The Vineyard Improvement Program is provided by the state Department of Agriculture and Markets and is funded by the Southern Tier Agricultural Industry Enhancement Program. It is available to the Southern Tier of New York which for this program includes the following counties: Chautauqua, Erie (NY), Niagara, Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, Steuben, Schuyler, Tompkins, and Tioga.

The program’s roots are a proposal from the Concord Grape Summit held in April 2018 aimed at assisting Concord grape growers in their efforts to respond to the challenges they faced through processor closings, contract reductions and overall reduction in demand for grapes. The challenges initially led to a significant number of acres that had essentially been abandoned due to the cost prohibitive nature of removal. Since then there have been improvements in the industry which have led to a slower use of the available funding. An extension had been granted due to that fact, as well as the decreased activity during the height of the COVID pandemic, so the money is still available for abandoned/underproducing/unwanted Concord vineyards until the end of 2024.

The Vineyard Improvement Program is a reimbursement program that offers 50% of removal costs up to $1,500 per acre and 25% of replant costs up to $1,500 per acre, with a maximum reimbursement of $50,000 per applicant. Ultimately the goal of the program is to improve the economic viability of the applicants’ production operations and to decrease pest pressure to the surrounding commercial vineyards.

Applicants are able to hire someone to do the work and then submit invoices for reimbursement or complete the removals/replants themselves as long as an accurate record is kept of the work done. The process would begin by submitting an application to the program via the form found at https://lergp.com/vip-application. Once that is completed, verification is required that it is a Concord vineyard through existing maps or contracts provided by the applicant, and the application and documents are reviewed. An initial site visit is made to verify the vineyard is still there and pictures taken for documentation. After that the applicant is free to begin the removal process which includes removing the vines along with the roots, posts, wire, and anchors. After some ground prep, the replant will need to be established. This can be as simple as a hayfield, field crops, or even an orchard or vineyard. The land is required to remain agricultural in order to participate in the project. A final site visit will be completed once the crop and appropriate trellis are established without the presence of grapevines from the removed Concords, as well as having sufficient weed control. After that the invoices, receipts and work logs are turned in to determine the reimbursement amount. Once all parties are content with that number it is submitted to be reimbursed.

A vineyard is pictured before and after working with the Vineyard Improvement Program.

For more information, email Kim at ksk76@cornell.edu or visit lergp.com/about-vip.