Table Grapes Needs Assessment Summary

Joy Hollingsworth, UCCE Table Grape Advisor for Tulare and Kings Counties

If you read my profile in this newsletter last spring, you may remember that I am one of the newest UCCE viticulture advisors. One of the first tasks of any new UCCE advisor is to begin assessing the needs of their clientele so we can focus our attention on the most important issues faced by the industry. This was especially important for me because although I grew up in the central San Joaquin Valley, and have spent years working in agricultural research, most of my experience has been with agronomic crops. In order to have a better understanding of grapes, I’ve spent a lot of time reading, talking to my colleagues, and most importantly, getting feedback from those working in the industry.

To do this, I mailed out an introductory letter and survey to 828 people last March 2023. The names and addresses came from a combination of the Tulare and Kings County Ag Commissioners’ list of grape permit holders and the mailing list of my predecessors. I also emailed 338 people from my predecessors’ contacts. From those 1166 surveys I received 123 responses, a return rate of about 11%.

Demographic Information

The first four tables show the demographic information that I collected, including occupation, county, and types of grapes grown. As with the rest of the questions, participants could select multiple choices, so the totals added up to more than 100%. The majority of the responses came from growers, those in Tulare and/or Fresno County, with conventionally grown grapes, and was fairly evenly split among table, wine, and raisins (Tables 1-4).

Learning Interests

The next four tables show which topics participants were interested in learning more about (Tables 5-8). For weeds, chemical control topped the list, but there was also strong interest in mechanical control, organics, and weed identification. Nutrient management was a top priority, particularly fertilizer timing and the amount of specific nutrients, but soil health and irrigation were also ranked highly. For alternative management practices, there was the most interest in compost and cover crops, followed by beneficial insects, biostimulants, biochar, and then hedgerows.

Respondents were fairly evenly split among whether they were most, somewhat, or least interested in all three technologies listed: robotic harvesting, robotic pruning, and drones/satellite imagery/soil mapping (data not shown).

Important Pest Rankings

The pie charts (Images 1 and 2) show how respondents ranked specific pests and diseases. While mealybugs and powdery mildew were the biggest issues for most growers, the other issues are still problematic for some.

Source

When asked to rank their preferred information source, respondents were most interested in getting newsletters (both email and hard copies), followed by field days/meetings and webinars, and least interested in blogs and social media.

Summary

Finally, I asked some open-ended questions and for “biggest grape issues”, the most common responses were related to economics/labor/regulations and pest management followed by yield/quality. For “grape issues interested in learning more about”, the most common responses were related to pest management and nutrients, followed by yield/quality, varieties, economics/regulations, and vineyard management.

I truly appreciate everyone who took the time to respond to my survey. It is immensely helpful to ensure that the research and extension program that I put together will meet local needs. Some of the work that I have begun already includes a research trial on sour rot in collaboration with UC Davis specialist Akif Eskalen and fellow advisor Tian Tian, organizing a grape weeds school event last November, and a table grape symposium in February 2024. I plan to continue some of these projects and add a few new ones in the coming year.

As always, I welcome any thoughts or suggestions and can be reached at joyhollingsworth@ucanr.edu or (559) 556-2673.