BACKGROUND: The production of bare root grape plants for the wholesale wine industry and nursery market is a high value agricultural enterprise in NY State. Vine cuttings are planted in high densities and are sold after one season if plants root successfully. Price per plant depends on variety; Concord $0.50 - 1.25 and wine varieties $2 - 4. Price per plant also depends on root biomass, a higher root biomass being more valuable because of the increased chance of establishment. At the farm participating in this study, rooting of cuttings is highly variable and salable plants per season are at around 60-70%. The goal of this on farm field trial was to evaluate the use of vermicomposted dairy manure as a soil amendment in this production system. We measured the effect of three rates of vermicompost amendment on cutting stand, number of leaves per plant, biomass and retail grade.