Information for NWGFS Customers
The NorthWest Grape Foundation Service (NWGFS) is part of the Viticulture program within the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture of the College of Agriculture , Human and Natural Resource Sciences at Washington State University. It combines elements of public programs along with total self-supporting activities.
Although the function of the vineyard appears to be similar to that provided by a conventional nursery, it is not. Our business practices provide services and materials that are unique to the NWGFS and are described below.
NorthWest Grape Foundation Role
The NWGFS clean stock program is the only one in the Pacific Northwest states of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. It is dedicated to the distribution of properly identified and tested disease free for required diseases of grape plant materials produced from the Foundation Vineyard or Foundation greenhouse facilities. The Pacific Northwest grapevine certification programs exist to maintain plant material integrity. NWGFS is a source of grape foundation stock for these programs and provides plant material to commercial nurseries who in-turn increase the stock to commercial levels in their respective State Department of Agriculture registered 'Mother Blocks'.
It is the goal of NWFGS to provide a long-term, constant supply of material for its customers and that the composition of the collection will satisfy the needs of the grape industry. Foundation-level materials have been tested prior to inclusion in the foundation vineyard and are routinely re-tested in accordance with the indexing tests and technologies as prescribed by the most stringent of participating State Department of Agriculture certification regulations. NWGFS will maintain all acquisitions, whether public or private/proprietary, in a virus and crown gall bacteria tested free-state.
Public and Private Foundation Material
Both public and private plant material will be maintained in the foundation vineyard. Public material shall be all selections of grape stock that is available to all interested parties, whereas private material shall be those selections that are available only to the sponsor and his/her consignees. Private material in the NWGFS shall be subject to the same certification regulations as public material, tested free of crown gall, and will have an introduction fee and annual maintenance fee, which is the sole responsibility of the sponsor.
Orders, Allocation, Order Confirmation, Order Status
Orders placed for foundation plant material (dormant hardwood cuttings, green tissue propagated potted plants, and tip culture propagated potted plants) will be by a written and signed order form only, and sent by mail or faxed to the NWGFS address. Orders may be placed anytime of the year, but an allocation deadline of December 1 is set as the cut off date for allocation of plant material.
When demand exceeds supply, NWGFS grape materials are allocated among customers who order before the annual December 1 deadline. Priority will be given to customers in the following order: 1) Idaho , Oregon and Washington nursery participants in their respective state grape nursery certification programs, 2) University and Federal Research programs, 3) customers within the states of Idaho , Oregon and Washington , 4) and customers outside these states. Propagation materials that remain after the allocation deadline are sold on a first-come-first served basis. Part of the NWGFS mission is to ensure fair and equitable allocation of plant materials to its prioritized customers as supplies are limited. Customers that are not participants in their state grape nursery certification programs may receive very little or no plant material regardless of the date ordered.
Upon receiving an order, an order confirmation is returned to customers. Before any plant material is supplied a signed WGFS grower agreement is required. A confirmation does not guarantee that WGFS will supply the quantities requested. What is actually supplied will depend on other orders received by the deadline, the amount of material harvested, and the ranking in the allocation system.
Dormant hardwood cuttings will be taken for all allocation orders in mid December and made available for delivery early January. Mist and tip propagated material will be started after an order is placed. The amount of time to make plants available depends on the season and the number of plants ordered. Approximate dates for delivery for mist and tip propagated plants will be provided with order confirmation.
Pricing
Funding to support the WGFS activities is generated through sales, proprietary user fees, nursery sales tax, grants and donations. Prices that are posted reflect the high cost of establishing and maintaining the foundation vineyard to its certification status. Refer to the annual posted price listing for pricing of listed materials and services offered.
Payment
A down payment of 1/2 the total is required at the time of placing the order with the balance due at the time of pick-up delivery, or prior to shipping.
Secondary content using h2 tag.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Life is good at WSU.
Secondary content can be almost anything. If you are not using this region delete all the content that is in between the div tags with the id ="additional".
A unique richness of students, faculty, location, activities, and organizations creates a full, lively student life at the University. This section gives you the insider's view on student life and a sampling of the opportunities here.
"Glimpses." Students talk about life at WSU
These brief posts are written by WSU students to give you a personal look through their window on campus life.