Lake Erie Regional Grape Research & Extension Center
This 40-acre facility, located about 15 miles east of Erie, serves the grape-processing industry, which has a strong presence along the Lake Erie coastline in Pennsylvania and New York.
The farm grows 23 acres of Concord grapes, the purple processing grape, and 5 acres of Niagara grapes, a white processing variety. The farm also grows a host of different wine grapes. The only non-grape crop is a two-thirds-acre crop of dwarf cherry trees, which are planted to study how the variety fares in Erie’s milder climate.
The Erie facility is part of a cooperative effort between Penn State and Cornell University. Each university maintains separate facilities—Cornell operates a vineyard laboratory in Fredonia, New York—but they cooperate on extension education programs and field days for local growers.
