July 2021 On June 28, 2021, NGRA’s Board of Directors held its Mid-Year Meeting, virtually of course. Even with an abbreviated agenda for Zoom, we manage to cover a lot of ground at our Board meetings, and this one was no exceptions. Here are highlights from our June meeting, focusing on what’s new and what […]
Projects Underway
Zoom! Went the Strings of My Heart
The NGRA Board of Directors meets three times each year and last week, on November 19, we convened for the last time in 2020. As with all pandemic-era meetings of far-flung people, our Board members gathered virtually, via Zoom, across all continental U.S. time zones for a very productive meeting–signaling an exciting year ahead for […]
Farming Gone Haywire
It’s the end of October. Daylight is waning, the temperature is descending and Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday. (Not to mention the presidential election two days later.) Change is upon us. But these normal cycles of life seem not so normal anymore. If you read grape and wine industry media regularly, you’ll notice a […]
A Dark Harvest
Harvest is usually a bustling, positive time of year, when the fruits of growers’ labors are ripe and ready for the next phase of their journey, whether that’s drying for raisin production, packing and storing for fresh consumption, or pressing for juice or wine. But from coast to coast, this year’s harvest has had a […]
Counting Our Blessings, Missing Our Chocolate-Covered Raisins
As with many meetings and events in our current pandemic culture, the NGRA Mid-Year Board meeting on June 19 was held entirely via Zoom. We typically offer remote meeting access for Board Directors who can’t attend in person. This was the first time the whole meeting was conducted online. It was fine, but… Because of […]
There’s a Little Curie in All of Us
If you know NGRA Board member Vicky Scharlau, who leads Washington Winegrowers, you know she “calls a spade a spade.” So, when she posts her “new favorite quote” on social media, you listen. What she shared was this: “Now is the time to understand more, so that we can fear less,” by Marie Curie. Certainly, […]
Just Keep Growing
Even though, as a leap year, 2020 gave February an extra day, this month passed in the blink of an eye. But fast does not mean uneventful. February saw the official kickoff of the growing season with budbreak in many vineyards around the country, even as their growers gathered in industry conferences to learn, network […]
Last but Not Least
The National Grape Research Alliance holds three Board meetings each year, the last typically in November. Accordingly, our End-of-Year Board Meeting took place on November 14, the day after the NGRA-ARS Sensor Technology Workshop (see story below). With back-to-back day-long discussions on research to advance the grape and wine industry, it was a banner week […]
Bringing in the Bounty
I was in the lush, green state of Missouri (a big departure from dry, brown California) earlier this month for the North American Grape Breeders Conference. A grassroots effort of the breeding community, the conference takes place every two years at a different host institution–Missouri State University did the honors this year. It was a […]
Board, Not Bored
On July 19, in Geneva, NY, NGRA held our Mid-Year Board Meeting following the fantastic annual conference the American Society of Enology and Viticulture-Eastern Section and Nelson J. Shaulis Symposium on Digital Viticulture. Between the conference, symposium and meeting, it was a banner week for grape research! See a writeup of the symposium in Growing Produce, and read on for highlights […]