Federal Funding Freezes and Staff Cuts Make Untold Impact on Grape Research

For immediate release

SACRAMENTO, CA, February 20, 2025 – One week after news of the firing of staff scientists at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) began to unfold across the country, the broad arc of the devastating impact of federal cost-cutting measures on the grape and wine industry has begun to take shape. For members of the National Grape Research Alliance (NGRA), who represent America’s wine, table, juice and raisin grape commodity sectors, these actions constitute a direct hit to the research that sustains the productivity, sustainability and competitiveness of our industry:

USDA Grant Programs

  • Applications were suspended indefinitely for USDA grant programs on January 23, 2025. The pause suspends the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture’s critically important Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) and flagship Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), two of the primary grant programs that fund grape-related research.

USDA-ARS Staff Terminations

  • At least seven ARS scientists working in key grape research areas have been dismissed, effectively stalling or, in some cases, shutting down scientific research programs:
    • Smoke Exposure Research (Davis, CA)
    • Grape Breeding (Parlier, CA and Geneva, NY)
    • Grapevine Viral Diseases (Parlier, CA)
    • Precision Viticulture (Prosser, WA)
    • Agricultural Pests, including Vine Mealybug (Hilo, HI)
  • Those affected were uniformly notified that their employment was terminated for performance issues, which is simply not true.

Industry Impact

  • Pending Grape-Related Research in Limbo – While grant programs are under review, emerging research, including priority projects NGRA had worked with scientists to initiate, cannot move forward.
  • Loss of Long-Term Research Stability – ARS research provides long-term, permanent funding and stakeholder-driven direction, which competitive grants cannot replace.
  • Smoke Exposure Research Halted – Terminated researchers in Davis, CA, were leading efforts to develop rapid smoke detection tools and remediation methods.
  • End of a Century-Old Grape Breeding Program – The dismissal of a geneticist in Parlier, CA, ends more than 100 years of public table and raisin grape breeding in California’s Central Valley. It also puts at risk invaluable plant material maintained there for research purposes.
  • Threats to Industry Competitiveness – The grape and wine industry faces mounting challenges, including climate instability, labor shortages, regulatory pressures and rising competition. Without federal research support, the sustainability and advancement of grape production is at risk.

Grapes are one of America’s most economically important specialty crops. In fact, based on data compiled by WineAmerica, the wine industry alone contributed $276 billion to the U.S. economy in 2022. However, the indiscriminate termination of ARS scientists and indefinite freeze of USDA grant programs threatens the vital research that drives grapes’ contribution to America’s bottom line.

“NGRA members are heartbroken for our colleagues who’ve lost their jobs and devastated about the whole programs of grape research that goes out the door with them,” says NGRA President Donnell Brown. “We’re working with industry stakeholders across the country to do what we can to protect and preserve the scientific resources our future relies on.”

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About the National Grape Research Alliance
The National Grape Research Alliance (NGRA) is a nonprofit membership organization that advances the research needs of all sectors and all regions of the American grape and wine industry, spanning wine, table grapes, juice and raisins, nationwide. We connect industry, academic scientists, and federal and state research agencies to initiate novel research projects and programs to solve industry challenges together. Since our founding in 2005, we’ve been instrumental in securing $65 million in funding for scientific solutions to grape and wine industry issues. Learn more at graperesearch.org.