The Napa Valley Grapegrowers announces ROOTSTOCK 2023, to be held on November 6 and 7 at the Napa Valley College Performing Arts Center. This year’s event will focus on a central theme: weed management in the vineyard.
 
Though weed management in the vineyard is an integral part of the vineyard management system, there is mounting pressure to adapt farming methods to navigate public perceptions. And, as Napa Valley growers continue to strive for viticultural excellence, employing innovative best practices is paramount to increasing quality and sustainability in our vineyards.
 
ROOTSTOCK 2023 is open to the public, and the Napa Valley Grapegrowers hopes the focused format will inspire discussions in an open and collaborative manner. This year’s highlights include:

• Understanding the public’s perspective on herbicides with, “Children of the Vine” director, Brian Lilla
• Review of Napa County herbicide trends with Sarah Ferguson, CEO and co-founder of Ruetd
• The history of herbicide use in vineyards and agriculture with Dr. Scott Steinmaus, PhD, head of plant sciences, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
• A wine business case study with Ivo Jeramaz, winemaker and vice president of vineyards and production, Grgich Hills Estate
• Continuing Education Seminars (1 professional development and 2 integrated pest management CEU credits)
  • Napa County regulatory review of pesticides with the Napa County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office
  • Sustainable pest management – a roadmap for California with Nan Singhasemanon, assistant director, Department of Pesticide Regulation
  • Integrated weed management – identification, control, and innovative alternatives with John Roncoroni, weed science farm advisor, Emeritus, UC Cooperative Extension

 
Who should attend: Viticulturists, vineyard managers, winemakers, enologists, vineyard and winery owners, students, and community members interested in learning more about weed management in the vineyard.
 
Single-day and two-day ROOTSTOCK tickets can be purchased online on the Napa Valley Grapegrowers website.
 
The Napa Valley Grapegrowers hosted its first symposium and exhibition, the Napa Valley Viticultural Fair, in 1990. Now, over three decades later, ROOTSTOCK has evolved beyond a tradeshow format, yet carries on the tradition of delivering top quality education and resources to the wine industry. 

​The University of California Cooperative Extension (Napa) and Tule are building an Artificial Intelligence (AI) model to diagnose grapevine virus symptoms. Their goal is to build an app called "Virus Vision" that diagnoses Grapevine Leafroll Disease, Red Blotch Disease, and other causes of red leaves from phone camera pictures.
 
NVG members can support their app by submitting pictures and virus test results; members who contribute to the data set will receive free and early access to the mobile app.

​On Friday, October 1, 2021 a total of five glassy-winged sharpshooters (GWSS) were confirmed on two different traps in a residential part of Vacaville, in Solano County. A delimitation survey that began on Saturday, October 2 confirmed some presence of GWSS at several more sites near the initial trap found through a visual survey. All of the finds so far have been in urban, residential settings in Solano County.
 
The Solano County Agricultural Commissioner’s office & the Pierce’s Disease Control Program are working together on next steps.  The Napa County Ag Commissioner’s office will share a press release and any relevant guidance as soon as available. Current protections in place in Napa County include:

• The Ag Department continues to inspect all incoming plant shipments from out of the county, regardless of the origin nursery and its location
• GWSS urban traps and nursery traps are placed throughout the county
• We track our landscape receiving locations and place GWSS traps up within days to additionally monitor for potential pests

 
NVG will continue to work with the Napa County Ag Commissioner’s office to keep growers informed as we learn more.
 
For more general information on GWSS, visit NVG’s Pest page and Napa County’s website.