Coffee Shop Blog

During my entire 34-year career as a Pest Control Adviser I have recommended the use of pesticides on a “per acre” basis and the growers have applied them on a “per acre” basis.  At the annual Farm Safety Day I teach a class on how to calibrate spray rigs, and on...

Wineries have come to expect and depend on delivery of high quality grapes from their growers, while at the same time, vineyard operational costs have reached new highs. Most wine grape growers have responded to these factors, striving for both production consistency...

Sustainable winegrowing certification programs in California, and other major domestic winegrowing regions, have gained traction as a market tool to inform consumer choice and promote grower adoption of sustainable practices. Prominent examples of such programs...

Thanks for reading Part III of this series on understanding and managing trunk disease in Lodi vineyards (also referred to as wood canker). Winegrape trunk diseases present a serious challenge to Lodi winegrape growers. These fungi come in several flavors including...

Most of the pest control that occurs in Lodi wine grape vineyards consists of biological control by natural enemies rather than by the use of pesticides. By “natural enemies” I am referring to naturally occurring parasites and predators that are carnivores and eat the...

NOVEMBER 18, 2013.  BY STAN GRANT, VITICULTURIST. Most of us are feeling a bit liberated now that the 2013 growing season is behind us. But before leaving 2013 to history, there may be important things to learn from it to increase the long-term profitability of your...

The Commission’s team of Coffee Shop contributors is rapidly growing. Today, I’ll introduce yet another addition to our team: Stan Grant. Stan, like Paul Verdegaal, Larry Whitted, and all our Coffee Shop contributors, has the training and experience to bridge the...

As the 2013 winds down, the truck numbers becomes fewer and it’s easier to hear the geese and Sandhill cranes travel from the north. The seasons and years seem to go faster maybe from more meetings, reports, regulations and deadlines. Or possibly because the...