Yakima Chief Hops proudly presents the Crop Year 2025 Top Cut Awards!

Excellence doesn’t happen by accident; it’s cultivated, evaluated, and earned. Each year, Yakima Chief proudly recognizes the growers whose commitment to precision, consistency, and quality rises to the top. The Crop Year 2025 Top Cut Awards celebrate those farms that set the standard for what exceptional hop growing looks like.

The awards are powered by our Green Chief® scoring model, a program designed to support excellence where it matters most: in the field, in the kiln, and in the final product. Green Chief provides a standardized, point-based framework that evaluates growing practices, facility performance, and sensory outcomes, while encouraging innovation and continuous improvement across our grower network.

Growers are grouped by production scale (small, medium, and large), and final rankings are determined by a weighted average of scores across three categories: Variety, Sensory, and Facility. Platinum, Gold, and Silver awards recognize the highest-scoring growers in each category, highlighting sustained excellence rather than isolated results.

The quality brewers expect from Yakima Chief is earned in the field, through relentless attention to detail and a refusal to compromise. To the growers and farm teams who push for better outcomes every season, your dedication defines what Top Cut truly means. Congratulations on another successful year!

Small Farm Category

Silver

Newhouse Farms: Established in Sunnyside, Washington, in the 1940s, fourth-generation Newhouse Farms is one of our original growers, delivering hops to Yakima Chief for over 30 years.

Gooding Farms: Located in Parma, Idaho, Gooding Farms has been growing hops since 1895.

Gold

Schroeder: Founded in Caldwell, Idaho, in 1948, second-generation Schroeder Farms began growing hops in more recent years.

Cornerstone Ranches: Located in Toppenish, Washington, Cornerstone Ranches is a fifth-generation hop farm.

Platinum

TV Hops: Established in Wilder, Idaho, in 2016, first-generation TV Hops has been growing for YCH for almost 10 years.

Medium Farm Category

Silver

Westwood Farms: Established in Gervais, Oregon, in the 1930s, Westwood has been growing for Yakima Chief for several years.

BC Hop Farm: Established in Woodburn, Oregon, in the 1940s, BC Hop Farms is a fourth-generation hop grower.

Gold

Sauve & Son Farms: One of Yakima Chief’s original hop farming families, Sauve & Son are fourth-generation hop growers. Established in Mabton, Washington, in 1938, they have been growing with YCH for over 30 years.

Black Star Ranch: Fifth-generation Black Star Ranch was founded in Moxee, Washington, in 1935. They have been delivering hops to Yakima Chief for over 10 years.

Platinum

Van Horn Farms: Founded in Moxee, Washington, in 1904, fourth-generation Van Horn Farms is one of Yakima Chief’s original growers. They have been producing YCH hops for over 30 years.

Large Farm Category

Silver

Lakeside Ranches: Established in Salem, Oregon, in 2022 as a new entity of the next generation of Sodbuster Farms[CW1] , they have been delivering to Yakima Chief for several years now.

Double ‘R‘ Hop Ranch: Fifth-generation Double ‘R‘ Hop Ranch was established in Harrah, Washington, in 1945. They have been delivering hops to Yakima Chief for over 30 years.

Gold

Jackson Hop: The First-generation Jackson Hop Farm was founded in 2008 in Wilder, Idaho. They have been delivering to Yakima Chief for over 10 years.

Perrault Farms: One of the founding farms in the Yakima Chief Hops family, fifth-generation Perrault Farms was established in Toppenish, Washington, in 1902. They have been delivering hops to YCH for 38 years.

Platinum

Loftus Ranches: Fourth-generation Loftus Ranches was established in Moxee, Washington, in 1932. They are one of Yakima Chief Hops’ founding growers, delivering hops for 38 years.