Small brewers become hop farmers amid shortage

Not a new story, but it's new-to-me. Interesting story about a frustrated brewer deciding to try growing hops on his own.
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From that story:

Herb Pluemer, owner of Tractor Brewing Co. in Los Lunas, N.M., bought 10,000 hop stems from Wills' Oregon nursery to try growing the crop himself after hearing how much farmers wanted this year.

"We had to lay out $16,000 for the hops for next year, and now they want the following year upfront and it's just going higher," he said. "I have a lot of land, so I got the idea, why not try hops myself?"

Pluemer is still waiting to see if New Mexico's soil and climate lend themselves to hops. Weeds have been a problem in the early going, and the small crop in the plants' first year was disappointing.

Pluemer won't say what he has spent on the adventure but believes the investment will pay off.

"Next year will be the proof of the pudding," he said. "If they say hops are going to $50 a pound, I'm going to quit the brewery and just grow hops."