Viticulture Research and Outreach Addressing the Ohio Grape and Wine Industry Production Challenges
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HCS Series Number 867 OGIC ANNUAL REPORT (1 July ’17 – 30 June ‘18) Viticulture Research and Outreach Addressing the Ohio Grape and Wine Industry Production Challenges ImedDami, Professor&ViticultureStateSpecialist Diane Kinney, Research Assistant II VITICULTURE PROGRAM Department of Horticulture and Crop Science Table of Contents Page Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………..3 2017 Weather………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……...5 Viticulture Research……………………………………………………………………………………………………….……..10 Project #1: Evaluation of Performance and Cultural Practices of Promising Wine Grape Varieties…......10 Project #2: Best Viticulture Practices (BVP) of Important Grape Varieties in Ohio……………………….…….....23 Viticulture Extension & Outreach……………………………………………………………………………………………28 OGEN and Fruit Maturity Updates…………………………………………………………………………………………….……….…. 28 Ohio Grape & Wine Conference…………………………………………………………………………………………….……………... 29 Industry Workshops…..……………………….……………………………………………………………………………….…………….…. 31 Buckeye Appellation Website………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…... 32 Technical Assistance……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………....34 Industry Meetings………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……....34 Professional Meetings……………………….…………………………………………………………………………………………...........34 Extension Publications........................................................................................................................................34 Scientific Journal Publications...........................................................................................................34 Student Training & Accomplishments…………………………………………………………………………………… 35 Honors & Awards………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 37 Executive Summary What a difference two years make. In 2015, the month of February was the coldest month ever in Ohio. In 2017, it was the opposite extreme with the warmest February on record. The mild winter led to earlier budbreak and sparse frost events across the state. The reported total crop statewide was 4,640 tons, 7% less than in 2016. It is also noteworthy that the total grape acreage has been steadily declining in the past decade and stands at 1,400 acres in 2017. This resulted in an average yield of 3.3 tons/acre. The following are highlights of the major accomplishments by the Viticulture Program during the time period between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2018. • Re-established the research vineyard in Wooster affected by the polar vortex and completed planting of new varieties (10) to be tested for the first time in Ohio and expanded the best performing varieties (9) for future research on how to grow them. • Resumed the Best Viticulture Practices (BVP) trial with two new varieties, Cabernet franc (red), and Chardonnay (white). Unfortunately, vines sustained severe damage due to herbicide drift, thus impacted data collection and findings. • The Viticulture Program co-organized and participated at the 2018 OGWC; participated at two (2) enology workshops; and organized and delivered a workshop on winter injury assessment and pruning. Dami and his group also contributed articles in OGEN and continued the outreach service of monitoring fruit maturity and sharing weekly updates with producers. • Due to Scurlock retirement, the OSU Viticulture Team, formed of Dami, Kinney, Gao, and Kirk, continued extension activities in the interim which began on May 1, 2017 and continued until a new Outreach Specialist, Dr. Maria Smith, was hired in August 2018. We appreciate the assistance provided by Christy Eckstein with OGEN and TGE during this transition period. • The Viticulture Program won a National Award for an educational You- Tube video titled: “Grapevine Canopy Management” presented by the American Society for Horticultural Science. • Buckeye Appellation website impact in its 3rd year: the viticulture group updated the website with 146 postings that generated 9,091 sessions and 24,840 pages viewed by 6,508 users. • Mr. Hongrui Wang, is a new graduate student in Dami’s lab and will be working on cold protection of grapevines. He received a national scholarship presented by the American Society for Enology and Viticulture. Dami’s program also trained four (4) undergraduate students who assisted with viticulture projects during the 2017-2018 seasons. 13 Fig. 1 Grape Production (2000-2017) 10000 8000 6000 4000 Production (tons) Production 2000 0 Fig. 2 Ohio Grape Acerage (2007-2017) 2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 800 600 Number of of Number Acres 400 200 0 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 4 2017 Weather The weather data were obtained from the OARDC-weather system website at: www.oardc.ohio- state.edu/newweather/. Drastic temperature fluctuations occurred during the month of December 2016 with ranges from lows of 2 OF (16 Dec) up to 65 OF (26 Dec). During the early months of 2017, air temperatures were considerably warmer than normal all the way through April with the warmest February ever on record. Fortunately, beginning in May, the temperatures leveled out and were basically on track as expected through September. If anything, we were just a bit lower than the norm. The lower temperatures in May through September also resulted in lower accumulation of growing degree days (GDD) when compared to the 30-year average. Since heat units accumulated during the early months of the year, the cumulative GDD was almost on target by the end of November (2017 GDD = 3089, 30-yr avg GDD = 3058). 2017 GDD were less than the record 3369 GDD in 2016, but still hit the 3000 mark. The year started very wet in January. Typically, winter precipitation is in the form of snow that helps with insulation of vines, but it was rain to the tune of 4.03” in Wooster as compared to the normal 1.46”. By the end of July we were a whopping 7.23” higher than normal! Fortunately, rainfall slowed down significantly during fruit ripening (August – September), which was desirable. These dry conditions resulted in little or no disease pressure. By the end of December, we still maintained 5.93” above the 30-year average due in part to an additional 2.15” of rain on November 18th. The total precipitation in 2017 was 37.51”. 5 Fig. 1 Monthy Mean Temperature - Wooster 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 30.0 Temperature (F) Temperature 20.0 10.0 0.0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 2017 2016 30 year average (1982 - 2011) Fig. 2 2017 Monthly Mean Temperature Deviation from 30-year Average 12.0 10.0 8.0 F) o ( 6.0 4.0 2.0 Temperature Temperature 0.0 -2.0 -4.0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 6 Fig. 3 Monthly GDD - Wooster 800 700 600 500 400 GDD 300 200 100 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Month 2017 2016 30-yr avg (1982-2011) Fig. 4 Cumulative GDD - Wooster 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 GDD 1500 1000 500 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 2017 2016 30-yr avg (1982-2011) 7 Fig. 5 Monthly Precipitation - Wooster 6.00 5.00 4.00 3.00 2.00 Precipitation (inches) Precipitation 1.00 0.00 Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 2017 2016 30 yr ave (1982-2011) Fig. 6 2017 Monthly Precipitation Deviation from 30-year Average 3.80 2.80 1.80 0.80 -0.20 Precipitation (inches) Precipitation -1.20 -2.20 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 8 Fig. 7 Cumulative Precipitation - Wooster 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 precipitation (inches) precipitation 5 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 2017 2016 30-yr avg (1982-2011) 9 Project #1: Evaluation of Performance and Cultural Practices of Promising Winegrape Varieties Investigators: Imed Dami, Diane Kinney, and Todd Steiner Project Type: Research and Extension Status: On-going Trial Location: OARDC-Wooster, AARS-Kingsville Objectives: The OSU Viticulture-Enology Program has evaluated more than 40 varieties in the past 10 years. The majority of recent variety planting in Ohio results from recommendation by the OSU viticulture and enology program. Examples include: Cabernet franc, Pinot gris, Chambourcin, Traminette, Noiret, Marquette, LaCrescent, and Frontenac to list a few. Variety evaluation consisted of recording the viticultural and enological performances and identifying the pros and cons of these varieties grown under Ohio climates. From this project, we have identified more than 10 varieties that performed well and thus have been recommended for planting commercially in Ohio. In 2014, the evaluation trial in the Wooster site sustained 70% vine loss (20% vine loss in Kingsville). So far, we have 3-years’ worth of data from the Wooster trial, but only 2 years from Kingsville. The Kingsville plot has many varieties that were planted later than in Wooster thus vines are young and don’t have sufficient data to make any recommendations. Furthermore, at recent meetings (Tri-county growers’ association and AARS advisory committee) in northeast Ohio, most growers ranked variety evaluation as a high research priority. For those reasons, Dami continued the trial in Kingsville by replacing dead/missing vines. Due to extensive loss (70% dead vines) at the Wooster site, all vines were removed except for one row. Results: • In 2016, Dami established new trials at the Wooster site with the most promising varieties by planting larger number of vines per variety to conduct research on best practices to grow these varieties in Ohio. Additionally, Dami and his group planted new varieties and clones to be tested for the first time in Wooster (Table 1). • In April - early May 2018, we continued replanting