Here is the skinny from the latest USDA Crop Report, released earlier in the week.

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– BARLEY (BEER): Forecasted barley production is up 42% in the U.S. to 229 million bushels produced. North Dakota leading the way with a 300%+ increase from last year and is now the largest producer of barley in the States.

– HOPS (BEER): Forecasted hop production is down 5% from 2011 to 61.5 million pounds with fairly even declines across Washington (lion’s share of U.S. production), Oregon and Idaho.

– APPLES (HARD CIDER): We’ve been following along closely as Michigan (#2 in 2011) and New York (#3 in 2011) reported catastrophic declines in apple production this year. Though much of the U.S. has seen a decline in production, Washington is the far and away leader and has actually seen a slight increase. Forecasted production is down across the U.S. from 9.4 billion pounds to 8 billion pounds, a 15% drop. Washington now accounts for 71% of the nation’s production versus 57% last year.