The two-day event held February 5th and 6th at Lake Michigan College’s Mendal Center was attended by over 400 participants. The exhibition room was filled to capacity with new and returning exhibitors. The featured out-of-state speakers and the quality of programs has continued to please all in attendance.

The Wine Hospitality Reception was attended by over 70 people who all enjoyed tasting wine from numerous wineries in the area.

The MSU Entomology farm (Trevor Nichols Research Complex) in Fennville was the venue for gathering of an unusual pruning crew on March 13th. Staff from the research station were joined by grape growers, representatives from National Grape, campus researchers, and graduate students to finish our pruning jobs in the research vineyards. With the help of this enthusiastic crew, vines were pruned and tied by lunchtime, and we could head back to the research station early for pizza.

This annual pruning event provides the Viticultural Entomology Program a chance to get a 'check-up' from the Michigan grape industry on the health of our vineyards, and our progress toward making the vineyards more representative of commercial production. We also get our pruning finished for the winter!

Our Niagara vineyard is establishing well, and will be in its fourth leaf this year. The older Concord vineyard is still in transition from a kniffin system to the top-wire cordon system. This year we'll be bringing up last-year's suckers onto the new trellis to establish new trunks and cordons. Half of the vines will remain in the old system as we undergo this transition, to provide enough fruit and foliage for conducting our insecticide trials. Hopefully in the next few years, we'll be back to a full canopy on the new trellis with the new training system.

Finally, a big 'thank you' to all who helped make this pruning outing so successful. See you next year.

Many of the new Niagara vineyards established in Michigan in recent years have been planted on rolling terrain, resulting in significant variations in the vine vigor and susceptibility to winter injury. Traditional trellising efforts have often failed to establish the large trunks necessary to withstand below zero temperatures. When considering what to do with the vineyards on these sites, you need to review what hasn’t worked and perhaps consider the unconventional.

Consider Multiple Trunks—These sites tend to have both high fertility and water holding capacity, which promote overly vigorous canes that are susceptible to winter injury. Since they have often been lightly cropped, the root systems of these plants tend to be well established. These inherent conditions lend themselves to a different trellising system. Multiple trucks (4-8) are a strategy that can help reduce vigor and increase chances for surviving cold temperatures. Trunks will die over time, but suckers can be consistently renewed and old trunks can be removed. A bottom wire is essential to training new trunks and making it easier to wrap long canes. Many of the new shoots brought up each year will be too short to reach the top wire and can be easily tied to the bottom wire. The use of grow tubes is helpful as an aid in both trellising and weed control. Several strings tied in a V-shaped configuration can also help to manage multiple trunks. It’s important to keep the growth off the ground so that canes are exposed to adequate sunlight and to help in weed control. These vines will look unconventional, but remember anything goes when trellising these areas.

For those of you unaware of these events, we generally meet for an informal lunch. This lunch would then be followed by an afternoon tour to a site such as a vineyard and/or winery.

These meetings that are open to all are designed for all those involved with the wine grape industry in Southwest Michigan. This includes growers, winemakers, suppliers, and agri-businesses.

Preemergent Herbicides Labeled For Grapes
Every once in a while it is a good thing to check out the herbicides that are labeled for grapes. Now, even though I present information here, you need to read the label on the product you purchase to make sure you know when, where, and how to apply it legally.

In this newsletter, I will discuss preemergent herbicides. In the next issue of this newsletter, I will cover the postemergent herbicides. As a quick review, remember that preemergent herbicides are designed to be applied before the weed seedling emerges. Postemergent herbicides are applied after the weed is present.

Since the Michigan Fruit Management Guide (E-154) page 126 lists herbicides alphabetically by the common name of the chemical, I will list the herbicides in alphabetical order based on the brand name of the herbicide.

Casoron (dichlobenil) should be applied to grapes established one year or more. It is best applied in November just prior to a snowfall. It is effective against quackgrass and will suppress most annual and perennial weeds until late summer of the following year.

Karmex (diuron) is particularly effective on grasses and broadleaf weeds. It should only be used on vines that have been established for at least 3 years. It should be applied in the spring before weed growth begins. Use lower rate on sandy soils.

Kerb (pronamide) should only be applied to grapes established one ore more. It is effective at killing quackgrass rhizomes and germinating annual weeds. It is most effective on grasses and a few broad-leafed weeds. It should be applied in the fall after fruit harvest but prior to leaf drop.

Princep (simazine) is effective against germinating annual weeds when applied in the spring before weed growth begins. It should only be applied to vines that have been established for at least 3 years. Use lower rates on sandy soils.

Prowl (pendimethalin) should be applied to nonbearing grapes only. It controls annual grasses and should be applied after the soil settles but before bud swell. Needs rainfall within seven days for best control.

Solicam (norflurazon) should be applied to grapes established two or more years. It can be applied in either the fall or the spring, but fall applications are more effective. It will suppress annual grasses and nutsedge. Use lower rates on sandy soils.

Surflan (oryzalin) can be applied to newly planted grapes. Apply to plantings in the spring before weeds emerge. This herbicide must also be watered in for maximum control. Surflan suppresses annual grasses and some broad-leafed weeds. Apply lower rates on sandy soils.

That wraps up a review of the labeled preemergent herbicides for grapes. For more information on herbicides in grapes including recommended rates, please consult the Michigan Fruit Management Guide (E-154). It is available at your local MSU Extension office or online http://www.msue.msu.edu/epubs/pestpubs/E154/index.htm with each section in pdf format.

For best weed control, you should always practice integrated weed management. That means, in part, knowing the species of weed you are trying to control; knowing the proper timing for best control of that weed; considering usage of herbicides combinations either at the same application time or in separate applications; and not applying herbicides to stressed weeds.

The wine grape crop in the southern part of the state also looks to be in good shape. In our plot work we recorded winter low temperatures of about -2 ^oF at a couple of Berrien County locations. I have found some bud mortality on wine grape varieties but the prospects still look good for a crop this year. Therefore, if we can get through the worrisome period of spring freezes, we can expect a good wine grape crop in southwest Michigan.

On April 30^th, the first meeting will be in Lawton at Bryan Cronenwett’s, 69260 28th, at 10 AM and the second at SWMREC at 1:30 PM. The focus of this first meeting will be early season insect and disease control in grapes.

To focus scouting efforts, vineyards with a history of pest problems should be scouted first. Hotspots for grape berry moth such as rows near wooded borders should be included in the regular scouting plan. There are also critical times in pest development cycles when it makes sense to invest in scouting efforts (e.g. at bud swell for cutworms and steely beetle). As the season progresses, scouting should include looking deep under the canopy to make sure those areas with good conditions for insects (and diseases) are checked.

Knowing what to look for is important when scouting, and there are many guides online (just type "grape insect pest" into a web search engine). To help Michigan grape growers identify pests, diseases, nutritional deficiencies and herbicide injury in their vineyards, a pocket scouting guide for grapes will be published by MSU Extension this year. Another good way to keep up to date will be to attend the three pest management training sessions MSU Extension and National Grape Coop. are planning for early, middle, and late season.

For broad-spectrum insecticides such as Sevin or Danitol, cluster coverage is necessary to ensure contact with the egg or young larvae. This issue will be even more important for some of the new insecticides (see below) which are not contact poisons. These insecticides may require the larva to eat a small amount of reside before it will die. If this is the case, the residue has to be in the tiny spot where the larva enters the berry. Unless the cluster is well-covered, the larva could enter the berry without eating the insecticide and then survive to grow and develop.

A few new insecticides and miticides have recently been registered for use in grapes. Their properties and pest spectrum are described below. Some of these compounds work differently than conventional insecticides, and a good understanding of their properties will help improve their effective use.

Assail is labeled for leafhoppers and is expected to have good activity against both grape and potato leafhoppers. Some protection of treated vines from damage by other insect types has been seen in recent trials, including Japanese beetles. Assail is a neonicotinoid insecticide (in the same class as Provado), from Cerexagri. It will not control grape berry moth.

Intrepid causes a lethal premature molt in moth larvae that eat the insecticide. It is labeled for grape berry moth and redbanded leafroller. Because the larvae must ingest this product for effective control, Intrepid requires excellent coverage of clusters for control of grape berry moth. This product is an insect growth regulator from Dow AgroSciences that is specific to moth larvae. It will not control leafhoppers or beetles. Intrepid has a 30 day pre-harvest interval in grapes.

SpinTor has direct contact activity, and is also active if ingested. Targets include grape berry moth and redbanded leafroller. SpinTor is in a new insecticide class called the naturalytes, from Dow AgroSciences. It has a 7 day pre-harvest interval in grapes.

Over the last several years, Phomopsis has become more and more of a problem for Michigan grape growers. Since many growers tried to save money last year by saving sprays I think we will see a lot of phomopsis again this year. I think growers will need to spray a little more this year to control the disease. Growers will need to use some of the sprays they saved last year to protect their crop. I think the cost of the extra sprays will be cheaper than leaving part of the crop on the ground in the vineyard.

Early season control of Phomopsis is crucial. The phomopsis spores that will cause this year's infections will come off last year's wood. Leaf and shoot symptoms that you see this spring give you an indication of how effective your disease control program is and how bad your phomopsis problem will be next year. Your focus should be on preventing phomopsis from becoming established in the vineyard again this year, and in preventing last year's infections from spreading to this year's fruit.

Phomopsis attacks young actively growing tissue, but symptoms do not become apparent until at least 3 or 4 weeks later. The flower cluster and young fruit are very susceptible to Phomopsis at all times. This means that growers need to protect their flower clusters as soon as they become visible as the bud opens through bloom. Spore capture studies in Michigan indicate that most of the Phomopsis spores are released before and during bloom. We think that fruit infections early in the growing season that do not become apparent until harvest approaches. Mid and late season eradication is impossible because the diseases is already established in the fruit and substantial losses to fruit rots or fruit drop will occur.

EBDC (ethylene-bisdithiocarbamate) materials, such as Dithane and Penncozeb, provide excellent protection against phomopsis. Growers need to maintain good EBDC coverage with 3 or more sprays before bloom. Maintaining good fungicide coverage of the shoot and especially the young flower clusters requires that fungicides be applied as new tissue emerges and also when rain washes off material that has already been applied. A rainy spring will mean lots of phomopsis this fall. I assume that every time it rains an inch that most of the fungicide has been washed off and you need to apply another spray to maintain your protection.

The bloom sprays are important sprays for controlling all the diseases that attack the fruit. The EBDC spray applied immediately before bloom should be tank mixed with a SI fungicide such as Indar of Nova to give good control against all grape diseases. For this last pre-bloom spray you could also use a strobilurin fungicide, Abound or Sovran alone. The strobilurin fungicides give good broad-spectrum control. These materials provide control against all the major grape diseases except Botrytis. The strobilurin fungicides, Abound and Sovran should be used in rotation with the other fungicides and sprayed no more than two times in a row. The strobilurin fungicides are rated as excellent against phomopsis and they are systemic and absorbed by the plant. Abound or Sovran should be the materials of choice for Concord and Niagara vineyards. Abound is slightly better than Sovran for downy mildew control. Either a strobilurin fungicide alone or a tank mix of Ziram and a SI is recommended in the post bloom period and provide about 14 days of control.

Be ready to spray early. Plan on covering the exposed flower buds as soon as they are exposed and try to maintain good fungicide coverage. If rain is forecasted get your sprays on before the rain.

Changes in Michigan's Fruit Industry— Global competition in other commodity fruit crops has elevated the potential for wine grapes as a significant contributor to the fruit industry in Michigan. Value-added or entrepreneurial agriculture is identified as a means of preserving rural spaces valued by Michigan residents. The wine industry offers the agribusiness owner the opportunity to maintain a farming business with a satisfactory return on investment. The strength of Michigan's wine producing regions as tourist destinations further supports the potential for growth in the industry.

Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council—The Michigan Wine Institute and its successor organization, the legislatively created Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council have played important roles in supporting the industry. Administered by the Michigan Department of Agriculture, the Council directs promotional programs and funding of research to assist the wine grape industry.

Strategic Planning

The Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council is gathering ideas from the industry and associates on the future direction of the Council. If you have ideas you wish to share with the Council, please forward them to Kathy Kissman, Marketing and Communication Division Director, Michigan Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 30017, Lansing, MI 48909. If you would like some questions to guide your response, a survey is posted on the Industry Resources section of the michiganwines.com web site or can be FAXed to you by calling 517 241-4468.

Michigan Wine Industry Annual Meeting
Current and aspiring members of the Michigan's burgeoning wine industry gathered at Crystal Mountain Resort in late February for two days of intensive professional development. One hundred and twenty registrants attended sessions dealing with wine quality, sales and marketing and vineyard management. Seven wineries were presented awards for being in the industry twenty-five years or more.

Prominent guest speakers included David Sloane, President of Wine America, and Len Penachetti, President of the Ontario Vintner's Quality Alliance. The Michigan Legislature was represented by Senator Michelle McManus and Representative Neil Nitz.

The seven most senior wineries in the state are: St. Julian (82 yrs.), Warner (64 yrs.), Boskydel (38 yrs.), Chateau Grand Traverse (32 yrs.), Tabor Hill (30 yrs.), Fenn Valley (29 yrs.) and Leelanau Cellars (28 yrs.).

Attendees were delighted that Bernie Rink of Boskydel Vineyard in Lake Leelanau, the grandfather of northern Michigan's wine industry, made a rare appearance away from his winery. Mr. Rink, who planted the first wine grapes in the area in 1964, regaled attendees with his typically witty remarks.

For continuing updates of event details, visit www.michiganwines.com

Do you have an implement, tractor, or tool you would like to sell?  Do you have a service you would be interested in offering?  Why don't you buy an advertisement in the Michigan Grape Society newsletter.  Our circulation is about 270 and is focused at grape growers who would be interested in what you have to sell.  If you have an item you would like to sell call Jerri at 269-657-7745 or email her at pursleyj@msue.msu.edu.