9/10/02

By AMY CONQUEST TAYLOR

There are few Mid-Atlantic region farmers who can profess that this year’s drought was actually beneficial to their crop.
But for Queen Anne’s County, Md., farmer, Wick Dudley, recent arid conditions actually accelerated the growth and upcoming harvest of his crop.
“We had a warm spring and no rain this summer — the plants just kept growing,” he said.
Dudley, who has 600 tillable acres near Queenstown, is not referring to corn, soybeans or produce grown on Dudley Farms, but instead to the 10 acres of wine grapes he grows.
The long-time grain farmer and produce grower converted a field into a vineyard seven years ago when grape-growing friends convinced him to give the crop a try.
“I had grown corn and soybeans in the field and never got a high yield. So I decided to plant 3,000 grape vines,” Dudley said.
Now, with 4,000 vines ready to harvest and an additional 3,000 planted on Hemsley’s Fortune Farm, Dudley’s yields are averaging more than four tons of grapes per acre.
“It’s been a learning process,” he explained. “I try to please the wineries, get as much fruit as I can and grow quality grapes that the wineries want.”
The quality of the grapes, according to Dudley, depends on how one maintains his vineyard.
Maintenance of Hemsley’s Fortune Farm is top priority.
During the first two years, the vines are planted, trellises have to be set up and the vines have to be trained to grow on the trellises.
Each spring, a pre-emergent herbicide is applied to the vines in the field and once the shoots start appearing, Dudley sprays and mows weeds on a regular basis.
In addition, he sprays for powdery mildew and bunch rot — diseases common to the area due the humid climate.
With the help of a gas-powered canon, electric bird squawker and long metallic streamers, Dudley keeps the birds and deer from feasting on his crop in the summer.
“They can destroy the crop in no time,” Dudley said. “The grapes are like candy to them.”
The grapes’ sugar levels are tested regularly with either a refractometer or a hydrometer to determine when they reach optimal sugar levels, meaning they are ready for harvest.
Then, after the grapes are harvested, Dudley prunes the vines in the winter. He explained the amount of foliage is key to a good grape crop, and proper pruning is essential.
“The idea is to make a profit in the end. It is not like grain farming when you sell your crop each year. Growing grapes takes time — four years in the ground and then one year in the bottle.”
This year, on account of the drought, Dudley has begun harvesting his Chardonnay grapes two weeks earlier than last year. He will harvest his Merlot grapes in a couple of weeks and his Cabernet grapes in about a month.
He sells his grapes to three of 12 wineries in Maryland.
“The demand for grapes is there,” Dudley said. “I can’t grow enough grapes to satisfy the demand. That is the problem.”
According to Maryland Grape Growers Association, state growers are satisfying only about 50 percent of the demand for Maryland wine, and due to state legislation, wineries cannot purchase grapes from out of state unless they can show that local production is inadequate.
“The potential is there,” Dudley said. “Maryland needs more people to grow grapes and more wineries to make wine. That way, Maryland wine would be more recognized.”
Dudley is doing his part. He is a member of the Maryland Grape Growers Association and his goal is to add about 2 acres of grapes a year until he ends up with 20 acres on his vineyard.
“We’re in competition with the world, “ he said. “We need to get more people involved in growing a grape or making a wine that is more indigenous to the area.”
For additional information about growing grapes in Maryland, Maryland wineries or Maryland wine, visit the Maryland Grape Growers Association Web site at www.marylandwine.com or call (301) 972-1325.