At the European Voice event we recently attended (see our previous entry) we had a short chat with Mr Otmar Weingarten, who is Managing Director of the the Verband Deutscher Hopfenpflanzer, the Association of German Hop Growers. Mr Weingarten spoke about: the yield and quality reductions that German hop growers (who account for a third of global production) might face if the revision of the current pesticides regulation, Directive 91/414, is passed; the grave threat posed by the hop aphid on yields in Germany; and the viability of organic methods.