Category: Technology

Planning on automating irrigation this year?

Read this first! As agricultural consultants in California, irrigation consulting during the growing season is our bread and butter. A lot of times, especially in vineyards with lighter soils where I recommend short and frequent irrigations, I know my desired schedule amounts to a tall order. Not everyone can feasibly do two hours, three times […]

What it’s like to have real time plant stress

Let’s look at some data. I once saw a commercial that said: “forget everything you thought you knew about slip covers”. So I did. Admittedly I don’t know a lot about slip covers. I do know quite a bit about plant stress. Up until recently, our constant flow of data on soil moisture has been […]

After the flood…Part deux!

After the flood…Part deux! How did the recent rains affect your aquifer…if at all? California was hit by some torrential rain in January. In our last post, we explored how that rain had affected soil moisture. In some cases, the water percolated right through and left the soil dry again. In other cases, the rain […]

After the flood…

After the flood… What does soil moisture look like after two weeks of rain? In the last couple of months, California has been hit with a lot more water than we’re used to. Here in Sonoma County we’ve had excesses of 18” of rain and that was just since January 1st. Other parts of the […]

Investigating Low-Volume Approaches to Vineyard Cooling

Investigating Low-Volume Approaches to Vineyard Cooling High heat can damage both fruit and foliage. A group in Napa is investigating alternatives to overhead impact sprinklers. By Mark Greenspan The following has been reprinted from and article in Wine Business Monthly 2009. Read the original article here. In last month’s column I indicated that a survey […]

Herbicide-free algae control

Herbicide-free algae control Ultrasonic technology keeps the blooms at bay Algae blooms can be a big problem, especially for those in the wine industry. Runoff containing fertilizer from the vineyard or nutrients from wine production can wash into your surface water and cause an microbiological explosion. It’s hazardous to your health, it kills off other […]

Mechanized farming: a conversation with Steve Vierra of Derby Wine Estates

Mechanized farming: a conversation with Steve Vierra of Derby Wine Estates Farmers are always looking for ways to make their lives easier through technology and innovation. Who can blame them? Farming is a tough way to make a living and frankly there are some impressive toys out there. Grape-growing tends to lag behind other crops […]

2021 was a good year…to dry farm??

2021 was a good year…to dry farm?? More reasons to consider monitoring your soil moisture Between stunted growth to unexpected nutrient deficiencies, this second consecutive year of drought threw us quite a few curve balls. One thing people aren’t expecting to hear though is that some places haven’t needed to irrigate all season. That’s right. […]

New regulation is coming. Invest now in improving your water management.

New regulation is coming Invest now in improving your water management There’s nothing farmers love more than government regulation, am I right? And there’s nothing this viticulturist loves more than legal rhetoric. That is of course why I violently sobbed into my textbook during the semester I studied food and beverage law in undergrad: my […]