Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/513570
VINEYARD VIEW 30 WINES&VINES June 2015 Phone (805) 239- 4989 Fax (805) 239- 4988 www.MichaelDusiTrucking.com FOR ALL YOUR TRANSPORTATION NEEDS TANKERS • REEFERS • VANS FLATBEDS • LOWBEDS MichaelDusi_Dir10 11/18/09 12:40 PM Page 1 S T R A T E G I C D E S I G N S T U D I O A R C H I T E C T U R E B R A N D D E V E L O P M E N T A P www.STRATAap.com S T R A T A D E S I G N P L A N N I N G M A N A G E M E N T WINERY PRODUCTION HOSPITALITY ESTATES A R C H I T E C T U R E B R A N D D E V E L O P M E N T www.strataap.com S O N O M A, C A L I F O R N I A 7 0 7. 9 3 5. 7 9 4 4 sources of funds for wine and grape research dollars. However, since these funds are open to researchers working on any specialty crop, there is intense competition for them. Viticul- ture and enology researchers in some parts of the country have been very successful at tap- ping into these funds, while others elsewhere of the country have not. I think one of the challenges presented by the status of funding for viticulture and enol- ogy research in the United States is, as I men- tioned above, that it is scattered in about 25 different pots around the United States through marketing orders, industry levies and founda- tions. While these pots may add up to a sig- nificant amount of money, other than the American Vineyard Foundation and the Cali- fornia Table Grape Commission, the others are small in size. Furthermore, each pot is going to have its own focus. The outcome of all of this is that it takes a lot of work for researchers to figure out where the money is and, once they have, to write grant proposals. I am afraid some of our most gifted researchers have less time to spend doing research due to the amount of time spent trying to get the money. The actual research tends to be delegated to gradu- ate students while the researchers spend time trying to keep the money flowing to their labs through more grants. Some of the existing organizations that fund research make a major effort to coordinate their research programs. The American Vine- yard Foundation, for example, is working co- operatively with the following commodity groups and funding agencies to maximize the available research funds: the California Table Grape Commission, the California Grape Root- stock Improvement Commission, the California Grape Rootstock Research Foundation, the California Winegrape Inspection Advisory Board and the Oregon Wine Board. Representa- tives from these groups work together to streamline the research proposal submission and review process as well as coordinate what research topics get funded to avoid duplication of funding. The presence of a national mandatory as- sessment, similar to what is done in Australia not only for wine but for other farming sectors such as wool and beef, has some significant advantages to money being scattered among various organizations that must collect it through voluntary donations. First, since it is a mandatory assessment, the funding organiza- tion does not have to spend much time raising donations. Second, the money is all in one place, making its administration more efficient than if it is scattered among many organiza- tions, each with staff to manage the funds. Third, because it is all in one place, it is a one- stop shop for researchers. And finally, it is easier to coordinate research priorities for one group rather than for many, and the review process is much easier to coordinate. Most researchers I talk to agree that public funding of research is not going to provide enough funds for the wine industry in the United States to remain competitive. Industry will need to step forward more than it has to raise the necessary amount of funds. The Aus- tralian model of a mandatory national assess- ment still seems like something that should be considered very seriously by the U.S. wine industry. Cliff Ohmart, Ph.D., is vice president of professional services for SureHarvest and author of View from the Vineyard: A practical guide to sustainable wine grape growing. Previously he served as research/IPM director at the Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission. He has been writing about sustainable winegrowing issues for Wines & Vines since 1998. It is safe to conclude that viticulture and enology research provide a high return on investment.