2017 ASHS Annual Conference

The Minnesota wine industry contributes over $80 Million to the state economy annually and recently celebrated its 40^th year. The industry includes growers, wine makers, and affiliated business that support the industry. Success of this growing industry is largely based on the grape cultivars developed by the University of Minnesota fruit breeding program and further advanced by the UM’s enology research and outreach efforts. The current grape breeding and enology project grew directly out of the industry’s need to have a dedicated grape breeder with an extension and teaching role, which was supported by the state legislature. Since I started in 2015, I have provided leadership and new direction to the project, with targeted breeding objectives combined with outreach and extension activities that are having impacts with grape and wine industry stakeholders across the region.

Breeding overview and impacts

At the cornerstone breeding program is the mission to develop new products that improve production practices, increase profitability, diversify Minnesota farm communities, support local farms, and promote sustainability. The project released a new white wine grape variety in 2016 called ‘Itasca’. ‘Itasca’ is improved over previous releases due to its increased cold-hardiness, pest resistance, and lower acidity levels that make it an ideal candidate for dry, European style wines.

The UM grape breeding program is based on cold-hardy hybrids that use diverse North American germplasm for their disease resistance, pest resistance, fruit quality, and abiotic stress tolerance traits. Cultivar development focuses on improved sustainability through reducing frost risk; reducing pesticides; increasing yields; and creating opportunity for competiveness with high quality fruit and wines. Strongly rooted in the cold-hardy, native species Vitis riparia, the breeding program has over 6 different species contributing to the genetic diversity for numerous traits.

In 2016, we identified novel sources of resistance to the foliar form of phylloxera (a major insect pest for grapevine) through QTL mapping using field and greenhouse data. We also uncovered evidence for root resistance to this insect pest that will require further evaluation. The phylloxera resistance research is will help us to understand the genetic and biochemical components of resistance as well as the impacts of foliar phylloxera on yield and production practices.

Our lab continues to investigate resistance to powdery mildew and other traits including fruit quality, fruit color, bud break phenology, flower sex, and fruit cluster architecture. In addition to traditional breeding methods, we are implementing marker assisted breeding to screen germplasm for these important traits. We have obtained funding to evaluate resistance mechanisms and control measures for spotted wing drosophila (an invasive insect pest) and the impact this fruit fly may have on wine quality.

In 2016, we began to implement embryo rescue for seedless table grape breeding. Our focus is to develop a table grape industry in Minnesota to diversify farm products, support rural economies, and develop direct to consumer supply chains for a this new industry. Several growers in the region have established farm-to-school contracts to sell their table grapes. We are implementing research to gain a better understanding of the production, supply chain, labor, and other infrastructure needs to successfully build this industry.

Extension and outreach overview

Two industry stakeholder groups in Minnesota are key collaborators for extension and outreach activities, the Minnesota Grape Growers Association and the Minnesota Farm Winery Association. The UM project hosts two field days per year at the research facility and provides workshops and seminars at other conferences and events throughout the state. Many people in the industry start as amateurs and home winemakers before transitioning to becoming commercial practitioners. To encourage conversation among those gathered at our events, time is purposefully set aside for informal dialogue to strengthen community interactions. Minnesota is a large state geographically with no centralized grape growing region. Providing a space for and facilitating these conversations connects people to resources, expertise, and problem solving.

The project’s enology specialist Drew Horton has implemented winemaker roundtables that have been very successful in establishing a community of practitioners. This extension activity encourages transparency in winemaking practices. Although it does require vulnerability (even during a blind tasting), the feedback has been overwhelming. One attendee after the first session stated, “I know now that I need to change how I do my winemaking”. The sessions are both formative and transformative. The goal of the enology extension activities are to elevate all winemaking practices, improve competency, and to encourage conversation within the community to make the absolute best wines. We have identified that one of the major issues in the Minnesota industry is winery sanitation, so we continue to promote best practices through seminars, workshops, and electronic communications. Winemaking techniques are evaluated to support winery decision-making, with a primary focus on overall reduction in the naturally high acidity of the current cold-hardy varieties.

Along with UM-Extension economist Brigid Tuck, we conducted the first of its kind “crush report” for Minnesota in 2017. Over 45 respondents to the survey provided information on their acreage, yield, price per pound, and the percent and types of crop loss. Prior to this, no data had been collected on the price received for the different grape varieties. As an emerging industry cluster, growers use several different methods to market their fruit, and often do not know if they are getting a fair price for their products. Our survey is useful to growers for setting pricing for fair negotiations with wineries and for planning purposes for variety selection based on production trends. The information about crop loss will also be important for setting breeding priorities, identifying pest management strategies, developing extension programming to mitigate loss, and for soliciting funds to conduct research in these areas.

There are many opportunities to continue our research to improve the sustainability of the cold-climate grape and wine industry. For me, Extension can play a role to educate and translate research, but also is an opportunity to explicitly strengthen the community and elevate the quality of practitioners. Fostering an environment that fosters friendly competition, innovation, and excellence will push our industries to improve.