Pierce’s Disease (PD) is a serious threat to the cultivation of grapes in the United States, especially in the warmer southern regions. Recently the UC Davis grape breeding program has developed new European (Vitis vinifera) grape selections with resistance to PD that are expected to produce high quality yield in regions with PD pressure where the Vitis vinifera production was previously not a …
Agriculture and the science of crop protection materials is too often misunderstood by the public and is under constant attack by extremists in the political arena. As legislation and jurisdiction begins to more commonly ignore sound science in their decision-making, farmers are rightfully concerned about the future of agriculture and what may or may not be in their power to …
SAN FRANCISCO — Wine Institute concludes its California Wine Country Back Roads series this month with highlights from Southern California wine country, extending south from Ventura County to San Diego County. California is home to some of the world’s most famous wine destinations. Yet, even the high-profile appellations have less traveled wine roads, featuring gorgeous scenery, acclaimed wines and fewer visitors. Before …
Picking decisions and pre-fermentation adjustments rely on accurate analysis of grape maturity indices such as Brix, TA, pH and yeast assimilable nitrogen (YAN). But, no matter how precise and careful the analysis is, the information provided may be misleading if a representative sample has not been collected. When taking a vineyard sample, sampling should be based on a standardized protocol …
A vineyard floor is designed to manage water, soil character, erosion, and compaction.. It is comprised of any bare ground and plant material other than grapevines, whether native vegetation or planted ground cover. The best floor for vine rows and row middles is determined by a combination of factors including – the vigor potential of the site, vigor potential of …
There are so many factors that influence crop yield from year to year and variability across vineyard blocks, making it quite difficult to predict crop size. But what if you could get a good idea of next year’s crop yields before the season even starts? Watch this brief interview with Luca Brillante from the Dept. of Viticulture & Enology at …
In today’s fast paced urban society, there is a serious disconnect between consumers and the source of their food. There is so much public misinformation and misconceptions about agriculture, that it has become more critical for farmers to reach out side of their comfort zone and communities to share the truth about what they do out in the field. International …
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists, in cooperation with Pacific Biosciences and Penn State University, have published the first genome of the invasive Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) in the journal Gigascience and they did it from a single caught-in-the-wild specimen. Not only is it the first published genome for this pest, but no closely related species has had its genome sequenced, making the data even more important, …
It used to be that growers had few if any options in bring uniformity to a vineyard with so much variability in soil type among other geographical characteristics. There have been so many recent developments and technological advances in plant and soil sensing equipment that has taken precision viticulture to a whole new level. Watch this brief interview with UC …
An increasing tight labor supply has compelled grape growers to turn to mechanization, and spur pruning grapevines can save growers a lot of money over cane pruning; however, there has been a belief in the industry that spur pruning Pinot Noir vineyards leads to reduced yields in comparison. Watch this brief interview with Patty Skinkis from Oregon State University as …
jim grady: I think Jeff is a little out of touch with the current market. There is NO spot...