Federal funds will help create a new research unit in Geneva aimed at studying grapes.
Senator Chuck Schumer said $68.9 million from the USDA and Agricultural Research Service Buildings and Facilities budget has been allocated for the facility, which will focus on grape research.
Schumer says healthy grapes play a crucial role in New York, with vineyards and grape croplands helping to produce nearly $5 billion in revenue each year for New York.
“USDA completed a feasibility study to build a new lab back in 2003, when the Unit was housed in an outdated and cramped facility on the Cornell AgriTech campus,” Schumer said in a statement Tuesday. “Even after moving to better space at Cornell last year, the Unit still needs a dedicated facility with sufficient space to incorporate new sensor technology and the enhanced computing capacity necessary to stay at the leading edge of crop research to support grape growers Upstate and nationwide.”
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