New York Senator calls for Vineyard aid

Senator Schumer has written a letter to the USDA recommending grape growers in New York receive aid under the provisions of the recently passed Farm Bill.  The specific program is called the 'Tree Assistance Program'.  The press release focuses on this year's 'Poloar Vortex'.

It is likely that most of the damage is to European grapes planted in unsuitable locations.  Some would say all of New York state is unsuitable, but even Canada is working hard to develop a European based vineyard industry. Here is a Canadian site with critical temperature measurements for Ontario (Brock University).  In short, 90% losses are probable.

One would expect North American crosses to be doing much better than the European varieties, but there isn't any mention of breeding for cold hardiness mentioned, nor the cold-hardiness and superior wine quality of recent North American bred vines such as Marquette or Frontenac Blanc.