April 2001
Volume 2 Issue 2
Table of Contents (click on Title)
Southwest Michigan Hort Days Better Than Ever!
Grape Mealybug-An Emerging Pest In Michigan
Phomopsis is Competing for Your Grapes
A Proposed Juice Grape Spray Program
Michigan Grape & Wine Industry Council News & Upcoming Events
Southwest Michigan Hort Days Better Than Ever!
Southwest Horticultural Days this past February was a big success. This year’s program was bigger and better than last year. The attendance increased and the number of exhibitors also went up The quality of the programs has continued to please all in attendence. The Michigan Grape Society would like to thank everyone who attended and a special thank you to all the speakers and exhibitors.
The grand prize winner for the weekend get away to Black Star Farms Bed and Breakfast was won by Mark Hildebrand. (See picture at right) Thanks to all the contributions from exhibitors and contributors for the purchase of the Grand Prize and all the other door prizes.
The Southwest Horticultural Days just keeps getting better. Mark your calendars now for next year’s show, February 6 and 7, 2002.
There are a lot of grape resources becoming available on the World Wide Web. I have put up a lot of fruit information at the Van Buren County MSUE Website (http://www.msue.msu.edu/vanburen) .I have put a lot of the MSUE fruit material up there so you can get to almost everything from my page (http://www.msue.msu.edu/vanburen/disthort.htm). I have a grape page (http://www.msue.msu.edu/vanburen/grapeweb.htm) with bulletins and links to other grape sites. I have also posted a page for the Michigan Grape Society (http://www.msue.msu.edu/vanburen/fmgs.html). This page has back issues of this newsletter. While you are looking at all the information that I have posted drop me an email. I send out a weekly fruit pest update by email. If I have your email address I can email you also.
There are some really good grape web sites out there and not all of them focus on Wine. New York has several good sites (The Lake Erie Grape Program is the Best, (http://lenewa.netsync.net/public/lergphom.htm ) and has post some of their insect and disease bulletins. Ohio has posted their Small Fruit Pest Management Notebook (http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~sfgnet/). One of the best sites is the Oregon State Grape & Berry InfoNet. (http://www.orst.edu/dept/infonet/)
Grape Berry Moth Traps to a Good Home
Rufus Isaacs has given me 100 grape berry moth traps to distribute to Southwest Michigan growers so that they can monitor grape berry moth on their farms. I would like to give these traps to growers who will use them. While grape berry moths emerges at about the same time there is a lot of variability in Southwest Michigan vineyards. It would be ideal if growers knew how to trap their own vineyards. Do you know where Grape berry moth was bad on your farm last year? That would be a good place for a trap. Another good place would be close to your shop if dead grape leaves piled up there during the windy fall. Grape berry moth over winter in cocoons on last year's grape leaves. Where they pile up in the fall is often where they emerge in the spring. Edges of fields near wild grapes are another good place. Trap catches really don't give a good idea of the actual population size and we don't have good thresholds for determining when to spray. But they do give a good idea that moths are flying and sprays should be applied.
I have seen a lot of damage due to the grape berry moth and I believe that most growers do a good job of controlling the first generation that comes out at bloom time. It is the second and third generations that sneak up on you. These are the hard ones to pinpoint because we really do not have good temperature models to predict emergence of the different generations. But you learn a lot by having the traps out and checking for activity. Truthfully, the grower who knows his farm can often do a better job of deciding where to place a trap than someone who is not familiar to the area decides. It’s like hunting deer, the locals know where the big ones are and the out-of-towner does a lot of walking to find them.
Fertilizer
Supply
By: Tim Seppala, Michigan Grape Society Board
Member
I also asked if purchasing fertilizers early would lock in a better price. He stated that the price of nitrogen fertilizers might be better later than earlier. His supplier suggested that when the winter temperatures first began to moderate, the fertilizer plants began production of nitrogen fertilizers. The supplier felt that there would be plenty of nitrogen fertilizer available by this spring.
Michigan Grape & Wine Industry Council News
Wine Grape Growers
Get all the latest news from the Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council by subscribing to its quarterly newsletter. Please call the Council office at 517-373-1104 or e-mail bushk9@state.mi.us and be sure to let us know if you are a wine grape grower so we can be sure to send you information on relevant events and activities.
Michigan Wine Country 2001
The latest edition of the annual Michigan Wine Country magazine is now available from the Council office in Lansing, Travel Michigan Welcome Centers, wineries, Convention and Visitors Bureaus and retailers. To receive one or more copies, please call the Council office at 517-373-1104 or e-mail bushk9@state.mi.us.
Michigan Wine and Food Festival Uncorks at Meadow Brook in June
The Meadow Brook Music Festival in Rochester Hills is the site of the Michigan Wine and Food Festival, June 22 – 24, 2001. Patterned after popular regional wine and food festivals across the nation, the three-day festival is the first of its kind in the Metropolitan Detroit area. It will feature wine tasting, gourmet foods, cooking seminars, wine classes and live entertainment. Michigan’s best wine and food will be showcased in Meadow Brook’s spectacular pastoral setting with lush rolling hills and professionally landscaped grounds. Stages and tents will be located throughout the site.
Adult admission includes wine sample tickets, educational seminars, musical entertainment and children’s activities. Further information about the Michigan Wine and Food Festival at Meadow Brook may be obtained on the web site of the Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council, www.michiganwines.com or by calling (800) 600-0307.
Council Web Site Features
On the Council web site at www.michiganwines.com you will find summaries of recently completed research projects conducted by Michigan State University research personnel.
Upcoming Events
July 10 – 12 American Society of Ecology and Viticulture Meeting
, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario - Symposium Topic “Space-Age Winegrowing”. An extensive tour of Ontario’s Niagara wine region is planned for July 10. Contact David Miller at St. Julian for more information. 616-657-5568July 16 - 17 Wine Quality in the Vineyard
, Red Newt Cellars, Seneca Lake, NY—Organized by Vineyard and Winery Management. 800-535-5670August 14 Michigan State Fair Wine Competition, East Lansing.
The many wine festivals, winemaker dinners and other events open to the public are listed in the current edition of Michigan Wine Country and are posted on the Council’s web site.