A bipartisan bill in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives would help protect West Coast winegrape growers against wildfire smoke damage that has cost the industry billions of dollars.

The Smoke Exposure Research Act would authorize $32.5 million annually over the next five-year Farm Bill cycle to better understand the impacts of prolonged wildfire smoke exposure and provide fair insurance products for growers.

USDA research and risk management efforts would be coordinated with the University of California – Davis, Oregon State University and Washington State University.

Federal research on smoke exposure has never been formally authorized, despite increasingly frequent and catastrophic wildfires that threaten the long-term sustainability of important wine growing regions, businesses and communities.

Expanding on progress

Elizabeth Tomasino, an OSU enology professor, said funding over multiple years allows for projects that require long-term planning, data collection and evaluation.

Progress into the problem has been made, but the act will ensure research continues.

“We are moving closer to solutions that can be utilized by the grape and wine industry when a smoke event occurs,” Tomasino said, in an email.

Cole Cerrato, an assistant professor in OSU’s Smoke, Wine and Grapes Analytical Chemistry Lab, said growers and researchers were excited about the support.

“Especially as we venture into new ways that can prevent smoke from getting into the grapes or how to pull out the smoky compounds while still leaving the wine that winemakers want to produce and consumers love to enjoy,” Cerrato added, in an email.

Essential to economies

U.S. Sens.  Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) along with representatives Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) introduced the act March 13.

“Winegrapes are essential to economies across our country, and states like California, Oregon and Washington have been disproportionately exposed to wildfires leading to smoke exposure impacting our winegrapes,” Thompson said, in a statement.

LaMalfa said in a news release that smoke exposure can ruin an entire harvest, leaving wineries and growers with huge losses.

Research goals

The Smoke Exposure Research Act would direct the USDA Agricultural Research Service to:

• Identify the compounds responsible for smoke taint.

• Establish standard methods for sampling and testing smoke-exposed grapes and impacted wines, including fast and inexpensive screening.

• Establish a reliable database of background levels of smoke taint compounds that occur naturally in winegrapes.

• Develop risk assessment tools or mitigation methods to reduce or eliminate smoke taint.

Smoke impacts

Smoke from wildfires can damage winegrapes through prolonged exposure which can be absorbed through thin grape skins and create an ashy taste known as “smoke taint.”

Smoke taint potentially compromises the health, quality and value of wine produced.

The impact of wildfires and smoke damage has resulted in the loss of property, tourism and production value for wineries and vineyards.

The legislation comes after the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency fired USDA scientists studying smoke taint on winegrapes, including two researchers at the UC–Davis and four other researchers, according to the news release.

The researchers have returned to work after cuts were rescinded.