By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

COLUMBUS, Ohio — June is Ohio Wine Month. But producers of this lucrative fruit may be celebrating a little early, as their industry just got a little boost from the USDA.

The Ohio State University and six other institutions have been awarded a $3.8 million grant to improve the quality of eastern U.S. grapes and wines, with the ultimate goal of boosting economic development from this rapidly growing industry.

This effort is supported by the USDA’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative. The multistate project also seeks to reduce the environmental impact of wine-grape production and to enhance consumer attitudes toward wines produced in Eastern states.
“In order to increase wine sales in the eastern United States, including Ohio, wine grapes and wines must be of consistently high quality and they must be produced on a cost-competitive basis,” said Imed Dami, one of the grant’s co-principal investigators and state viticulture specialist with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) and OSU extension.

Dami is an associate professor in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science.

OSU’s share in the grant is $630,000. Partners in the grant include Cornell University, North Carolina State University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Connecticut, University of Maryland and Virginia Tech.

According to Dami, the Eastern states share climatic and other conditions that pose significant challenges to a sustainable and more robust wine industry. The two main factors challenging the wine industry in Ohio and Eastern states are excessive rainfall during the growing season and winter cold damage.

The grant, Dami said, will address these issues and propose research and outreach solutions for growers and vintners.
A key thrust in this effort will be evaluating new grape varieties that are better suited to the growing conditions of the region, as well as the development and application of novel geographic information system (GIS) tools for evaluating sites and matching them with the right grape varieties.

“Since the number-one challenge of grape production in Ohio is cold injury, I will be involved with evaluating cold hardiness of various varieties tested in Ohio,” Dami said. “Our long-term goal is to develop a model to predict cold hardiness of a given variety at a given site and given weather conditions.”

According to Dami, this project will link to a national variety evaluation project, which is established in three locations in Ohio (Wooster, Kingsville and Piketon). As part of the grant, Dami and his colleagues will play a role in providing research-based recommendations to the industry through on-farm workshops, short courses, Web and distance-learning resources and print publications.

“Environmental benefits expected from the project include a reduced reliance on herbicide inputs, increased soil organic matter and reduced soil erosion through use of vineyard cover crops,” Dami added.

Ohio is among the top wine-producing states, boasting 1,500 acres of grapes and an annual production of more than 1.1 million gallons and 150 wineries – more than double the number 10 years ago.

“With 65 percent of Ohio wineries established in the past decade, the Ohio wine and grape industry is thriving,” said Ohio Department of Agriculture Director Robert Boggs, chair of the Ohio Grape Industries Committee. “Its continued growth and success helps to provide jobs and revenue for Ohio’s agriculture industry.”