Northern Nevada farmers are experimenting
with new crops in the hopes of
saving their way of life.
Wine grapes and native seeds are the
two crops being tested because both need
substantially less water than alfalfa and
other crops historically grown in the
drought-prone state.
"The grapes require four gallons of
water per week per plant," said Charles
Frey who is now growing 3,500 grape
plants on 3.5 acres on his alfalfa farm in
Fallon. "That's 10 percent of what we normally
put on hay and grain."
The goal of the experiments with
grapes and native seeds is to help struggling
farmers find new, marketable crops
that can thrive in Nevada's arid climate.
"We need to do something for our valley,"
said Frey. "The federal government is
buying water rights, and as water rights
get stripped the land becomes useless. I'm
worried about the tax base unless we can
find crops that use less water."
"We have such difficulty with water,"
said Tom Moura, a Lovelock farmer who
plans to try grapes on one acre
of his 700-acre alfalfa farm. In 2002, "we
had eight-tenths of an acre foot per acre
to irrigate with," he said. "We usually
have three acre feet per acre.We took
half the farm out of production."
"The farmers have always had a challenge
with water," said Karen Grillo,
director of agriculture promotion and
marketing for the Nevada Association of
Counties in Carson City. "There is great
potential for diversification of crops. And
the best part is it reduces water usage."
Grapes, in particular, are being extensively
investigated. The University of
Nevada, Reno, has grown a dozen varieties
of grapes at its experimental station
in Reno since 1995. Frey, who is working
with UNR, started planting grapes in
2001. Moura is planning to plant three
types of grapes on his Lovelock farm this
year. A vineyard in Yerington, initially
scheduled for 2003, may be postponed
until next year. And another in Minden,
the Tahoe Ridge Vineyards and Winery,
has been producing grapes for several
years and last year sold the first bottles of
wine made exclusively from Nevadagrown
grapes.
So far, the results have been very
promising, say all involved.
"We planted 10 different varieties and
every one is doing exceptionally well,"
said Frey. "We were thinking that if three
to four plants thrived that would be outstanding.
But it appears that every variety
is doing really well."
Nevada may be the ideal climate for
certain types of grapes, said David
Thawley, dean of UNR's College of
Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural
Resources.
"One reason there is a lot of interest
in this is that the best wine grapes in the
world are grown where there are warm
days and cool nights in the summer," said
Thawley. "The grapes produce sugar during
the day and the cooler nights mean
there is less burn off."
It's important that the grapes produced
be destined for "fine wine" and not
the table or jug wine market, said Frey.
California, by far the country's largest
grape producing state, is experiencing a
glut of grapes grown for table wines.
"If we can't get a quality wine grape
we can't compete," said Frey.
"The only scary thing is California
and the grapes that went in there," said
Moura. "A lot have been taken out now."
That's one reason Frey and UNR's
Thawley are urging other farmers to wait
until their experiments determine
whether superior fine wine grapes can be
grown here.
"Several farmers want to do it," said
Frey. "But we're telling them not to until
we see how sugar levels are.We don't
want them to fail. That would be worse
for our economy."
Starting up a vineyard is not inexpensive
either. Frey estimates he'll produce a
decent yield in the fifth year, after investing
between $40,000 and $70,000 per
acre. He hopes lessons learned at his test
vineyard will benefit other farmers by
reducing start up costs.
There are other obstacles too. Late
frosts are a danger, and Frey and UNR
are still working out how to best mitigate
the damage caused by a May frost.
If temperatures rise above 40 degrees
any time after February, Frey said, vines
will bud prematurely. He is now experimenting
with one method to avoid bud
break and another technique to protect
buds if they do emerge.
To avoid bud break, Frey plans to mist
the plants for 10 seconds every 10 minutes
to cool them and keep them from
budding despite the outside temperature.
If they do bud, said Frey, the buds can be
encapsulated in ice crystals to protect
them from frost.
"It sounds odd, but that's done in
California on different crops all the
time," said Frey. "It's real common."
The experiments with native seeds
aren't as far along, and have not been as
successful, said NACO's Grillo. She
knows of two farmers - one in the
Walker area and another in Oravda -
working with Indian rice grass. "It's been
a mixed experience," she said.
But, like grapes, native seeds may hold
some promise for Nevada farmers who
want to diversify, said UNR's Thawley.
He said seeds now used to replant
Nevada rangelands after fire damage
aren't grown here.
"Almost everything planted to rejuvenate
is produced somewhere that is much
wetter," said Thawley. He said UNR and
the Bureau of Reclamation both are
working on cultivating native seeds, but
there is still a lot to be done.
"There's a problem with some of the
grasses.We're probably a few years away
from having reliable information," said
Thawley.
"But it's another opportunity for using
less water," he said. "For Nevada agriculture
that's a significant opportunity."
