PORTLAND, N.Y. — Cornell Cooperative Extension Chautauqua County’s Lake Erie Regional Grape Program is excited to announce;
The Lake Erie grape region consists of 30,300 acres of grapes located in a narrow belt between Harbor Creek, PA and Silver Creek, NY. The meso-climate between the lake and 700ft elevation rise of the escarpment help moderate temperature, making the area an ideal place to grow grapes and other tender fruits. Decades of industrial pollution into the Great Lakes has led to major efforts to monitor lake stress levels and improve water quality. In northern Chautauqua County, surface and ground water flows from the escarpment, through local vineyards, and into Lake Erie. The Lake Erie Regional Grape Program is conscious of how production practices may impact the Lake Erie watershed and are continually conducting research and working with the Lake Erie grape industry in the implementation of research-based practices to minimize nutrient and sediment runoff.
Applying nutrient fertilizers is a common, necessary, practice in most area grape vineyards. By adding elements like nitrogen and potassium, grape growers aim to increase vine productivity and optimize fruit quality. However, applying excessive amounts of mineral nutrients can lead to runoff into local waterways. With help from the Lake Erie Regional Grape Program (LERGP), area grape growers are educated on how to accurately measure vineyard nutrient requirements and efficiently apply what is needed. This outreach effort provides specific nutrient recommendations that meet grape vines needs and limit excess nutrients that could find their way into nearby watersheds.
The most commonly used fertilizers in area grape vineyards contain nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, and calcium. These nutrients help grape vines thrive in different ways. Nitrogen promotes growth, potassium help to speed up the metabolic processes that produce sugar, magnesium plays a key role in photosynthesis, and calcium helps add structure to plant cells. To determine the amount of nutrients needed, soil and plant material tests are taken and analyzed. Test results are used by LERGP to develop an efficient vineyard nutrient management plan.
Research on soil health in vineyards conducted by Cornell University has evolved as management practices change. Current projects focus on maximizing soil health – which includes soil chemical, physical, and biological properties – and minimizing environmental impact. The idea that “more is better” has become a thing of the past. During the 1980s, it was common for grape growers to apply three to five times more nitrogen fertilizer than the vines receive now. Vineyard nutrient research at Cornell has identified how much nitrogen commercial vineyards need, the time of the year for optimum vine nitrogen uptake, and how nitrogen needs change with different soil types in the region. Taken together, these research findings have led to more efficient nitrogen fertilizer recommendations that balance vineyard production with environmental sustainability
Long-term profit margins continue to be tight for grape growers and short term losses are a frequent reality. As a result vineyard efficiency is a driving force in LERGP’s educational efforts. Moving forward, the grape program plans to continue research and extension efforts that create awareness and accuracy of nutrient application. Soil types and vine size change throughout the vineyard, so applying a set rate over the whole vineyard is inefficient. Advances in sensor technologies are heading toward variable-rate nutrient applications that apply fertilizer based on vine size and/or the soil type. Other research efforts are looking at cover crops as a way of producing and recycling soil nutrients naturally, which could decrease the amount of fertilizers grape growers would need to apply.
The Great Lakes Environmental Assessment and Mapping Project by Michigan State shows that ‘cumulative stress’ in Lake Erie along the grape belt is relatively lower than other areas of the lake. Although there is no conclusive evidence linking the grape belt with cleaner lake water, it is still the collective goal of the Lake Erie Grape Program and local grape farmers to be good stewards of the environment and not add to lake pollution (if not help decrease it) through the most efficient farming practices.
The Lake Erie Regional Grape Program is a cooperative effort between Cornell and Penn State Universities; the participating Cornell Cooperative Extension Associations of Chautauqua, Erie, Niagara and Cattaraugus Counties in New York and Erie County in Pennsylvania; and participating industry partners National Grape Cooperative (Welch’s), Constellation Brands and Walkers Fruit Basket. The LERGP extension team provides research-based educational programming for commercial grape growers throughout the year at venues across the Lake Erie grape belt. For more information on LERGP, call 716-792-2800 or visit our website at http://lergp.cce.cornell.edu/
Environmental stress mapped across the surface of the Great Lakes, based on the combined influence of 34 different environmental threats. Color gradient represent relative stress levels compared to other parts of the five lakes. Image courtesy of University of Michigan.
GIS map of the Lake Erie region with vineyard blocks highlighted. Map created by Rhiann Jakubowski, Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Laboratory.
The Lake Erie Regional Grape Program is one of many programs offered by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County (CCE-Chautauqua). CCE-Chautauqua is a community based educational organization, affiliated with Cornell University, Chautauqua County Government, the NYS SUNY system, and the federal government through the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. For more information, call 716-664-9502 or visit our website at www.cce.cornell.edu/chautauqua. Cornell University Cooperative Extension provides equal program and employment opportunities.
—Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County
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