Wine Grape Field Day Is Aug. 1 at the Horticulture Research Station

Jul 19, 2024

By Aude Watrelot and Suzanne Slack

The Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition and the Department of Horticulture at Iowa State University will host the 2024 Wine Grape Field Day on Thursday, Aug. 1 at the Iowa State University Horticulture Research Station near Ames.

The field day will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will feature various research and demonstrations on grapevine management including trellis systems, canopy management, pest and diseases management and evaluation of grape maturity depending on grape cultivars.

The field day is for anyone interested in learning about grape growing and winemaking, from hobbyists, to grape growers and winemakers, extension personnel and nonprofit organizations.

The field day involves participation from faculty, staff and graduate students from the Department of Horticulture, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, and the Horticulture Research Station.

"This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in learning about the challenges and the process of growing grapes, up to the first steps of winemaking," said Aude Watrelot, assistant professor and extension enology specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. "This is also a great opportunity to share ideas and be informed about what is happening in the specialty crop and grape industry in Iowa, as well as ongoing research projects."

Suzanne Slack, assistant professor and extension fruit crop specialist at Iowa State, said there will be some discussion about the challenges of growing grapes in the Midwest.

“Diseases in cold hardy grapes can be extra challenging as the genetics of the vines are different than their well-studied European relatives,” she said. “Learn about major vineyard diseases in the Midwest climate as we talk about some of our trial work at the field day.”

The Horticulture Research Station is located at 55519 170th St., Ames. Participation is capped at 50, to keep the event interactive and engaging. Registration is free but required.

Source : iastate.edu

Video: Western Canadian Agriculture: Hard Times Made the World's Best Farmers

Western Canadian agriculture produced the most advanced farmers in the world not through abundance but through adversity. The crow rate fell. The wheat price went nowhere. The brown envelopes stopped.

When the subsidies disappeared, the bad farmers left and the good ones stayed. And the ones who stayed could not just grow wheat anymore. They started growing lentils and canola and peas and flax and faba beans. They built crop rotation. They got serious about agronomy because there was no government backstop. That process produced the Western Canadian agriculture Dennis Bulani describes in this clip: the most advanced, most educated farming culture in the world.

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The lesson Dennis draws from the tale of two farms: continuous improvement is the only durable strategy. When canola was $22 a bushel some growers went to Arizona instead of the Crop Production Show. When the price came down those same growers came back to the research and the discipline. Products do not go on Rack Petroleum's shelves unless they pass a replicated trial first. That is what Western Canadian agriculture built through hard times: farmers who do the work whether the times demand it or not.

Dennis Bulani is CEO of Rack Petroleum and Ultimate Yield in Biggar, Saskatchewan. Dan Aberhart hosts GTF Productions, Western Canadian Agriculture's foremost live briefing platform and its foremost AI training platform for ag operators