The Pierce’s Disease & Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter (PD/GWSS) Referendum, conducted this spring, passed with 78 percent approval of California winegrape growers. All winegrape producer entities that paid the assessment on grapes crushed in 2019 received ballots and 49 percent cast ballots. Assessment funds are used for research, outreach, and related activities on PD, GWSS, and other designated pests and diseases of …

Registration is open for WAVEx, a condensed version of the research seminar Washington Advancements in Viticulture and Enology (WAVE). The free webinar, to be held on July 9, 2020 from 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., is sponsored by the Washington State Wine Commission and Washington State University. The webinar will feature results of two recent research projects: Improvements in Phenolic Analysis – …

Today, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced an investment of $4.8 million to support 12 projects that will offer workforce training by community colleges. These awards are made possible through the Agricultural and Food Research Initiative’s (AFRI) Agricultural Workforce Training program priority area. This is the first time that the NIFA has specifically targeted community colleges to …

The California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA) along with co-hosts from California, New York, Oregon and Washington hosted a webinar June 5, 2020, sharing the latest consumer and trade perceptions on sustainable wine. Over 500 webinar registrants from 19 U.S. states and representing all aspects of the wine industry attended, confirming strong interest in this topic.Two wine industry research experts, Lulie Halstead, CEO of Wine …

WineAmerica, the national association of American wineries, elected new leaders at its June 3 virtual Board meeting, continuing a long tradition of leadership changes every two years. Janie Brooks Heuck, Managing Director of Brooks Wines in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, ascended from Vice Chair to Chair of the WineAmerica Board. Debra Dommen, Vice President of Government and Industry Affairs at Treasury …

Karen Hearn is the new Vice President of Domestic Marketing for the California Table Grape Commission. Hearn’s responsibilities include leading the domestic retail team, providing strategic direction, and partnering with retailers to motivate consumer purchase of California table grapes. “Karen has long been a valuable member of the table grape team,” said Kathleen Nave, president of the commission, “and now …

The American Society for Enology and Viticulture (ASEV) is pleased to announce a webinar series on invasive pests starting June 3. In lieu of the symposium that was set to take place at the Joint 71st ASEV National Conference and 45th ASEV Eastern Section Annual Meeting on June 15-18, 2020, in Portland, Oregon, the board shifted its format from a …

When local flight instructor Paolo De Censi is flying over the Central Valley, it gives him a chance to glance over at the Fresno State vineyard and winery that have fueled his other passion the past four years. De Censi, who turned 60 in April, received his bachelor’s degree in enology this month, after balancing a full-time class schedule with …

Total acreage harvested by mechanical means was 44,091, nearly 30 percent of the State’s total raisin-type grape acreage, according to the Pacific Region Office of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. The Overhead Trellis System was used on 13,031 bearing acres in 2019, accounting for 8.8 percent of the total raisin-type grape acreage. Fresno and Madera County growers have 49 and …

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced details of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), which will provide up to $16 billion in direct payments to deliver relief to America’s farmers and ranchers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to this direct support to farmers and ranchers, USDA’s Farmers to Families Food Box program is partnering with regional and local …