Early grape harvest in Missouri in 2024: low yield but high quality

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri’s grape harvest this year is, for the most part, early throughout the state. The reason for the early harvest is the low crop yield, which is mainly due to frost last spring, according to Dean Volenberg, interim director of the University of Missouri Grape and Wine Institute and viticulture program leader.

“The good news is the grape quality is very high this year; it should be a very good vintage,” Volenberg said in a press release.

The 2024 grape crop started about June 2023, so environmental factors could affect it any time from June 2023 until bud burst around mid-April 2024.

“What we’re seeing here in Missouri is what I would call weather patterns that are similar to Colorado, with warm falls and big drops in temperatures later in the fall, even into December,” Volenberg said. “Most everything looked good in mid-January except for the cultivar Chardonel. Then, Missouri grapes were exposed to scattered spring frosts after bud break, causing damage.”

If the primary bud is killed, a secondary bud will come out.

“In some cultivars those are fruitful, but you will see fruit reduction,” he said. “Typically, you’re down to a 40%-60% crop instead of a full crop. Some growers had normal yields that weren’t touched by frost.

“We still have that large canopy feeding those secondary clusters, which actually mature much faster than if we had a full crop load on there. So that’s why the harvest was early.”

Volenberg says there are still some Norton grapes yet to be harvested in the state. Some growers are seeing a full harvest of Norton, up to 5 tons per acre. In some years, the Norton harvest goes all the way into mid-November.

Volenberg hopes for good environmental conditions for the 2025 grape crop. Some areas are dry in the state, but Volenberg said grape growers will be irrigating their crop during the fall.

Once the fruit is harvested, growers want to make sure there’s a good canopy for at least six weeks, so “we don’t like to see a killing frost for six weeks,” he said.

To learn more about the Missouri Grape and Wine Institute and its offerings for Missouri grape growers and winemakers, go to gwi.missouri.edu.