Aug 25, 2023

UGA Extension welcomes new viticulture specialist

Georgia’s steadily growing wine industry has a new advocate with the hire of a new University of Georgia Cooperative Extension viticulture specialist to support the state’s more than 85 vineyards.

Sarah Lowder joined UGA’s Department of Horticulture in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences this spring as the state viticulturist, a position dedicated to providing the best methods for the cultivation and harvest of Georgia winegrapes.

Lowder earned her doctorate in plant pathology from Oregon State University, where she focused on reducing fungicide resistance to powdery mildew, a prominent disease of grapes in the Northwest.

Her Extension program in Georgia is aimed at adapting management practices for the Southeast, finding varieties best suited for the state, and preventing and managing plant diseases.

Grapes are particularly susceptible to pathogens in the Southeast’s warm, humid climate.

“Powdery mildew actually originated here in the Southeast, and we certainly deal with it, but other diseases such as downy mildew and Pierce’s disease, which is vectored by several insect pests, are a couple of the more devastating issues we see in Georgia grape production,” Lowder said in a news release.

Due to higher disease pressure, grapes are routinely sprayed to help prevent and control the spread of pathogens and insect pests. However, repeated use of fungicides has led to an increase in resistance to some of the most common products, making them much less effective. That puts a greater emphasis on grape variety choices and cultural management practices that help reduce disease pressure in addition to chemical controls.

Lowder joins a research and Extension faculty group as part of the UGA Extension Viticulture Team. The team provides multidisciplinary support for growers throughout the state.

“As a team, we try to emphasize the importance of incorporating integrated pest management (IPM) approaches,” Lowder said in the release. “I tell people to think of IPM like a cheesecloth. While pesticides are a large part of grape production and help producers manage diseases, if used alone problems still fall through, so adding other measures will more effectively reduce that pressure,” she explained.

Lowder’s knowledge of grape diseases and management techniques will be critical to the team’s collective effort to support the state’s growing wine industry, Phillip Brannen, UGA Extension fruit disease specialist in the Department of Plant Pathology, said in the release.

“Our climate is unique, so when you have multiple combinations of grapes, training systems and climate conditions, we need a team of researchers to handle the unknowns and challenges while providing the best management solutions for each combination,” Brannen said in the release. “Having Dr. Lowder’s expertise will help us better equip the industry with viticulture techniques that will fit our state and region.”

At this summer’s New Grape Growers Symposium, Lowder emphasized the importance of proactive management through disease-resistant cultivar selection and proper site preparation for new vineyards and plantings.

“We’re seeing more wine grape production in Georgia, and being proactive is one of the best ways to set yourself up for success for this perennial crop,” Lowder said in the release. “Growers sometimes feel the pressure of time and want to race to get their vines into the ground as soon as possible, but, for example, we have very acidic, clay soils in the state. Too much acidity will limit your vines’ ability to uptake their nutritional requirements. Adjusting the soil pH — or any other soil amendments — are much harder once the vines are in the ground.”

Lowder will also collaborate on a recently funded grant for VitisGen3, a multi-institutional project aimed at developing more disease-resistant cultivars. “We hope to get some of those plantings in Georgia and assess how well they grow in our soils and climate over the next several years,” she said in the release.

“We don’t yet have a Georgia-specific bunch-grape cultivar, but the potential to find hybrid varieties that blend host resistance with heat tolerance, or later blooming varieties to get us clear of the more frequent late spring frosts, is something within the realm of possibility,” Lowder said in the release.

From a market perspective, Lowder said trends are slowly shifting as consumers are becoming more interested in local, native-bred varieties.

“We have several native muscadines, which are a sweeter type of grape, as well as some hybrid varieties of American and European grapes that make beautiful wines,” she said in the release. “All of which are more disease tolerant and easier to grow, but traditionally haven’t been given as much credit as the European varieties, which I think is in part due to a cultural bias for antiquated, ‘Old World’ varieties.”

According to the National Association of American Winegrowers 2022 Economic Impact Study for Georgia, wine grape production and revenue from the tourism industry contributed $5.28 billion to the state’s economy in 2022.

Read more about Georgia winegrapes here.