Amid all that’s been going on in the world that impacts grape research, a significant bright spot stands out: the committed leadership of our industry-led nonprofit organization. The election of NGRA Board Directors and officers in late January is an annual reminder of our strongest assets and biggest allies. NGRA’s 30-member Board of Directors is […]
Assets and Allies
Hearts Grown Fonder
If February is the month for affairs of the heart, February 2025 was a blowout. In the span of 28 short days, the grape and wine industry went on a heartrending rollercoaster ride with our grape-research colleagues at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS). At least seven of them, all within their three-year probationary period, […]
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 […]
Emily Hodson Wins 2025 Rich Smith Award
2025 Rich Smith Award of Excellence Presented to Emily Hodson of Virginia SACRAMENTO, CA, January 29, 2025 —The ninth annual Rich Smith Award of Excellence for outstanding contributions to the American grape and wine industry was presented today to Emily Hodson, the winemaker at Veritas Vineyards and Winery, a co-owner of Flying Fox Vineyards and […]
Kidding Around with Science
Wait, what?! A comic strip in the NGRA newsletter? Yes, it’s a first. And hopefully not the last! NGRA has supported the VitisGen project since it first started exploring grape breeding for powdery mildew resistance in 2011. Now in its unprecedented third round of funding from the USDA’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI), the team […]
The Shadow of the Farmer
There is a Japanese proverb that goes something like, “the shadow of the farmer is the best fertilizer.” Of all the things I’ve heard and learned about grapegrowing over the last nearly 20 years, that phrase is probably the most powerful. It signifies the value of showing up, being present, paying attention and focusing on the […]
Meet Us at Unified!
Come meet NGRA staff and stakeholders at our exhibitor booth (no. 409) at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium again this year! The show will take place January 28-30, 2025, in Sacramento, CA. Exhibits will be open on Day 2 and 3, and our booth will be on the show floor near the main entrance. […]
‘A Destroyer of Worlds’
Thematically appropriate for the spooky season, four NGRA members and I spent the beginning of October up close and personal with one of the grape and wine industry’s biggest bogeymen: the spotted lanternfly. The five us spent two packed days, October 2-3, 2024, on an SLF Field Trip in Berks County, PA, creeped out and […]
Wild Things
In the last couple of months, a number of articles cropped up related to climate change and what it means for us as farmers and eaters. It’s as if, as more extreme and erratic weather swirls around us, the conversation is intensifying about how we might have to change, too. In July, climate observer David […]
Nominate a Leader for the 2025 Rich Smith Award
Richard (Rich) Smith, founder of Valley Farm Management, Paraiso Vineyards and Smith Family Wines in California’s Santa Lucia Highlands wine region. He was an ardent family man and a successful grape grower, winery owner and respected colleague. He was a highly effective, collegial and tireless leader whose significant and selfless contributions of time, energy and […]