TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — How do the art of wine grape production and the technology of drones go together? A conference to be held next month in Traverse City aims to answer that question.

It’s a one-day affair to be held at the Hagerty Conference Center at Northwestern Michigan College’s (NMC) Great Lakes Campus. In the afternoon, attendees will travel a short distance to the Chateau Chantal Vineyard and Winery, also in Traverse City.

It’s a great time of year for such a conference, when participants can forget last winter and focus in on things like tasting wine and seeing the latest innovations to help in the business of growing wine grapes.

NMC and Michigan State University are hosting the Sept. 5 conference, called Weathering the Climate: Cultivation and Technology in Grape Production. Starting at 8 a.m. that day, MSU’s Brian Matchett, conference coordinator, will welcome attendees.

Key speakers include the state’s climatologist and MSU faculty member Jeff Andresen, who will give a talk on climate change and potential agronomic impacts in the Great Lakes region. Andresen is co-director of the Pileus Project, with a focus on the influence of weather and climate on regional tart cherry production and on grain quality.

Next, Imed Dami of Ohio State University’s (OSU) horticulture and crop science department will give a talk on the impacts of the 2014 polar vortex on grapes. Dami joined the faculty of OSU in 2003. He has research and extension responsibilities in viticulture.

At 10:45, two more experts from MSU, Italy native Paolo Sabbatini and small fruit educator Duke Elsner, will give a talk on managing grapes for the changing climate. Then Ed Bailey and Tony Sauerbrey of NMC will give the last talk before lunch. Their topic is unmanned systems and technology applications in viticulture.

After a lunch break, conference attendees will travel to the winery for more sessions as well as a demonstration. Bailey and Sauerbrey will first give a vineyard demonstration on unmanned systems, or drones.

Next up will be the grape grower panel discussion, featuring participants Ben Bramer of Agrivine; Stan Howell, professor emeritus at MSU’s department of horticulture; Mark Johnson of Chateau Chantal; Larry Mawby of L. Mawby Vineyards; James Peters of Straits Area Grape Growers Assoc.; and Coenraad Stassen of Brys Estate Vineyard. They will tackle questions such as "What’s next for technology applications in grape production?" and "How will growers make adjustments for our changing climate?"

The discussion will continue in the cellar of the winery over hors d’ oeuvres and wine tasting. Finally, dinner will be available at 5:30 at The Peninsula Grill for those with the option two registration, which is $85. Option one registration, which doesn’t include dinner, is $60.

To find out more about the conference, email Matchett at bmatchett@nmc.edu or call 231-995-1719.