Final report for FNC24-1413
Project Information
As the Vineyard Manager of Shady Lane Cellars for 10 years, I have had the opportunity to gain experience growing premium wine grapes in our region. My role is to deliver the highest possible quality grapes to the winery, or for sale on the open market. I do this by making all of the vine management decisions, canopy management decisions, pest and disease control strategies, and managing a 10 person vineyard crew to carry out all of these tasks. I am also responsible for all record keeping for the farm.
Through my developed relationships, I have worked with Michigan State University researchers and Extension agents on field trials here at Shady Lane in the testing new products and management practices on grape pathogens and pests numerous times, trialing compost teas, new trapping techniques, and new pesticides and their efficacy. In 2020 I was able to obtain SIP (Sustainable In Practice) certification for our vineyard and we have maintained this every year since, which shows our dedication to pushing ourselves to adhere to growing practices that work with our environment as much as possible. A lifetime of enjoying the outdoors and working on farms in high school led me to obtain my Bachelors in Horticulture from Michigan State University in 2007.
Shady Lane Cellars has 9 grape varieties planted over 70 acres, with all but 4 acres of bearing age, and almost 90% of this is vitis vinifera. Our primary variety is Riesling, with Pinot noir, Pinot gris, and Cabernet franc also planted prominently . We have irrigation available for 15 acres, but rarely use it as we prefer to rely on dry-farming techniques to reduce energy consumption, and rainfall is often adequate.
As a farm that looks to use sustainably sourced and produced materials, and also materials that are highly food-safe, we are very interested in incorporating natural, organic, or reduced risk pesticides in our program. However, these products must also prove to be effective. We are growing grapes in a much more humid and wet environment than where much of the product efficacy trials have been conducted. We have had issues with sour rot and botrytis with several varieties in many of our previous vintages and have had to leave fruit in the field because of it. At times, compromised fruit quality will lower the grade and thus price of the fruit that is sold, or if it is used in-house then additional treatments may be necessary to rid the juice of contaminants before fermentation occurs. Mites have also affected yield.
Our goal was to compare the efficacy of a soft chemistry spray program to that of a conventional synthetic program in rot susceptible vineyards. We were interested in trialing several new products that claim efficacy on three of our largest pathogens affecting fruit quality, powdery mildew, botrytis, and sour rot. We rated the efficacy of these new products on a farm scale, alongside a 'conventional synthetic' program. We worked with MSU researchers to rate product efficacy. We saw limited differences between management programs, indicating soft program performed similar to the standard program.
A primary objective is to reduce the impacts of pesticides in the vineyard ecosystem, the surrounding environment, and on the vineyard workers. Another objective is to investigate more effective products for bunch rots, thus allowing for greater yield and increased quality parameters. We are also seeking to grow grapes with less chemical residues at time of harvest.
This trial will compare a 'soft chemistry' spray program to that of a 'conventional synthetic'. The soft chemistry program will contain many newly released products that Shady Lane has limited or no experience with, while the conventional program will be made up of products that we have used in the past. Please see below for the spray schedule with list of products. The newer organic and soft pesticide products, such as ProBlad Verde, are touted to be approaching efficacy to that of some older synthetic materials. Some of the older synthetics have also shown disease resistance to certain diseases. Products such as Cinnerate, a cinnamon oil based pesticide, is very soft on beneficial insects while suffocating mites.
The varieties being evaluated are Riesling, Pinot noir, and Vignole. Each variety will have a 2 acre plot for soft chemistry and a 2 acre plot for conventional, thus totaling 6 acres for each treatment. This works well as I have a 300 gallon sprayer, and I will standardize all spray apps at 50 gal/acre, a common volume per acre. I will be doing much of the loading, mixing, and applications, and I have an experienced vineyard crew member who can also perform applications as needed. The applications will follow standard vineyard phenological timing.
Upon completion of the respective spray programs, and just prior to harvest each variety, we will be working with the labs of Dr. Tim Miles, and plant pathology researcher at Michigan State University, Dr. Rufus Isaacs, an Entomology researcher at MSU, and Esmaeil Nasrollahiazar of MSU Extension to review disease incidence per vine, and also per berry within a sample of 100 clusters per plot. Their labs will compile a % disease incidence report for each treatment within each variety. In addition, Esmaeil has lab equipment able to do residue testing, and he will perform a series of residue tests on each treatment to test for the amounts of chemical residues on the berries.
Proposed ‘Soft’ pesticide Treatment Schedule, 2024
May:
Dormant App- Dormant oil
June:
1-2” shoot- Badge SC (copper) (possibly late May)
6-12” shoot- Badge SC
(Possible 18-24” shoot app, weather dependent)- Serenade Opti, Rose chafer chem?
Pre-bloom- ProBlad Verde
July:
Postbloom- Cinnerate
Buckshot berry/pea size berry-Cinnerate + Badge + Intrepid
August:
Pea size berry/berry touch-Serenade Opti
Veraison- ProBlad Verde
September:
15 Brix- ProBlad Verde, Entrust/Delegate
Preharvest- Jet Ag (x2)
Proposed ‘Conventional Synthetic’ Pesticide Treatment
Schedule
May:
Dormant App- Dormant oil
June:
1-2” shoot- Badge SC
6-12” shoot- Badge SC
Possible 18-24” shoot- Sulfur DF+ Assail
Pre-bloom- Endura
July:
Postbloom- Endura
Buckshot berry- Serenade Opti+ Intrepid
Aug:
Buckshot berry- Rally+ Ranman
Veraison- Inspire Super
September:
15 Brix- Jet Ag+ Delegate
Preharvest- Elevate+ Jet Ag
Cooperators
- - Technical Advisor (Researcher)
- - Technical Advisor (Researcher)
- - Technical Advisor (Researcher)
Research
As stated, the purpose was to evaluate our current type of spray program with a 'softer' program. Our current program already has some organic listed products in it, so we weren't going to stray from that just for the sake of creating a clinical study. We wanted to compare what we do with what we ultimately would like to implement. So you will see some similarities in these two spray programs. Also, as all farmers know, weather and growing season patterns and events can alter your plan, and this is reflected in some of the differences in the proposed list of products used and the ones used. Unfortunately there was an issue sourcing Cinnerate, as it never even made it out of the west coast. ThymeGuard, a thyme oil product, was substituted instead. I also experimented with making my own orange oil product, as my suppliers could not source the formulated one. To emulsify the straight orange oil, it was added to a fine crop oil (Bio-cover or JMS stylet) prior to adding it to the spray tank water. Orange oil has similar properties to Cinnerate in that it is advertised as having efficacy for both powdery and downy mildew. Having several tools for preventing downy mildew is quite necessary in the eastern US. The first half of the growing season was also quite wet, having frequent and long wetting periods throughout a warm late May and all of June, which brought out some early season downy mildew outbreaks. These wetting events are reflected in the spray program product adjustments, and application frequency, in June and July. Again, this is a farm trial and not a research trial, so bringing high quality fruit to the winery was of utmost importance, and additional controls had to be made to keep downy at bay.
Application methods
- Application using a Rears Pul-Blast airblast sprayer.
- Driving speed - 3.4 mph
- Gallons of water per acre – 50gal/A
Here are the application records for both treatments:
(Also copy/pasted below if it is easier. Forgive the formatting issues, it is as challenging as advertised to get info copied over.)
Standard Treatments
5/9- Sulforix 1 gal/A
Bond 16 oz/100 gal
5/20- Badge 1 qt/A
Bond 1 pt/100 gal
(half-cover)
5/30- Badge 1 qt/A
Bond 1 pt/100 gal
(half-cover)
6/11- Badge 1qt/A
Assail 3 oz/A
Satori 12.8 oz/A
Li700 1.3 pt/100
6/17- Endura 8 oz/A
Microblaster 1 qt/A
Borosol 10% 1 qt/A
Li700 1.3 pt/100
(half-cover)
6/26- Endura 8 oz/A
Microblaster 1 qt/A
Borosol 10% 1 qt/A
Li700 1.3 pt/100
(half-cover)
7/4- ProBlad 1 qt/A
Badge 1 qt/A
Microblaster 1 qt/A
Li700 1.3 pt/100
7/15- Assail 3 oz/A
Inspire Super 20 oz/A
Ranman 2.75 oz/A
Micromix DL 1.25 pt/A
Li700 1.3 pt/100
7/31- Quintec 3.75 oz/A
Zampro 14 oz/A
Activator 90 1.3 pt/100
8/21- Serenade Opti 1.25 lbs/A
Revus Top 7 oz/A
Nachurs Fe 1 qt/A
Microblaster 1 qt/A
Max N-pact 1.25 qt/A
Li700 1.3 pt/100
9/11- ProBlad 1 qt/A
Zampro 14 oz/A
Nachurs Fe 1 pt/A
Delegate 4 oz/A
Microblaster 1 pt/A
Li700 1.3 pt/100
SOFT Treatments
5/9- Sulforix 1 gal/A
Bond 16 oz/100 gal
5/21- Badge 1 qt/A
Bond 1 pt/100
(half-cover)
5/31- Badge 1 qt/A
Bond 1 pt/100 gal
(half-cover)
6/14- Serenade Opti 1.3 lbs/A
Biocover, crop oil- 2 qt/ 100 gal
Neemiz 16 oz/100
Nu Film P 1 qt/100
6/18- ProBlad1 qt/A
Microblaster 1 qt/A
Borosol 10% 1 qt/A
NuFilm P 1.3 pt/100
6/27- ProBlad1 qt/A
Microblaster 1 qt/A
Borosol 10% 1 qt/A
NuFilm P 1.3 pt/100
7/6- ThymeGuard 2 qt/100
Neemix 16 oz/100
NuFilm P 1.3 pt/100
7/16- JMS Stylet oil 1 qt/A
Orange oil (100%) 1 qt/A
Neemix 16 oz/100
NuFilm P 1.3 pt/100
8/5- Serenade Opti 1.25 lbs/A
Phostrol 2.5 pt/A
NuFilm P 1.3 pt/100
8/20- Serenade Opti 1.25 lbs/A
Phostrol 2.5 pt/A
Nachurs Fe 1 qt/A
Microblaster 1 qt/A
Max Npact 1.3 qt/A
NuFilm P 1.3 pt/100
9/9- ProBlad 1 qt/A
JMS Stylet oil 1 qt/A
Orange oil (100%) 1 qt/A
Entrust 2 oz/A
Nachurs Fe 1 pt/A
NuFilm P 1.3 pt/100
Shady Lane 2024 spray program comparison slides 2-2-25 (1)
The link above shows research data collected and processed by project partner Rehka Bhandari, showing cluster infection analysis for botrytis and sour rot infections, and drosophila infected clusters. There were no significant differences between the two treatments for any of three varieties, although the soft program seemed to allow a little more sour rot in the Riesling. Limited differences between management programs indicates that the soft program performed similar to the standard program. These results will allow Shady Lane to migrate towards a program that relies mostly on organic and soft chemistry pesticides. More discussion in the "Lessons Learned" section below.
We were not able to harvest the soft and conventional treatments separately because of the nature of how we press and process them, and also due to the fact that we were selling fruit from these blocks to different customers who wanted blends of some of the different clones planted throughout the blocks where these treatments were held. Visual analysis immediate pre-harvest indicated no observable difference in yield or unharvestable fruit.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
One of the main thrusts to get the project results in the hands of growers and industry professionals was the opportunity to present at the annual Spring Kickoff meeting hosted by MSU Extension and Parallel 45 Vines and Wines (P45). This annual day-long conference was held on 4/11/25 at the MSU Northewest AgBioResearch Station outside of Traverse City, MI. Rekha Bhandari, a PhD candidate and SARE project lead for the MSU small fruit team presented the results of her data analysis for disease incidence in the different treatments, while Andrew Fles presented on the materials, methods, and other findings learned along the way. This conference had 31 growers and 6 industry professionals, as well as a number of ZOOM attendees throughout the state.
There were a number of articles written about Shady Lane receiving the grant, how it was progressing mid-season, and sharing the results of the treatments. These ranged from local newspapers to national publications.
- https://fruitgrowersnews.com/article/shady-lane-soft-pesticides/
- https://wineindustryadvisor.com/2025/04/24/shady-lane-cellars-is-doing-its-part-for-sustainable-farming/
- https://americansuppliersgroup.com/shady-lane-cellars-is-doing-its-part-for-sustainable-farming/
- https://www.wmta.org/articles/post/sustainable-farming-michigan-vineyard-finds-hope-in-new-soft-pesticide-treatments-thanks-to-grant/
- https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/gallery/shady-lane-cellars-tests-soft-pesticides-for-sustainable-grape-growing?photo=1
- https://wineindustryadvisor.com/2024/04/09/shady-lane-cellars-secures-11k-national-farming-grant
- https://www.wmta.org/shady-lane-cellars-secures-11k-national-farming-grant/
- https://www.leelanaunews.com/news/shady-lane-cellars-awarded-11000-grant
- https://www.record-eagle.com/news/business/business-in-brief-04-17-2024/article_bb741e40-f29d-11ee-ae89-135d88e6753d.html
- https://www.secondwavemedia.com/rural-innovation-exchange/devnews/Shady-Lane-grant.aspx
- https://www.record-eagle.com/news/business/business-memoranda-08-21-2024/article_efbec1fc-597a-11ef-95da-73eca837635b.html
- leelanaunews.com/index.php/news/shady-lane-cellars-secures-11k-national-farming-grant
- 240618 Leelanau Ent Slc farm F&D
- 240618 Leelanau Ent Slc farm2
- 240418 Second Wave SLC SARE240618 Leelanau Ent Slc farm2
There was also a podcast interview that was published in the spring of 2025. Andrew discussed the project as a whole. The Vineyard Team podcast is a subsidiary of SIP, or Sustainable In Practice, a sustainable vineyard certifying agency that certifies vineyards throughout the US. Their podcast is also published in Wine Business Monthly, which reaches international audiences.
Learning Outcomes
The biggest takeaway from this project is that the soft pesticide program held up just as well as the conventional program in our cool climate with continental weather patterns, think hot and humid, more rainfall than a Mediterranean or desert climate. In Michigan there is an adage in farming communities that "every year is different", and 2024 proved not to disappoint in this regard. What started as a rainy and warm/humid/wet season in May until early July, then turned into the opposite conditions for the second half of the season, and an August dry spell turned into a severe drought for September and October. Thus it was also an outlier to fully put the 'soft program' to it's full test in regards to cluster rots. I think doing this type of trial for 2-4 years would really show it's true colors and give more data.
Regarding powdery and downy mildew, no powdery was found in either treatments in all varieties. As for downy, the soft program did struggle to keep the population low. The downy infections were primarily on lateral shoots and in the upper areas of the VSP canopy, and it was determined that theses infections did not cross over the economic damage threshold, meaning the leaf area compromised did not pose a threat to the leaf area needed to both ripen fruit adequately and harden the vine off for winter. It should be noted that the first half of the growing season provided many long and warm wetting events that contributed to high pressure for downy. Even though the pinot soft treatment struggled somewhat to control downy, it performed reasonably well in a high pressure year. Takeaways here include utilizing a soft downy product in June to pair with the ProBlad, to begin the preventative treatments earlier, and to apply the second 'burner' application of Phostrol five days after the first application.
Another takeaway is when using pure orange oil, it needs to be dissolved in a water soluble oil such as stylet oil or the like. I think this product needs additional investigation for it's efficacy and rates to control downy mildew.
Project Outcomes
The project was quite successful in my opinion, the Soft program largely controlled diseases and insects as well, or nearly as well, as the Conventional program. It was a high pressure downy mildew growing season, and a low pressure cluster rots season, so continuing to investigate many of the softer and organic pesticides in future years will provide different levels of disease pressure in different years. Shady Lane will be adopting some of these products into the regular spray program for all blocks. We will continue to utilize a spray program of both synthetic products and organic products, however this project illuminated the effectiveness of many soft treatments and we will continue to migrate towards a program that relies mostly on organic and soft chemistry pesticides.