Northern NY Agricultural Development Program 2006 Project Report
Project Leader(s):
Mike Hunter and Sue Gwise, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County
Collaborator(s):
Bob Pool, Professor of Viticulture, Cornell University (now deceased)
Farmer participants:
Duane Smith, Evans Mills
Mike Stone, Rodman
Background:
Farmers in the North Country have been looking for alternative crops and interest has been expressed by many people concerning the production of cold hardy grapes in northern New York. Two growers have been successfully growing cold hardy grapes for over 4 years and propagating selected varieties. These varieties are now planted in vineyards in several locations throughout Jefferson County, Clinton County and in Essex and St. Lawrence Counties.
The recognition and development of grape growing as an agricultural enterprise in the North Country will have many beneficial effects, one of which is the development of value added products. This can only serve to increase farm income and tourism for northern New York.
Methods:
Weather stations were set up at the two sites listed above. Each grower has over 30 varieties of grapes in their vineyard. Data collection began on November 1, 2006. The weather stations are tracking low temperature and wind run. The growers will measure snow depth. These factors are important in determining what grape varieties will survive in northern New York.
Results:
Data from each weather station is forwarded to CCE of Jefferson County on a monthly basis. The data is then complied in charts and forwarded to grape growers and placed on the CCE Jefferson website. Currently, we only have data from the Rodman site. There were technical problems with the station in Evans Mills and it did not begin collecting data until January 1, 2007.
WEATHER STATION DATA
Rodman, NY
November 2006
|
DATE |
LOW TEMP.1 |
AVG. TEMP.1 |
AVG. WIND RUN2 |
SNOW DEPTH3 |
|
11/1 |
32.1 |
40.4 |
0.76 |
|
|
11/2 |
28.2 |
35.4 |
0.98 |
|
|
11/3 |
29.8 |
34.5 |
1.04 |
|
|
11/4 |
30.1 |
33.9 |
0.61 |
|
|
11/5 |
31.8 |
37.3 |
1.23 |
|
|
11/6 |
39.8 |
46.1 |
0.93 |
|
|
11/7 |
46.1 |
48.8 |
1.37 |
|
|
11/8 |
46.2 |
51.5 |
0.46 |
|
|
11/9 |
45.2 |
51.3 |
1.21 |
|
|
11/10 |
33.8 |
41.5 |
0.62 |
|
|
11/11 |
33.7 |
44.9 |
1.00 |
|
|
11/12 |
33.7 |
35.3 |
0.81 |
|
|
11/13 |
36.5 |
42.8 |
0.15 |
|
|
11/14 |
42.2 |
45.8 |
0.77 |
|
|
11/15 |
41.1 |
44.3 |
0.21 |
|
|
11/16 |
51.2 |
59.0 |
0.91 |
|
|
11/17 |
38.9 |
45.2 |
2.09 |
|
|
11/18 |
31.8 |
36.7 |
0.40 |
|
|
11/19 |
30.6 |
31.6 |
0.55 |
|
|
11/20 |
27.8 |
30.2 |
0.61 |
|
|
11/21 |
25.3 |
31.3 |
0.35 |
|
|
11/22 |
21.2 |
31.2 |
0.23 |
|
|
11/23 |
22.7 |
33.8 |
0.18 |
|
|
11/24 |
23.9 |
33.3 |
0.29 |
|
|
11/25 |
24.8 |
45.3 |
0.93 |
|
|
11/26 |
45 |
49.5 |
0.96 |
|
|
11/27 |
45.3 |
50.6 |
0.62 |
|
|
11/28 |
38.9 |
45.5 |
0.41 |
|
|
11/29 |
49.1 |
55.5 |
2.32 |
|
|
11/30 |
38.3 |
56.0 |
2.38 |
WEATHER STATION DATA
Rodman, NY
October 2006
| DATE | LOW TEMP.1 | AVG. TEMP.1 | AVG. WIND RUN2 |
SNOW DEPTH3 |
| 10/1 | 49.9 | 53.4 | 1.0 | |
| 10/2 | 41.7 | 50.7 | .40 | |
| 10/3 | 49.6 | 59.0 | .83 | |
| 10/4 | 46.2 | 57.5 | 1.1 | |
| 10/5 | 37.4 | 44.0 | .47 | |
| 10/6 | 31.8 | 45.1 | .14 | |
| 10/7 | 33.0 | 45.1 | .32 | |
| 10/8 | 32.5 | 48.6 | .38 | |
| 10/9 | 43.7 | 56.9 | .53 | |
| 10/10 | 44.4 | 50.5 | .21 | |
| 10/11 | 44.9 | 57.7 | .97 | |
| 10/12 | 39.1 | 49.6 | 1.8 | |
| 10/13 | 32.5 | 39.7 | 1.8 | |
| 10/14 | 35.6 | 40.3 | 1.5 | |
| 10/15 | 34.4 | 40.3 | .76 | |
| 10/16 | 34.4 | 44.3 | .55 | |
| 10/17 | 44.3 | 49.9 | 1.0 | |
| 10/18 | 51.1 | 52.8 | 1.4 | |
| 10/19 | 47.7 | 53.9 | 1.0 | |
| 10/20 | 31.8 | 38.5 | .37 | |
| 10/21 | 27.9 | 36.0 | .43 | |
| 10/22 | 30.7 | 42.1 | .62 | |
| 10/23 | 38.6 | 41.5 | 1.6 | |
| 10/24 | 36.1 | 38.4 | .91 | |
| 10/25 | 33.5 | 39.2 | 1.3 | |
| 10/26 | 28.7 | 36.2 | .79 | |
| 10/27 | 23.0 | 36.4 | .20 | |
| 10/28 | 37.1 | 43.3 | 1.5 | |
| 10/29 | 36.1 | 39.6 | 3.5 | |
| 10/30 | 34.7 | 42.2 | 1.5 | |
| 10/31 | 37.9 | 54.7 | 1.6 |
1Temperature is measured in degrees Fahrenheit.
2Wind run is measurement of the “amount” of wind passing the station during a given period of time, expressed as “miles of wind”. Wind run is calculated by multiplying the average wind speed for each archive record by the archive interval.
3Snow depth is measured in inches.
Conclusions/Outcomes/Impacts:
This project will continue until the last frost date in the spring when all grape vines at the project sites will be assessed as living or dead. This information will then be complied and made available to growers. The project will begin again next fall.
With the data that is gathered, growers will be able to determine what varieties of grapes to plant based on their survivability in northern New York. Growers will not have to waste resources planting varieties that will not survive our cold winters.
Outreach:
Growers are contacted via email as new data is posted on the CCE Jefferson website. After the vines are assessed in the spring, we will put together a reference sheet for growers listing what varieties survived and what temperatures they withstood. This will be printed for distribution and will be posted on the CCE Jefferson website. The Seaway Wine and Viticulture Association is very interested in the results of this study as per the article in Country Folks by Kara Lynn Dunn: Bring on the Cold! North Country Growers Tracking Winter Hardiness of Grapes (text follows, reprinted with permission from Country Folks):
How low will temperatures go this winter? Data from two new North Country weather stations installed in early October at Rodman and Evans Mills with Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) funding – will help North Country grape growers evaluate the winter hardiness of their favored fruit.
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County Horticulture Educator Sue Gwise says the NNYADP project will track temperature, winds, snowfall and humidity and correlate data with a spring 2007 assessment of how well different varieties of grapes have weathered the North Country winter. The varieties have been planted for different purposes – for red and white winemaking, juice production and harvest as table grapes. Gwise says, “The growers have planted varieties that are expected to do well in cold climates. Some are able to survive temperatures of thirty degrees below Fahrenheit.”
At Otter Creek Winery set to open in spring 2007 as “Jefferson County’s newest winery” in Philadelphia, NY, Rick Hafemann says, “I have seen temperatures than 50 degrees below zero and difference in temperatures from the top to the bottom of the hill here. Some of our varieties are producing beyond my expectations in spite of the weather, while some varieties that will not grow here are thriving in Clayton.”
Hafemann, who calls Northern New York “the biggest growth area in the state for grape plantings and wine tourism,” says the grape boom in the 1000 Islands Seaway area represents hope for the future of his family farm. He says, “My wife and I were going to be the last generation on the farm before our son Kyle became excited about building the winery.”
Although the Hafemanns have their own weather station, they are interested in seeing the data from the two NNYADP-funded stations and from other growers’ stations. The data will help drive their variety choices as they add one acre of new grapes each year.
Near the St. Lawrence River in Clayton, Bill and Sarah Bourquin have concentrated on tending their 2,800 vines of cold hardy grapes for sale to the regional winemakers. Due to full-time job commitments and time constraints, they have used only a vineyard thermometer to track temperatures. Bill says, “For us, having the weather stations through the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program will definitely provide good data for the different areas in the region and will help us assess winter damage and future variety options based on the temperature and other data.” #
Next steps:
Continued monitoring of winter vineyard temperatures for the life of the weather stations.
For More Information:
Sue Gwise, Horticultural Educator
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County
315-788-8450