lizotte:
Let's just try talking, we're leaving this in for everybody.
Rob Sirrine:
All of this.
Erin Lizotte:
So once you get over your fear of public speaking, then you get to address your fear of recorded podcast speaking. Which is a new career experience, very fun.
Rob Sirrine:
And then once you get over your fear of all of that and you stop caring, the quality just kind of drops off.
Erin Lizotte:
The quality gets really low, but lots of content. Lots of content.
Rob Sirrine:
Yeah. Okay.
Erin Lizotte:
All right. Well welcome everyone to the MSU [crosstalk 00:01:39].
Rob Sirrine:
Yes welcome.
Erin Lizotte:
I feel like there should be a drum roll or a band playing in the background, I'm thinking some sort of fanfare. We do have some good sounds.
Rob Sirrine:
Oh, that's nice.
Erin Lizotte:
I'm not sure if that works.
Rob Sirrine:
It's a baseball thing, but yeah, it'll be fun.
Erin Lizotte:
They'll have to be good enough, because we're AG educators, not podcast makers or producers, which is a real thing, so. But no, we're super excited to have the MSU hot podcast going live. I'm hoping you'll join us for all of the five episodes that we recorded in February of 2021. It was a lot of fun, it was a learning experience that's for sure.
Rob Sirrine:
Yeah, we had to get a new microphones and it's pretty nice, yeah.
Erin Lizotte:
Is this on, is this on?
Rob Sirrine:
So yeah, we're very excited. The first episode we discuss hot terroir specifically in Michigan, the speakers were Alex Adams and Aaron Staples and Alex is the CEO of Cambium Analytica in Traverse City. It's an analytical lab and Aaron Staples is a graduate student at Michigan State University working under Dr. Trey Malone. And I thought it was a really great discussion, there was some pretty unique insights, just looking at the different analytics from [chenin crop 00:03:23] in particular, the differences between chenin grown in Michigan and Washington and Oregon and it's yeah, it's worth listening to.
Erin Lizotte:
Yeah. I feel like this has been a big passion project for you over the last, really since the inception of this, is thinking about what sets Michigan hops apart, what makes us unique and different from other regions of the country? And I think it's interesting because even though I think you and others were thinking about that on the front end, what I found really fascinating was the feedback from brewers that was coming in as the industry grew, there's something really special here, something unique. And so to kind of see this follow through that's occurred with, I'm trying to highlight and clarify, what's unique about Michigan hops is really exciting.
Rob Sirrine:
Well, I should also add our other partners in this research project and I should add that the Michigan department of AG and rural development, the craft brew... CBC, whatever that stands for.
Erin Lizotte:
Craft Beverage Council.
Rob Sirrine:
Thank you. Also played a role in this, the funding was from them and Scott Stuhr of Silver Spruce Brewing and Traverse and Alec Mull from Founders Brewing played a role in this research as well. And there are some interesting marketing applications we think. And one of the cool things, well, I'll talk about this later when we introduced that, so.
Erin Lizotte:
I know I'm like, why can't we... We're recording this at 4:00 AM. No, we have no excuse it's nine o'clock in the morning, but again, not podcasters so. Yeah, and then we also got to talk to kind of our local Michigan brew people here about what's going on in the Michigan industry. And that was really a great conversation as well.
Rob Sirrine:
Yeah and that was Scott Graham, the director of the Michigan Brewers Guild and Aubrey Martinson and she is the co-owner of the Chelsea Alehouse and the secretary of the Michigan Brewers Guild. That was really interesting, yeah we talked about a lot, obviously this year is 2020 going into 2021 is crazy with the COVID pandemic, but we talked about how brewers in Michigan are holding up and raw materials, supply chain and Michigan, and a little bit more about terroir, but yeah, that was a great conversation as well. And the third podcast was exciting for us as well, it was Dr. John Henning, he's a hop breeder with the USDA agricultural research service and Oregon State University, which I thought was also super exciting, talked about the whole process of hop breeding, how long it takes, everything that goes into that and what's coming along both in terms of new technology and new cultivars on the horizon.
Erin Lizotte:
Yeah. So he's had 25 years of experience doing this and I thought it was really interesting talking through some of the technology that is hopefully going to speed up the selection process and the excitement around just that these releases are publicly available. So, I mean, I think that's probably a frustration and also a benefit having some of the patented material that's coming out, that's really only available to some growers. The USDA program makes materials that are available to everyone. So we're always really excited to see those releases coming out and see what might work for us while in Michigan. And I think luckily we have Oregon Out West, which has similar weather to us, but it was really, I think, reassuring to hear Dr. Henning talk about the priority selection process and that it included, I think a lot of our priorities in Michigan in terms of disease resistance and other issues like that. So I think we're going to see some good materials coming out that hopefully are going to work really well here.
Rob Sirrine:
Yeah. And the fourth one was Ann George, the executive director of Hop Growers of America. Ann is great, one of the most knowledgeable people I can think of, both from what she does on a day-to-day basis here in the United States, but also with her connections internationally in the hop hop realm, some really good insights on the market moving forward and always a wealth of information.
Erin Lizotte:
Yeah. I think she really brings that international piece into focus, I mean, she works really hard on MRL maximum residue level, harmonization between the US and other countries. So, that affects what we can do here management-wise and what we can export to different countries. So I think her having her finger on the pulse of that is really looking out for all growers and especially as Michigan and Great Lakes, acreage expands and more people are interested in that export market, that's going to become more and more critical to our growers here as well. And like you said, she just knows and has so much perspective on everything, she's been working in the industry for a long time and is really helpful and willing to share information and is an awesome partner. So that I always enjoy talking to Ann and picking her brain about questions, seeing what she thinks.
Rob Sirrine:
Yeah. And then we wrap it up kind of closer to home here in Michigan with Mark Trowbridge. He's been growing hops probably for 10 years I think in Michigan, somewhere around there. He's the current president of the Hot Growers of Michigan and a co-owner with the son of Top Hops in Goodrich, Michigan, I believe. So he kind of presented on what it's like to grow hops, the current market conditions, some challenges and some opportunities. And then his perspective from the board of the president of Hop Growers of Michigan.
Erin Lizotte:
Yeah. I think Mark is another one, for Michigan, I mean, one of the earliest commercial farms that we had in Michigan, a constant collaborator with us at MSU. So we've worked with him and his son, Sean for literally the last 10 years, at least. And I think they're also a charter members of the Hop Growers of Michigan. So that was really kind of something that Mark worked hard to put together early on. And as everyone knows, it's so important to have that kind of industry group that helps drive different things that benefit the industry as a whole.
So I know one of their major efforts is supporting research at MSU, which they have done through specialty crop block grants in the past and they also really focus, I think on marketing and promotion of Michigan hops, they had a food safety program that Mark talks about during our interview that might be of interest to some growers who are looking to increase their food safety on the farm and kind of get that feather in their cap, so to speak of being verified. So I thought that was a great conversation with Mark, it's always great to catch up with him and talk to him as well.
Rob Sirrine:
Yeah. So I guess that's it. If people have other interesting folks that they'd like to hear us interview and let us know.
Erin Lizotte:
Yeah. Let us know. I think in the show notes for each of the episodes, we're going to have a little survey you can take. So you can let us know that I say "um" too often and that Rob doesn't speak clearly, but also you can put in your ideas for speakers, people you want to hear interviewed, topics you want to hear covered and just let us know how we did. So we're looking forward to this. This is brand new for us, and we're excited for you guys to join us.