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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