Ag trade deficit to climb by 45 percent — USDA
After setting a record this year, the agricultural trade deficit will balloon further, to $27.5 billion in fiscal 2024, thanks to the unyielding American appetite for fresh produce, coffee, and wine, say government forecasters. More food and ag imports will flow into the United States at the same time that farm exports shrink, led by a decline in sales to China.
U.S. asks for WTO ruling on wine sales in British Columbia
The third-most populous province in Canada discriminates unfairly against U.S. wine, said the Trump administration in asking the World Trade Organization to rule on retail wine sales in British Columbia. The issue of wine sales in grocery stores has been raised in negotiations over the new NAFTA as well.
Vintners may need different grapes to withstand climate change
A study published in the journal Nature Climate Change says that winemakers ought to be learning about the great diversity of grape varieties in order to adapt to a changing climate.
California farmworkers bring in wine-grape crop in a cloud of smoke
With wildfires still blazing in Northern California and 222,000 acres already destroyed, vineyard workers are breathing particulate-filled air as they bring in the grape crop. Many of the workers are undocumented and can't afford to lose a paycheck even if their homes were destroyed in the fires that have consumed the region.
Massive vineyard seen as threat to Napa Valley’s water
A coalition of environmental groups, a homeowners’ organization and a public water agency in Napa County have filed appeals against a sprawling hillside vineyard project that they argue imperils water resources, sensitive habitat and the climate in the heart of wine country.
Kendall-Jackson winemakers confronting climate change in California
One of the largest family-owned wineries in the United States, Jackson Family Wines, is facing climate change head-on, even as experts predict falling grape yields because of shifting weather patterns, says The New York Times. The makers of Kendall-Jackson chardonnay, a “supermarket staple,” the Jackson clan has deployed high-tech water-efficiency programs, drones and old-school falcons to manage pests in the wake of California’s drought and higher temperatures.
California urges feds to clamp down on wine label rules
California lawmakers and vintners are pushing federal regulators to make sure that out-of-state vintners aren’t falsely advertising their bottles as Californian, says The Sacramento Bee.
In Napa Valley, a battle over wine, water, and land
“All is not well in wine country,” writes Stett Holbrook in FERN’s latest story, “Of Water and Wine,” published in Bohemian. As multi-million-dollar vineyards and $1,000-a-night resorts rise Napa Valley, California, residents are trying to stop the powerful wine industry from destroying the watershed.