AMES, Iowa — A series of four viticulture field days at Iowa State University research farms will provide Iowa grape growers with the latest in production information. Field days are scheduled for July 28 at the Horticulture Research Station near Ames, Aug. 2 at the Armstrong Research and Demonstration Farm near Lewis, Aug. 10 at the Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm near Crawfordsville and Aug. 11 at the Northeast Research and Demonstration Farm near Nashua. Forms for registering for the field days are posted on the Iowa State viticulture homepage. The topics and schedules are also listed. The July 28 field day will be an all-day event including sessions on insect, disease and weed management, vineyard cover crops and soil quality, concluding with a wine tasting. It starts at 8:30 a.m. A $25 registration fee includes lunch. The field day contact is: Jo Gregg, (515) 294-3308, jagregg@iastate.edu. To get to the horticulture station from Ames, take U.S. Hwy 69 north to 170th St., also called the Gilbert corner; take 170th St. east 1.5 miles. The Aug. 2 field day will cover grape cultivar research, dealing with injury from drifting herbicides, summer cultural practices, vineyard soil quality and testing for grape maturity. It begins at 5:30 p.m. and costs $5. The contact is Leann Plowman-Tibken, (712) 769-2600, leann@iastate.edu. The farm is located off of U.S. Hwy 6 between Atlantic (11 miles west) and Oakland (16 miles east) between the Hwy 48 and M-47 intersections. Watch for the blue DOT sign and take M-53 (525th St.) south one-half mile to Hitchcock Avenue. The farm is located three-fourths of a mile east. The Aug. 10 will include a grape cultivar research tour, herbicide drift injury, summer cultural practices and grape maturity testing. It begins at 5:30 p.m. and costs $5. Contact Amy Heims, (319) 337-2145, aheims@iastate.edu for more information. From Highway 218, the farm is located 1.75 miles south of Crawfordsville, east on G-62 2 miles to Louisa/Wash Road, turn north and look for the communications tower. The Aug. 11 field day will cover grape cultivar research, herbicide drift injury, summer cultural practices and grape maturity testing. It begins at 9:30 a.m. and costs $5. The contact is Brenda Dix, (319) 267-2707, bdix@iastate.edu. Directions: from Nashua, take B-60 west 1.2 miles to Windfall Avenue; south on Windfall 1 mile to 290th St.; and east on 290th St one-fourth of a mile to the farm.
Four Field Days Devoted to Grape Production Begin July 28
July 16, 2007