Market value assessment of hops by modeling of weather attributes

Abstract

The effect of major weather factors on the quality of hops in Slovenia from 1994 to 2009 is analyzed and discussed. For this purpose, the three main varieties, namely Savinjski golding, Aurora and Bobek were merged into a model variety which we called Virtual. Through assessment of correlation coefficients, we tried to find specific times of the year when the weather conditions affect the alpha-acid content with a view toward prediction. The most significant time periods of weather that influenced the alpha-acid contents of hops during the growing season are identified as attributes of air temperatures calculated during the interval from the 24th to the 31st week (T2431; r = -0.92; P < 0.01), as attributes of rainfall and sunshine duration calculated during the interval from the 25th to the 29th week (R2529; r = 0.83; P < 0.01 and S2529, r = -0.76; P < 0.01), and as attributes of air humidity calculated during the interval from the 28th to the 33rd week (RH2833; r = 0.77; P < 0.01).