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compounds will oxidize and degrade in a very short period of time if they’re not harvested and processed quickly.”
Randy Scott said the land on which he now grows hops was an empty eld before, where they would put horses or just cut the grass for forage. After dis- cussing the possibility for hops with Britz, the Scott family went forward with the project and turned the 4-acre patch into full-production acreage.
It was harder to build the infrastruc- ture than he thought it would be, Scott said, but he had con dence through the whole process because of the lead- ership and knowledge provided by Britz and his research patch, along with Pat McGlynn, the county’s extension agent.
That con dence also came from knowing the hops he was planting in the ground last May 14 were already going to a beer producer.
“It’s nice to have the experience and it’s nice to have it all sold before you put the infrastructure in place,” Scott said.
Britz said there are other hops grow- ers in the valley who are not a liates of his organization, but the edgling mar- ket isn’t quite ready to add more prod- uct. Once they allow for more growth, and the Flathead hops nd their niche in the market, Britz said he would look at adding more farmed acreage through a liates.
“We’re willing to take on more a li- ate growers, but not right now,” he said. “We’re still guring it out and we want
to make sure we do a really good job with the growers we’re working with.” Growth has to be scaled equally, and
can’t be rushed. Just because some grow- ers have had success with their hops in local and regional brews, it doesn’t mean the market is ready to support more. Even Britz’s own farm is scaling back its future projects – what was supposed to be 17 to 19 new production acres was cut to 7 acres to be more sustainable.
Britz’s farm, which is only about six miles from the Scott farm as the crow ies, was also decimated by a mid-sum- mer hailstorm that deposited three inches of ice chunks, he said. The Scott farm wasn’t touched, but Britz lost about 80 percent of his production.
“In 20 years living here it was the worst hailstorm I’ve seen,” Britz said. “It damaged our plants so badly our yield in the research plot was about 20 percent of what it was last year.”
But growth looks like it is on the hori- zon, especially as craft breweries con- tinue to increase their share of the beer market. Hops farmers are hoping to ll a niche demand for Montana-grown product, and how the hops grown here are di erent from other places, and thus are marketed di erently.
It’s all comes down to time, and growing sustainably, not unlike a farm itself.
“Once we have built the market, then that opens the door for ramping up the scale of production. We’re just not quite there yet,” Britz said.
mpriddy@ atheadbeacon.com
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SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
35
NEW FITNESS CENTER OPENING IN KALISPELL
Fuel Fitness, a Mon- tana franchise with ve locations, is building a new 13,700-square-foot tness center on U.S. Highway 2 West in Kalispell.
The new business is
under construction near
Gateway Community Cen-
ter and is expected to open
this winter. Five other facil-
ities operate across the state,
in Billings, Bozeman, Butte,
Helena and, just recently, Missoula. The centers are open 24/7 and o er group exercise classes, personal trainers and workout equipment. The facilities also o er daycare.
The company, owned by Michael Burks of Missoula and Craig Vuka- sin of Bozeman, submitted a building permit to construct the facility for $1.7 million.
For more information, visit clubfuel tness.com.
Opening, moving or expanding a business in Northwest Montana? If you would like to be featured in “Transactions,” please email information to news@ atheadbeacon.com