The Lake Erie Regional Grape Program - About Us

 

 There are approximately 31,500 acres of vineyard in the Lake Erie region of New York and Pennsylvania grown on 582 farms, making this the second-largest grape-growing region outside of California.

 

Of this acreage, 98.5% consists of Labrusca (American Grape) varieties such as ‘Concord’ and ‘Niagara’ which are used for juice, jam, and other fresh or fermented products. The Lake Erie Regional Grape Program consists of Extension Educators and research faculty/staff from Cornell University and Penn State University that crosses state lines and is bringing local experience and research-based solutions together to provide projects aimed at increasing yields, product quality, diversity and improvement of cultivars, efficiency of production, profitability and adoption of environmentally sound cultural and pest management strategies.

The Lake Erie Regional Grape Program is supported, in part, by five county Cornell Cooperative Extensions including:
Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, and Niagara Counties in New York
and Erie County in Pennsylvania.


Our Team:

Dr. Terry Bates

Director, Cornell Lake Erie Research & Extension

Phone: 716-792-2800 ext. 207
Fax: 716-792-2805

 

Jennifer Russo

LERGP Team Leader, Viticulturalist

Phone: 716-792-2800 ext. 204

 

Andrew Holden

LERGP Business Management Educator

Phone: 716-792-2800 ext. 202
Cell: 716-640-2656

 

Megan Luke

PSU Viticulture and Tree Fruit Educator

Cell: 716-397-9674

 

Kim Knappenberger

Extension Specialist

Phone: 716-792-2800

 

Kate Robinson

Administrative Assistant

Phone: 716-792-2800 ext. 201
Fax: 716-792-2805

 

Daniel Sprague Jr.

Field Coordinator

Phone: 716-792-2800

 

Ted Taft

Research Support Specialist I

Phone: 716-792-2800

 

Scott Ebert

Field Assistant 1

Phone: 716-792-2800 ext. 208

 

Cara Lanning

Project Field Technician

Cell: 716-930-8877

Email: cl2748@cornell.edu


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