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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bearing Fruit: NYS Budget
Provides Long-sought Funding for Fredonia and Other Geneva Experiment
Station Projects GENEVA, NY - The "growing" season arrived early for the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station's (NYSAES) vineyard research programs when the legislature provided funding for several Cornell initiatives in the recently passed New York State budget. One project has more than 10 years of planning behind it. Cornell's Vineyard Lab in Fredonia, NY, is the recipient of $5.3 million for land acquisition and new construction-a project that represents a renewed commitment to grape research and extension. State funding will be applied to the design, engineering, and construction of a new research and extension facility and the establishment of research vineyards in a new location. "Because of the dedication and insight of Senator Catharine Young, this year we are able to move ahead toward the accomplishment of a goal that has been more than a decade in the making," said NYSAES director Thomas J. Burr, the associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "I also wish to thank Assemblymen Bill Parment and Bill Magee for their continued strong support, and congratulate the grape industry leaders and the staff at the lab for working cooperatively with our elected officials on this great success." A joint Cornell-industry working group has initiated a search for a new site with acreage that reflects the soil and climatic conditions faced by grape growers across the region, a site that is free from the development pressure that exists at the current site. Cornell plans to sell the existing Fredonia Vineyard Laboratory and use the proceeds to help fund long-term research and extension activities at the new site. According to Rick Dunst, manager of the lab, new facilities will provide enhanced opportunities for field research, modernized laboratory space for research on grape juice and wine quality, and additional office space for staff and visiting scientists. It will also include meeting space for grower education and training. The Vineyard Laboratory was originally established in 1909 and moved to its present location in Fredonia in 1961. Its mission is to support grape growers in the Lake Erie Region, which is home to over 60 percent of the vineyards in New York State. Research conducted at Fredonia has been aimed primarily at increasing yields, improving quality, and lowering production costs of grapes grown in the Lake Erie Region, especially the cultivars Concord and Niagara. Researchers have made major advances in the areas of vineyard mechanization, grapevine physiology, and development of economic thresholds, and effective control programs for insect and disease pests of these grapes. According to Dunst, this infusion of funding supports Cornell University, Penn State, and USDA-ARS scientists and educators at a crucial time for juice grape producers who have been struggling with low prices and stiff competition from other regions. "This new facility will be the foundation upon which new technology will be developed and will be essential to enabling industry grape producers to be competitive in a global marketplace," said Tom Davenport, director of Viticulture Research for National Grape Cooperative in Westfield, NY. Other Geneva programs and projects funded in the state budget
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New York State Agricultural
Experiment Station, 630 West North Street, Geneva, New York 14456
Telephone: 315.787.2011
Last Modified:
May 10, 2006
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