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| Crop Update - 3/1/2007 | |||
| Back to the Lake Erie Regional Grape Program Home Page | |||
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UPCOMING EVENTS REMINDER:
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Sustainable Viticulture Workbook Project - Update
We have completed 18 workbooks so far with growers in the Lake Erie Region - we have met with growers from Chautauqua, Niagara, Cattaraugus Counties in New York and several growers from PA.! This project is a cooperative effort of growers, processors, the Finger Lakes Regional Grape Program, Long Island Grape Program and the Lake Erie Regional Grape Program.
Going over the questions in the workbook typically takes about 90 minutes. Depending on your operation and the type of grapes you are growing doesn't make any difference either - we are interested in everyone's input, no matter how many acres you have. Once you have completed the first phase of going through the workbook and answering the questions scaled from 1 (best practice) to 4 (should look at this practice to see if it can be improved), a follow-up visit is scheduled with a member of the SWCD from your county (they have the money to help with cost sharing) to discuss how you might be able to move the practices that received a rating of 4 to a rating closer to 1 - this is the Action Plan meeting. In Chautauqua County these follow-up visits will be scheduled with us (Edith Byrne and TimWeigle) and Dave Wilson from CCSWCD. We have our first Action Plan meetings scheduled for next week.
The workbook questions are painless, self-reflective and the time spent is not unenjoyable! Comments made by growers' are very positive - including how going over the questions makes them think about their total operation, or how they might be able to do or think about something differently, etc.
We are still asking for more volunteers to go through the workbook, answering the questions that pertain to them (and let us know what questions do not pertain to their operation). We have appointments set up with more growers through the month... If you are interested in working with us on this project please send Edith an email at emb35@cornell.edu or give her a call at 716.672.6830 so she can schedule an appointment with you.
| 2006 NY & PA Pest Management Guidelines are available on-line at: http://ipmguidelines.org/grapes/ | |
| If you prefer a hard copy version you can contact your local Lake Erie Regional Grape Program Extension office or local county extension office for partner counties (Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, NY, Erie, PA and Niagara). | |
| Download Adobe Reader - free software that lets you view, print, search, and share Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files. |  |
| Grape Integrated Pest Management | Tim Weigle |
http://www.nysipm.cornell.edu/press_rel/davenport.asp
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| Dr. Donald Rutz, Director, NYS IPM Program presenting NYS Excellence in IPM Award to Tom Davenport National Grape Cooperative at the Viticulture 2007 Unity Banquet. |
| Farm Business Management | Barry Shaffer |
"Two in Ten" Rule
Dr. Dave Kohl wrote recently in The Corn and Soybean Digest about the old guideline for commodity agriculture, the Two in Ten Rule. I think this rule applies to our area also. Basically over a decade, approximately two years will be very profitable. Weather and markets create a pricing or cost situation where all businesses make money. For the other eight years, only the good business managers make money or minimize their losses.
Currently the grain industry is the hot area of agriculture. I think back to our peak years in 1991 and 1999. Both years we saw above average yields across the board coupled with good (not peak) prices. Since we are seven years from our last outstanding year, we may be due to have another one sooner, rather than later! The take home message is that you need to prepare for the usual year and be pleasantly surprised in one of these super years!
| Grape Cultural Practices | Hans Walter-Peterson |
We have heard from a few different people that federal immigration officials are in the western New York region, and because of that, some pruning workers are not coming out to finish pruning vineyards. We have had no official contact with anyone from a federal agency to confirm this, but the word is out there, and that is apparently having an effect.
We have no idea how long they might be in the area, so the impact from this may be a short-term one or it may impact the rest of the pruning season. Either way, this points out the new reality that growers are facing with regard to getting pruning labor each winter. Until the federal government passes new immigration policies and programs, the labor issue for farmers will be very uncertain.
For grape growers in this area, in a way this is not a completely new phenomenon. In partial response to the difficulty to get people to hand harvest vineyards, the mechanical grape harvester was developed, reducing labor needs tremendously. Similarly, we now have mechanical pruning systems that are able to reduce or even eliminate the need for hired pruning labor. Not only do the machines reduce the amount of hand labor needed for pruning, but research done with growers out here has proven that vineyards pruned with these mechanical systems can be just as productive as those pruned by hand, while cutting pruning costs by 50% or possibly even more.
Several growers in the Lake Erie region are now using these systems over most if not all of their acreage, and the machines are available at some of the farm equipment suppliers in the area. An analysis done by Barry Shaffer last year showed that a grower could justify the cost of purchasing a mechanical pruner with as little as 22 acres (I have attached a handout from Barry about this analysis, which includes the assumptions he used in it - it is in pdf format so please use the link above to download Adobe if you do not have Adobe reader on your computer [Breakeven Points For Mechanical Pruning-Shaffer.pdf]).
I know it's a little late in the season to be talking about purchasing a mechanical pruner, but if it becomes more and more difficult to find pruning labor (as it seems the trend is going), more growers will need to adopt this kind of technological solution. For now, though, probably one of the best things that growers can do is get in touch with their federal representatives to let them know about what is happening and how this might be affecting your ability to farm.
| Weather Facts | Tim Weigle and Edith Byrne |
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| The weather proverb from the Farmer's Almanac this week is: |
| If Groundhog Day (2/2) be fair and bright, Winter will have another flight . . . |
One last time... Building Inspections by Towns Started January 1, 2007
The New York Department of State recently issued new regulations governing the inspection of all non-residential buildings by town officials. Under these new regulations, which went into effect on January 1, 2007, all non-residential buildings, including farm buildings, will need to be inspected every three years for compliance with the property maintenance code and certain aspects of the fire safety code.
While historically farm buildings have been exempt from the building code, they have had to adhere to the property maintenance code and fire safety code provisions dealing with general safety methodologies and practices. Unfortunately, the recently revised versions of these codes were intended for non-residential buildings such as office buildings and do not recognize the unique nature of farm buildings. They therefore have a series of requirements that could prove to be quite costly to farmers. Beyond that there has been no clear guidance given to farmers about which aspects of the fire code they need to follow.
New York Farm Bureau has been actively engaged with the Department of State over the past few months to address this situation. While the Department has committed to addressing this issue, a formal solution will not be possible until after the regulations are in place. With that in mind, the Department is advising towns to NOT inspect farm buildings until after a formal solution has been reached.
If you are visited by a building inspector: Recognizing that not all towns may receive this position from the Department, we are advising farms to politely request that any building inspector intent on inspecting the farm first contact:
Cheryl Fischer, P.E. Assistant Director of Code Interpretations
New York State Department of State Code Enforcement and Administration
41 State Street, Suite 1130, Albany, NY 12231
Tel: 518-474-4073
FAX: 518-486-4487
Additionally, in order to protect your livestock, building inspectors should be adhering to appropriate biosecurity protocols when entering the farm. A list of Best Management Practices for farm visitors can be found on our website: www.nyfb.org. Inspectors who have questions should again contact Cheryl Fischer.
Please be assured that New York Farm Bureau is committed to finding a solution to this issue and will keep you updated on the progress. If there are building inspectors that are not understanding of the unique position of agriculture, please let us know and the Department of State will discuss the issue with them.
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UPCOMING EVENTS: |
| Andy Muza | Extension Agent, Erie County, PA Cooperative Extension | (814) 825-0900 |
| Barry Shaffer | Area Extension Farm Business Management Educator | (716) 679-3185 |
| Hans Walter-Peterson | Area Extension Grape Cultural Practices Educator | (716) 672-2191 |
| Tim Weigle | Sr. Area Extension Educator, Grape IPM | (716) 672-6830 |
| For
any questions or comments on the format of this update please contact Tim Weigle at: timweigl@netsync.net |
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The Lake Erie Regional Grape Program Website is maintained by the NYS Grape IPM Program |
| 412 E. Main Street, Fredonia, N.Y. 14063 | Telephone: 716-672-5296 | E-mail: Webmaster |