The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Risk Management Agency (RMA) have authorized policy flexibilities for key disaster assistance programs and crop insurance to aid Northeast agricultural operations that have been significantly impacted by recent flooding in 2023. “The production and physical losses to flooding have devastated farmers and ranchers in the Northeast,” said Robert Bonnie, …

As the weather has warmed up, most grape varieties are at or past early bud swell. Juice grapes and early hybrids are at full bud break with first leaves starting to fold out. Other hybrids and early vinifera varieties have opened up, but leaf material is not yet visible. Dormant pruning should be ending. The disease focus at this time …

Winter, spring, summer, fire season, and fall – as Californians, we have all become accustomed to a fifth season – fire season.  Even worse, fire season was once confined to just a few months, but now is a threat for most of the year.  So, what is a vineyard owner to do?  We have some critical suggestions for you with …

The Texas High Plains is home to 80% of the grapes that fuel a burgeoning Texas wine industry. But the High Plains is also home to some formidable obstacles to grape growing, which is why Texas A&M AgriLife has focused research initiatives to help growers find solutions. One of the people supporting that industry is Pierre Helwi, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the …

The Minnesota grape and wine industry is expanding and contributes to over $80M in economic activity, and Minnesota grape growers have expressed a need for more introductory and continuing education for best sustainable viticultural practices. With funding and support from the North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NCR-SARE), a collaboration between the University of Minnesota’s Extension and the Grape …

Thanks to the warming climate, the potential for more severe nighttime wildfires is increasing, and warmer nights mean firefighters will not be able to rely on cooler temperatures to help them get a handle on fires, a new study shows. Forty years ago, cool, moist nights regularly provided relief to firefighters, and “flammable nights” that facilitated fire activity were rare. …

With so much attention paid to climate change, the 2022 Unified Wine and Grape Symposium this January has appropriately recruited the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) climate director to open the prestige three-day event. As Unified’s Tuesday luncheon keynote speaker, Dr. Steven Ostoja, director of the USDA California Climate Hub, will offer his  insights into how a changing climate …