Calendar of Events

WAWGG Grower Caucus  

NGWI Board of

Directors Meeting

Sacramento, CA

January 23, 2012

WA Association

of Wine Grape Growers

Annual Meeting

Kennewick, WA

February 7-10, 2012

Quick Links

The U. S. Department of Agriculture recently announced the award of 29 grants across 19 states to develop and share science-based tools to address the needs of America's specialty crop industry. USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded the grants through its Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI).

An NGWI project - Accelerating Grape Cultivar Improvement was awarded $2 million (as part of a continuation grant for approximately $5 million). John Martini, NGWI's Board Chairman stated, "We are extremely pleased that this critically important project was selected by the USDA for funding. The findings from this research could change the way we grow grapes."

The project led by Cornell grape breeder Bruce Reisch, professor of horticulture takes a complementary approach to a common problem: how to make grape breeding more efficient, since new grape varieties can take more than 20 years to breed and evaluate and much longer to reach commercial success. "We are focusing on developing wine, juice, table and raisin grapes with three attributes: fruit quality, cold hardiness and resistance to powdery mildew, a fungal pathogen that is costly to control," said Reisch.

Reisch is working with 24 scientists from grape breeding programs across the country on this project to streamline genomewide DNA analysis and trait-screening methods to more efficiently identify promising progeny. His project team also includes Cornell plant pathologists, enologists, scientists with the USDA-Agricultural research Service in Geneva and Ithaca; and experts with Cornell's Life Sciences Core Laboratories for genomics and computation biology.

The linking of DNA markers to specific traits -- such as an undesirable grassy aroma or a highly desirable disease resistance -- will make breeding for complex traits more efficient. It will also allow breeders to develop varieties with enhanced disease resistance based on multiple resistance genes, which Reisch hopes will satisfy consumers and growers interested in organic or sustainable production.

Also receiving funding were two other NGWI-supported projects: a continuation grant to Dr. Jim Ayars and Dr. Andrew McElrone to develop improved techniques for growing grapes with less water or water which is more saline; and a planning grant to Dr. Kendra Baumgartner and Dr. Themis Michailides to develop a full-scale research progect to address trunk diseases for grapes.

By the October 15th deadline, the House and Senate Agriculture Committees advised the federal budget "super committee" how to cut $23 billion from the federal agricultural budget. The bulk of the cuts would be made to commodity support programs; the research program, under their recommendation, would be spared further cuts. At the same time, the National Grape & Wine Initiative joined 1200 organizations, individuals and companies in calling for support agricultural research. The following is an excerpt from that letter:

"The success of the agriculture and food industry plays a significant role in the overall health and security of the U.S. economy and has been one of the few bright spots in recent years. In 2010, U.S. farms and ranches spent $288 billion to produce goods valued at $369 billion; the value of U.S. food and agriculture exports is expected to be more than $140 billion in 2011, creating a record trade surplus of $42.5 billion. Furthermore, the jobs of 21 million Americans depend on the vitality of the U.S. agriculture and food sector."

"Investments in publicly funded research are critical for maintaining a successful agriculture and food sector. For every $1 invested in publicly funded agricultural research, $20 in economic activity is generated. Budgetary decisions made today have far reaching impacts, as the scientific research funded today will be responsible for enhancing the Nation's agricultural productivity and economic prosperity in the future."

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack named NGWI President Jean-Mari Peltier to another one-year term on the Department's official research advisory board. The National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board consists of 25 individuals from a broad cross section of agricultural research interests.  Its role is to advise the Secretary of USDA as well as the Congress on national research priorities.  It also evaluates the relevance of research and the adequacy of its funding.  Last year, Peltier was elected by her peers on NAREEE as its chair.

"I am honored to be re-appointed to serve in this capacity - particularly as we move into discussions about research programs authorized under the Farm Bill, " Peltier said.  "With acute awareness of fiscal constraints, it will be more important than ever to make sure that USDA continues to invest in agricultural productivity.  Making sure that programs address the critical research questions with major impacts will continue to be my goal.  Maintaining research, education and extension capacity is crucial if the U.S. is to continue to have a world-class system."

The next meeting of the NAREEE Advisory Board will be held November 7 to 9 in Washington, D.C.