UK hop growers had the opportunity to see the Fruit Tec Herkules hop defoliator working in commercial hop gardens in Kent and Herefordshire during two demonstrations organised by specialist machinery dealership NP Seymour on 14 and 15 July 2026.
While the machine has already been widely used by growers in Germany and elsewhere in Europe for several years, the original Herkules proved too large for our hop-growing systems. However, thanks to various adaptations, the NP Seymour team were able to showcase the new version that is now suited to the narrower alleyways found in British hop gardens.
Fruit Tec, the German manufacturer behind the Darwin mechanical blossom thinner and REDpulse pneumatic orchard defoliator, created the Herkules to remove excess side shoots and leaves from the lower section of hop plants.
Traditionally, hop growers use chemical treatments to remove approximately the first four feet of growth from hop plants.
Managing this lower growth not only improves crop hygiene but also helps reduce the risk of powdery mildew and pests, such as common spider mite, spreading through the crop. It can also help the plant direct more energy towards the development of the hop cones, and at harvest time, the removal of excess leaves and laterals reduces the amount of material that can become caught around the wheels of a bine-pulling trailer.
As growers look to reduce their reliance on chemical treatments, the Herkules offers a mechanical way to carry out this important crop management task.
Joined by Jürgen Schmid from Fruit Tec, who travelled from Germany to support the events, NP Seymour’s first public demonstration was hosted by Ian Tipples at Harts Heath Farm in Kent.
The heavier canopy at this site, which was the Target variety, gave attendees a clear view of the extent of growth the Herkules could remove without an earlier chemical application.
After the machine was moved to Herefordshire, the second demonstration was held at The Farm, Bosbury, by kind permission of Hawkins Farming Ltd.
Farm manager Matt Bailey selected the farm’s Cold Green site for the meeting, and the defoliator was put through a block of Harlequin and Progress. Conditions there were quite different. The lower growth had already received chemical treatment several weeks earlier, so the Herkules was used to remove the regrowth that had since appeared.
Seeing the machine work in various locations with different vegetation densities provides growers with a useful comparison, and there was much discussion at the Herefordshire demonstration about how mechanical defoliation could fit within their own crop management programmes.
Thanks to some good planning and coordination by Jonathan Blackman from Hutchinsons, growers were able to stay on after the demonstration for the Herefordshire Hop Discussion group meeting to reflect on the season so far.
NP Seymour also arranged several private demonstrations to allow individual growers with usual growing systems to see the machine working in their own hop gardens and under their own conditions.
The Herkules is a front-mounted machine that can be supplied in single-sided or double-sided configurations. It has three-way hydraulic adjustment, allowing its position to be changed to suit the crop and growing system. Operators can also adjust the spindle speed to control how the machine operates at different growth levels. The standard Herkules has a working height of 1,000 mm and weighs 148 kg. A front hydraulic adaptor is available as an option.
“Since the demonstrations, our follow-up conversations with growers have been positive,” said Claire Seymour, director of NP Seymour. “Growers have reported that leaves in the areas treated by the Herkules had successfully died back and fallen off with minimal cuts to the bines, which is exactly what we wanted to see. We are very grateful to Ian Tipples and Matt Bailey at Hawkins Farming for hosting us and other growers, to Jürgen Schmid for travelling from Germany to share his technical expertise and experience, and to Jonathan Blackman and the Hutchinsons team for helping organise the events. And of course thank you to everyone who attended, asked questions and shared their thoughts about the defolatior over the two days.”
NP Seymour has long helped growers move away from chemical treatments where practical mechanical options are available, and the Herkules provides another option for growers looking to manage lower growth, improve crop hygiene and prepare for harvest without relying solely on chemical control.
For more information about the Fruit Tec Herkules, please contact the NP Seymour sales team on 01580 712200 or email sales@npseymour.co.uk.
