Month: October 2014

2014 Tile Drainage School, Capital District November 12

This may be of interest to area growers. -TB

 

Hi folks,  We already have over 30 registrants.  Please do not wait until the last minute to register.  I know this topic is important to many of you. We have a great program planned.  See you there.  Aaron Gabriel

 

Register at http://cnydfc.cce.cornell.edu/event.php?id=157  or by calling (315) 866-7920. 

 

2014 Tile Drainage School at “The Factory Eatery”

20 Prospect Street, Ballston Spa, NY 12020

November 12, 2014

10:00a-3:00p

You will learn:

Tile drainage Economics and Agronomic Benefits

Conservation Compliance

Installing Drainage Systems

Minimizing Environmental Risks of the Drainage water

$40.00 per person and includes lunch.  Register by November 7th, 2014, space is limited.  3 Certified Crop Advisor CEU’s  available in Soil and Water Management! 

Register at http://cnydfc.cce.cornell.edu/event.php?id=157  or by calling (315) 866-7920. 

Aaron Gabriel                     Kevin Ganoe                               Ashley Pierce

(518) 380-1496                         (315) 219-7786                         (518) 272-4210

adg12@cornell.edu                    khg2@cornell.edu                      arp253@cornell.edu

 

Aaron Gabriel, Sr. Extension Resource Educator, Agronomy

Cornell Cooperative Extension 518-380-1496 cell

415 Lower Main St.                   518-746-2560 office

Hudson Falls, NY 12839           adg12@cornell.edu

www.fieldcrops.org

Cornell Cooperative Extension

Capital Area Agriculture and Horticulture Program

http://blogs.cornell.edu/capitalareaagandhortprogram/

Grape Industry Advisory Meeting Announcement – Final

October 14, 2014

North Country Grape Industry
Advisory Meeting
With Dinner and Tour

Thursday, November 6, 2014
Willsboro & Keeseville, NY

You’re invited on a tour of on-going research projects and a meeting to advise the future of the cold-hardy wine grape industry in the North Country.
Cornell Cooperative Extension needs your input for determining the future of the grape industry in northern New York and Vermont! We invite you to participate in a tour of our grape variety trial at the Cornell Willsboro Research Farm followed by an advisory meeting. This meeting is open to wineries and current or prospective grape growers, interested in growing cold-hardy grape varieties.
Your input will be used to guide the future of the wine grape variety trial at the Willsboro Research Farm and Cornell Cooperative Extension’s involvement in the industry.

We are trying to capture everyone from licensed wineries and amateur and potential growers/winemakers. Participants should complete page #2 of the attached registration form and return it with their $10 registration fee to the address listed.

For more information, contact:

Anna Wallis

CCE Extension Associate – Fruit Specialist

Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program

6064 State Route 22 Suite 5

Plattsburgh, NY 12901

Cell: 443.421.7970

Fax: 518.561.0183

aew232

Willsboro Advisory Meeting Nov 2014.docx

UVM ‘Cider apple’ research earns USDA grant

UVM Food Systems Faculty awarded USDA Federal State Market Improvement Program grant to study apple production systems to support hard cider industry.

Hard cider is big business in Vermont and across the U.S., with average annual growth of over 50% nationwide for the past five years. However, little research has been conducted in the U.S. on costs of production for apples grown for hard cider production, opportunities to reduce inputs and change management practices in cider apple orchards, or economic impact of cider apple production systems. University of Vermont faculty Terence Bradshaw, Tree Fruit and Viticulture Specialist, and David Conner, Agricultural Economist, were awarded a multi-year, $75,000 USDA grant (“Orchard Economic Assessment to Support Vermont Hard Cider Production”) to conduct that research through collaborations with commercial apple growers and cideries in Vermont. Supporting partners providing matching funds include Vermont Hard Cider Company and Vermont Tree Fruit Growers Association. Specific objectives of the project include: an evaluation of production costs to grow apples specifically for processing into hard cider; quantification of per-acre yield and fruit quality of cider-grown fruit in diverse orchard systems; identification of orchard management practices that may be modified to enhance profitability of cider apple production systems, and; calculation of economic impact on the cidery industry using different scenarios based on the results of the above objectives. The project builds on work presently being conducted by the investigators through a complementary project, “Apple Market Optimization and Expansion through Value-Added Hard Cider Production”, funded by the Vermont Working Lands Enterprise Initiative. More information on the recent USDA awards can be found here and a list of FSMIP project awards is available here.

Northern Grapes Project: October News You Can Use: Wine Deacidification

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News You Can Use

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Wine Deacidification

The effectiveness of seed crystals to reduce acidity is being evaluated in La Crescent, Frontenac, and Frontenac gris in a study at Cornell University.

photo: Chris Gerling

One of the challenges in making wine from cold-hardy cultivars is the high acid levels in the grapes.  Therefore, one of the objectives for the Northern Grapes Project Enology Team is to optimize deacidification methods for these cultivars, which has been a focal point in their research projects and outreach activities.

As harvest is either underway or complete in most of the cold-climate states, now is a good time to review deacidification strategies.  Two Northern Grapes Project webinars (Managing Acidity in the Wineryand Malolactic Fermentation) and two newsletter articles (Necessary Evil: Chemical Deacidification for High Acid Wineand Using Selected Yeast Strains to Reduce Wine Total Acidity) have focused on this topic.

 

Additional Resources:

 

Practical Considerations for Managing Wine Acidity by Ellen Butz.

 

Managing High Acidity in Grape Must and Wine by Jim Harbertson and Thomas Henick-Kling.