Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/603228
10 DECEMBER 2015 Good Fruit Grower www.goodfruit.com USDA awards grant for vineyard research F ederal funding has been awarded to research, develop, and apply new grape-growing technologies. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded the $6 million grant over four years under the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI). The research project is led by Dr. Terry Bates of Cornell University, New York, and Dr. Stephen Nuske of Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania, and has sup- port from experts at the University of California at Davis and Newcastle University in England. The project builds on an industry-funded pilot project focused on technologies and tools for precision vineyard management through digital mapping. "We believe it will lead to the commercialization of hardware and software that will benefit growers of wine, juice, raisin, and table grapes, nationwide," says Jean- Mari Peltier, president of the National Grape and Wine Initiative, which helped to secure the funding. The pilot project has enabled the creation of digital management maps of soils, canopies, and crops, provid- ing data to growers in a number of areas, including crop yield, soil conditions, irrigation and fertilization needs, canopy growth, and the color and maturity of grapes—all of which help farmers manage both vineyards and the crops. "This project exemplifies what the specialty crop industry has been looking for from SCRI," said John Aguirre, president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers, and chair of the National Grape and Wine Initiative Board. "Because of grower involvement from day one, it reflects an industry-driven research agenda to ensure the outcome will be relevant and valuable to the nation's grape growers and ultimately American consumers." Karen Lewis heads tree fruit team K aren Lewis, Washington State University extension specialist for the past 28 years, has been appointed leader of the university's tree fruit extension team. She assumes some of the duties of former tree fruit team leader, Dr. Desmond Layne, who was appointed direc- tor of the Agricultural and Food Systems and Integrated Plant Sciences program at WSU's Pullman campus. Lewis grew up in Panama and earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in horticulture from the University of Arizona, Tucson. She joined WSU Extension in Grant County in 1987. For the past decade, she has been working to integrate orchard systems, technology, and people. She said her strength is in bringing the sciences and disciplines together to answer questions and challenges in the field that require a multidisciplinary approach. "It's about getting the right people in the orchard on the right machine in the right orchard system so every- one either earns more money or has a better day," she said. "My work in the last ten years has been to evaluate and validate some of the commercially available equip- ment in mechanical pruning, mechanical thinning, and mechanical harvest assist." Lewis's appointment coincides with other leader- ship changes in the industry. Dr. Jim McFerson, for- merly manager of the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission, is now director of WSU's Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center in Wenatchee, and Dr. Mike Willett, formerly vice president for scientific affairs at the Northwest Horticultural Council, has taken McFerson's place at the commission. Lewis said she will be working closely with McFerson and Willett, as well as with Dr. Gary Grove, director of WSU's Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center in Prosser. "This is a great time," she said. "These four people will have a lot to do with the success of the research and extension components in the tree fruit industry, whether they be private sector, public sector, WSU, or wherever." "It's about getting the right people in the orchard on the right machine in the right orchard system so everyone either earns more money or has a better day." —Karen Lewis