Wind machines are one option growers in the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada, are pursuing as they seek to protect their vines against future bouts of cold weather. Last winter, cold weather in January and February killed most of the buds on the vinifera varieties. The damage reduced Ontario’s total wine grape crop to just over 18,000 metric tons-about half what it should have been. The 2005 crop was even smaller than in 2003, when winter damage reduced the Ontario grape harvest to around 26,000 metric tons. Between 2004 and 2005, the value of the wine grape crop fell from […]