Vineyard Establishment and Business Planning Workshops
The explosion of the Midwest grape and wine industry since the mid-90’s has not only brought a new class of grapes and wines to consumers, but has also brought significant income to rural communities via tax revenue and tourism dollars. As the industry continues its growth, it is necessary to ensure a strong foundation of locally-grown grapes to help maintain our unique identity in the ever-shrinking global wine market. Growing grapes is an incredibly rewarding experience, but requires a shrewd business mind to maintain financial sustainability over the life of the vineyard.
All existing growers can tell you that running a vineyard requires countless hours of care, management, and planning. Most growers are willing to devote the necessary time to vine management, but too often overlook essential business and marketing plans. The upcoming vineyard business seminars in northern and southern Illinois are aimed at everyone with an interest in commercial grape and wine production, including prospective growers and winemakers, small-scale hobbyists, existing growers looking to expand acreage or freshen up their business plan, and even commercial wineries without a vineyard.
Topics include:
Vineyard Cost Accounting
Money Saving Strategies for Commercial Producers
Vineyard Planting and Establishment
Farm Loan Programs
Non-insured Disaster Assistance Programs(NAP)
Featuring:
Dr. Paul Domoto of Iowa State University
Dr. Tim Martinson of Cornell University
Sarah Bowman of Southern Illinois University
Regional Grape Growers and IGGVA Specialists
Advance registration is required. Deadline to register is May 26, 2015 at 5PM.
June 1, 2015 Blue Sky Vineyard, Cobden IL
Directions: http://www.blueskyvineyard.com/directions
June 3, 2015 Joliet Jr. College, Building T Room 1000 (Conference Center)
Directions: http://www.jjc.edu/campuses/Pages/interactive-map.aspx
To register for the June 1 event at Blue Sky Vineyards :
