GENEVA, N.Y. -- The "growing" season arrived early for the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station's vineyard research programs when the legislature passed the state budget providing funding for several Cornell initiatives.

Cornell's Vineyard Laboratory in Fredonia, N.Y., is the recipient of $5.3 million for land acquisition and the design, engineering and construction of a new research and extension facility and the establishment of research vineyards. Cornell's Hudson Valley Laboratory in Highland, N.Y., will receive $85,000 to enhance wine and grape research and extension programs by working with local industry to identify grape cultivars that are best suited for the area's soils and climatic conditions and control diseases and insects that attack grapes.

Cornell plans to sell the existing Fredonia Vineyard Lab to help fund long-term research and extension activities on as yet unidentified acreage that reflects the soil and climatic conditions faced by grape growers across the region. The new facilities will provide enhanced opportunities for field research, modernized laboratory space for research on grape juice and wine quality, additional office space for staff and visiting scientists, and a meeting space for grower education and training. The Fredonia Lab's mission is to support grape growers in the Lake Erie Region, which is home to more than 60 percent of the vineyards in New York state.

An initial objective of the Hudson Valley Laboratory's funding is to provide the industry with assistance in identifying suitable grape-growing sites because low temperatures can damage some of the best wine grape varieties during winter, said David Rosenberger, a plant pathologist and laboratory superintendent. "To evaluate sites, we will be installing temperature-recording instruments throughout the valley, including on cooperating growers' land, and combining that data with meteorological models, soil maps and historical data to get a good picture of the best locations for expanded grape production," he added.

Cornell researchers and extension specialists have been working to improve production practices, promote innovation and solve problems for vintners and grape growers all along the Hudson River, from Poughkeepsie to the Champlain Valley. According to the New York Wine and Grape Foundation, there are 38 wine producers in the Hudson Valley.

"The lab has a long history of accomplishment in tree fruit and vegetable research. For the first time, the lab will have responsibility for viticulture research as well," said Thomas J. Burr, associate dean in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and director of the experiment station.

Professor Thomas Henick-Kling, who leads Cornell's enology research program, and extension associate Dragana Dimitrijevic have held one-on-one consultations with 15 Hudson Valley wineries on how to improve wine quality. Extension associate Kevin Iungerman coordinates a project to help growers establish cold-hardy grape cultivars in the upper Hudson Valley; he has also helped to establish a wine grape field trial site at Cornell's Willsboro Research Farm. In addition, workshops on the selection of climate and soil-appropriate grape cultivars for the Hudson Valley, coordinated by Steve McKay, fruit extension educator, have been held at various locations over the past several years.