National Treasure

April 2026

It was Tuesday morning, April 21, and the 36 extension and outreach professionals participating in the National Viticulture & Enology Extension Leadership Conference (NVEELC) were boarding the bus for an industry tour of vineyards and wineries in the Texas Hill Country. As we pulled away from our hotel on the San Antonio Riverwalk, text messages, emails and chatter across the seat-rows began to build. Everyone was abuzz, not about the day of discovery we were embarking on, but about the devastating freeze that had hit the East Coast the previous night.

This year’s NVEELC attendees represented 15 states: Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, New York, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington. Several were affected by the overnight frost event, reported to be one of the worst to hit Eastern vineyards. As the extension specialists in these regions fielded calls and messages from grape growers and colleagues seeking guidance about the damage, it was a vivid illustration of the critical role of extension in America. When disaster strikes (or when routine questions arise), the local extension agent is the first person growers turn to.

And yet, formal training for the role doesn’t exist. The level of experience for the extension viticulturists and enologists attending NVEELC 2026 ranged from 8 months to 41 years. Despite the disparity, they all shared one primary challenge: they had learned (or are learning) on the job. Extension specialists are hired for their technical expertise in viticulture, horticulture science, enology or other related disciplines. There is no degree or training program on how to do extension.

Uniquely, for the grape and wine industry, that’s where NVEELC comes in. NVEELC is organized by and for the V&E extension community of practice, nationwide. Through NVEELC programming that they shape, extension specialists get to know and learn from one another, see first-hand the industry challenges and environmental or economic conditions their peers experience, seek out professional development opportunities, and identify areas of collaboration.

This year’s NVEELC Conference, April 20-22 in San Antonio, was hosted by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Under the theme “meeting stakeholders where they are,” participants visited innovative grapegrowers and winemakers in the emerging Texas Hill Country AVA to see how they’re breaking the traditional mold. Attendees learned how their peers are using AI to quickly create engaging extension tools. They soaked in the sage wisdom of mid-career and seasoned extension professionals on how to build a successful program. They were treated to the extension outputs from SCRI-funded research like the HiRes Vineyard Nutrition and FRAME fungicide resistance projects. And they shared ideas about future networking opportunities, and perhaps targeted training and mentorship programs, not only at the biannual NVEELC conference but via quarterly NVEELC virtual meetings and other potential gatherings.

In the absence of formal training, NVEELC is the vehicle for V&E extension agents to work together to sharpen their skills to support the grape and wine industry. The U.S. is the only country to offer this vital, in-field, personal resource to agricultural producers. Not only are they first-responders to crisis events like this month’s freeze, extension agents form the network by which research results reach industry stakeholders who stand to benefit from innovations. NGRA is proud to provide a platform and resources to lift up and sustain this national treasure.

Donnell Brown
President