Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Grape Growers Meeting

The North Dakota Grape Growers Association conference and annual meeting will be held at the Radisson Inn in Bismarck on Saturday, Feb. 4.

Several North Dakota State University specialists and others will be presenting at the conference.

Harlene Hatterman-Valenti, NDSU high-value crops specialist, will do a presentation on crop optimization through weed control. Greg Cook, NDSU Chemistry and Biochemistry Department professor and chair, will discuss wine chemistry.

John Stenger, an NDSU graduate student, will discuss the NDSU grape research program and Bob Bertsch, NDSU Agriculture Communication Web technology specialist, will do a presentation on electronic media marketing.

Also featured will be a grower and winery owner question-and-answer panel.

"There is information for the novice grower or wine maker and for the more experienced enologists, too," Hatterman-Valenti says.

Registration opens at 8 a.m., with the meeting beginning at 8:30. The association's annual meeting will be held after the conference ends.

Registration is $60 for members and $70 for nonmembers. Yearly membership fees are $20 per voting member. Meals and refreshments are included in the registration.