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 Vineyard
acreage exploding
Kentucky has been experiencing somewhat of a grape revival over the past
decade. Vineyard acreage has exploded to roughly 800 acres with more
springing up all the time. Most producers are new to the industry and
depend on the research and expertise of UK College of Agriculture
specialists to get their vines growing and thriving and then decide what
to do with the harvest.
Nearly three years ago, Kaan Kurtural and Tom Cottrell arrived at
UK to be the institution’s first viticulturist and enologist
respectively. Since then, they and their graduate students/research
assistants have delved into a whirlwind of projects to help the Kentucky
grape and wine industry gain ground and earn respect for its practices
and products.
With a little more than three acres of grapes planted at UK’s
Horticulture Research Farm in south Lexington, researchers have a lot of
irons in the fire focusing on multiple areas of study.
“Our main focus areas are helping producers decide where to plant
vineyards and why,” Kurtural said. “They want to know what kind of
cultivars to plant and how to crop those cultivars sustainably so they
can produce a marketable crop. The other thing we are looking at is
reducing the pesticide input into the vineyards and reducing the carbon
footprint of some of these vineyards.”
Kurtural and his team played a leading role in creating a multi-state
mapping project, using Global Positioning System technology to help
producers select potential vineyard locations on their land.
Kurtural simply inputs latitude and longitude information into the
program and the computer generates a map of the location and areas in
that location best suited for grape production.
UK graduate student and full-time research assistant Brandon
O’Daniel spends a lot of time in the field managing UK’s vineyard. He’s
experimenting with different grape varieties, cropping and pest
management systems.
O’Daniel believes Kentucky’s grape and wine industry can have a
solid future with proper education and management tools.
“It’s takes a lot of up-front investment, but as far as actually
being an alternative for the farmer, I do think it has a lot of
promise,” he said.
Patsy Wilson is also a graduate student and full-time research
assistant with grape and wine industry aspirations after graduation. She
spent a lot of time in the vineyard studying different grape varieties
but focused on Vidal Blanc as a potential, cold-hardy variety for
Kentucky producers. She spends a lot of time now in the lab
researching Vidal Blanc and its potential as a premier wine grape for
the state.
Research in the vineyard often involves other disciplines such as
entomology. The Japanese beetle is an enemy of grapevines.
UK entomology graduate student and research assistant Derrick Hammons is
studying environmentally responsible ways to combat the beetle in the
vineyard.
“We are looking at the effects of defoliation on vine growth
development, and this year we will be looking at crop yield. The idea is
to convince growers that even though they see Japanese beetles, they
don’t have to spray as much as they think they do,” he emphasized.
“They can cut back their sprays and their use of sprays. That’s going to
be more and more important, especially as fuel costs increase, and
pesticide safety is always a concern.”
All in all, research in the vineyard and the lab is helping
Kentucky grape producers increase the quantity and quality of their
businesses. Producers continually are looking to UK to provide answers
to tough questions, and thanks to a team of dedicated scientists and
students UK is responding with solid, science-based solutions.
BY AIMEE
NIELSON
UK COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
New conservation program on tap
Do you have cropland that stays wet, floods often, is too small for your
equipment or is marginal in production? Would you like to earn a
guaranteed cash rental payment for the next 10-15 years on those
marginal areas while “farming for wildlife” by planting vegetation such
as native grasses, shrubs and/or trees? Kentucky landowners and
operators of certain cropland in designated geographic areas may enroll
eligible land in a new continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
conservation practice titled State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement
(SAFE), also known as CP38.
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is now conducting sign-up for SAFE
on a continuous basis, in all or portions of the following counties:
Allen, Ballard, Barren, Breckinridge, Bullitt, Butler, Caldwell,
Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Crittenden, Daviess, Edmonson, Fulton,
Graves, Grayson, Green, Hancock, Hardin, Hart, Henderson, Hickman,
Hopkins, LaRue, Livingston, Logan, Lyon, Marion, Marshall, McCracken,
McLean, Meade, Metcalfe, Monroe, Muhlenberg, Nelson, Ohio, Simpson,
Taylor, Todd, Trigg, Union, Warren, and Webster.
Land that has cropping history reported to FSA (four years during
1996- 001) and is currently legally and physically capable of being
cropped is eligible, so long as the producer has owned/operated it for
12 months.
Additionally land that has expired from CRP that was enrolled during
1996- 2001 may be eligible.
Practices that are available include: CP-38E Early Successional
Habitat will allow producers to plant native shrubs and/or native warm
season grasses/forbs to maximize wildlife habitat. CP-38E Early
Successional Rare & Declining Habitat will allow producers to plant a
diverse mix of native warm season grasses/forbs.
In addition to CRP rental rates (based on the three predominate
soils) for 10-5 years, the Farm Service Agency will provide 50 percent
costshare plus a Practice Incentive Payment for installing planted
native vegetation and a Signup Incentive Payment ($100/acre) to the
producer.
BY DANNY HUGHES
DEPT. OF FISH AND WILDLIFE RESOURCE |
