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Winter took a toll on northern grape crops

The Illinois grape crop took a hit from the harsh winter weather and will likely be reduced this year. Dick Faltz, is viticulture chairman of the Illinois Grape Growers and owner of Fox Valley Winery in Oswego in northeastern Illinois.

He says 50 to 75% of the crop in Northern Illinois has primary bud loss, “We are certainly facing, at a minimum, a reduced crop for this year. Southern Illinois experienced some of the same cold but not to the extent that we had in northern Illinois.”

From Springfield, Illinois southward, he tells Brownfield Ag News, the damage is not as bad but the crop is about a week behind normal there, “So, at this point it looks like we’re going to be off about 30-percent with the state grape crop. It could be as much as 40 (percent).”

Faltz says there has been no spring freeze damage yet, in large part, because the grape crop is late. There’s still a risk for freeze damage, however, during the coming weeks.

AUDIO: Dick Faltz on Illinois grape crop (5:00 mp3)

Philippe Coquard has Wollersheim Winery at Sauk City, Wisconsin; he says they may have lost 30 to 50 percent of the buds on their vines. He has noticed that the damage was less on vines which were protected from the north winds by a bluff while those on the flat land were hit hardest, “that’s where we lost 70 to 80 percent of the buds”. Coquard says they have had colder temperatures for a few days in prior years but “we’ve never seen 20 days in a row at 10-below, 20-below and wind.”

He has been talking to growers around the country and there is damage as far east as Long Island, New York.

He does note that because they were aware of the damage, they have pruned the vines accordingly this year which could salvage some of the crop. Fortunately, the vines have not been damaged so, weather permitting, “next year should be back to normal.”

AUDIO: Coquard talks about the loss 3:24 mp3

~Brownfield’s Bob Meyer contributed to this report