Dr. Patty Skinkis, Professor and Viticulture Extension Specialist, OSU Dr. Vaughn Walton, Professor and Horticultural Entomologist, OSU
There have been an increasing number of reports of grape cane borer presence and damage in vineyards throughout the Willamette Valley this winter. Typically these reports during the bud break period in April when adults are active and evidence of shoot dieback occurs. However, we have received numerous reports this January and early February as growers begin pruning. This observation may be due to various factors including more suitable weather conditions (winter and summer), higher levels of populations surviving, more suitable host plant materials, increased awareness and improved monitoring. The borers can have a long life cycle within the vine, living as larvae (grubs) within the shoot or cane for nearly one year. Adults lay eggs during early spring and hatch and develop into larvae that feed on the shoot tissues during the growing season. They remain in the wood as pupae during winter and may be found when pruning commences. Both pupae and adults have been reported in southern and mid-Willamette Valley vineyards this winter. This article covers the most salient points for your awareness this winter; please consult additional resources below for further details.
What to look for in the vineyard: Galleries burrowed by larvae can be observed in cane tissue usually in older or dead wood, canes, spurs, or cordons. These holes are round, drill-like holes of ~0.4 mm diameter, and they are often accompanied with sawdust that was produced by the adult when burrowing into the shoot during late summer or early fall the year prior. Cutting into the wood near these holes during pruning will likely reveal a pupa that is 1-8 mm in length (<0.3 in).
Management: Insecticide application is often difficult to apply during the dormancy period due to the difficulty for the application to reach the pest and the inability to get into the vineyard with equipment. There are biological controls, such as the Steinernema carpocapsae, an entomopathogenic nematode, that may be used, but care needs to be taken to ensure that the product is handled properly and applied to the entry points of the pest to be effective. In some cases, the best method will be to cut out any canes that have the burrow holes evident. Remove pruning wood, as the wood contains the pupae that will emerge in spring. Removing the pest from the vineyard will ensure that a population does not exist to allow new infestations into tissues.
For more information about the cane borer, please see the following resources:
Ashland artist, Betty LaDuke, has generously gifted Oregon State University College of Agricultural Sciences three paintings to the Art About Agriculture program in commemoration of Dr. Porter Lombard, OSU Emeritus Researcher. Dr. Lombard’s contribution to the Oregon wine industry is immeasurable.
“Dedicated to Porter Lombard for his pioneering work at Oregon State University in developing the Oregon grape industry, and beyond. And, for five decades of professional and personal friendship shared with my husband – Peter Westigard, an OSU Entomologist – and our families.” – Betty LaDuke, 2019
Betty LaDuke (née Bernstein) was born in 1933, The Bronx, New York City, to Jewish immigrant parents from the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and Poland. She grew up in an ethnically diverse neighborhood where early influences in her arts education included classes taught by distinguished African-American artists, Elizabeth Catlett and Charles White. College scholarships led LaDuke to study art at Denver University (1950), the Cleveland Art Institute (1951), and at the Instituto Allende in San Miguel, Mexico (1953- 1954). In Mexico, she explored the diversity and heritage of the region, as well as visited the studios of prominent Mexican muralists Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Rufino Tamayo. LaDuke founded her professional artist studio practice in Guanajuato, Mexico, and lived for one year with the indigenous Otomi people of the Ixmiquilpan Region where she painted murals that depicted Otomi heritage. In 1956, Betty LaDuke returned to the United States, where she met Sun Bear (Vincent LaDuke), gave birth to her daughter (activist community organizer Winona LaDuke (b. 1959)), and earned her Master’s Degree from Los Angeles State College (1963). In 1964, Betty and Winona moved to Ashland, OR where she taught in the Art Department at Southern Oregon University until retiring Professor of Art Emeritus in 1996. Betty LaDuke married Oregon State University Entomologist, Peter Hughes Westigard (1933–2011) in 1965, and had her son, Jason Westigard in 1970. In 1972, a sabbatical from teaching enabled LaDuke to spend a month in India sketching the people and their connection to nature, food production, and heritage; a trip that inspired annual travels throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America that focused on sketching the experiences of indigenous women, their cultural heritage, and agricultural practices. LaDuke captured these experiences and sketches in numerous books, including Compañeras: Women, Art, & Social Change in Latin America (City Lights Books, 1985), Women Artists: Multi-Cultural Visions (Red Sea Press, 1992) and Africa: Women’s Art, Women’s Lives (Africa World Press, 1997). LaDuke’s work with Heifer International’s study tours from 2003 to 2009 culminated in the Dreaming Cows series of sixty-two artworks and the book, Dreaming Cows: The Paintings, Murals and Drawings of Betty LaDuke by Susan Jo Bumagin (Heifer International, 2009). LaDuke donated the series to Heifer International’s World Headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Betty LaDuke’s artworks can be found in many public and private collections throughout Oregon, including Coos Art Museum, Grants Pass Art Museum, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Pacific University, Portland Art Museum, Rogue Valley International Airport, Southern Oregon University, and the Art About Agriculture Permanent Collection (College of Agricultural Sciences, Oregon State University). LaDuke was the recipient of Oregon Arts Commission’s 1993 Governor’s Arts Award for individual contribution to Oregon culture, and the United States Society for Education Through Art 1996 Ziegfeld Award for distinguished leadership in arts education.
Bountiful Harvest In 2010, Betty LaDuke was invited to observe and sketch the flower harvest at La Mera Gardens (Fry Family Farms) in Talent, Oregon. This experience served as an awakening to the marvel of local agricultural production and the people that make it possible.
Sketches from regular visits to the
Fry Family Farms blossomed into numerous large paintings on shaped and routed
plywood panels that celebrate the dignity and pride of farmworkers during all
phases of agricultural production across a wide variety of produce. In 2012,
the Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport acquired Celebrating Local Farms and Farmworkers, a selection of twenty-six
panels, for permanent display. Betty LaDuke’s 2016 book, Bountiful Harvest: From Land to Table (White Cloud Press) shares
her artworks and story along with stories from agricultural workers, orchard
and vineyard owners, and the Ashland Food Cooperative.
Grape Planting Betty LaDuke’s Grape Harvest, 2015, a triptych of acrylic paintings on shaped wood panels, was generously gifted to the College of Agricultural Sciences for permanent display within the Department of Horticulture in commemoration of Oregon State University Emeritus Researcher, Dr. Porter Lombard. Dr. Lombard’s contribution to the Oregon wine industry is immeasurable. The three panels comprising Grape Planting originated from sketches from Quail Run Vineyards, Roque Valley, Oregon, with guidance and support from the General Manager, Michael Moore. Grape Planting, 2015 was accepted into the Art About Agriculture Permanent Collection by the 2019 Art About Agriculture Advisory Council and co-sponsored by the Office of Institutional Diversity.
GIFT of the ARTIST, in commemoration of Dr. Porter Lombard, Emeritus Researcher in Horticulture at Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center (1962-1980) and Oregon State University, Corvallis (1980 to 1992) Art About Agriculture 2019 Co-sponsored by the Office of Institutional Diversity
Dr. Patty Skinkis, Associate Professor and Viticulture Extension Specialist, Dept. of Horticulture, OSU
Members of the Oregon Wine Research Institute (OWRI) at Oregon State University work hard to provide you with current information on research that is in progress and provide access to research-based best management practices for vineyards and wineries. We have two online resources for your use, and they serve specific purposes:
The OWRI website This website allows you to learn more about the research activities of OWRI. You will find research that is advancing wine industry knowledge or the fields of plant and food sciences. We provide newsletters, webinar videos, and articles about the research. Visit this site to learn how you can join our outreach events throughout the year.
The OSU Extension website Oregon State University Extension faculty make technical information available for use by commercial growers and winemakers. This website is designed to help you troubleshoot vineyard or winery issues using unbiased, science-based information. To browse relevant content, click on “Crop Production” then “Wine Grapes” or “Food” then “Wine, Beer, Cider, and Spirits”. Alternatively, you can use these direct links for wine grape and winery content.
There are many agriculture Extension faculty throughout the state who provide online content in areas such as water, soils, pests, diseases, integrated pest management (IPM), marketing, and more, so be sure to use the site’s search feature. If you cannot find the information that you need on the OSU Extension website and want to consult with an Extension expert, use the website’s Ask an Expert form. Questions are routed to the appropriate Extension faculty (Skinkis, Osborne, Kaiser, Walton, etc.). Please note that this website is new, so more content will be added in the coming months.
Please visit these websites and give us feedback! Contact Denise L. Dewey with comments/feedback about the OWRI website. Contact Patty Skinkis (viticulture) or James Osborne (enology) for feedback on the OSU Extension website.
Dr. James Sterns, Associate Professor, Department of Applied Economics, Oregon State University
The 2018 Direct to Consumer Wine Shipping Report, published collaboratively by the information technology company SOVOS and the trade publication Wines & Vines, has just been released and an overriding message within it is clear – Direct to Consumer (DtC) sales are growing rapidly in both volume and value of sales. The reported numbers are eye-catching: total U.S. consumer spending in 2017 on DtC wine shipments of $2.69 billion, with 5.78 million cases shipped. And reading further into the report, there are even more impressive quotes to be found:
“Oregon is clearly having its day. Due to larger than average harvests in 2013-2015, along with increased attention from investors, the trade, media and consumers, Oregon’s sales and shipments are flourishing.”
“Since 2012, the volume of wine shipments from Oregon wineries has increased by 214%, with the value of those shipments increasing by 227%…Oregon kept rolling in 2017, delivering the greatest DtC shipping increase of all six regions tracked.”
“As in past years, the small winery (5,000 to 49,999 cases) and very small winery (1,000 to 4,999 cases) categories drove the DtC shipping channel, accounting for 70% of the value of U.S. winery shipping.”
“By nearly every measure, the winery DtC shipping channel continues to outperform every other retail channel in the United States, be it grocery stores, independent fine wine shops or convenience stores.”
“…tasting rooms and wine club sales still drive the lion’s share of DtC growth…”
With news like that, Oregon wineries are obviously aware of and intent on continuing their efforts to sell more wine directly to the consuming public. But there remains an open question about at least one component of DtC marketing, and it’s a question that I have heard repeatedly in the past 18 months. It’s a sentiment shared by many Oregon winery owners and managers. Simply put, there’s a shared sense that, “we really don’t know that much about how to effectively manage our wine clubs.”
As part of a new OWRI initiative, my colleague Catherine Durham and I are studying how wine clubs throughout the state of Oregon are managed, and more importantly, what are the preferences and motivations of wine club members. This research is progressing through two phases – first, this past Fall we solicited responses to a questionnaire from Oregon wineries about how they manage their wine clubs. These results are in and are helping to inform our next phase of research – sending questionnaires directly to wine club members, asking them about their participation in wine clubs. Our lines of inquiry are focusing on the following: What features and benefits of club membership do they value most? When and why did they join the wine club, and what incentives will motivate them to stay in the club? How many clubs have they participated in, both historically and currently and what has motivated them to change or leave a club?
We know of at least one other recent project that asked similar questions. A study published by researchers at Sonoma State University was based on a small sample of 25 students majoring in wine business, which limits how much we can generalize the findings. And yet their study does help support our efforts, in part by identifying a set of common wine club attributes, which included wine club levels (ranging from one to six), ways to differentiate across wine club levels (most commonly by price points), allowing customized ordering, the number of shipments per year (ranging from one to six), the number of bottles per shipment, price range of bottles shipped, and associated tasting room benefits (such as allowing non-club members accompanying club members in a tasting room complimentary tastings and/or discounts). These are some of the specific topics that we plan to include in our club member questionnaire.
We hope to have the club member survey ready to use within the coming weeks. We will be completely dependent upon the cooperation of Oregon wineries and their wine club managers to distribute this questionnaire. In appreciation of the proprietary nature of club member lists, we are asking that the wineries distribute an email with a link to a web-based questionnaire to all of their club members. Results should be available by late spring.
If you have any questions or thoughts about this research, please contact me at your convenience. My email address is jasterns@oregonstate.edu and the direct line to my office is 541.737.1406.
“2018 Direct-to-Consumer Wine Shipping Report” published in collaboration with SOVOS and Wines & Vines, available online at https://www.shipcompliant.com/library/
