ATTENTION GRAPE GROWERS! Assistance Available for Leafroll and Red Blotch Losses

As late summer approaches, you may begin to see symptoms of Leafroll and Red Blotch diseases in your vineyards. The Farm Service Agency’s Tree Assistance Program (TAP) can assist you with losses associated with these two diseases. TAP provides cost-share on a percentage of your actual costs up to a maximum set rate for replacement vines, planting costs, rehabilitation of damaged vines, and site preparation, including removal of affected vines and preparation of the area to plant replacement vines.

Requirements:

• To confirm the disease, a minimum of 10 vines per stand must be submitted for testing to an acceptable lab. 

  • Samples must be taken from various areas of the stand. 

  • The number of stands can vary, depending on your vineyard. 

  • Work with your local FSA office to identify the stand(s) in your vineyard. 

  • Contact your local Cornell Cooperative Extension viticulturalist for a list of testing labs.

• **Important** Do not remove any vines until you have received authorization from FSA. Prior to authorization, an environmental review must be completed, and the CCC-899 Notice of Loss must be approved. 

To be eligible, there must be at least 16% mortality of vines per stand. Vines do not need to die to be eligible. The certified loss adjuster determines the number of vines that are dead and damaged per stand. If it is determined a vine is damaged to the extent that it is no longer cost-effective to rehabilitate, the loss adjuster will count that vine towards mortality. Once the 16% minimum mortality has been met in the stand, any vines determined to be damaged within the stand are eligible for rehabilitation; there is no minimum threshold for rehabilitation. 

Only vines affected by the disease as determined by the loss adjuster will be eligible for financial assistance. If the decision is made to remove the entire stand, even though not all vines have been affected by the disease, unaffected vines and acreage will not be eligible for cost-share assistance.

It is very important to file a notice of loss and submit samples for testing as soon as symptoms appear. Given the short window that symptoms can be observed, we need to ensure enough time for the certified loss adjuster to conduct an inspection. Once the vines lose their leaves in the fall, the loss adjuster can no longer verify the number of affected vines, and the inspection will have to wait until the following year once symptoms reappear.

If you have questions, please contact your local FSA office.