Month: December 2015

Warm temperatures and pruning

by Terence Bradshaw

I’ve had some growers inquire and there has been general chatter lately about the risk of pruning apples and grapes now, given the warm weather we’ve been having. My advice will apply equally to apple and grape growers, with lessening degrees of caution: hold off as long as you can.

The danger is two-fold. Plants may begin growth if warm weather continues, since most some (i.e., grapes, but not necessarily apples) may have seen the required chill hours needed to break dormancy. Continued, extended warm weather could cause buds to swell or break which would be very susceptible to winter cold. Even if buds stay closed, cold hardiness acclimation is a two-step process initiated by shortening day length (beginning back around August) and gradually decreasing temperatures. It is that last part that likely has perennial plants like apples and grapes in a less than fully acclimated state right now. Past research on pruning apples, grapes, and peaches in fall, and meteorologically, we’re still in late fall, are less hardy to deep cold in mid-winter. I know many growers are going to be ready to get out in the field after the holiday, but if at all possible, wait as long as possible, or at least after a (hopefully gentle) cold snap. Gradually decreasing temperatures will allow plants to harden off better to withstand any cold that may come. Fresh pruning wounds not only are more cold-tender, but also may stimulate bud break if conditions are right.

Thankfully the 10-14 day forecast is calling for just what we need: daytime temperatures (after the Christmas eve warmup) dropping from the 40’s through the 20s and 30s and nighttime temperatures in the teens and twenties. It’s best to leave your trees and vines be until at least the first week in January. I wouldn’t touch a grapevine right now. On apples, the usual advise is worth following: start on your largest semi-dwarf trees and trees with lighter crop load and good nutrition/management in the past season, then move on to smaller, younger, ad more crop-stressed trees.

Enjoy the holidays. We’ll get through this.

Terry

January 12 NGP Webinar Announcement and Registration – Terroir and Typicity in Cold Hardy Grapes

The Northern Grapes Project Webinar Series

“Terroir and Typicity in Cold Hardy Grapes”

Anna Katharine Mansfield

Cornell University

Tuesday, January 12th, 2016

12:00 Noon Eastern (11:00 am Central)

7:00 pm Eastern (6:00 pm Central)

The marketing power of varietal typicity and wine terroir is undeniable, but can be hard for producers (and consumers!) to fully grasp. There’s no simple way to measure typicity, and it’s hard to tease cultivar effects from those of terroir with only a few decades of vintage data from a limited geographical area. Despite that, cold-climate winemakers can be proactive in defining their own terroir and typicity if they understand both the parameters that influence wine character and the way consumers interact with these parameters. This webinar, led by Anna Katharine Mansfield of Cornell University, will mix enology, consumer research and marketing in an effort to further the discussion of Cold-Climate wines and regions.

If you have received this email from someone other than Chrislyn Particka, you need to register via the link below:

https://cornell.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0qPnfNOA5YB2hO5

Registering for one Northern Grapes Webinar will place you on the mailing list, and you will receive announcements and connection instruction for all further Northern Grapes Webinars.

Registration will close at 8 am (Eastern) on Friday, January 8th.

Registration is NOT required if you received this email directly from Chrislyn Particka, as it means that you are a member of the Northern Grapes Webinar mailing list.

All members of the Northern Grapes Webinar mailing list will receive an email the Friday before the webinar containing the web address (URL) for both webinar sessions as well as connection instructions.

There is no charge for this webinar. If you cannot attend one of the live sessions, recordings of all webinars are posted on our website (http://northerngrapesproject.org/?page_id=257) within one week of the webinar date.

Feel free to email Chrislyn Particka (cap297) with any questions, if you want to check your registration status, or if you’d like to be removed from the Northern Grapes Webinar mailing list. (Please note that I will be out of the office on vacation from December 24 – January 4. I will be checking email periodically during this time, and will do my best to respond to urgent matters promptly.)

Please note: WebEx will no longer be supporting the following operating systems:
• Windows Server 2003
• Windows XP
• Mac OS X 10.6
This means that WebEx users will be unable to join or start WebEx meetings, or use any other WebEx application from computers that use these operating systems. Please upgrade computers to a supported operating system so you can continue to use WebEx without interruption.

Further Northern Grapes Project information is available on-line at

 

The Northern Grapes Project is funded by the USDA’s Specialty Crops Research Initiative Program of the National Institute for Food and Agriculture, Project #2011-51181-30850.

Chrislyn A. Particka, PhD

Extension Support Specialist

Cornell University

School of Integrative Plant Science, Horticulture Section

630 W. North Street

Geneva, NY 14456

cap297

315-787-2449 (desk)

315-787-2216 (fax)

www.northerngrapesproject.org

Feb 18, 2016: UVM Apple Pgm & VFTGA Ann Mtg

by Terence Bradshaw

Please save the date for Thursday, February 18 for the 120th Vermont Tree Fruit Growers Association and UVM Apple Program annual meeting. The meeting will be held at the American Legion in Middlebury, VT. registration details will come early in the New Year.

This meeting will include: basics for running an IPM program in your orchard; orchard tree nutrition 101; new insect pests on the horizon and how to manage them; tile drainage in your orchard, and more.

I hope to see everyone there, and best wishes during this holiday season.

-Terry

December Northern Grapes Project News You Can Use – Trellis Systems, Pruning, and Training

News You Can Use

 

Trellis Systems, Pruning, and Training

December 2015

Frontenac grapevines trained (from left to right) high-wire cordon, mid-wire cordon with VSP, Geneva double curtain, and Smart Dyson in the Iowa Northern Grapes training system trial.

Photo: Paul Domto

A major component of any vineyard management system is training and pruning vines in a manner that is appropriate for the cultivar, location, and production goals, among other factors. And, a well-constructed trellis system is critical to support the vines, regardless of the training system that’s chosen. While much of the research being conducted by the Northern Grapes Project Viticulture Team focuses on vineyard management practices and how they affect yield and fruit quality, this issue of News You Can Use includes links to three past webinars and one newsletter article that focus on the basics of trellising, pruning, and training.

– Nuts and Bolts of Canopy Management by Mike White and Tim Martinson. Northern Grapes Project Webinar, February 14, 2012. http://youtu.be/eBGfmsSVJsM

– Trellis Design and Construction and Pruning Fundamentals Prior to Your First Cut by Steve Lerch and Mike White. Northern Grapes Project Webinar, November 20, 2014. http://youtu.be/k88CbR1FDXI

– Comparing and Contrasting Vertical Shoot Positioning and Top Wire Cordon Training Systems by Tim Martinson, John Thull, and Bob Utter. Northern Grapes Project Webinar, February 10, 2015. https://youtu.be/FVLrAOCzQ5E

– Training Systems for Grapevines by Paul Domoto. Northern Grapes News, Vol. 3 Issue 3, p. 8-11.

http://northerngrapesproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/2014SeptNGPnewsletter.pdf

The Northern Grapes Project is funded by the USDA’s Specialty Crops Research Initiative Program of the National Institute for Food and Agriculture, Project #2011-51181-30850

Chrislyn A. Particka, PhD

Extension Support Specialist

Cornell University

School of Integrative Plant Science, Horticulture Section

630 W. North Street

Geneva, NY 14456

cap297

315-787-2449 (desk)

315-787-2216 (fax)

www.northerngrapesproject.org

2016 Northern Grape Symposium and Michigan Grape and Wine Conference.

February Michigan Grape and Wine Conference and Northern Grapes Symposium Registration Open!

The 2016 Michigan Grape and Wine Conference and Northern Grapes Symposium will be held at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in Kalamazoo February 24-26.

Complete conference details are posted at www.michiganwines.com/conference.

2016 Northern Grapes Symposium Kicks Off the Conference February 24

Super Hardy Grape Cultivars: An Option for Michigan and the Upper Midwest
Like a conference within a conference, the Northern Grapes Symposium features a series of sessions to share results of USDA-funded research conducted over the past four years through the Northern Grapes Project. These research projects were conducted by more than 30 researchers in 12 states, targeted to improve knowledge in viticulture, enology and marketing of super cold hardy varieties bred specifically for northern climates at plant breeding programs in the Midwest and New York. Examples of the varieties that are gaining increased support from the industry in the Midwest and other colder regions of the U.S. include Marquette, Frontenac, Petite Pearl, La Crescent and many others. The goal of the Northern Grapes Project is to help producers overcome production and marketing challenges of making and selling wine from these varieties and increase the profitability and sustainability of emerging cold climate grape and wine industries. Visit www.northerngrapesproject.org for more information about the Northern Grapes Project.

New England Public Meeting on Final FSMA Rules – Monday, December 14 – Brattleboro, VT

I’m forwarding this notice from Kristina Sweet at VT Agency of Agriculture of next week’s meeting in Brattleboro to discuss implementation of the recently finalized rules for the Food Safety Modernization Act. This should be of interest to everyone on this list.
–TB

Dear New England Food Systems Colleagues,

I’m writing to share the final agenda for the New England Public Meeting on Final Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Rules, hosted by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets on Monday, December 14 at the Latchis Theatre in Brattleboro, VT.

We have partnered with FDA to bring Mike Taylor, Deputy Commissioner for Foods & Veterinary Medicine, along with FDA subject matter experts to provide overviews of 3 final FSMA rules—Produce Safety, Preventive Controls for Human Food & Preventive Controls for Animal Food—and to answer your questions about what the rules cover and who must comply. This is the only FSMA roll-out meeting that FDA plans to attend in the Northeast.

Please see the agenda (attached and below) for the full schedule and presenter information.

Feel free to direct any questions to me at kristina.sweet or (802) 522-7811 and share the attached agenda and flyer with your networks. We hope to see you there!

Best,

The Vermont Agency of Agriculture Produce Safety Team

Kristina Sweet, Abbey Willard & Shelley Mehlenbacher

AGR.FSMA

http://go.usa.gov/3SV3F

—

New England Public Meeting on Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Final Rules

Hosted by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets

http://go.usa.gov/3SV3F

Monday, December 14, 2015

9:30 AM to 4:30 PM

Latchis Theatre

, 50 Main Street

, Brattleboro, VT

9:30–10:00 AM: Reception (Refreshments provided.)

10:00–10:40 AM: Welcome & Opening Remarks

· Chuck Ross, Vermont Secretary of Agriculture

· Walter Whitcomb, Maine Commissioner of Agriculture & Northeast Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NEASDA) President

· Mike Taylor, FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods & Veterinary Medicine

10:40 AM–12:00 PM

· FSMA Preventive Controls for Human Food

· Final Rule Overview with Question & Answer Session

· Presenter: Jenny Scott, Senior Advisor, Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition

12:00–1:30 PM: Break (Lunch will not be provided.)

1:30–2:50 PM

· FSMA Produce Safety Rule

· Final Rule Overview with Question & Answer Session

· Presenter: Samir Assar, Director, Office of Produce Safety, Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition

2:50–3:00 PM: Break

3:00–4:20 PM

· FSMA Preventive Controls for Animal Food

· Final Rule Overview with Question & Answer Session

· Presenter: Dan McChesney, Director, Office of Surveillance & Compliance, Center for Veterinary Medicine

4:20–4:30 PM: Closing Remarks

Kristina M. Sweet

Produce Safety Coordinator

Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets

116 State Street

Montpelier, VT 05620

kristina.sweet | (802) 522-7811

www.vermontagriculture.com

December 14 FSMA Meeting Agenda.pdf

New England Meeting Flyer.pdf

Winter meetings reminder

A gentle reminder and heads-up of upcoming meetings:

1. New England Vegetable and Fruit Meetings, December 15-17, 2015 in Manchester, NH: http://www.newenglandvfc.org/registration.html. There are two Tree Fruit sessions on Tuesday, December 15, one Stone Fruit session on Wednesday, December 16, and two Viticulture sessions on December 17. There is also a Hard Cider session which I will be moderating on Wednesday, December 16.

2. UVM Apple Program / Vermont Tree Fruit Growers Association 120th Annual Meeting, February 18, 2016 at the Middlebury American Legion. Topics tentatively include: IPM 101 (developing a monitoring and scouting program for your orchard), apple replant disease research in Vermont and beyond, orchard tile drainage, and orchard nutrition. Details to come.

I hope to see many of you at these educational opportunities,

Terry