Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers Annual Convention

The Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers gathered in Kennewick this week for their annual meeting and trade show where members of the wine industry attended sessions and workshops covering such topics as sustainable winery practices, enology fundamentals, and starting a career in the wine and grape industry. WSU President Elson Floyd was also on hand to thank Washington grape growers and wine makers for their $7.4 million dollar commitment to support a new Washington State University Wine Science Center facility. Late last year the state’s wine industry agreed to generate funds for the center through assessments levied on grape and wine production. The WSWC estimates that it will collect the total amount needed over the next ten years. Floyd also spoke to the group on the extreme budget cuts WSU has faced.

FLOYD: Over the last four years I have seen a fifty-two percent reduction in revenue flowing into Washington State University. So lets translate that into absolute dollar amounts. It’s $241 million dollars less coming into WSU. Thats a huge drop. We need to make sure that legislators understand the importance of investing in our education.

Floyd stressed WSU’s long term commitment to supporting the Washington wine industry with the very best teaching, research, and extension the college has to offer, and promised that funds contributed by the growers and wineries of the state would be used for the maximum impact into the future.

I’m Lacy Gray and that’s Washington Ag Today on the Northwest Ag Information Network.