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Letter to the Honorable Tom Vilsack, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Dr. Cathie Woteki, Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics - Call for Support for the U.S. Brewing Industry

Letter

By: Erik Paulsen, Buddy Carter, Dina Titus, Jim McGovern, Frank Lucas, Rick Larsen, Ruben Gallego, Chellie Pingree, Michelle Lujan Grisham, Mike Simpson, Charles Boustany, Jr., John Conyers, Jr., Doug Lamborn, Suzanne Bonamici, Pat Meehan, Mike Kelly, Jr., Tom Marino, Dan Newhouse, Tom Rooney, Scott DesJarlais, Mark Pocan, Bill Huizenga, Jared Huffman, Kurt Schrader, Tony Cárdenas, Peter DeFazio, Jackie Speier, Lee Zeldin, Ron Kind, Jared Polis, GT Thompson, Jr., David Cicilline, Niki Tsongas, Tom Emmer, Ryan Costello, Bennie Thompson, Walter Jones, Jr., Stephen Lynch, Richard Hudson, Jr., Stacey Plaskett, Brian Higgins, Kevin Cramer, Sean Duffy, Dave Loebsack, Cathy Rodgers, Michael McCaul, Richard Hanna, Steve Chabot, Zoe Lofgren, Kevin Yoder, Donald Young, Mark Meadows, Frank LoBiondo, Dave Reichert, Scott Tipton, Tim Walberg, Annie Kuster, Richard Neal, Rick Nolan, Sam Farr, Betty McCollum, Steve Pearce, Jim Sensenbrenner, Jr., Gus Bilirakis, Bobby Rush, Adrian Smith, Juan Vargas, Denny Heck, Ryan Zinke, Seth Moulton, Marcia Fudge, Jim Renacci, Blaine Luetkemeyer, John Garamendi, G. K. Butterfield, Jr., Jaime Herrera Beutler, Bill Pascrell, Jr., Derek Kilmer, Mike Bost, Alan Lowenthal, Ann Wagner, Pete King, Kyrsten Sinema, Patrick McHenry, Blake Farenthold, Eleanor Norton, Elise Stefanik, Gwen Moore, David Scott, Earl Blumenauer, Will Hurd, Sanford Bishop, Jr., Bonnie Watson Coleman, David Rouzer, Don Payne, Jr., Ted Lieu, Marcy Kaptur, Paul Tonko, Suzan DelBene, Barbara Comstock, Peter Welch, Dan Lipinski, Eddie Johnson, John Yarmuth
Date: Dec. 1, 2016
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Agriculture and Food

Dear Secretary Vilsack and Under Secretary Woteki:

We write to request your support for an industry that has been a model of U.S. economic growth over the past decade. The brewing industry sustains millions of jobs in the U.S., and especially through the emerging popularity of craft brewing, has boosted domestic sales and exports, and supports a growing supply chain of U.S. farmers, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. U.S. hop cultivation is central to this industry, and we request USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) increase its commitment to hop-related research to reflect the growing cultural and economic importance of this crop for FY 2017.

Overall, the brewing industry generated more than $250 billion in economic activity in 2014, directly and indirectly employing over 1.75 million Americans. This activity is only sustained through a healthy, stable hop market. Hop growers face a variety of challenges, including mites, mildews, blights, and other pests that harm production. It is estimated that 15 percent of hop yields are lost to pests annually. The increased threat of drought and extreme heat in the Pacific Northwest, where the majority of U.S. commercially-produced hops are grown, is also a persistent threat to crops. The development of new hop varieties that are pest-resistant and climate-tolerant would help growers increase yields while reducing pesticide use. Additionally, while commercial hop production now exists in 29 states, developing new climate-tolerant varieties could help further expand commercial production, putting growers closer to their customers and reducing the threat that a disaster in the Pacific Northwest would affect U.S. and global supplies.

USDA's previous hop research has resulted in the development of varieties that are now universal to the industry. The two largest varieties of U.S.-produced hops, Cascade and Centennial, are products of public hop breeding programs. As consumers continue to demand beers with new aroma and flavor traits, research into developing these characteristics could result in significant benefit to growers, brewers, and the customers they serve.

Given these great advantages that would come with additional research, we request that USDA-ARS increase the commitment to hops genetics/molecular biology from 0.7 full time employees (FTE) to 1.0 FTE, while continuing to fund the existing 1.0 FTE pathology research program for FY 2017. This critical boost in research would result in breakthroughs in hop cultivation that will help sustain the significant growth of this important industry.

Sincerely,


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