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Crop Update - 3/22/2007
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UPCOMING EVENTS REMINDER:

Effective Spraying of Vineyards
Tuesday, April 3, 2007                    8:30 AM - 4:00 PM
JCC-North Campus, Dunkirk, NY
Half-day field portion of the course to be scheduled
Effective Spraying of Vineyards brochure

A new course, developed by Dr. Andrew Landers of Cornell University and funded by the New York Farm Viability Institute (NYFVI), is a 1½ day in-depth training course on better spray application techniques and will:

  • improve your knowledge of spraying techniques leading to better deposition and less drift
  • improve your timeliness of application resulting in better disease and insect control
  • reduce off-target drift keeping you within the law
  • show you how to modernize your existing sprayer
  • inform you of new developments in sprayer design keeping you up-to-date
  • help you potentially reduce pesticide use by 30% - 40%, improving your profitability.
Thanks to the grant from the NYFVI, there is no fee for the course. Attendance is limited to 15 people, so make sure to register ahead of time.
Please contact Linda Aures at 716-672-5296 or laures@netsync.net to register for this workshop.
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 Cultural Practices   Hans Walter-Peterson

Manley Anderson

Some of you probably read or heard recently that Manley Anderson, long-time reporter with the Jamestown Post-Journal, has retired and moved on to warmer climes. Manley was a great supporter and ally of agriculture in Chautauqua County, particularly the grape industry. I could count on at least one or two calls from Manley every year around harvest time to check on how things were going to look for the Concord growers that year. And any time there was some cold weather in the winter or early spring, Manley would ring up our office here to see how the vines, and the growers, might have been affected.

Manley understood how important agriculture is to this area, and he had a unique awareness and interest in what was going on. His stories kept the industry in the public's consciousness, and his efforts were always appreciated by us here at the Vineyard Lab. Manley certainly can't be replaced, but hopefully there is somebody else in the local media who will pick up the torch and continue to hold this important industry up in the public's eye.

You can read the Post-Journal's article on Manley's retirement at http://post-journal.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=13555.

Correction
One small correction to something that was in my article last week about nitrogen costs. Jamie Hawk, with the Finger Lakes Grape Program, pointed out that because of new security regulations, virtually all ammonium nitrate no longer contains 33% N as it has in the past, but usually contains something closer to about 27% N. Growers should make sure they are aware of this change when they are calculating how much fertilizer to purchase this year by asking their supplier for some form of documentation as to the N content of the fertilizer.

Weather Facts   Tim Weigle and Edith Byrne
Fri., 3/23 A 40% chance of showers after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 46°.
Friday night: A 30% chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low near 37°.
Sat., 3/24 A slight 20% chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a high near 52°.
Saturday night: A slight 20% chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low near 35°.
Sun., 3/25

Mostly sunny, with a high near 54°.
Sunday night: Mostly clear, with a low near 36°.
Mon., 3/26 Partly cloudy, with a high near 58°.
Monday night: Partly cloudy, with a low near 45°.
Tues., 3/27 A 40% chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a high near 59°.
Tuesday night: A slight 20% chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low near 33°.
Wed., 3/28 Partly cloudy, with a high near 51°.
Weather Facts Information: through Wednesday 3/21/2007
High
Low
Pct.
GDDs
Jan. GDDs
Apr. GDDs
47
19
Trace
0
18.5
0
  Jan. accum. Apr. accum. per/day accum.
Average GDDs: 10.42 0.00 0.19
March Precipitation: 1.76"  
Average Precipitation (March) 2.60"  
Year-to-Date Precipitation 9.17"  
Average High 44.3°    
Average Low 27.0°    
You can follow the DAILY high and low (updated daily) by visiting http://lergp.cce.cornell.edu/Dailys2007.htm. Also, from the main weather page (http://lergp.cce.cornell.edu/weather.htm) you can navigate to other weather information/pages that we maintain for your information and use.
The weather proverb from the Farmer's Almanac this week is:
If the Sun should set in gray, the next day will be a rainy day. . .

Sustainable Viticulture Workbook Project - Update

We have met with growers from Chautauqua, Niagara, Cattaraugus Counties in New York and several growers from PA. for this project which 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.

The workbook questions are painless, self-reflective and the 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 continue to hear from growers and 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.


Lake Erie Regional Grape Program Extension Team Members:
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
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