OCPVA
11/13/09 Meeting Minutes
Meeting was called to order by Larry Coia at 6:10pm on Friday November 13, 2009
Minutes from the previous meeting were approved as sent.
Larry Sharrott Sr was nominated for the 5th seat on the Board of Direction, with no other nominations from the floor; Larry was elected to the Board
The USDA Specialty Block Grant that was awarded to the OCPVA to do a State wide Viticulture Project was discussed. The Goals were reviewed, with suggestions from the group, Larry Coia will coordinate the symposium and Jim Quarella will coordinate the mapping and research priorities.
The discussion on the seasons growing conditions was very productive. Canopy management and crop load were critical in controlling disease and maturing the fruit. Chambourcin did very well this season possible due to the excess soil moisture and this varieties disease resistance.
Peter Oudemans discussed the importance of Clean (disease free) planting stock. He stressed that it is important that we give documented feed back to the nursery of any disease issues especially in the first year of planting. This documentation is essential for two reasons: 1) To justify research to correct these concerns 2) This a consumer driven industry and if we do not express our concerns they will not be addressed . Peter also discussed how crucial it is to properly identify disease and pest issues in the vineyard. Our industry needs training in diagnosing pest problems and the proper use of materials to control these pests. The final topic Peter discussed was Rutgers PestWeb http://pestweb.rutgers.edu/index.asp . This site will include a section on grape next year that should greatly benefit our industry. Some research projects that will be looked at for 2010 are Virus Survey for the state and poor fruit set in Traminette.
Dean Polk spoke on the need to trial and test pest modeling software in our area so that it can be used more accurately as a tool in the forecasting of pest pressures.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:45pm.