October 2024

A spotted lanternfly laying eggs*

‘A DESTROYER OF WORLDS’

Thematically appropriate for the spooky season, four NGRA members and I spent the beginning of October up close and personal with one of the grape and wine industry’s biggest bogeymen: the spotted lanternfly. The five us spent two packed days, October 2-3, 2024, on an SLF Field Trip in Berks County, PA, creeped out and itchy.


None of the NGRA contingent, including Nick Dokoozlian (Gallo, based in CA), Randy Heinzen (Vineyard Professional Services, CA), John Martini (Anthony Road Wine Company, NY) and Eric Pooler (Sonoma County Vineyard Technical Group/Nuveen Natural Capital, CA), had ever seen a live spotted lanternfly in person. Entomologist Julie Urban, the foremost authority on SLF in America, and extension educator and SLF researcher Brian Walsh, both of Penn State, served as our guides. And we were joined by a host of collaborating scientists from Penn State, Cornell and Virginia Tech; regulators from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (first responders to SLF’s arrival) and New York Ag & Markets; as well as SLF program specialists from USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, all eager to see (or show) what we’re up against.


Why Berks County? As Brian explained in a brief he compiled for our visit, “Lanternflies were discovered in Berks County in 2014 and for several years were a very local phenomenon. As they have spread, they have garnered national attention, including on Saturday Night Live. While now found in 17 states in much of the Mid-Atlantic and extending into the Midwest, Berks County remains a location of research and observation of SLF populations as we try to use population movements and shifts to predict how it will behave in other states and countries.”


Brian added that “the SLF population peaked in Berks County in approximately 2019-2021 and in many areas now almost seems absent, with smaller populations surging up locally in subsequent seasons.” So, the strategy for our visit was to see spots where populations have dwindled versus places they seem to be surging, as well as ongoing impacts at local and landscape levels. To that end, we visited vineyards, an apple orchard, a commercial nursery, railway corridors, and Blue Marsh Lake, a vast recreational preserve managed by the Army Corps of Engineers where SLF insecticide trials have been graciously permitted. We saw lots of blackened and dead trees of heaven (SLF’s primary host), and thousands of adult lanternflies in all their gross glory—feeding, mating, laying eggs and shooting out honeydew (including in my eye). Harvest time is their (and our industry’s) most active season.


Exactly four years ago, in October 2020, science writer Jeff MacGregor penned a piece for Smithsonian Magazine titled, “Can Scientists Stop the Plague of the Spotted Lanternfly?” In it, he described SLF as “ruinous and beautiful, the size of your thumb and a destroyer of worlds.” That language might seem a bit hyperbolic now that researchers and growers have learned more and gotten better at managing the pest. As Nick commented after the trip, “We learned that there is life after SLF. But it will certainly increase the cost and complexity of farming operations in the areas where it spreads.”


Still, grape is the number-one thing SLF likes to eat. It might not destroy our world, exactly, but as it proliferates, its economic impact will grow ever more significant. So, NGRA has asked Julie to leverage her SLF expertise to lead a large-scale research project to help the grape and wine industry fight this prodigious pest. To those of you in infested states and those worried about SLF’s arrival, “we hope that we can galvanize a united response to the tremendous pest issue that’s your reality and our future,” Randy said. It’s scary stuff!


Happy Halloween!

Donnell Brown

President

*ABOUT THE PHOTO

I felt lucky (but grossed out) to find and film an adult female SLF laying eggs on a vineyard post on our SLF Field Trip to Berks County, PA. See the video and other creepy photos of the pest.


AROUND THE INDUSTRY

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Nick Dokoozlian Recognized as a UC Davis Alumni of the Year

NGRA Research Chair Nick Dokoozlian, Vice President of Grape and Wine Research at Gallo, was named this month by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UC Davis as one of its Alumni of the Year. Honorees are recognized for their achievements, support, leadership and service to the college. Nick is widely known as an innovator and researcher, “declared by industry as ‘the most perfect viticultural mind our world has seen,’” says Ben Montpetit, chair and professor of the Department of Viticulture and Enology. “He is responsible for research and innovation in grape and wine production, including growing practices that improve yield and quality, the development and application of grape and wine chemical quality metrics and the impacts of processing, fermentation and aging practices on wine composition and sensory characteristics.”

Rodney Strong Proprietor Is a Wine Legend

Tom Klein, proprietor of Rodney Strong Wine Estates, an NGRA member-organization, was this month named Wine Enthusiast’s American Wine Legend, part of the magazine’s 2024 Wine Star Awards. The honor is bestowed upon individuals who’ve made significant contributions to the American wine industry and helped to shape its future. For Tom, the accolade recognizes a decades-long dedication to elevating Sonoma County wines, commitment to sustainable vineyard and winery practices, unwavering passion for crafting exceptional wines and commitment to charitable causes like the National Grape Research Alliance.

New Wildfire Smoke Lab Opens at Oregon State University

The new Smoke, Wine and Grapes Analytical Chemistry Lab on the Corvallis campus of Oregon State University will analyze grape samples for signs of incursion from wildfire smoke. Following the fiery 2020 growing season when a backlog of samples delayed picking decisions and production, Oregon’s wine industry lobbied the state to help establish more testing facilities. In response, the state allocated $2.7 million to help transform a former storage unit into the state-of-the-art lab. Cole Cerrato, an assistant professor at Oregon State’s Department of Food Science and Technology, who manages the lab, says the lab can analyze the type of smoke and compounds within it, and varietal differences within samples. Each sample costs around $400 and can be processed in three days.

UC Davis Achieves HSI Eligibility

UC Davis is now eligible to be one of the nation’s few research-intensive universities designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, or HSI, after fall enrollment numbers crossed the threshold for HSI status for the first time. Latinx enrollment at UC Davis has reached a new peak of about 8,100 students or 25.1% of undergraduate full-time-equivalent students, surpassing the US Department of Education’s criteria of at least 25% to qualify as an HSI. The designation enables the university to apply for competitive grants for HSIs from the federal government. The campus already secured government status as a Minority Serving Institution in 2019 as an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution, or AANAPISI.

Imed Dami Passes Away

The Ohio State University Viticulture and Enology program’s Imed Dami passed away on October 12, 2024, following a prolonged battle with cancer. He was 59. Imed is remembered as a leading viticulture researcher who, over the past 20 years at Ohio State, developed seminal work in cold stress physiology. He also was an Extension specialist, working to improve industry standards through the development of viticulture resources and the adoption of alternative approaches to frost protection, winter injury prevention and recovery, and evaluation of new cultivars for the Ohio wine industry. Imed was well published and advised many graduate students throughout his career. He provided numerous in-state presentations while also being sought after at other state and national conferences to highlight his work. Imed was proud to represent the Ohio grape and wine industry.

Edward Buckler Wins the 2025 McClintock Prize

Edward (Ed) Buckler, a plant geneticist with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and an adjunct professor in the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University, has been awarded the 2025 Barbara McClintock Prize for Plant Genetics and Genome Studies from the Maize Genetics Cooperation, a global organization of maize geneticists and breeders. The prize is named after distinguished Cornell alumna Barbara McClintock, whose pathbreaking research in maize genetics earned her the 1983 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. Today, it honors “the most outstanding plant scientists working on both genetics and genomics in the present era.” Ed’s work explores quantitative and statistical genetics in maize, cassava, biofuel grasses and, lucky for us, grapes. He also has made significant contributions to the study of plant genetics generally. For example, Ed and his teams developed the statistical algorithms, software and genotyping approaches that enabled scientists to evaluate genomes more effectively to discover trait associations and evolutionary patterns across more than 3,000 species. Astonishingly, his work has been cited more than 85,000 times. 

Sara Spayd Named Adjunct Faculty at WSU

Wine science researcher Sara Spayd worked at Washington State University from 1980 to 2006, with luminaries like Bob Wample, Chas Nagel, Ray Folwell and Walter Clore. But even after returning to her native North Carolina and work as a professor and Extension viticulture specialist at NC State, from which she retired in 2016, her research legacy still resonates at WSU’s Department of Viticulture and Enology. In September, in recognition of her influential and remarkable career there, the university named her as an adjunct faculty member. “I was so happy when I heard I had been appointed,” she said. “This brings me back full circle to WSU—it’s like writing an epilogue.”

San Joaquin Valley Winegrowers to Honor Larry Williams

The Board of the San Joaquin Valley Winegrowers Association will honor Larry Williams with their 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award next month. Larry is well-recognized by the grape industry for his groundbreaking work in irrigation and fertilizer management as a professor and plant physiologist in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis, from which he retired in 2018. Stationed at the Kearney Ag Research & Extension Center in the Central Valley, he helped growers determine nitrogen and potassium needs and application timing for raisin, wine and table grapes. His research helped wine grape growers refine deficit irrigation practices for improved wine quality and guided raisin and table grape growers in using water to maximize berry size and production. The award will be presented this year at Malcolm Media’s Grape, Nut & Tree Fruit Expo on November 8, 2024, in Fresno, CA.

UC Davis Is Hiring an Assistant Professor of Sensory Science

The Department of Viticulture & Enology at UC Davis seeks an Assistant Professor of Sensory Science. This tenure track position also has an appointment in the California Agricultural Experiment Station. The appointee is expected to establish a competitively funded research program with a focus on the sensory evaluation of wine. Research areas of interest include descriptive sensory analysis, consumer studies, the development of novel methodologies at the intersection of sensory perception and viticulture and enology practices, and exploring how climate-related changes, such as the effects of rising temperatures during berry ripening, impact grape composition, wine sensory outcomes and consumer preferences. See the position description and apply by January 15, 2025.

NIFA Seeks SCRI Relevance Reviewers

USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is recruiting industry representatives (growers, packers, shippers, staff from organizations that represent specialty crops, etc.) to serve as industry relevance reviewers for the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) for 2025. The total time commitment for reviewers is about 15 to 20 hours in January and February, including 1.5 hours the week of February 3, 2025, when virtual review panel meetings will take place. In return, you get to play an important role in ensuring that SCRI projects are tackling critical needs for the grape and wine industry. Plus, reviewers can receive an honorarium of $265 for completing their reviews and participating in the review panel meeting, and an extra $265 for completing the reviewer training. The application deadline is November 29, 2024. Get complete details and sign up.

NCR-SARE Seeks Review Committee Members

The North Central Region of the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (NCR-SARE) also is seeking nominees for its Research and Education Grant Program and other grant review committees. Each NCR-SARE review committee has varying requirements, but review committee members are generally required to review proposals, discuss them on a conference call or in person, and provide recommendations to the organization’s Administrative Council. Review committees are typically assembled one to two months prior to the proposal deadlines (in late summer and in late winter), and grant reviewers receive a modest fee for their time. Learn more and apply.


RESEARCH FOCUS

GE Vines Break New Ground in Italy 

By Anna Meldolesi

On September 30, 2024, five Chardonnay vines left the greenhouse to be transplanted in a vineyard near Verona. But these were no ordinary vines. They had been gene-edited to resist infection from downy mildew. And they were the first edited grapevines to be planted outdoors, in a non-controlled environment anywhere in Europe.


Researchers at EdiVite, the academic spinoff that developed the plants using CRISPR technology, had to obtain permission from the relevant authorities to test their performance under real-world conditions. It was the second field trial authorized in Italy for plants whose DNA has been altered via gene editing; the first was edited rice developed by the University of Milan a few months earlier. Now, those two trials raise hopes that future applications from other teams will find an efficient authorization process.


But several factors combine to make the Chardonnay field trial special. In Italy, winegrapes aren’t just any agricultural commodity. They’re iconic across the landscape and culture, and they’re profitable—but environmentally problematic. “Reducing the pesticides used in viticulture is a major challenge. New genomic techniques (NGTs) allow us to do it while preserving typicity, keeping the genetic identity of the vines intact,” argues Italian Society of Agricultural Genetics President Silvio Salvi.


Viticulture uses 41% of the fungicides employed in European agriculture, despite occupying only 2% of the cultivated area in Europe. That’s why Italian research on edited vines is beginning to be viewed favorably by the most forward-looking wine producers, politicians and leaders of major farmers’ associations, like Ettore Prandini, the president of Coldiretti, formerly very hostile to GMOs, who joined the ceremony to plant one of the edited Chardonnay vines with his own hands.


The trial is planted in a 250-square-meter plot owned by the University of Verona. In the coming months, the experiment will expand to a second site in the Padua area. Within a few years, it will multiply to 30 edited vines with an equal number of unmodified vines that will serve as controls. “If all goes well, in 2025 we will collect the first data on downy mildew susceptibility, which in the greenhouse appeared to be low, and we should already have some bunches of grapes to test. Then in 2026, we expect to proceed to winemaking,” says Sara Zenoni, who teaches agricultural genetics at the University of Verona and is a founding partner of EdiVite.


“Bringing basic research to the field requires knowledge built over the years. In this case, the sequencing of the grapevine genome and the functional study of its genes were crucial, as well as the skills acquired in plant tissue cultivation,” explains Mario Pezzotti, an agricultural geneticist and also a founding partner of EdiVite. “We decided to start with the Chardonnay variety precisely because it regenerates well, as well as having an international connotation. With the proper authorizations, however, we would be ready to field test other edited varieties, starting with Glera which is used for prosecco, and with other traits, first and foremost protection against powdery mildew,” he adds.


Deactivating genes for disease susceptibility seems a preferable strategy to inserting genes for resistance borrowed from wild vines, as it avoids triggering competition between the host and pathogen, potentially offering longer-lasting protection. In the case of the newly initiated trial, the strategy was to use CRISPR genetic scissors to delete a few letters in the DMR6 gene, which inhibits the production of the salicylic acid molecule that is important for the plant’s immune defenses.


A small deletion is enough to disrupt the reading frame of the target gene and allows the vine to preemptively and intensively defend itself. “It is possible that this also helps protect vines against other pathogens; we will try to verify this during the trial,” Mario explains. No foreign DNA had to be introduced into the plant to induce this targeted mutation. As a result, the vines are not transgenic and fall into the category that should be exempt from restrictions that apply to GMOs in the EU, according to the proposed regulatory review under discussion in Brussels.


“We were lucky enough to meet producers active in our region, interested in science and free of preconceptions, who wanted to see what we were doing (and) believed in us,” Sara recalls.


It is a small vanguard in the fight against fungal diseases, but it is only the beginning. Let’s raise a glass to their future success—perhaps a Chardonnay.



Anna Meldolesi is a science writer based in Italy, covering biotech news for the Italian and international press. This article is condensed from her September 30, 2024, post on her blog, CRISPeR Frenzy, titled “CRISPR Vines Make Their Field Debut in Italy.” It is a simplified, translated version of a longer article she wrote for Le Scienze, the Italian edition of Scientific American.

Funding Opportunities

Washington State Research Grants

The new Washington Wine Research Grant Portal will accept new and continuing research grant applications for Fiscal Year 2026 (July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026) for both the Washington State Wine Commission’s grant program and the statewide Grape and Wine Research Program administered by Washington State University. The competitive research grant programs offer a variety of grants, from one-year demonstration projects to up to four years of study. The deadline for pre-proposals is November 5, 2024. 


Virginia Wine Board

The VWB funds research, education and marketing projects that further a vibrant and sustainable Virginia wine industry. Projects should support at least one of the Board’s three Wine Vision focus areas: Viticulture & Enology, Marketing & Trade or Financial Sustainability. Submissions are due by November 13, 2024. 


Oregon Wine Board

Each year, OWB seeks proposals for research projects relevant to Oregon viticulture and/or enology and consistent with the OWB’s Strategic Plan for Viticulture and Enology Research. Applications will be accepted through the Unified Grant Management website from December 1, 2024, to January 31, 2025.

Applying for a grant? Request a letter of support!

NGRA is pleased to provide letters of support for research projects that directly address our industry research priorities. Request a letter via our online request form at least two weeks prior to the grant deadline (or any internal deadline you may have). Requests are reviewed and approved by NGRA Research Committee leadership, so processing times may vary.

IN THE NEWS

Beyond Vinifera

October 19, 2024 | JancisRobinson.com

Did you know there are more than 300 disease-resistant grape hybrids in the wine world, some developed as long ago as the 1800s? Some of these grapes are seeing commercial success as varietal wines in regions around the world that “perhaps neither know nor care that they are hybrids.” But a recent example—the Tesco Finest Floréal, made for the UK supermarket from Floréal vines, only just released for commercial planting in 2018 and grown in France—boldly puts the variety right in the name. Sales have been strong, a Tesco spokesperson says.


Wine Minute: Relationship Between NGRA & Washington

October 18, 2024 | Pacific Northwest Ag Network

When state grape and wine associations fund research, their state-based projects can often be parlayed into “big tent” projects with national industry impact via the National Grape Research Alliance. In this interview, NGRA President Donnell Brown talks about the organization’s research priorities and its relationship with Washington State industry associations as an example of strategically leveraging research dollars—and outcomes—nationwide.


Climate Change Brings Challenges, and Opportunities, to Finger Lakes Wineries

October 16, 2024 | Cornell Chronicle

“When it comes to managing climate change challenges to secure grape quality, long-term partnerships with Cornell researchers and technologies are key,” writes Laura Reiley in the Cornell Chronicle. She cites innovations such as software Cornell researchers for vineyard managers to collect and process spatial vineyard data to achieve variable rate vineyard management; autonomous robots using computer vision to assess grapevine physiology and disease status; phone apps launching soon to measure cold hardiness and help make pruning decisions during the dormant season.


Assessing Frost Damage to Grapevines through Satellite Mapping

October 16, 2024 | Winetitles Media

The South Australian government is using satellite imagery to map the extent of damage to vineyards from recent frost events across the state. The mapping will outline where frost damage occurred and how many hectares were affected. The information is intended to help grape growers make decisions around future frost mitigation strategies, including rethinking the varieties they plant.


Trace Gas Measurements Could Advance Carbon Cycle Predictions

October 16, 2024 | Cornell Chronicle

What if a critical component of the way climate change models predict future environmental impacts is wrong? A new finding from geospatial and plant scientists at Cornell, centering on whether/how satellite observations take into account plants’ processing of a trace gas called carbonyl sulfide, shows that “the land biosphere has a higher capacity to take up more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere” than previously thought, said co-PI Yiqi Luo. “The results also have the potential to alter how carbon dioxide removal strategies to mitigate climate change are designed,” he added.


Bird Watcher: Costs & Benefits of Birds in Vines

October 10, 2024 | New Zealand Winegrower

A new research project in New Zealand’s Marlborough region will consider the role of habitat along vineyard edges in providing resources for birds, and how, in turn, the birds affect the vineyard throughout the growing season. For example, hedgerows or forests alongside vineyards may attract native birds that eat insects and are unlikely to cause damage to grapes. But poplars may be home to birds that feed on grapes in autumn.


Ag Alert: Done Right, Flooding Fields Can Be Efficient

October 9, 2024 | Maven’s Notebook

People often think flood irrigation is inefficient and leads to runoff. But Khaled Bali, an irrigation water management specialist at the University of California Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier sees it differently. “Flood irrigation doesn’t waste water,” he said. With the right design, farmers can achieve 85% to 95% irrigation efficiency—similar to pressurized systems such as drip or sprinkler irrigation, he explained.


Gradient of Grapevine Varietal Susceptibility to Esca

October 8, 2024 | IVES Technical Review

After years of observation in the INRAE VitAdapt vineyard in Bordeaux and at France’s national trunk disease observatory, there’s evidence that susceptibility to esca varies by grape variety. Across both studies, Chenin and Sauvignon Blanc were found to be among the most susceptible; Pinot Noir and Syrah, the least.


Anthropogenic Climate Change Has Reduced Drought Recovery Probabilities across the Western US

October 2, 2024 | Communications Earth & Environment

A group of researchers at UC Merced has found that, thanks to climate change, it now takes longer for drought-prone western geographies to recover from periods of drought. Combining modeling data with historical records, the team found that the probability of drought recovery is ~25-50% lower in recent decades (2000–2021) than in years past (1901–1980). Increased evaporative demand in non-winter months, they say, adds up to four months to return to non-drought status—if at all.


Can Area-Wide Management Eradicate Vine Mealybug?

October 1, 2024 | Sustainable Winegrowing with Vineyard Team

If you’re dealing with vine mealybug in your vineyard, you’re not alone. And to Kent Daane, Cooperative Extension Specialist at UC Berkeley, that’s kind of the point. Kent has been studying mealybug populations worldwide for much of his career. His latest work focuses on area-wide management tactics. Inspired by the eradication of European Grapevine Moth in California, he sees an opportunity to decrease vine mealybug populations through neighborhood-driven monitoring, trapping, coordinated sprays and mating disruption.


NZ Supports New Viticulture Program to Boost Vineyard Productivity and Economy

September 30, 2024 | Devdiscourse

A just-announced viticulture program supported by the New Zealand government, New Zealand Winegrowers and the Bragato Research Institute “will transform traditional vineyard systems, increasing profitability by an estimated $22,060 per hectare by 2045.” It will “introduce new growing configurations that allow vines to intercept more sunlight, driving higher yields.” Seven vineyards will serve as test sites. The program is projected to inject $295 million into the NZ economy in 20 years.


Solar Panels Soon May Power, Protect Apple Orchards

September 26, 2024 | Cornell Chronicle

This spring, Cornell may be adding agrivoltaics in an apple orchard at its Hudson Valley Research Lab. The 300kw solar array would cover 1,100 apple trees, becoming the first installation in North America in apple. The agrivoltaics project follows another in the university’s Concord vineyards in Western New York. There, researchers found that agrivoltaics could create mutual benefits for growers and solar developers, while accelerating power grid decarbonization. That research is expected to publish later this fall.


Grapevine Roots & Rootstocks

September 23, 2024 | Lodi Winegrape Commission

Carbohydrates and some mineral nutrients stored in older, woody roots give new shoots the energy they need at the start of the growing season, But “young roots are where the action is,” writes viticulturist Stan Grant. They take up water and nutrients from the soil and synthesize hormones to nourish vine growth and development. That’s why rootstocks like Ramsey, with denser root systems and high level of root activity, are known for more vigorous growth. And why roots may be out of sight, but never out of mind, Stan adds.


UC Davis Researchers Finding Ways to Fight Spotted Lanternfly

September 23, 2024 | UC Davis

Researchers at UC Davis are testing two fumigants to be applied to spotted lanternfly eggs as a way to limit the distribution of the pest through commercial trade routes. They’re working inside the university’s Contained Research Facility, the first facility of its kind in the West, where scientists study invasive plant pests, pathogens, weeds and other threats under strict quarantine protocols. Their trials show promise, but they warn that, even if successful, “nothing is 100% effective.”


Survey Highlights Farmers’ Belief in Data Ownership and Collaborative Data Use

August 29, 2024 | Ag Data Transparent

As part of its Farmer Data Governance Initiative, the NASA Acres consortium (in which NGRA is a collaborating partner) surveyed farmers about ag data collection and use. Ag Data Transparent, a partner in the project, shared these early themes emerging from the survey results: Farmers believe they own their data, they welcome help in data use (but don’t know who to ask) and are concerned about privacy.


Assessing Grapevine Water Status in a Variably Irrigated Vineyard with NIR/SWIR Hyperspectral Imaging from UAV

August 6, 2024 | Precision Agriculture

A Fresno State trial in drought-prone California found that, by using UAV-mounted hyperspectral imaging (near- and shortwave-infrared), researchers could assess grapevine water status with high accuracy. They predicted grapevine stem water potential using machine-learning models with an error of just 0.54. They also were able to classify water stress levels with 74% accuracy, enabling precise irrigation decisions to conserve water and enhance grape quality.


Modulatory Effects of Selenium Nanoparticles Against Drought Stress in Some Grapevine Rootstock/Scion Combinations

August 5, 2024 | Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture

Nanotechnology has shown promise in helping some plants overcome drought stress, but it hasn’t been tested on grapevine till now. A team from North Dakota State University explored the use of selenium nanoparticles (Se-NPs) to modulate the effects of drought stress on Crimson Seedless saplings. They found that foliar application of Se-NPs at 10 ppm significantly enhanced drought tolerance by improving antioxidant defense, proline and protein accumulation, and overall growth.


Experimental Evidence Supports the Ability of Spotted Lanternfly to Hitchhike on Vehicle Exteriors as a Mechanism for Anthropogenic Dispersal

July 10, 2024 | National Library of Medicine

In a first-ever study of any insect’s ability to hitchhike on cars, researchers at USDA-ARS found evidence that spotted lanternfly is fanning out across the eastern US doing just that. The research team developed a novel laminar wind flow method to test how well SLF can attach to and remain on vehicle surfaces, including the hood, windshield, windshield wipers, etc. They found that all mobile SLF life stages (nymphs and adults) can stay stuck to vehicles moving at speeds of up to just over 60 mph. 


Find these stories and more, published every weekday, on our Facebook and X (Twitter) feeds. You can also find us on LinkedIn. Use #graperesearch to join and grow the conversation!

UPCOMING EVENTS

November 4-5, 2024

International Symposium on Science and Culture of Alcoholic Beverages

Davis, CA


November 6, 2024

Modesto Junior College Science Colloquium

Sustainable Winegrowing

Modesto, CA and livestream option


November 7, 2024

NGRA Year-End Board Meeting

Corvallis, OR


November 7, 2024

Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research

Science for Climate-Smart Agriculture – Engaging Farmers as Collaborators to Accelerate the Transition

Virtual event


November 11-13, 2024

Sustainable Ag Expo

San Luis Obispo, CA


November 14, 2024

ASEV-ES Hang Time Webinar

Research Update: Frost Protection Products and Technologies

Virtual event


November 15, 2024

Oregon State University

Walla Walla Grape Day

Walla Walla, WA


November 18-20, 2024

Northwest Center for Small Fruits Research Conference

Boise, ID


November 19, 2024

Sonoma County Vineyard Technical Group

Spotted Lanternfly SLF Defense Summit

Santa Rosa, CA


December 4, 2024

Penn State Extension

Modern Dormant Pruning for Vineyard Health and Productivity

Chadds Ford, PA


January 27, 2025

NGRA Annual Meeting & First-of-Year Board Meeting

Sacramento, CA


January 28-30, 2025

Unified Wine & Grape Symposium

Sacramento, CA


January 29, 2025

Winegrape Growers of America Annual Leadership Luncheon 

Includes Rich Smith Award of Excellence Presentation

Sacramento, CA

Find all upcoming events on the NGRA website.

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