The grape state of Nevada?

Northern Nevada farmers are experimenting

with new crops in the hopes of

saving their way of life.

Wine grapes and native seeds are the

two crops being tested because both need

substantially less water than alfalfa and

other crops historically grown in the

drought-prone state.

"The grapes require four gallons of

water per week per plant," said Charles

Frey who is now growing 3,500 grape

plants on 3.5 acres on his alfalfa farm in

Fallon. "That's 10 percent of what we normally

put on hay and grain."

The goal of the experiments with

grapes and native seeds is to help struggling

farmers find new, marketable crops

that can thrive in Nevada's arid climate.

"We need to do something for our valley,"

said Frey. "The federal government is

buying water rights, and as water rights

get stripped the land becomes useless. I'm

worried about the tax base unless we can

find crops that use less water."

"We have such difficulty with water,"

said Tom Moura, a Lovelock farmer who

plans to try grapes on one acre

of his 700-acre alfalfa farm. In 2002, "we

had eight-tenths of an acre foot per acre

to irrigate with," he said. "We usually

have three acre feet per acre.We took

half the farm out of production."

"The farmers have always had a challenge

with water," said Karen Grillo,

director of agriculture promotion and

marketing for the Nevada Association of

Counties in Carson City. "There is great

potential for diversification of crops. And

the best part is it reduces water usage."

Grapes, in particular, are being extensively

investigated. The University of

Nevada, Reno, has grown a dozen varieties

of grapes at its experimental station

in Reno since 1995. Frey, who is working

with UNR, started planting grapes in

2001. Moura is planning to plant three

types of grapes on his Lovelock farm this

year. A vineyard in Yerington, initially

scheduled for 2003, may be postponed

until next year. And another in Minden,

the Tahoe Ridge Vineyards and Winery,

has been producing grapes for several

years and last year sold the first bottles of

wine made exclusively from Nevadagrown

grapes.

So far, the results have been very

promising, say all involved.

"We planted 10 different varieties and

every one is doing exceptionally well,"

said Frey. "We were thinking that if three

to four plants thrived that would be outstanding.

But it appears that every variety

is doing really well."

Nevada may be the ideal climate for

certain types of grapes, said David

Thawley, dean of UNR's College of

Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural

Resources.

"One reason there is a lot of interest

in this is that the best wine grapes in the

world are grown where there are warm

days and cool nights in the summer," said

Thawley. "The grapes produce sugar during

the day and the cooler nights mean

there is less burn off."

It's important that the grapes produced

be destined for "fine wine" and not

the table or jug wine market, said Frey.

California, by far the country's largest

grape producing state, is experiencing a

glut of grapes grown for table wines.

"If we can't get a quality wine grape

we can't compete," said Frey.

"The only scary thing is California

and the grapes that went in there," said

Moura. "A lot have been taken out now."

That's one reason Frey and UNR's

Thawley are urging other farmers to wait

until their experiments determine

whether superior fine wine grapes can be

grown here.

"Several farmers want to do it," said

Frey. "But we're telling them not to until

we see how sugar levels are.We don't

want them to fail. That would be worse

for our economy."

Starting up a vineyard is not inexpensive

either. Frey estimates he'll produce a

decent yield in the fifth year, after investing

between $40,000 and $70,000 per

acre. He hopes lessons learned at his test

vineyard will benefit other farmers by

reducing start up costs.

There are other obstacles too. Late

frosts are a danger, and Frey and UNR

are still working out how to best mitigate

the damage caused by a May frost.

If temperatures rise above 40 degrees

any time after February, Frey said, vines

will bud prematurely. He is now experimenting

with one method to avoid bud

break and another technique to protect

buds if they do emerge.

To avoid bud break, Frey plans to mist

the plants for 10 seconds every 10 minutes

to cool them and keep them from

budding despite the outside temperature.

If they do bud, said Frey, the buds can be

encapsulated in ice crystals to protect

them from frost.

"It sounds odd, but that's done in

California on different crops all the

time," said Frey. "It's real common."

The experiments with native seeds

aren't as far along, and have not been as

successful, said NACO's Grillo. She

knows of two farmers - one in the

Walker area and another in Oravda -

working with Indian rice grass. "It's been

a mixed experience," she said.

But, like grapes, native seeds may hold

some promise for Nevada farmers who

want to diversify, said UNR's Thawley.

He said seeds now used to replant

Nevada rangelands after fire damage

aren't grown here.

"Almost everything planted to rejuvenate

is produced somewhere that is much

wetter," said Thawley. He said UNR and

the Bureau of Reclamation both are

working on cultivating native seeds, but

there is still a lot to be done.

"There's a problem with some of the

grasses.We're probably a few years away

from having reliable information," said

Thawley.

"But it's another opportunity for using

less water," he said. "For Nevada agriculture

that's a significant opportunity."