![]() The high point for the state’s juice grape industry hit in 2012, when farmers fetched $280 per ton. From 2014-17, growers in Washington earned $110 to $120 per ton for Concord grapes, which are turned into beverages, jams and jelly. If those grapes were certified organic, then the farmer received $260 per ton.īefore the pandemic, Concord growers in Washington got $170 per ton. In 2020, the average price per ton paid to Concord growers in Washington finished at $205. Now, however, the economic balance of supply-demand is tilting toward those who held onto their Concord vines – especially if they can sell that fruit as organic to processors in the Yakima Valley such as the National Grape Cooperative, a division of Welch’s. In that regard, market conditions for wine grape growers and juice grape growers have been similar. The market was historically soft for several years, prompting some in the state to remove Concord vines. Miller, who serves as president of Airport Ranch Vineyards and managing member for Airfield Estates Winery, says there is renewed optimism among Concord juice grape growers. The block along Bethany Road in Sunnyside was planted in 2000 and is in the process of transitioning to organic. Marcus Miller, president of Airport Ranch Vineyards and managing member for Airfield Estates Winery in Prosser, stands in Block B-1 of his family’s 355 acres of Concord vineyards. ![]() As we find vinifera (wine grape) vineyards that aren’t performing as well as we’d like, we will transition some of those to Concord for Welch’s.” “Someone recently told me that we’ve become the largest grower for Welch’s in the state,” Miller said. Their holdings of that variety cover 355 acres. Those vineyards within the Roza Irrigation District span 830 acres, but right across Bethany Road are blocks of the Miller family’s Concord vines. ![]() In 1968, the Millers began to plant wine grapes and quickly became one of Chateau Ste. Lloyd Miller, saw transformed into an airbase that trained more than 500 Army Air Corps pilots during World War II. It makes sense that the grape variety native to North America thrives across the farmland that his great grand-father, H. ![]() The Miller family’s place in the history of Washington wine is secure, and their Airfield Estates tasting room ranks as one of the most iconic in the Yakima Valley.Īlong the way, however, Marcus Miller positioned Airport Ranch Vineyards into one of the state’s most important producers of Concord juice grapes. ![]()
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