Plants, People, Science
Horticultural science is the only discipline that incorporates both the science and aesthetics of plants. It is the science and art of producing edible fruits, vegetables, flowers, herbs, and ornamental plants, improving and commercializing them. Plants, People, Science, a podcast by the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS), will bring you the recent advancements in science, technology, innovation, development, and education for economically important horticultural crops and plants. Each episode features an interview with an American Society for Horticultural Science member, a discussion of their current work in the field, and the story behind their research. ASHS members focus on practices and problems in horticulture: breeding, propagation, production and management, harvesting, handling and storage, processing, marketing and use of horticultural plants and products. In this podcast, you will hear from diverse members across the horticultural community - scientists, educators, students, landscape and turf managers, government, extension agents, and industry professionals.
Plants, People, Science
What It Takes To Make A Super Cold-Hardy Wine Grape
Think a great wine grape can’t survive where winters drop to minus forty? We sit down with breeder Dr. Harlene Hatterman-Valenti from North Dakota State University to unpack how a young industry, a focused research program, and some stubborn optimism produced two new cultivars built for the northern plains. From the early days of variety trials and policy hurdles to the release of Dakota Primus and Radiant, Harlene shares how hybrid genetics, gritty selection, and clever management turned a hostile climate into an advantage.
We dig into the science of cold hardiness: why photoperiod sensitivity matters more than you think, how vines must read shortening days to lay down periderm before sudden freezes, and the three critical windows where cold injury strikes—fall acclimation, deep midwinter lows, and late-winter temperature whiplash. Harlene explains the growth calendar for a North Dakota vineyard with just 130 frost-free days, from delayed pruning and cautious budbreak to early-August veraison and mid-September harvests.
Beyond the vineyard, we explore how the state’s wine scene found its footing, why regulations evolved to support consistent supply, and how tourism now fuels growth. The conversation closes with what’s next: chasing an ultra-cold-hardy red, expanding into table grapes for farmers markets, and celebrating the team effort—students, specialists, and collaborators—that made progress possible. If you’re curious about cold-climate viticulture, breeding under polar vortex pressure, or how science builds regional wine identities, this one’s for you.
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Podcast transcripts are available at https://plantspeoplescience.buzzsprout.com.
On LinkedIn find Sam Humphrey at linkedin.com/in/samson-humphrey. Curt Rom is at https://www.linkedin.com/in/curt-rom-611085134/. Lena Wilson is at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lena-wilson-2531a5141/.
Thank you for listening!
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Welcome to Plants People Science, a podcast brought to you by the American Society for Horticulture Science, where we like to talk about all kinds of things horticulture.
Sam Humphrey:I'm Samson Humphrey. I'm a PhD student researcher at the University of Tennessee, and I'm one of your co-hosts.
Curt Rom:I'm your other co-host, Curt Rom, a University Professor of Horticulture at the University of Arkansas. We would like to welcome our audience today. Glad that you're here joining us. And how are you doing, Kurt? I'm doing real well. We're winding down the semester here. It's clear that fall is about over. Leaves are on the ground and being raked up. Winter is setting in, uh, temperatures are getting cooler, and looking to the end of this semester, but looking forward already to the next semester in the new year.
Sam Humphrey:It's funny you use the word winding down. I feel like things are winding up with finals coming, with students working on their projects.
Curt Rom:Yeah, my students say uh things are not winding down. They have geared up, they are in full gear. Uh I can see the the uh excitement or tension on their faces.
Sam Humphrey:But you know they're looking forward to their Thanksgiving break, which is about to happen. We're recording this the week before Thanksgiving. And oh, I'm so excited, Kurt. It's so beautiful outside. The leaves, like you said, I know they're I know you said they're on the ground, but they're not quite on the ground for me yet. Um I'm really enjoying this fall.
Curt Rom:Well, we actually had one of the most beautiful fall color years that I've experienced here in a long, long time. We had uh uh a relatively wet September, mild temperatures through September and October. So we had a lot of leaf color development, and they they retained on the tree for a long time. So it was a really spectacular autumn for us.
Sam Humphrey:That's awesome. And I have my final basil harvest for this experiment I've been doing for a little while, and so I am I'm very happy about that.
Curt Rom:Yeah, and I'm putting my plants to uh kind of the end of the season, and we're gonna talk about dormancy today, and I'm hoping all my plants are headed to dormancy. We've been having mild temperatures, so hope everything shuts down okay. Good luck, Kurt.
Sam Humphrey:Yeah, all right, that is relevant because our guest today is ASHS member Dr. Harlene Hatterman- Valenti from North Dakota State University. Very cold, much colder than what you and I deal with, Kurt. Uh Dr. Hatterman- Valenti is a professor and assistant department head, and she also leads the high-value crops program at North Dakota State University. Her team focuses on grapes and tomato and peppers and all sorts of different things. Um, but her main focus is wine grapes. Today we're talking with her about two new cultivars she's produced these past few years, and yeah, very exciting things. Let's give this interview a listen.
Curt Rom:Well, it's great. Before we get started, let me ask you a question. I know we're colleagues uh for the conversation for our audience. How would you like for us to refer to you? Would you like us to refer to you as Dr. Hatterman- Valenti, or do you like to go by a first name basis for the conversation?
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:First name basis is just perfect. I remember one time I was teaching a course and and someone asked, which what how should we refer to you? And I said, Harlene's just fine. And some other um faculty members said, Oh, she was aghast. She goes, No, it's Dr. Hatterman Valenti. You worked hard to get that PhD. And I said, I'd rather be very personal and be on a first name basis than ever to go and say, I'm holding this PhD over you and and like that. So Harleen is just perfect.
Curt Rom:Wonderful, Harlene. Well, it's great to have you here. Uh, for our audience, tell us what your current position is, what you do now, and and then I have a couple follow-up questions for that.
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:Okay, so I am a professor at North Dakota State Um University. I'm also an assistant head there. My position is high-value crops, so it allows me uh to wear many, many caps, um, which is probably good or bad, depending on how you look at it. Um, there's never a day that I can say has been the same, that's for sure. I started in August of 2000. And so last uh well no, this spring, I actually went because of how they do the their uh academic year, I actually celebrated my 25th 25 years, which is the first time uh I got to celebrate anything at being in DSU.
Curt Rom:Well, that's wonderful. Uh go Bison's North Dakota State Bisons bisons. You know, you always actually have a really good football team there. Uh tell us before North Dakota State University, what what where did you start? Where did you do your undergraduate work, graduate studies? What led you to North Dakota State University?
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:Okay. Well, I started um I actually had a basketball scholarship for Kearney State. Um, it's in Nebraska. Now it's uh University of Nebraska at Kearney. And um after that I I moved to Lincoln and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I actually had a biology wildlife emphasis for my major and um thought about being a game warden or something like that. Um, but there aren't a lot of uh state parks in in Nebraska, especially on the east side, and that I grew up on a farm on the east side of um east part, northeast um part of Nebraska. So um while I was looking for jobs and and like that, um someone said you should think about graduate school. And I was like, no, I just got done and I don't have a huge debt. I don't want to go and pay for more schooling. And they said, No, they actually will pay you to go to school. And I was like, get out of here. I couldn't believe it. Um, and so I went and talked with a couple uh faculty members and I had an opportunity to go into plant pathology or horticulture. Um, and I said, geez, do I want to always be trying to figure out what's killing a plant or do I want to grow plants? So I went to the horticulture direction. Um, and then while I was there, I actually uh the weed science was just down the hallway, and I I found out it's even more fun to to kill plants than you know. So I went a little bit further and uh really started my emphasis in weed science. Um after that, um, well, I got married and um we went to my husband is in weed science. Um we knew we wanted to kind of keep things separate, so I wanted to keep my emphasis in horticulture and he was in uh uh more agronomic crops. We were in Ames, Iowa, and I had an opportunity to do a pre-doctoral extension associate position where I could go and um get my PhD as long, well I could actually I'll put it this way I could have the extension associate position as long as I was working towards my PhD. Uh so I did that. I had a double major in horticulture and agronomy, trying to keep more my um horticulture side, and I was responsible for um horticulture, weed science, right-away, and waters. But Iowa doesn't have a lot of waters, so that wasn't too difficult uh area there, um, and really enjoyed that so much that it took me about six and a half years to finally finish. And um after that um I took a position with FMC as a research biologist uh we uh in Princeton, New Jersey, and um was there for about four years uh before we moved back to the Midwest. My husband had an opportunity, and and so um with our family we moved to Sioux Falls, where I taught at a uh two-year uh college, uh a number of horticultural courses, and we were there for almost three years, and this opportunity at NDSU came um open and um yeah 25 years later quite a story.
Curt Rom:Well, you've had a lot of experiences, so you know you start off as a basketball star and all conference academic star. So, you know, it tells me that you're competitive and smart. That's pretty cool. And now you're at North Dakota State University. That how did how and when did you get into grapes and into wine grapes? I mean, I what I I I'm gonna admit something to you. When I think of wine grapes, North Dakota State is not North Dakota is not my first state that I think about.
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:Um correct. I did work on grapes when I uh a little bit. Um we had an extension specialist at um UNL uh Steiniger, and he had grapes. So um with where we had our horticulture farm research farm, I got uh to dabble into grapes a little bit, but it wasn't until we finally passed the Farm Winery Act in 2003 at uh in North Dakota that there was actually the possibility and the interest. Um there were some people growing grapes, um, but you know, basically there was no real industry. So after that, um I initiated uh a variety trial, got involved with a multi-state um project on on grapes, and uh yeah, we were trying to see how things were growing. Uh remember having some very disastrous years where things were really dying back, had a lot of help from um private breeders and um as well as you know with that multi-state uh you know, the University of Minnesota has a um cold-hardy breed uh grape breeding program. So we were trialing some of their stuff. We were utilizing a lot of uh Elmer Swenson, who was a long time uh long term uh and long time had uh been uh breeding grapes as a private breeder. Um I think at the time when we started, he was probably in the last years of his life, but you know, he had um such an illustrious life of uh just breeding grapes for not only table grapes, but wine grapes, cold hardy wine grapes. So we tried a number of his cultivars, the University of Minnesota cultivars. Um there's you know some other private uh breeders that had some, like King of the North and and like that. So we put them in there and and uh it took probably uh about five years later. Um there was or not quite five years later, there was, you know, the wineries were going, gosh, we it's really difficult to go and get the quantity of grapes that they need on a consistent basis. Um there was a the first winery in North Dakota was Point of View, uh, which is just outside of Minot in north central uh North Dakota, and they said the uh the University of Minnesota grapes just aren't hardy enough. Uh so there was a push to go, and and we were trying all kinds of management um studies to try to increase cold hardiness and you know not having the kind of success that is needed for them. Uh so there was a number of the um of the North Dakota Grape Growers Association that went and talked with our ag experiment station director, who is also the dean of our college, and you know, really persuaded um him to go and say, hey, we need a super cold hardy grape for us to go and consistently. Uh if you have to rely on secondary buds for most of your grape production, you're never going to have enough grapes to make um any kind of a uh you know vineyard profitable or even close to being profitable. Uh and so in 2008, 2000, really probably 2009, we started um breeding grapes.
Sam Humphrey:That's amazing. I don't know that much about grape production. Uh what is the difference between table grapes and wine grapes?
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:Okay. Um well for table grapes to be successful now, you need to have uh a lot of well, sweetness, but you you don't want seeds. Uh and so with the wine grapes, you're you're really looking for um some unique, some complex flavors. Uh of course, you don't want some of those off flavors, which you don't want in table grapes either. But um what I usually tell people is, you know, there's few cultivars of table grapes that are hardy enough because when you're trying to develop, oh, just like when you're trying to develop more colorful flowers, you usually give up something. It's always or higher yields, you usually end up giving up something. And so with if you went for table grapes and seedlessness, you you end up usually giving up a little bit uh or more on hardiness, cold hardiness. And thus um there are a few uh cold hardy uh table grapes, but really not not a lot. And there that's an area that could really um use some expansion.
Sam Humphrey:Sounds exciting to work on this because it's it's important. It it really matters to farmers, it really matters to producers. But okay, so again, I don't know that much about grapes here. I'm learning a lot in this conversation already. You are in North Dakota. That must look very different. Like in the field, if you're looking out at a crop of grape plants, um, it must look very different from warmer climates. What does it actually look like if you were standing out in that field?
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:Okay. And and that was, you know, with it being such a new industry for a lot of growers, you know, I think many of them went and said, Oh, let's look and see what California does. They know how to do it. They've been growing grapes for a long time. Um, so most everyone thought, oh, we have to do a midwire with a vertical chute positioning because that's what all the grapes in California are. And and really, we can't grow Vitus vinifera grapes in North Dakota. We have to have a hybrid grape that is crossed with something that is cold hardy, be it their native river grape, which is Vitus riparia, or there's other ones that Vitus estivalas, vitus amaranthesis, that all can go and and provide cold hardiness. Um, of course, you want to go and include some of that um the background from something like Vitus vinifera because the true wine grape has all those fruit characteristics that anyone who drinks wine is accustomed with. Um so uh yeah, so I think I got off on the quiz. See, I always get off on these tangents.
Curt Rom:Yeah, but that was interesting. Yeah. So it you have uh those other species of vitis naturally occurring in North Dakota, or were these you you you were picking up the uh genetics from programs in Minnesota and Wisconsin?
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:Um so vitus riparia is native to um North Dakota. And um so we have collected a number of uh Vitus riparia that we are using to get that cold hardiness in well, right now I would say we're utilizing those more as getting those genetics into parents. Um and uh but as far as where um where we initially started, we were trying to use elites that we knew were cold hardy and making crosses there. Um and and then slowly build up our our parental block that we're now using to go and and uh get what I call the super hardy cold grapes.
Sam Humphrey:Yeah, they're awesome. We have been looking at um your post on Dakota Primus and Radiant. Is that how they're pronounced?
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:Yeah. Um Primus Primus, I I I guess it all depends.
Sam Humphrey:Um uh you know, yeah, they they s they seem awesome. But I'm Struck by what you just said because it sounds like it takes a lot of time. How how long did it take to develop Dakota Primus and Radiant?
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:Yeah, so they we so those crosses were in 2009 and 2010. And so which for a program that was starting from square zero, except for the fact that you know we did have, you know, some private breeders actually gave us some seed. They said, hey, we have this seed um you know planted out and start um evaluating things. Um and and uh so really uh with the release, I'd say we were well ahead of what most um breeding when you look at most grape breeding programs, and if they had to start from square zero, it would take a lot longer. It was about 13 years for us.
Sam Humphrey:That's amazing. Could you tell us a little bit about these cultivars? I read that they have surpassed common commercial varieties in their yield and winter survival. They sound really promising.
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:Well, um we have the perfect test ground, that's for sure, to go and um evaluate um cold hardiness. Uh, so we we tend to get um what are they now called these polar vortexes coming through. Um for us, we get a number of Arctic blasts, so we're always able to test true cold hardiness. Uh I think, well, actually, with a grape, there's probably three areas where you can actually have um cold temperature injury. You can have that at the acclimation period when the grapes are trying to become acclimated for dormancy. They're putting on paraderm and really getting ready for the winter. Then you have like your December, January, that's like the coldest time of the year, and and that's where genetically, you know, does that grape can it withstand minus 40 degrees? Because we can get minus 40. We've gotten minus 40 probably every third year in the winter. Um, and then it's the next phase is when they've already obtained all their chilling requirements and they're just waiting to go and get ready to grow. And that's where a lot of fluctuation in temperatures above freezing, dropping below freezing, um, can really go and cause uh damage to those vines. And then, of course, when they start leafing out, and then you have another cold blast that can also do a lot of damage. So for us, we're trying to find vines that go to sleep early. Uh you know, for for these vines to start to acclimate, it's not only the cooling temperatures, it's the the shortening of the day length. Now there are some that are very much um strictly day length. As the day length gets shorter, they start to shut off. Um, we'd like to see a vine that starts to yellow the leaves come Labor Day because yeah, uh I just heard, what was it? Day before yesterday, the historical low in North Dakota was 17 below zero. Now it that hasn't been for a few decades or so, but I mean, you know, to be mid-November and and to be able to go and tolerate minus 17 degrees Fahrenheit, uh you gotta have um some grapes that start to really acclimate early, aren't fooled by what they call Indian summers, where we get the cool temperatures, then it warms up again. And I had a graduate student that uh simulated that in a um growth chamber, and he showed that you know there are a number of these cold hardy grape um cultivars that because of their background, be it that they have a lot more Vitus uh vinifera in them, you know, they're used to more of that Mediterranean temperature where they have that very long fall. And so if we get these cool temperatures and then it warms back up, they're going, oh hey, I I can keep going. And they don't know that the door is going to be slamming shut here, you know, any time. And and that has you know caused a lot of our our winter injury just because they don't acclimate early enough.
Curt Rom:Yeah, you know that acclimation, like you said, there's two components to that. One is the uh decreasing daily temperature, and the other is the photoperiod. You know, uh it's interesting. I've never thought that in your case, you probably almost need to separate those physiological responses and really be selecting those that are photoperiodic sensitive and acclimate in response to photoperiod, and temperature will always have an effect, but they really need to respond to the photoperiod so they don't respond too much to the temperature. That's interesting that you that uh you you've separated those kind of characteristics and physiological traits. So uh tell me a little bit about the the growth pattern. So you like when do you like them to start their dormancy, their leaf shed? Uh when do they break bud in the spring? When do you see bloom? When do you get the verizon? And when do you normally have harvest? So run me through the cycle of a North Dakota wine grape. Okay.
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:Um so we're we're hoping that they will okay, we'll start in the beginning of the year, typically. Good.
Curt Rom:I started in the fall because I'm I'm looking outside and it's fall.
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:Yeah. Um so for us, we'll see bud break probably first part of May. Maybe a little bit earlier. We try to delay our pruning as long as possible, trying to have them not wake up as early as possible. Partly because um even at Fargo, the last chance for a frost is probably May 31st.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:So um now that has been itching inching backwards because of some of the warming, but there's always that possibility. And actually, I had someone um, I think I was reading an article, they were saying that North Dakota has had snow in every month of the year except I think August. So well, that's unusual weather. Yes. So we try to have them not wake up too soon. Um sometimes I I worry about that because we already have a really short growing season from the last frost to the first freeze on average is about 130 days. So these grapes have to do a lot in a short period of time. Um then uh so they're growing, we'll have flowering, usually occurs early part of June. Um they they grow very rapidly there, and we'll have varation probably in that August, first part of August time. And then it's a race to see, you know, to hope that they get ripe early. We'd like to um probably mid-September is um for many of these that we start harvesting, and uh then hopefully uh have them start to acclimate and get ready. Um and I'd say mid-September is probably about the earliest. You know, you'll start with your whites, and some of uh most of your whites will be ready before your reds. Your reds take a little bit longer, you want a little bit higher bricks on those, and and so that will take a little bit longer.
Curt Rom:The winter injury you get, uh, is there a certain time of year that you're really concerned about that? Is it typically early winter, uh late fall, early winter? Is it November, December? Is it January, February when we think the the absolute depth and pit the void or uh or is it spring frost and in late season freezes? What is there a time of year that that you see is the most susceptible for winter injury in your grapes?
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:For us, I I think it's more that um early fall. Um if we don't have a great year with a lot of growing good growing degree days, you know, these vines are gonna struggle and rot to ripen. And so when they should be thinking about putting down more periderm, they're probably still trying to ripen these grapes. Um then we we can go from a 50-degree day on average down to 10, you know, just like that overnight. Um and and that's where I feel we have most of our damage occurring. Now, if we were probably state below us, South Dakota, you know, they may not have, and the further south, Nebraska, then they may say, no, it isn't our fall, it's spring. Um, because they have that much longer fall for those vines to actually, and they probably also have a longer growing season, so they have a lot more GDDs, and so um they don't see the fall as problematic as we do in North Dakota.
Sam Humphrey:That is fascinating. So there are all these different traits that could confer winter hardiness and and and allow for more winter survival. I saw for your releases that we've talked about they have better winter survival, and I I maybe I didn't read far enough in, but uh, why is that? Like what biologically causes them to have better winter survival?
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:Well, that's probably with genetics and um the fact that you know we had several, well, more than several, we had probably 15,000 or so individuals that we've been going through to find that needle in the haystack, as they always say, where the genetics just um fit together so that you had um good quality fruit for wine and you had this cold hardiness. Um and uh you know I I can't say that I put those together the right that way. It was just you know the the ability over time and our I guess our um cold conditions and you know I just told somebody the other day, I was like, boy, I haven't seen I've been here for 25 years, I haven't seen a growing season that has been the same, and I can probably say I haven't seen a winter that has been the same either. Uh and so these accessions are really, you know, they get everything thrown at them, and uh kind of like how the University of Minnesota went and s found um Atasca is they had a polar vortex and it it survived, it looked great.
Sam Humphrey:Um was that the 2018-2019 very challenging conditions?
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:Yes. Um and you know our standards all had severe dieback, and these two they look pretty good. I was really surprised. And you know, that is one of those aha moments where um you're going, okay, now but you know, one location doesn't mean that it's going to work everywhere. Um, and we have growers, I said, in the North Central, we have growers out in the western part, and so what we did was um before that um 2018-2019 time, we actually had uh made cuttings and we brought them up to um the My Not Research Extension Center, and they had a planting there, and we were able to show that in that even colder environmental conditions, they are far exceeding the standards there.
Curt Rom:You know, my colleague John Clark is a good fruit breeder and uh uh a fun guy to talk to. He always said, you know, breeding has a huge amount of science and technology in it, and then magical things happen. You know, you get that right combination of genes and you get the phenotypic expression, and the environment helps you. You're out there selecting things, working really good out in your field, thousands of seedlings, and then the weather helps you make a really clear decision. Yes. That's those magical moments of it. I I'm interested in a little bit of the North Dakota. You said you got growers all over the state. What's the wine industry in North Dakota like these days? And you know, I know some states with minor, I'll call them minor industries, and I don't mean to demean that. They'll say, you know, it could be a state labeled wine if it's 10, 15, 20, 40 percent, or 60 percent must grown in state, but has also imported must for blending. Uh tell us about the state of the industry that you know you're creating new grapes. It it has to become a backbone for them.
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:Yeah. Well, um, so initially they had to have they had a tier system where they um had to work their way up on how much of their grapes had to be purchased from um within the state. And boy, I was it about I'm thinking about four years ago. It was right before COVID that um they actually got that change because they said, you know, well, you know, we're we've been working on breeding these grapes. We're trying to find more consistent grape um cultivars for them, but in the meantime, you know, what are they supposed to do? Um it's hard to go and consistently have um these grapes available. And so they did change that um law that they don't now have to um have, you know, it was going to be up to 33 percent of uh the wine had to have grapes from North Dakota in them. Uh all the wineries still kept their labels, which were all based on um cold hardy grapes, because that's the only thing that really grows around here. So it isn't like they were going to um, oh yeah, I have a I have a Merlot that yeah, I grew in my backyard. Uh-huh. Yeah. Um so um so that has worked out nicely, I think, for the wineries. There's about 20 wineries, maybe a little bit less, 1820. Um one just uh we just had a new one open this year. Uh as far as the industry, I think they're they're really starting to understand how to, you know, tourism is an important aspect. Uh, you talk to a number of these wineries and they'll go and say, Yeah, we had somebody stop by, you know, North Dakota was on their bucket list for a winery, you know, they had to hit everyone in the United States, and and so um, and there's a number of these programs now that you know people traveling with RVs can go and stay at their place, and and it's I think it's really working out nicely. We also had two wineries that recently had some rather large uh tourism grants, uh, so they want to expand and and really get into that tourism aspect.
Sam Humphrey:That's amazing. That is so exciting to see that develop. I I assume that wasn't the case a few years ago.
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:Yeah, right. Well, as long as it keeps going up, I think it's wonderful.
Sam Humphrey:Um the way I see it, you spent years working on these coal tolerant grapes. 2023, you uh publish and release your cultivars, Dakota Primus and Radiance. And so that feels like a culmination in something amazing to me. What are what are you working on now?
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:Well, I'd say that was probably a first step. Um we still so both of these um are are basically white wine grapes, although Dakota Primus has um a reddish out um skin. And actually there was a winery down in Kansas, part of this multi-state, uh, who they actually went and made it into a rose, and and that was very refreshing. Uh so there are different wine wine styles that I think Dakota Primus can be made into. Um but you know, we still are looking for a ultra cold hardy red wine grape. Um I know the University of Minnesota uh has just released three table grapes. Um so I'm I'm pretty sure well and we've been dabbling in um some of that as well um because the local foods I think farmers markets uh would love to be able to have um table grapes that were grown in you know locally available so um so there's a lot to do and um you know I've had some amazing graduate students and without their help uh I know we wouldn't have gotten this off the ground. I also have a research specialist um specialist that uh hands down is like the best in the world. So um it it it takes a village to go and and get things accomplished like that and it wasn't me by myself, that's for darn sure. I was probably just the small cog in the whole thing. Um without all of their help uh and and hard work, uh nothing like this would have ever uh came about.
Sam Humphrey:That was wonderful. Oh my goodness. Kurt, do you have any final questions?
Curt Rom:Well, I I really think uh I I really admire you and commend you because working in horticulture, working with fruit crops in a uh what I'll call a challenging and strenuous environment like North Dakota winters, and and you've been very persistent, you've been successful, and you and you're kind of making a difference in from my viewpoint, and just even from today's conversation. So you're adding both to the our our knowledge of the discipline and understanding uh winter hardiness and these the this genera of plants, uh, but you're also really helping your growers out, and I appreciate that. Uh what do you have planned for 2026? You got something exciting that you're really it's it's that time of year where we've got to kind of think we've got to wrap up this year. I get that. But it's also uh as a fruit guy, I always am thinking next year will be the best year ever. So what's gonna be best for Harleen next year in 2026?
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:Oh, well, that's a good question. Um I you know, I don't make real long-term plans like that. I just, you know, I'm I'm like your typical farmer. Next year, it's gonna be better than last year. And I'm gonna I'm just gonna go and work my darnest to go and try to get that accomplished. And take the weather as it comes, I guess. Always have plan B, C, maybe even D in your back pocket because you might need it.
Curt Rom:Well, yeah, you're you're making tremendous progress and you're helping growers, and we really appreciate that. I look forward to reading your publications uh in our journals and and uh hope to see you giving a report on some of your progress at uh the ASHS conferences.
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:Well, yes. Um I have the two introductions for Hort Science. I've just been trying to find time to go and finalize. I have to just go and just say, yes, let's get it going. Um and uh so those should be coming. I did go and say by the end of the year, and as fast as time is going, I probably need to go and start working on that over Thanksgiving because we'll be at the end of the year here in no time. It's it's it's right upon us.
Curt Rom:Yes. Well, what a delightful conversation. Uh thank you so much for taking time to visit with us and sharing your story. I hope you still play basketball a little bit. For our our listening audience, she's wearing a North Dakota State sweatshirt with the colors. She's repping the bisons really well. Uh I hope you get out and get to shoot some baskets occasionally.
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:Yep. Um Yeah, I went and I I was telling we were at a men's basketball game Monday night, and I was talking to the athletic director, and I went and I said, you know, um my competitiveness never really got going until after I finished college, because in college uh, you know, there wasn't any women's national basketball association. Um but after college, then I started playing pickup games. And if you won, you stayed on the court. And that's where I got really competitive because you know so well, thank you very much for your time.
Curt Rom:Uh I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot, and I think our audience did too. So wish you the best for the holidays and the beginning of new year, and I hope the weather treats you like you need to have the weather treat you next year for your research.
Harlene Hatterman-Valenti:And I really appreciate this opportunity, both you and uh Kurt and Sam. This was wonderful. Um, gave some great questions, and uh you were very relaxed, and you can tell that you guys have done this for a while because it looked very professional, but you had no concerns whatsoever, so that was awesome.
Curt Rom:Well, it's easy to have conversation with good conversation. Well, thank you.
Sam Humphrey:What did you think, Kurt?
Curt Rom:She had a really interesting story about her training experiences and how she ended up in North Dakota State University. I really enjoyed her approach to breeding for a cold environment, and quite honestly, I respect her optimistic tenacity at her program, what she is accomplishing there. Her release of new climate-adapted, climate-smart cultivars for North Dakota growers in such a short period of time is really pretty amazing.
Sam Humphrey:That's yeah, I completely agree. And I feel like you need that optimism. If you're you're in such a cold environment, it's it feels dramatic to me because I was trained, I did my undergrad at the University of Florida, and so like tropical crops were on the menu. Like I did uh ginger and turmeric research, very, very different. Um, and so like you know, I read about what it was like to grow plants in cold climates, but it's so cool to actually hear from someone who's doing it and hear, you know, oh, we had that horrible winter just a handful of years ago. And and those stories just really put color, color into um into my idea of what it's like, what it must be like to grow crops in those cold environments. You've always been in the South too, right, Kurt?
Curt Rom:Well, I uh went to graduate school at Ohio State University during a really cold period of the uh early 1980s, a memorable cold period. And then I worked at Washington State University. I remember my first day in Washington State University on September 21st, uh, the fall equinox, we had two feet of snow, and I thought, what have I gotten myself into?
Sam Humphrey:Oh goodness, and here you are, so it didn't scare you off too much. That's so funny. Yeah, I it's also so interesting to hear from breeders. Like, I just want to note this because I always think about it how they I don't know what it's like to be working on the same crop for 25 years, you know. I don't I don't know what it's like to have that like long-term team, and you're building this team over the course of several years and having students come and go. It just is fascinating to me to to hear how she makes progress over time and and how she like sustains the passion for it. It's it's invigorating.
Curt Rom:You know, I think that's a characteristic about many of us as horticulturists, and that is our passion and our optimism. Uh, we we love what we do, and I think that really is a almost a guiding light, that that passion and that optimism that we we know that we what we do can really make a difference for both our scientific knowledge and understanding, but also to help people. I really enjoyed today's conversation. Me too. This is Kurt Rome and Samson Humphrey, your co-hosts. Thanks for joining us today. The ASHS podcast, Plants, People in Science, is made possible by member dues and volunteerism. Please go to ashs.org to learn more. If you're not already a member of the ASHS, we invite you to join. ASHS is a not-for-profit, and your donations are tax deductible.
Sam Humphrey:This episode was hosted by Samson Humphrey and Kurt Rome. Special thanks to our audio engineer, Andrew Sheldorf, our research specialists, Lena Wilson and Andrew Sheldorf, our ASHS support team, Sarah Powell and Sally Murphy, and our musician, John Clark. Thanks for listening.