Ben Smith and his brother Davey have run B&D Farms since the late 80s after working their whole lives on their father’s hop farm. Now Ben and his wife Cindy make for the unofficial St.Paul, Oregon (population: 429) welcome committee. Their hospitality is almost as legendary to those in the know as their incredible hops.
B&D are very proud Cascade growers. They have won the Cascade Cup 3 times – more than any other farm.
B&D have been the main growers of WCHB McKenzie™️ – dialing this new variety into a consistently clean fruit and pine melange.
F&B FARMS
Fred Geschwill is part of the latest generation of Geschwills to raise hops outside of Woodburn, OR. Fred is the driving force behind WCHB and his depth of experience in hops is invaluable to the group. He has served the hop industry for years through various industry organizations and has received the prestigious Order of the Hop. F&B Farms are also major plant propagators and their expertise enables WCHB to be super nimble in generating new baby plants for varieties that demand more acreage.
FOBERT FARMS
Cheyne Fobert and his family are long time hop growers outside of Hubbard, OR. In 2024 Cheyne ran a number of different field and harvest tests on McKenzie™️ – exploring the early and late edges of it’s harvest windows and impacts of various training timings.
Outside of West Coast Hop Breeding varieties, the Fobert’s are great supporters of the American Public Hop Breeding Program, growing a trial yard and hosting harvest equipment for the Oregon-based public hop breeding team.
The Fobert’s have been farming for 4 generations and have gathered some amazing pieces of farming history on their farm. Of specific note for hop enthusiasts – they have a (functional!) 1940s pull-type hop harvester. Here’s a video of Cheyne walking through how it works. It’s not unlike the modern day in-field mechanical pickers.
THE OREGON HOP HOUSE
In Aurora, OR Pat Leavy is one of the oldest growers of Certified Organic hops in the country and the only Organic grower in Oregon. Pat is also WCHB’s farmer-breeder. He’s been breeding hops for decades. His practical breeding philosophy is heavily rooted in his farming experience. His organic hops are prized for their excellent quality – especially his organic McKenzie™️ and WCHB-102.
STAUFFER FARMS
Jeff Bizon is the farm manager for Stauffer Farms, located next door to Fobert Farms in Hubbard. Literally neighbors, you can see the picking barns across the hop fields from each other. Stauffer Farms are the primary growers of experimental WCHB-102. Jeff told me that over years that he’s grown McKenzie™️ there have been multiple seasons where he never had to spray it – an absolutely incredible feat of breeding!
