Page 47 - Grapevine NovDec 2020

Around The Vineyard

east toward the west coast. These winds moved
over numerous mountainous areas, warming, dry- ELIMINATES
ing, and increasing in wind speed. The result was Burrowing Rodents
a dramatic drop in dew points, lowering relative
humidity (to 8-20%) to desert-like conditions even
NO Explosions!
to the coast. This same event brought cold air to NO Poison Bait!
the Rockies with temperatures dropping 60 degrees
or more in one day and significant snow to the
mountains and the front range.”

Prior to Labor Day, the few fires in Oregon were
starting to be brought into control. However, Jones
charts how with the onslaught of the strong down
sloping winds and drying conditions, small fires had Pressurized Exhaust Rodent Controller PERC ®
the potential to become large very quickly. • The most effective & safe way to kill burrowing rodents.
• Saves time, gopher mounds are probed not dug out.
The result was catastrophic fire developments • Kills ground squirrels-gophers-prairie dogs.
• Low operating cost & simple to use.
across the state with smoke covering much of the • Preserves turf and landscaping.
western part of Oregon and blanketing California.
While most of the smoke in Oregon was at high- H&M Gopher Control ®
er altitudes, over a few days the winds calmed, Manufacturing & Sales
which helped the fire-fighting, but also allowed Phone: 530-667-5181
the smoke and ash to drop to lower altitudes in Toll Free: 855-667-5181
the Willamette Valley and elsewhere along the www.handmgophercontrol.com
western valleys of Oregon and California and into
Washington.

(As of this writing, the wildfires remain active with
varying degrees of containment. An interactive
map charting the wildfires is available here:
https://projects.oregonlive.com/wildfires/map.)

Impact of Wildfire Smoke on Wine

In an email statement
from Sally Murdoch,
Communications Manager
for the Oregon Wine
Board (OWB), the OWB
held an emergency session
on September 21, 2020
where they approved
tens of thousands of
research dollars. These
monies were in addition to what the Erath Family
Foundation contributed for sampling and lab ana-
lytics at Oregon State University (OSU). This testing
will start a file of data points on smoke in Oregon
wine grapes and wines that will establish bench-
marks from the vintage and the smoke effects on
877-892-5332 The Grapevine • November - December 2020 Page 45

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