NGWI Joint Meeting with USDA
Carver CenterBeltsville, MDApril 27, 2009
Economic impact of the US Grape Industry
• America’s largest processed specialty crop by value
• 5,000 wineries in each of the 50 states• 44 states grow grapes• Health contribution of grapes• Significant farm gate value• Taxes -- $17 Billion annually
– $9 billion federal– $8 billion state & national
Representing US grape & grape products research needs…
NGWI’s Theme Committees
• Extension and Outreach
• Understanding & Improving Quality
• Production & Processing Efficiency
• Sustainability
• Consumer Insights, Nutrition & Community
Key Components of Farm Bill Supported by NGWI
• Specialty Crop Research Initiative
• Specialty Crop Block Grants
• Clean Crop Network
Important Role For NGWI
• Our structure is already multi-state; multi-commodity
• NGWI Board members served on 2 of the 3 review panels in 2008
• 15 o 20 points will be awarded to projects which have an existing industry advisory board – in 2009 we have directly been engaged in development and writing of four core proposals
Problems we’re encountering• University commitment to participate in the
process• Cooperation between research institutions can be
thorny• Grant writers familiar with the process are hard to
find• Specialty crops – every man for himself?• Still want close collaboration with ARS; is balance
between competitive & formula funding right?
NGWI SCRI Grant Applications in 2009
• “Developing Sustainable Solutions Water Management in Irrigated Vineyards
• “Vineyard Mechanization for Enhanced Economic Sustainability
• “Development of a Grape Community of Practice for the eXtension System”
NGWI Initiated Planning Grant
• Climate Change – Everyone’s talking about it; how much do we really know about carbon cycle in permanent crops?
• Planning grant to build on work previously funded by ARB/Energy Dept/Calif. Ag
• All grape types/uses, national approach, review impact of climate, soils, cultural practices
NGWI Work Undertaken without government assistance…
NGWI Sustainability Projects
Winery Water and Energy Manual– Manual has been published and distributed to
NGWI Board members
– First workshop held in California
– 60 requests for copies of the manual were received in the first two weeks after the availability of the manual was announced
– NY and Washington State have all committee $ to host workshops in their area
NGWI Quality Committee Projects
• Viticultural Influence on Wine Quality– NGWI co-sponsored– 2009 Unified Symposium and WAWGG.– One-day aroma/quality workshops– Outreach educational experience for the
industry.– Covered thinning, irrigation, pruning techniques– ASEV will publish results
NGWI Consumer Insights, Nutrition & Community
• Grape Health Workshop – applied for multi-state
block grants but were turned down• Held it anyway on December 2-3, 2008 in San
Francisco• Brought in health researchers with seven areas of
emphasis• Cardiovascular, cancer,cognitive function/brain health• Immune function,diabetes/glycemic response, anti-
microbial/anti-adhesion, bioavailability/analytical
Consumer Insights, Nutrition & Community
• Workshop Goals– Establish a consensus about research areas
of promise– Provide information needed for gap analysis– Stimulate discussion among key researchers– Provide direction to the grape industry– Publish papers presented in applicable
professional journal
Specialty Crops Programs Hold Promise
• How does NAREEE grapple with balance between competitive versus formula funds?
• Who provides oversight of GAP programs?
• Multi-year funding commitments are tough
• Balance between quick ROI and long-term problems
Since our Board meeting last January….
• Translated national research priorities into four NGWI-Initiated Projects
• Reviewed NGWI governance documents and four years of minutes: updated document for approval Tuesday
• Evaluated budget – Improve transparency– Reflect development goals– Research commitments
Structure of our meeting--Monday
• Coordination with USDA Experts• Areas include climate change, genomics,
Clean Plant Network, human health and nutrition, as well as NGWI Research Review
• Break into working groups—chose one • Report out specific recommendations on
priorities• USDA research structure & how to plug in!
Dinner at Mary Wagner’s Home
• Depart Carver Center about 4:45pm
• Travel to 11716 Lake Potomac Drive, Potomac, MD
• Need a cooler for wine?
• Bus will bring people back to hotel and Carver Center
Tuesday’s Agenda
• Two Breakout Sessions:– Research: Process, SCRI, funding, timing– GRO Task Force: Review of draft document
• Review of USDA Research: How is it going?
• NGWI considerations: governance, budget, other business
Thank you for your participation!