Hop supply problems

The supply of sufficient hops to the brewing industry was a big problem during WW II. Before the war, considerable quantities of hops had been imported. A majority from the USA, but also from Germany, Belgium and Czechoslovakia.

There were fewer imports than before WW I, but the UK didn't produce enough hops in the interwar years to be self-sufficient. Needing to import 30,000 to 40,000 cwts annually. These dried up almost totally after 1940. Making the UK crop a vital resource.

 "Hops Committee.
There had been no meeting of the Hops Committee, but Colonel G. B. Winch, the chairman, reported that an informal meeting with members of the Hops Marketing Board had taken place on the 3rd December, on the subject of the determination of the average price of the 1942 crop. The bulk of the figures upon which this calculation was made had already been agreed, but the Board put forward a request that the extra expenses to which growers had been put in carrying out picking in war circumstances should be taken into account. They had also claimed that the cost of cultivation during the remaining 11 months of the season had been materially enhanced, because growers were forced to rely largely on inefficient labour, and consequently had to employ more people than usual to carry out the necessary work. The basis in the agreed schedule for ascertaining increases or decreases in the cost of production, which was laid down before the war, did not. provide for any adjustment of labour costs except such as arises from increases or decreases in the statutory rates of wages. The Board had been asked to submit figures to support their contentions under these two headings, and these figures were now under examination by the Society’s accountant. As soon as his report was available the Hops Committee would meet to consider the line to be taken at the forthcoming meeting of the Permanent Joint Hops Committee when the average price for the season had to be fixed."
The Brewing Trade Review, January 1943, pages 6 - 7.

Hops were, as pretty much everything else, getting more expensive. No surprise there.  Over the course of the war a cwt. of hops rose from £9 to £21

But there also weren't going top be enough of them:

"The attention of the Council had been drawn at the last meeting to the fact that the 1942 crop was not sufficient to provide a full year’s supply of hops to each brewer, even at the reduction of 20% in pre-war rates per barrel. A large number of brewers had written to the Society stating that the fulfilment of only 80% of their contracts would leave them short of hops, and asking that some of the small balance of the crop which is to be distributed by the Society should be allocated to them. This balance of the crop, however, was only equal to about 3% of the total contracts, and it was obviously impossible to make up every brewer’s shortage in full. The margin of stocks in the hands of any brewer was very narrow when compared with pre-war practice. The figures of each brewer’s stock of hops, his monthly consumption and his standard barrelage level were now under examination by the Society, and taking into account the quantity of hops supplied under his 1942 contract, the date up to which each brewer has enough hops to maintain his present level of output was being worked out. From these figures the average date up to which brewers have Enough hops would be arrived at. Brewers who have not enough hops to last up to that average date would be allocated hops out of the available balance of the crop. It was most unlikely that the average date would work out later than some time in December, 1943, and it might even be earlier than that, basing the figures on the level of output of the last 12 months. If, as seemed possible, there was a reduction in the demand for beer during the coming year this would, of course, ease the position somewhat."
The Brewing Trade Review, January 1943, page 7.

 Reducing hop rates seems to have worked. Because more hops were grown than used in every year of the war. There was a small increase in the acreage dedicated to hops. As you can see in this monster table.

Hops: home production and imports
Year ended 31st Dec.	Acreage	Estimated Produce	Yield per acre	Average Price of English Hops per Season, Sept. to Dec.	Imports: Less Re-Exports	Exports: British Hops	Consumption Years ended 30th Sept. following
		Cwts.	Cwts.	£ s. d.	Cwts.	Cwts.	Cwts.
1914	33,661	507,258	13.84	4 3 9	83,690	9972	450,231
1916	31,352	307,856	9.82	6 14 0	146,150	10,765	263,386
1918	15,666	130,491	8.3	18 15 0	259	6,923	503,140
1920	21,002	281,042	13.4	19 10 0	455,799	3,672	454,258
1921	25,133	224,172	8.9	19 10 0	216,571	2,200	398,506
1922	26,452	301,000	11.4	12 0 0	127,539	2,818	328,688
1923	24,893	229,000	9.2	14 10 0	12,111	22,051	350,428
1924	25,897	444,000	17.1	10 5 0	89,632	44,316	362,554
1925	26,256	355,000	13.5	10 15 0	90,305	44,541	355,376
1926	25,599	332,000	13	11 5 0	35,040	78,574	337,721
1927	23,004	255,000	11.1	12 10 0	96,917	54,630	330,662
1928	23,805	242,100	10.2	11 16 0	66,183	17,651	320,315
1929	23,986	359,100	15	5 0 0	62,208	13,192	307,289
1930	19,997	253,000	12.6	4 15 0	44,199	22,302	277,406
1931	19,628	169,000	8.7	7 5 0	50,303	22,388	219,587
1932	16,531	188,000	11.4	9 15 0	14,952	19,264	222,868
1933	16,895	210,000	12.8	16 10 0	44,829	20,298	233,419
1934	18,037	259,000	14.4	9 0 0	30,046	13,382	248,744
1935	18,251	248,300	13.6	9 0 0	35,186	16,223	258,300
1936	18,317	252,000	13.7	9 0 0	31,953	19,987	270,692
1937	18,093	235,000	13	9 0 0	40,406	16,130	277,846
1938	18,460	257,000	13.9	9 0 0	45,287	12,580	286,716
1939	18,812	288,000	15.3	9 10 0	7,840	16,050	265,512
1940	18,592	270,500	14.5	12 0 0	14,675	26,830	251,354
1941	18,158	262,800	14.5	15 0 0	31	17,209	223,007
1942	18,420	261,900	14.2	17 10 0	2,963	30,673	231,689
1943	19,131	285,200	14.9	18 0 0	198	24,941	243,900
1944	19,603	253,900	13	20 0 0	--	26,525	244,822
1945	19,957	282,900	14.1	21 0 0	574	32,337	226,197
Source:
1955 Brewers' Almanack, page 63.

 Aren't numbers fun? I'm surprised by how many hops were exported during the war. I'm guessing most went to Ireland.