National Grape Research Alliance

National Grape Research Alliance NGRA represents the research needs of the US grape and wine industry—wine, table grapes, juice and raisins—nationwide.

We join scientists and industry to initiate novel research and establish new research programs to solve industry challenges together. The National Grape Research Alliance focuses on research and extension to strengthen the US grape and grape product industries in partnership with academics and government. Grapes are the nation’s leading specialty crop and all industry segments including raisin, ju

ice, fresh grape and wine created the NGRA coalition to drive research for maximum productivity, sustainability and competitiveness.

Tune in to this podcast from Westover Viticulture as UC Davis’ Matt Fidelibus breaks down the use of plant growth regula...
06/12/2026

Tune in to this podcast from Westover Viticulture as UC Davis’ Matt Fidelibus breaks down the use of plant growth regulators (PGRs), such as gibberellic acid, abscisic acid, and ethephon, in table, raisin, and wine grape production. PGRs can influence berry size, cluster architecture, color development, and ripening, and are commonly used in table grape production. But in winegrapes, their application is more nuanced. Even small misapplications potentially affecting fruit set, bud development, or yields across multiple seasons.

Plant growth regulators (PGRs) are powerful tools that can dramatically influence vine performance, but they also come with complexity and risk. In this episode, Fritz welcomes back Dr. Matthew W. Fidelibus of UC Davis to explore how these compounds are used across table, raisin, and wine grape prod...

The rate and relative tightness of cluster closure can significantly impact disease risk, but efforts to track this prog...
06/11/2026

The rate and relative tightness of cluster closure can significantly impact disease risk, but efforts to track this progression via visual scoring are labor-intensive, subjective, lack temporal resolution and therefore aren’t useful for deep learning models. Researchers at Cornell University have assembled ViViD-5k, a large-scale in-field Vineyard Vision Dataset containing 5,000 densely annotated images spanning 13 grape varieties. Building on this dataset, they also introduced GrapeSAM, a visual pipeline that enables automated, in-field estimation of cluster closure, supporting high-throughput grape phenotyping with enhanced spatial detail.

Cluster closure, defined as the progressive filling of gaps between the berries in a grape bunch, is a key trait in vineyard management, impacting disease risk. However, traditional visual scoring methods are labor-intensive, subjective, and lack temporal resolution. Existing datasets rarely support...

An international team of researchers recently reported that a worst-case climate scenario is now “implausible.” The scen...
06/10/2026

An international team of researchers recently reported that a worst-case climate scenario is now “implausible.” The scenario, known as RCP8.5, posited that temps would rise 4 degrees C (8 degrees F) by century's end. The finding reflects years of criticism from climate scientists, a recognition that some elements in the scenario (like coal-fueled cars) were ridiculous and the fact that some progress has been made. But although this may seem like good news, “there’s an important caveat,” says an environmental correspondent on this Science Friday podcast. “We are still targeting pretty extreme climate change that’s going to have dire effects on the planet.”

Scientists say one extreme climate change scenario isn't realistic. Plus, a journalist’s quest to discover new insect species in New York.

Oregon State University researchers have discovered that two types of naturally occurring bacteria slowed the growth of ...
06/09/2026

Oregon State University researchers have discovered that two types of naturally occurring bacteria slowed the growth of the fungus that causes Botryosphaeria dieback more substantially than a commercially available product used as a comparison. The native strains worked well across all temperatures tested, including 50°F. That matters because pruning often happens in cooler weather, when available disease-management products may be less effective.

Beneficial bacteria show promise against vineyard trunk disease.

Researchers at Cornell University developed a framework to help winegrape growers better understand their options for an...
06/08/2026

Researchers at Cornell University developed a framework to help winegrape growers better understand their options for an evolving climate, using Napa Valley as a model. Should growers use shade cloth to adapt their vines to hotter temps, switch to heat-tolerant grape varieties that might not fetch the same price, or move production to a cooler region? The team surveyed wine consumers to see how such business decisions affected what people would pay. Consumers “appear to be willing to pay a price premium as winemakers adjust to their new normal”…at least temporarily.

As the planet warms, wine-growing regions face an uncertain future. Should they double-down on what they grow or do something entirely different?

“Across California and the Pacific Northwest, vineyard operators are making hard decisions about which acres to keep, wh...
06/05/2026

“Across California and the Pacific Northwest, vineyard operators are making hard decisions about which acres to keep, which to pull and how to farm what remains at a cost structure that pencils out,” reports WineBusiness Monthly. “Automation has increasingly become a central part of that answer, not as an investment in some future efficiency but as a practical, near-term tool to survive a brutal market cycle.” Even just a few cents per vine can add up to huge savings.

WineBusiness Monthly - Grape Growing

The Loudoun County, VA, Scrape for the Grape initiative enlists local wine enthusiasts to scrape spotted lanternfly egg ...
06/04/2026

The Loudoun County, VA, Scrape for the Grape initiative enlists local wine enthusiasts to scrape spotted lanternfly egg masses from vineyards and surrounding areas. Over three years of the program, 2,300 volunteers have participated. Based on self-reports of the number of SLF egg masses destroyed, at an average of 30 SLF eggs per mass, volunteers have eliminated nearly 20 million lanternflies, organizers say. But whether or not scraping makes a difference in SLF populations, participants go home with a personal, tangible stake in the success of the winery for whom they’ve done battle…and often a wine club subscription. Scrape for the Grape organizers are preparing the event as a blueprint for other regions.

As spotted lanternflies continue to torment vineyards, vintners and community members are coming up with creative solutions.

“As the practice has gained traction across the wine industry, our understanding of dry farming and what it takes to mak...
06/03/2026

“As the practice has gained traction across the wine industry, our understanding of dry farming and what it takes to make it work has flattened almost to the point of distortion,” reports SevenFifty Daily. Doing it successfully requires knowledge of annual rainfall thresholds, soil depth and composition, vine age and rooting capacity of the varieties and rootstocks grown. “With climate change making it harder to predict when and where sufficient rainfall will occur, dry farming has only become an increasingly more complex system for winemakers to navigate.”

Winemakers and researchers say dry farming can improve vine resilience and soil health—but only under the right conditions…

New research from California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) sponsored by the Napa County Farm Bureau quantified...
06/02/2026

New research from California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) sponsored by the Napa County Farm Bureau quantified the annual cost of regulatory compliance for Napa County grape growers. The analysis reveals that large growers pay more than $1,700 per acre and small growers, more than $1,100 per acre—that’s just under $2,000,000 and approximately $226,000 per year, respectively, or 8% to 12% of production costs. The figures track with the researchers’ previous studies showing that regulatory costs in California have increased more than 1,300% in some agricultural operations over the last 20 years.

Press Release

As the war in Iran continues to choke off a third of traded urea, a widely used nitrogen fertilizer, prices have skyrock...
06/01/2026

As the war in Iran continues to choke off a third of traded urea, a widely used nitrogen fertilizer, prices have skyrocketed. That’s inspiring innovation and an opening for solutions farmers have viewed as less reliable than synthetic fertilizers. Products ranging from human urine to agricultural waste-based inputs like ground almond shells, to biologicals and microbial products designed to boost plant growth are having a moment. But will demand last? “Synthetic fertilizers have supported global food production for a century,” one farmer is quoted. “I haven’t seen evidence that you can remove them entirely and maintain current yields. There are no silver bullets.”

Iran war disrupts nitrogen fertilizer supplies, pushing farmers worldwide to adopt alternatives like chicken manure, human urine and biostimulants.

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