PROSSER, Wash. — Grape growers and industry personnel are invited to participate in Washington State University’s Viticulture and Enology Field Day, sponsored by the Washington State Grape Society. The one-day event is slated for Thursday, August 12. The day’s activities begin at 9 a.m. at the Roza Research Unit, Block F Vineyard, located on Crosby Road, between Kuhlman and Evans Roads (look for directional signs).
Thomas Henick-Kling, director of WSU’s program in viticulture and enology, will kick off the field day by welcoming attendees. Markus Keller, WSU Chateau Ste. Michelle Professor of Viticulture, will lead a tour of the recently planted research vineyard. Other topics scheduled for the morning session include updates on the latest Concord grape and cover crop research, plus demonstrations of tissue sampling and grape mealybug traps.
The next stop will be located at the WSU Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center headquarters where a barbecue luncheon will be served by Prosser’s newest eatery, Papa’s Backyard Smoker & Grill. WSU professor of soil science Joan Davenport will talk about late-season foliar nitrogen sprays. An introduction of the viticulture and enology graduate students based at the WSU IAREC will follow.
The afternoon tour will continues with a visit to the precision agriculture building, where attendees will be greeted by professor of biological systems engineering Qin Zhang, the new director of WSU’s Center for Precision Agricultural Systems. The day concludes with concurrent sessions in the new research winery or the clean-plant-network grape-foundation greenhouse. Presentations from professor of plant pathology and national clean plant network visionary Ken Eastwell, scientific assistant Gary Ballard, enologist Jim Harbertson, and viticulturist Markus Keller will wrap up the day’s events.
No pre-registration is required. Registration on site begins at 8:45 a.m. in the Block F Vineyard and is $5 per person, payable with check or cash only — sorry, no credit cards. An RSVP is required for groups over five to deb@grapesociety.org by August 9.
For more information, please contact the Washington State Grape Society office at 509-786-7888. Click here for a map to the Roza Research Unit. The WSU IAREC is located at 24106 N Bunn Rd. and online at http://www.prosser.wsu.edu/.
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