WWIF has been invited to submit a full proposal to the 2017 Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.
The project is: “Bolstering Sustainability with Vinewise®.” The proposal is due April 20. WSDA commented that the Concept Proposal review process was very competitive this year. The $225,000 grant, if awarded, would update the content of Vinewise® using four steps:
- Locate and contract with person/firm to direct updating of content
- Update and/or draft new content based on:
- Facilitated process of industry and expert panel review with experts being topic-specific, along with industry representatives and WSU specialist(s).
- Review of existing practices and category ranking system to ensure relevancy.
- Gap analysis between current content and winegrape certification programs, sustainable farming initiatives, and relevant regulatory programs (water, pesticides, etc.) to add important practices not in the current edition.
- Install updated text into new software platform.
- Promote use of updated content in new software platform with assistance of industry stakeholder groups.
WWIF also continues its work facilitating the harmonization of clean plant protocols across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho thanks to funding from the USDA APHIS program. Click here to learn more.