About Program

There are approximately 30,000 acres of vineyard in the Lake Erie region of New York and Pennsylvania grown on 840 farms, making this the largest grape growing region outside of California.
Of this acreage, 98.5% consists of Labrusca (American Grape) varieties such as 'Concord' and 'Niagara' which are used for juice, jam and other fresh or fermented products. The Lake Erie Regional Grape Program consists of Extension Educators and research faculty/staff from Cornell University and Penn State University devoted to projects aimed at increasing yields, product quality, diversity and improvement of cultivars, efficiency of production, profitability and adoption of environmentally sound cultural and pest management strategies.
The Lake Erie Regional Grape Program is supported, in part, by
five
county Cornell Cooperative Extensions including:
Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie and Niagara Counties in New York
and Erie County in Pennsylvania.
To visit one of these Cornell Cooperative Extension's web sites,
simply click on a county within the map.

Upcoming Events
LERGP Winter Conference Series- 2 Virtual -1 In Person

December 9, 2022
February 9, 2023
March 16, 2023
2023 NYSDEC How to Get Certified Course

March 23, 2023
Portland, NY
This course is to prepare you for the pesticide applicator exam scheduled for March 30, 2023, to be held at CLEREL.
Announcements
Westfield Maid Coop Takes FIRST Place
Westfield Maid Cooperative, one of the largest and oldest marketing grower cooperatives based in the Lake Erie grape growing region, won the top prize in the best new beverage category for its "Good n' Grapey" Concord grape juice pouches, aimed at supplying school cafeterias. Westfield Maid, the state's first New York State Grown & Certified juice processor, was part of the 2019 "Grape-to-School" pilot program that aimed to bring New York-grown Concord grape juice to select school districts across the state. Its pilot product used foil-topped plastic juice cups, which often required storage in schools' already limited freezer space. The new juice pouches are shelf-stable with colorful branding designed to encourage more kids to drink Concord grape juice.READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Spotted Lanternfly Public Service Announcement
Please take a look at this PSA on YouTube. It is narrated by our very own Jennifer Phillips Russo.Recorded Coffee Pot Meetings
You may not be able to obtain Pesticide License Recertification points but you can gain plenty of valuable information by watching the coffee pot meetings if you missed them! We have had some special guest speakers sharing valuable information with us!Click the link below for access to all of the recorded LERGP Coffee Pot Meetings!
Recorded LERGP Coffee Pot Meetings
LERGP Podcasts- check them out!
LERGP POD CASTS
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