VASCM: Next Meeting March 8 on Smart Water Management; and more

Mary Lindsay, Muns Vineyard mary at munsvineyard.com
Thu Feb 27 17:45:17 PST 2014 

Hello, everyone:

We have the first meeting of 2014 to announce, and some additional 
announcements are included here as well. Read on for more information about:
*
**- Meeting: Saturday March 8
Vineyard Water Management -- Strategy, Monitoring and Implementation 
with speaker Dr. Marcus Buchanan, Buchanan Associates. ***
10:00am-12:00noon at the Loma Prieta Community Center, 23800 Summit Rd., 
Los Gatos, 95033
(details below)

- Funding available from the NRCS for irrigation improvements and other 
practices supporting smart water management and water conservation.

- UCCE Winegrape Seminar in Salinas on March 14, topics including: Grape 
Fungal Diseases with Douglas Gubler, UCD; New Vineyard Plantings, with 
Larry Bettiga; and Red Blotch Disease. Details below.

- 2014 Membership renewals (form attached).

- Our growers in the news.

- Budbreak.


We look forward to seeing you at the next meeting on the 8th. And in the 
mean time, enjoy all this rain!

Cheers,
VASCM Board
- Mary Lindsay
- Rachel Ormes
- Bruce Manildi
- June Salsbury


*Meeting: Saturday March 8
Vineyard Water Management -- Strategy, Monitoring and Implementation 
*with speaker Dr. Marcus Buchanan, Buchanan Associates.
10:00am-12:00noon at the Loma Prieta Community Center, 23800 Summit Rd., 
Los Gatos, 95033

*Vineyard Water Management with Dr. Marcus Buchanan*


/We are reprising the presentation that Dr. Buchanan gave at the 
Resource Conservation workshop we held last year in July, giving him 
more time to go into more detail, and expanding the presentation to make 
it more specific to our current weather conditions. And giving those of 
you who did not hear him then a chance to do so now! Even though we are 
finally! now getting some rainfall, it is anticipated that this will not 
change our drought status, although it is going a long ways to 
recharging the soil for this growing season. Nevertheless, smart water 
management is an ongoing issue, and this program will address the 
effects of water (or lack of) on vine health.
/

Whether or not you irrigate you will learn more about the effects of 
water (or lack of) on winegrape quality.  Dr. Buchanan will provide an 
overview of concepts and techniques for precision irrigation of 
winegrapes.  Topics include vineyard and vine management strategies(do 
you need irrigation or not?), evapotranspiration-based irrigation 
scheduling and controlled deficit irrigation, use and interpretation of 
pressure bombs and readings, irrigation system maintenance and testing, 
flow monitoring, and if and howirrigation has positive impacts on 
winegrape 'quality'. It will also address related issues of canopy 
management in reduced water conditions, and practices to conserve soil 
moisture.


*About Marcus Buchanan*: A former resident of the Santa Cruz Mountains 
and now residing in Oregon, Marcus Buchanan holds a doctorate in Soil 
Science andSystems Modeling and a Masters in Agroecology.  He is an 
applied soil scientist and agronomist and works with vineyard clients 
(as well as vegetable, tree and bush fruit) in California and Oregon. A 
focus of his consulting business is irrigation management, and he has 
experience with many winegrape varieties in diverse climates. Between 
2008 and 2011 he was the first Oregon State Extension Viticulturist in 
the Southwest Oregon region, comprising three appellations with over 50 
grape varieties planted.In this position he developed an ET Irrigation 
Network with ten growers across the mesoclimates of the three county 
region.  He works with his clients to solve production problems, develop 
and implement new technologies and practices, and optimize production 
efficiency while protecting soil and water resources.


# # #


 From the NRCS, forwarded by Rich Casale:
Note: Even though we are getting rain now to charge the soil, you can 
benefit by this funding for improvements to irrigation and other practices.

*Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau Newsletter -- Between the Furrows
NRCS Monthly Column Article -- April 2014*

*Minimize the Effects of Drought in Your Vineyard*

*By Rich Casale, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
*Richard.Casale at ca.usda.gov
831-475-1967**

On January 17, 2014, Governor Brown declared a drought emergency in 
California. Santa Cruz County has seen many droughts come and go over 
the years, but 2014 is creating especially dire conditions for the 
area's farmers and ranchers. The Natural Resources Conservation Service 
(NRCS) is providing both technical and financial assistance to local 
producers that have been impacted by the current drought.

NRCS conservationists are currently helping growers with the planning 
and installation of practices that are designed to protect irrigated 
cropland from drought. Practices such as: Irrigation system enhancement 
that improve uniformity and delivery of water application; irrigation 
scheduling that help stretch limited water supplies; vegetative and 
mulching practices that increase infiltration and retention of rainfall 
and reduce water loss from evaporation; and crop residue and tillage 
management that improve soil structure and the soil's ability to hold 
water for crop use. Other water saving and/or development practices 
include: water harvesting projects that tap water sources from active 
springs, runoff from roofs and other impervious surfaces, and subsurface 
drainage collection.

NRCS conservationists can help farmers and ranchers understand what 
options exist for their particular water situation, soil type, 
production goals and assist with plans to get through the drought.

NRCS is a non-regulatory agency under USDA. All services are free of 
charge. To find out more or to schedule a site visit with an NRCS 
specialist contact the Capitola NRCS office at 475-1967.

/NRCS is an equal opportunity employer and provider/

/Helping People Help the Land/

###


*UCCE Winegrape Seminar**
**Friday, March 14, 1:00-5:00pm**
**at the Monterey County Agricultural Center**
**1432 Abbott St., Salinas**
***
Agenda:

- Update and Review of Grape Fungal Disease Issues and Solutions, Doug 
Gubler, UC Davis
- Everything you need to know about Red Blotch Disease, Rhonda Smith, 
UCCE, Sonoma Co.
- Planting Vineyards: Are you getting your vines off to a good start, 
Larry Bettiga, UCCE, Santa Cruz and Monterey Cos.

You can see more about this program linked from the UCCE Monterey Co. 
websitehere <http://cemonterey.ucanr.edu/?newsitem=50313>. You can also 
register for Larry Bettiga's newsletter.

/And note: Larry Bettiga's latest edition of the book, *Grape Pest 
Management*, is now available and 25% off during February (normally 
$100) - so only until Monday. Get the discount code from pdf linked from 
the website here <http://cemonterey.ucanr.edu/?newsitem=50313>. And you 
can read about the book here 
<http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/Details.aspx?itemNo=3343>. //Those 
attending our program on canker diseases in August with Larry speaking 
will have gotten a bit of a preview./

###
*
*
*Budbreak!*
A number of you replied the other day about budbreak (not all of whom 
replied to the list). From the responses, it started over the last 
couple of weeks, from Corralitos up to the Summit and north into Palo 
Alto and Woodside, especially in Pinot, but some other varieties as well.

###

*
<http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/watsonville/ci_25147738/santa-cruz-mountain-winegrowers-expect-smaller-2014-harvest?IADID=Search-www.santacruzsentinel.com-www.santacruzsentinel.com>**Our 
growers in the news: *See this story in the /Santa Cruz Sentinel/ 
<http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/watsonville/ci_25147738/santa-cruz-mountain-winegrowers-expect-smaller-2014-harvest?IADID=Search-www.santacruzsentinel.com-www.santacruzsentinel.com>, 
Feb. 14, 2014, "Santa Cruz Mountains winegrowers expect smaller 2014 
harvest after 2013 bumper crop." by Donna Jones. /(//also printed in the 
San Jose Mercury News)./


###

*
**2014 Memberships are due:*  As ever, only $50 for the year (due at the 
beginning of the year). If you are renewing membership and have already 
filled out the form, no need to fill it all out again unless your 
information has changed. We ask new members to fill it out so we can get 
your information. You will find the membership form attached, and soon 
it will be updated on the website.



Join us for the Los Gatos Wine Walk Event


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.kkn.net/pipermail/vascm/attachments/20140227/ff75b957/attachment-0001.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: CloudShow1crop2.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 97829 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://www.kkn.net/pipermail/vascm/attachments/20140227/ff75b957/attachment-0001.jpg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: MemberForm14.doc
Type: application/msword
Size: 128000 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://www.kkn.net/pipermail/vascm/attachments/20140227/ff75b957/attachment-0001.doc

More information about the VASCM mailing list