The Crush - November 2021 - 10

GRANT FUNDING
$7.65M Grant to Study Impact of Smoke on Grapes, Wine
By Sean Nealon, Oregon State
University newsroom
Published Oct. 28
Reprinted with permission
Oregon State University researchers
and a team of West Coast university
collaborators have received a $7.65
million grant to study the impact of
smoke exposure on grapes, a project that
will provide critical knowledge to grape
growers and winery owners severely
impacted by widespread wildfire smoke
in recent years. The funding comes from
the FY2021 Specialty Crop Research
Initiative (SCRI) grants program.
Oregon State researchers will work with
scientists at Washington State University
and UC Davis on the four-year project,
which is funded by USDA's National
Institute of Food and Agriculture.
" Smoke events are only likely to increase,
and last year made it clear we need
to be better prepared, " said Elizabeth
Tomasino, associate professor of enology
at Oregon State and lead researcher on
the grant. " This research will go a long
way in providing tools that will allow
the grape and wine industries to quickly
make decisions that significantly impact
their economic livelihoods. "
With the grant, the team seeks to:
* Develop new technologies and
establish low-cost sensors and sensor
networks for real-time risk assessment
in the vineyard.
* Assess the impact of smoke exposure
on the health of grapes and grapevines.
* Develop grape coatings to reduce or
eliminate uptake of smoke components
into grapes.
* Optimize a rapid small-batch
fermentation method to predict what a
wine impacted by smoke will taste like
when fermented on a commercial scale.
* Determine sensory quality thresholds
of smoke compounds in wine.
* Link environmental, chemical and
sensory data to create predictive
modeling of smoke risk to grape and
wine quality.
* Create an integrated outreach
component to communicate the
research findings and their use, and
enable industry to benefit from them.
Full abstract: Assessment and Management of
Risk Associated With Wildfire Smoke Exposure of
Grapes in the Vineyard
Specialty Crop Block Grant Program: 2021 Funding
California received $54.5 million in
Specialty Crop Block Grant Program
funding - including $31.6 million in
stimulus funding to address impacts
of COVID-19 and promote economic
recovery - out of approximately $169.9
million awarded nationwide. The
following projects involve California
wine, winegrapes and/or vineyards.
Read summaries of the following projects
Paso Robles Wine Targets Mid-Markets
Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance
$300,038
Santa Barbara County Wine Expansion
in Southern California
Santa Barbara Vintners
$362,575
10 NOVEMBER 2021
Pinot Noir Producers Market Showcase
Santa Lucia Highlands Wine Artisans
$298,900
Providing Sonoma Producers Needed
Training on Sustainable Farming
Practices to Mitigate Impacts of
California Wildfires
California Land Stewardship Institute
$446,500
Educational and Training Workshops for
On-Farm Water and Energy Automation
California State University, Fresno
Foundation
$239,780
Evapotranspiration Monitoring of Three
Major Salinas Valley Specialty Crops
California State University, Monterey Bay
$445,929
Developing High-Throughput Genetic
Screening Tools for Drought Tolerance
in Grape Rootstocks
The Regents of the University of
California, Davis
$322,949
Investigation of the Risk of Smoke
Exposure: Volatile Phenol Absorption
and Translocation
The Regents of the University of
California, Davis
$344,977
Towards the Enhancement of PCR
Detection of Pathogens in Specialty
Crops
The Regents of the University of
California, Riverside
$234,534

https://nifa.usda.gov/press-release/usda-announces-over-243-million-grants-awarded-strengthen-specialty-crop-industry https://nifa.usda.gov/press-release/usda-announces-over-243-million-grants-awarded-strengthen-specialty-crop-industry https://cris.nifa.usda.gov/cgi-bin/starfinder/0?path=fastlink1.txt&id=anon&pass=&search=R=94362&format=WEBLINK https://cris.nifa.usda.gov/cgi-bin/starfinder/0?path=fastlink1.txt&id=anon&pass=&search=R=94362&format=WEBLINK https://cris.nifa.usda.gov/cgi-bin/starfinder/0?path=fastlink1.txt&id=anon&pass=&search=R=94362&format=WEBLINK https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/egov/Press_Releases/Press_Release.asp?PRnum=21-147 https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/egov/Press_Releases/Press_Release.asp?PRnum=21-147 https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/egov/Press_Releases/Press_Release.asp?PRnum=21-147 https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/Specialty_Crop_Competitiveness_Grants/pdfs/2021_SCBGP_Abstracts_FarmBill.pdf

The Crush - November 2021

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