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January 15, 2007
Cornell Grape Research Expansion Supports Lake Erie Growers
An expanded and improved facility will house Cornell University’s New York State Agricultural Experiment Station (NYSAES), eventually replacing the grape research laboratory in Fredonia, N.Y. Cornell researchers have begun transitioning their field research to the new facility in Portland, N.Y., near the shore of Lake Erie, 13 miles north of the current lab.
The new project has been in the works for about 10 years, according to Marc Smith, assistant director of the NYSAES in Geneva, N.Y., which oversees the Eastern New York facility.
He credited a bi-partisan effort in the state senate and assembly for providing $5.3 million to fund the move from Fredonia. Although the Fredonia property spans 30 acres of well-drained land, "Some of the best in the region for growing grapes," according to Smith, "The lab itself was basically a potting shed, refurbished a little to accommodate computers. It was a seat-of-the-pants operation" that served its purpose adequately for almost 50 years, Smith said.
At 53 acres, the Portland property is not only larger, but much of it is already planted to grapes, "a beautiful farm, well run by the Deakin family for more than 30 years," Smith said. Cornell faculty and the USDA have already put in plantings for the new station, and a contractor is on board to help program construction.
Smith pointed out that the Lake Erie area shared by Fredonia and Portland produces 60% of the grapes grown in New York, but that most of these are for the juice market, which currently "faces difficult times. Prices at best are volatile, frequently low." Smith said that the improved facility is intended to help local growers "get more value for their product, make adjustment decisions and look at other options.
"Cornell is well placed for that," he said. Cornell is already helping growers in New York’s Hudson Valley determine which winegrape varietals are suitable to that area, and with the new facility, will be able to focus more intensely on similar, long-term research for the Lake Erie region, "connecting them to some of the needs around the state," according to Smith.
Although design for the new lab is just beginning, a wish-list that’s been written during the past decade includes broadband connections and video conferencing for enology and viticulture students in the newly developed program at Cornell’s Ithaca campus in the center of the state (see January 2007, page 88). "We want to encourage our faculty to use the facility," Smith said.
Until the transition is complete—a completion date has not been determined—lab staff will be stretched thin managing both facilities at once.
Source: “Cornell Breaks Ground for Grape Research Expansion Will provide more support for Lake Erie growers,”Jane Firstenfeld, Wine & Vines, Portland, N.Y.–January 14, 2007
Posted by fortna at January 15, 2007 09:39 AM
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