John Segal Jr. The Hops Farmer

Although John Segal Jr. spent many childhood summers in Washington’s Yakima Valley and once brought a block of hops to show-and-tell, the third generation hops farmer never envisioned taking over the family business.

- Catie Joyce-Bulay

But that’s what happened 12 years ago when his father passed away after a battle with cancer. Not only was Segal embarking on a career change—he had spent the previous 14 years in various sales and marketing positions for the media—he was entering a changing industry during a hops shortage.

“The family looked upon the farm as almost a liability,” he says. “People thought we were literally out of business.” Segal describes having to mow the weeds when inviting his first brewers to the farm in Grandview. That’s not to say he was unprepared to swap suit and tie for jeans. Shortly after college he had worked for his father for five years. His marketing experience, however, was about to come in handy.

“In 2009, I did a Google search for the top 50 craft breweries and just started cold calling them, and talking about our story,” Segal recalls. The ranch stayed afloat thanks to his passion for hops and his determination to rebuild the direct connection between farmer and brewer, a common practice today, but something of an anomaly when he began. Segal is quick to also credit the farm’s rebirth to the kindness of others, noting that introductions to other brewers by long-time customer Anchor Brewing, and later Lagunitas Brewing and Russian River Brewing Company, helped the farm grow and gain credibility.