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Advancing research to maximize the productivity, sustainability and competitiveness
of the American grape industries.
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Sunset over the vineyards at Col Solare Winery
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EXCELLENCE IN EXTENSION
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The 2018 National Viticulture & Enology Extension Leadership Conference (NVEELC) took place this month, May 20-22, hosted by Washington State University (WSU) Viticulture Extension in Prosser--the heart of Washington State wine country. The 50 extension and outreach specialists who attended represented both viticulture and enology, their experience ranged from 30+ years in their post to less than six months, and they spanned grapegrowing regions from North Dakota to Texas, California to Kansas, Georgia to New Jersey, Missouri to New Mexico, New York to Washington and Oregon. NGRA was proud to help support the event.
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The two-day agenda, expertly planned by WSU's Dr. Michelle Moyer, was packed with professional development and opportunities to share challenges and some smart solutions. And to help seed ideas and identify resources for other regions, it included some special show-and-tell featuring programs and assets unique to Washington:
- Harmonization efforts for clean plant and quarantine processes across Washington, Oregon and Idaho, a collaboration of the Washington Wine Industry Foundation, NW Foundation Block Advisory Group and Washington State Department of Agriculture
- Smoke taint research by the industry's foremost expert, Dr. Tom Collins, WSU
- An initiative to proactively update federal regulations for airblast sprayers led by the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission and researchers at WSU
- An incubator program for startup wineries at Yakima Valley College
- Field Concord and irrigation trials by Dr. Markus Keller at the WSU Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center (IAREC)
- Certified clean plant operations at the Clean Plant Center Northwest at the WSU IAREC
- Sticks-to-whole plants nursery operations at Inland Desert Nursery
- The well-equipped winery and labs at the WSU Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Wine Science Center
- And a selection of the beautiful wine country spaces like the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center, County Line Winery and Restaurant and Col Solare Winery at Red Mountain (shown above)
NVEELC 2018 was made possible by host WSU and sponsors G.S. Long Co. Inc., J. Lohr Vineyards and Wines, Oregon Vineyard Supply, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, Washington Winegrowers and Wilbur-Ellis. And travel scholarships provided by the California Association of Winegrape Growers, California Table Grape Commission and E.&J. Gallo Winery enabled five extension specialists to attend.
NVEELC 2019 will be held in Texas, with exact dates and location to be announced. If you work in extension or outreach, we hope to see you there!
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HOUSE REJECTS FARM BILL, SETS NEW VOTE IN JUNE
Following a failing vote of
213-198 on May 18, the Farm Bill has been tabled by the House of Representatives until June. The final sentence in the resolution regarding its next debate said action on the bill "may continue to be postponed through the legislative day of Friday, June 22."
An aide to Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts said no date has been set for a committee vote on a Senate Farm Bill. Roberts told a Bloomberg reporter that he is aiming for a June 6 vote in committee. The 2014 Farm Bill expires on September 30, 2018.
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SPECIALTY CROP FARM BILL ALLIANCE LAUNCHES WEBSITE
If you're looking to keep up with updates and priorities among specialty crop interests in Farm Bill 2018, check out the new website of the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance at
farmbillalliance.org. NGRA is a proud member of the alliance as are several of our members.
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USDA-ARS MAUREEN WHALEN RETIRED
Best wishes to Dr. Maureen Whalen, who retired on May 11, 2018, from the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS). Maureen served as Deputy Administrator - Crop Production and Protection, whose National Programs deliver science-based information, genetic resources and technologies for increased crop productivity, economically and environmentally sustainable methods of crop production, and protection from plant diseases and pests. A successor has not yet been named.
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BRUCE SUMMERS LEADS USDA-AMS
Bruce Summers, who formerly led the USDA's Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) program, has been named administrator of the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service. He had been acting administrator of the agency. In this position he works on policy issues and oversight of a variety of programs including grading of commodities such as meat, produce, dairy and cotton, the USDA Market News Service, and the National Organic Program.
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USDA ENDS NATIONAL ORGANIC MARKETING ORDER PROPOSAL
The proposed "GRO Organic" (Generic Research Promotion Order for Organics), which would've assessed growers for research and promotion for organic produce, has shown too little interest to proceed, says the USDA.
Read more here.
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PARAISO IS VINEYARD OF THE YEAR
Congratulations to NGRA Board member Jason Smith, whose family farm, Paraiso Vineyards, was named
Vineyard of the Year for 2018 by the California State Fair.
This honor is awarded annually to a vineyard that has produced superior quality grapes over several growing seasons, and whose harvests have contributed to the making of wines that have performed well commercially and been well received by wine connoisseurs.
Note:
Jason also is the new chairman of the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California, Salinas.
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AVF AWARDS $1.4M IN RESEARCH GRANTS
The American Vineyard Foundation (AVF) this month announced funding for 24 viticulture and enology projects. The AVF received 68 proposals for grant consideration covering topics diverse as "Exploring Wine Protocols to Mitigate Smoke Taint" and "Evaluating Fine Root Response to Drought" to "Next Generation Trunk Disease Diagnostics." Each proposal was evaluated by one of the six AVF review committees for scientific merit, the ability to accomplish stated objectives and to deliver value to the industry.
See the complete list of projects for 2018-19 here.
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CDFA APPROVES $3.4M FOR RESEARCH ON PD AND VIRUSES
The
California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA)
Pierce's Disease/Glassy-winged Sharpshooter (aka PD/GWSS) Board approved $3.4 million to fund six research projects related to Pierce's Disease; and nine other research projects related to grapevine red blotch-associated virus, grapevine leafroll viruses and mealybugs for fiscal year 2018-19. Read more.
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EFFICIENT VINEYARD BEGINS MONTHLY WEBINAR SERIES
The Technology Adoption and Outreach Group will be presenting a webinar the second Tuesday of each month beginning June 12, 2018, with an overview discussion of "Precision Viticulture at a Glance." This webinar will provide straight-talk on how applying Precision Viticulture (PV) can take the guesswork out of vineyard management and how a short-term investment in PV can increase profitability, efficiency and sustainability.
Register here.
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August 2017 | Catalyst
This paper by Dr. Patty Skinkis of
Oregon State University was praised by Dr. Markus Keller during NVEELC 2018 (see top story above). It makes the case (with sound research) for spur vs. cane pruning, saying "Converting to spur pruning reduced pruning cost and research/demonstration projects are needed to help small, quality-focused industries make necessary adaptations to their production systems."
May 2018 | Wine Business Monthly
Dr.
Kaan Kurtural
is quoted, explaining the need for a no-touch vineyard block at the
UC Davis Oakville Research Station
: "Labor is getting at a premium or [its availability] is non-existent."
May 15, 2018 | WaterDeeply.com
Funded by a $779,000 grant through the
Natural Resources Conservation Service
, the
The Freshwater Trust
is developing a data-driven system to demonstrate the on-the-ground benefits of cover cropping--and those below the ground, too. It's a high-tech tool for a humble, time-tested practice.
May 10, 2018 | Good Fruit Grower
University of Georgia's Cain Hickey shares the results of a six-year study on how cover crops under the trellis, rootstock selection and root-restrictive bags affect vigor.
May 9, 2018 | New Scientist
China is trying to modify its weather on a grand scale. The nation's scientists want to increase snowfall over an area three times the size of Spain, leading to enough extra meltwater to fight drought and bolster agriculture. The project could have a massive impact--if it works.
May 4, 2018 | The Tribune
NGRA Board Member Jerry Lohr of
J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines
is among the principal donors to the new Center for Wine and Viticulture at
California Polytechnic State University
, which broke ground Friday, May 4. With facilities for crush, fermentation, barrel, sensory work, bottling, enology and viticulture, as well as teaching and research labs, and a bonded winery, the center is anticipated to open by fall 2019.
May 3, 2018 | AgWeb
The Irrigation Innovation Consortium was awarded $5M, matched by
Fresno State and other project partners to bring the total to $10M, for research to increase water and energy efficiency. It also will explore remote sensing and big data applications for water management and irrigation technology acceleration. The grant is sponsored by the
Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research.
May 3, 2018 | NPR Illinois
Jerry Eisterhold of Vox Vineyards in Weston, MO, is working to save long-lost American wine grape varietals--those of Thomas Volney Munson, whose rootstocks were used to help save the European wine industry from phylloxera.
May 1, 2018 | Western Farm Press
Among the Specialty Crop Multi-State Program grants announced by the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, $348,991 was awarded to a project to better understand esca trunk disease in multiple grape-production systems. The project is a collaboration between the California Department of Food and Agriculture, USDA-ARS,
Washington State University
and
UC Davis.
April 30, 2018 | The Packer
Sweet Globes, Sugar Crisp, Cotton Candy, Early Sweet, and more. Newly developed proprietary table grape varieties are about 15% of the Mexican market, but gaining traction with consumers. "The new varieties have a little better storage and shelf life, so they can go on further transit rides."
April 26, 2018 | The Border Mail
Phylloxera creates "weak spots" in blocks with vines presenting yellowing leaves, shorter vines, reduced grape bunches and weed undergrowth. An Australian research trial between
Queensland University of Technology,
Agriculture Victoria
and the
Plant Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre
has shown that UAV-mounted imaging technologies can spot phylloxera-infected vines, and reduce a surveillance process that normally takes trained experts several hours down to "a quarter of an hour or so."
April 25, 2018 | Western Farm Press
Rising labor costs complicate the ability of table grape farms to turn a profit with new plantings, say new cost studies from the
University of California
Agricultural Issues Center. The studies are designed to help growers choose varieties to grow. Only Autumn King and Scarlet Royal turn a slight profit in their first year of commercial production.
April 25, 2018 | AgriLife Today
Congratulations to
Texas A&M University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
, which last week opened "a revolutionary, one-of-a-kind public agriculture and life sciences genome facility." This collaboration between Texas A&M AgriLife Research, their Genomics and Bioinformatics Service and Massachusetts-based
PerkinElmer, Inc.
will offer agriculture-focused genomics.
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June 18-21, 2018
June 22, 2018
NGRA Mid-Year Board Meeting
Monterey, CA
July 9-11, 2018
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