September 2022 - 8

Researchers keyed in on cold tolerance at
annual Michigan Viticulture Field Day
By Gary Pullano
FGN Senior Correspondent
Cold damage and the quest to
predict it was among the featured
presentations at the 2022 Viticulture
Field Day at Michigan State
University's (MSU) Southwest
Michigan Research and Extension
Center in Benton Harbor, Michigan.
The July 27 event, co-presented with the
Michigan Grape Society, featured research
updates, new vineyard technology, wine
tasting and networking.
Project updates focused on intelligent
spray control for precision chemical
applications, late-season vineyard
pest and weed control, grape disease
monitoring and management, techniques
for successful vineyard establishment and
replanting, using drones for chemical
application in vineyards, weed control
management and high tunnel warm
season winegrape cultivar plantings.
Cold damage impacts
MSU tree fruit specialist Bill Shane,
who has been working for several years
to determine how growers can address
cold hardiness in tree fruit crops, shared
additional work that's taking place in
viticulture management.
Southwest Michigan Research and Extension Center station coordinator Bill Shane
presents findings regarding cold damage in viticulture crops. Photos: Gary Pullano
" There are some projects here that have
been focusing on cold hardiness in tree
fruit, " he said. " Some aspects of the work
we've been doing to understand cold
hardiness in peaches and other tree fruit
crops are very apropos to winegrapes. "
The work is supported by Michigan
Tree Fruit Commission funds and
AgBio Research, and the Michigan
Grape Society helped secure funds from
Michigan Department of Agriculture.
While Michigan is a great place to grow
fruit, the downside is severe cold events,
he said.
" I've cataloged, since 2000, the
cold events that we've had here in
southwest Michigan, " Shane said. " I've
separated them into rapid late fall/
early winter temperature drops, midwinter
low temperatures and spring low
temperatures. You can see there are quite
a few years where we are challenged. It
depends on the type of crop that we're
dealing with regarding what the impact is
on the crop. "
The southwest Michigan grape bud
hardiness project is providing data for
comparing varieties, model building and
other purposes. Three grape varieties are
looking good for southwest Michigan;
more site-specific weather data may
improve model performance, he said.
Preserving the primary bud is
paramount.
" This study was set up to look at getting
the equipment and techniques together to
determine the critical temperatures that
are efficient to kill fruit buds, " he said.
He said anticipating severe cold
events is important for growers,
insurers and those who determine labor
needs for harvesting.
" In addition to monitoring what's out
there, it is predicting what will happen
out there, " Shane said. " If we have a cold
event, can we know in advance this is
going to cause this type of damage to
this crop? This becomes very important.
There are predictive models that are being
developed that are very helpful for us in
starting to understand how to predict
what kind of damage we will have. "
Taking steps to protect the crop when
low temperatures are expected is also a
concern for researchers.
Determining tolerance to low
temperatures
To determine what buds are doing in
vineyards, researchers gather shoots and
8 | FruitGrowersNews.com
http://www.oescoinc.com http://www.FruitGrowersNews.com
September 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2022
