Page 58 - Grapevine NovDec 2020

Around The Vineyard

Grant Helps Grape Growers

Manage Nutrients

By: Brandon Schrand
College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences
S ince the 1960s, American grape growers Historically, growers have relied on a one-size-

have followed a set of nutrient management
fits-all method of managing nutrients, delivering
guidelines that have often entailed more
block. That is because assessing the nutrient status
guess-work than precise strategies. That could the same amount of fertilizer to an entire vineyard
change thanks to an industry-driven project led by of individual plants or even sections of a vineyard
Washington State University’s Markus Keller. by conventional methods is both impractical and
“We want to reassess the way we approach nutri- costly.
ent management,” said Keller, WSU’s Chateau Ste.
Michelle Distinguished Professor in Viticulture. “While much of the crop receives the right
amount of fertilizer, sections or individual plants

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