LOVELAND, CO (October 20, 2025) – Nutrien Ag Solutions is inviting FFA chapters nationwide to test their farm management skills in a new digital challenge designed to connect students with the realities of modern agriculture through the Farmers 2050 Contest.
The three National FFA Organization chapters with the highest scores on Farmers 2050, formerly known as Journey 2050, during the National FFA Global Event Contest will receive the following donations to their chapters:
First Place: $1,000 donated to their FFA Chapter
Second Place: $500 donated to their FFA Chapter
Third Place: $250 donated to their FFA Chapter
The Global Event gameplay will run from 10:00 am on Monday, October 20, 2025, through 08:00 pm on Sunday, November 2, 2025 EST. Each chapter can register up to 50 players to compete as a team. Full contest rules and requirements can be found on the contest’s homepage.
“Farmers 2050 is as close as you can get to the realities of owning and operating a farm in a gaming format. It’s a great educational resource for students interested in pursuing a career in the agriculture industry because it simulates the decision-making process that farmers are faced with each day,” said Spencer Harris, Senior Vice President of Global Retail Operations, and member of the National FFA Foundation Sponsors Board. “We’re looking forward to seeing a bit of friendly competition between FFA chapters during convention to see who lands on the leaderboard.”
During the National FFA Convention, Nutrien Ag Solutions can be found at booth #630. Alongside the Farmers 2050 Global Event Contest, the team will also be offering the following experiences for FFA students and advisors:
A giveaway where three lucky students will win co-branded National FFA and Nutrien Ag Solutions sneakers.
Back by popular demand – customized airbrush t-shirts.
Nutrien Agronomy Drone Feature with brief educational presentations that will be held at:
10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 29, and Thursday, October 30.
10:00 a.m. on Friday, October 31.
This year also marks a special milestone for Harris, who will be receiving an Honorary American Degree during the convention on Friday morning.
“FFA has been a huge part of my life and has helped shape me in so many ways. I’m incredibly grateful to the National FFA Organization for this honor and to be trusted with the responsibility of representing my teammates at Nutrien Ag Solutions on the National FFA Foundation Sponsors Board,” said Harris.
Nutrien Ag Solutions has been a proud supporter of FFA for over 45 years. Last year, the team solidified their continued support of FFA with a commitment of a 3-year investment of $850,000. The funds are used for competitive event support for members, comprehensive professional development for advisors, and a notable scholarship of $10,000 for National FFA Officers at their service year’s end. The investment also includes Nutrien Alumni Scholarships, in which alumni chapters can apply for a $5,000 grant to help with programming for their chapter. This commitment also includes support for alumni chapters, strengthening the foundation for ongoing agricultural engagement and learning.
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About Nutrien Ag Solutions Inc.
Nutrien Ag Solutions® is the retail division of Nutrien Ltd., a leading global provider of crop inputs and services. They provide full-acre solutions through a global retail network of trusted crop consultants at more than 1,900 locations. Nutrien Ag Solutions strives to help growers achieve the highest yields with a wide selection of products, including their proprietary brands: Loveland Products®, Inc., Proven® Seed, and Dyna-Gro® Seed. For more information visit nutrienagsolutions.com.
Molecular filtration technology allows winemakers to remove bitterness and astringency without affecting desirable wine characteristics. (all photos courtesy amaea.)
An innovative molecular filtration technology is helping winemakers in the United States, Canada and New Zealand enhance wine quality and reclaim value. Developed by amaea, this smart polymer technology allows producers to selectively remove unwanted compounds, such as bitterness or off flavors, without stripping desirable characteristics.
Duncan Shouler, consulting winemaker and former director of winemaking at Giesen Group in New Zealand, explained how this precise method differs from traditional filtration methods and why it is a game changer for modern winemaking.
“Molecularly imprinted polymers are pretty fascinating, and it’s certainly not something that’s been commonly used in the wine industry,” Shouler said. “It’s really very recent.”
Winemakers have long fined wines to remove compounds that affect texture, flavor or aroma. Traditionally, Shouler said, protein-based products, such as gelatin, milk and egg whites, bind to polyphenolic molecules in wine. These complexes settle out or can be filtered off.
“These products do a really good job,” he said. “But two things: One is obviously all those three products are not, for example, vegan-friendly, and they only have a limited amount of selectivity. So they will remove what you want to remove, but quite often you’ll also find that they’ll remove other things as well that perhaps you didn’t want to lose.”
That limitation prompted Shouler and his team, in partnership with amaea, to explore whether molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) could enable precision removal of unwanted compounds without compromising beneficial elements or sustainability.
“With MIPs… we wanted to look at whether we could use this technology to be a bit more selective, remove what we want to remove without removing the good stuff, and do it in a way that’s possibly also vegan-friendly and maybe a little bit more sustainable,” he said.
Reusable molecularly imprinted polymers offer a sustainable alternative to traditional animal-based fining agents in wine production.
Alcoholic and Nonalcoholic Applications At Giesen, traditional fining often meant sacrificing volume and flavor. But after adopting molecular filtration, Shouler said, wineries have successfully reduced bitterness and astringency without diminishing taste. The outcome: smoother wines, less waste and improved balance.
“At Giesen, we employed the technology in quite a specific way,” Shouler said. “Now, Giesen is a New Zealand wine producer, a successful one that’s made regular wine for many years. But over the last five years, we’ve developed a range of nonalcoholic wines, which of course is a category that’s really exploded in the last few years, and that complements the range of full-alcohol wines.”
Removing alcohol from wine intensifies flavors that are often masked by alcohol’s sweetness, body and acidity balance. As a result, bitterness and astringency become more pronounced, a significant hurdle for producers of nonalcoholic wines.
“When you remove alcohol from a wine, let’s say, a red wine, generally you’re going to change the wine,” he said. “Things are going to be lost. You’ll lose some of the sweetness and texture of alcohol and things like acidity, and especially astringency and bitterness become more pronounced.”
Shouler and his team turned to molecularly imprinted polymer technology to address this challenge in their nonalcoholic merlot. The aim was to reduce harsh characteristics and restore balance, delivering a product with natural appeal.
“We wanted to see if we could use molecularly imprinted polymer technology to help reduce bitterness and reduce astringency so we had a balanced wine once we removed the alcohol,” he said.
Beyond selectivity and quality, the benefits of molecular filtration extend to yield and sustainability. Conventional fining agents entail filtering or settling out precipitates, resulting in lost volume and added waste.
“One thing with using regular fining is that once you’ve added them, you are adding something to the wine which binds to something in the wine, which then drops out of solution,” Shouler said. “And when you do that, you generally always have to accept two things. One, like I said, you’re probably going to remove some things that you don’t want to remove. And secondly, you’re going to experience some wine loss because you’ve got to then filter that out or settle it out and then rack it off. And when you do that, you lose a bit of volume.”
“We’ve reduced bitterness. We’ve reduced astringency. We’ve preserved flavor. We’ve kept volume. We’ve remained vegan-friendly. And we’ve improved our sustainability message while ensuring the quality of the product.” – Duncan Shouler, winemaker
Economic and Environmental Benefits For Giesen and similar producers, minimizing product loss while maintaining vegan status strengthens both economic and environmental credentials. In the wine industry, an added environmental benefit to the production process is always advantageous.
“For us, the value was in reducing loss but also improving our sustainability message and ensuring that the product was vegan-friendly,” said Shouler. “And of course, I suppose more than anything else, at the forefront of it was the quality of the product.”
These gains align with increasing consumer demand for transparency, traceability and natural integrity. Younger drinkers especially are mindful not only of where grapes come from, but what processing methods have been used.
“There’s value in things like, where did the fruit come from, the vineyard, the sense of place, provenance. But increasingly you find value in that sustainability message. Consumers, again, especially younger consumers, are really conscious of what they’re consuming,” Shouler said.
He noted that though traditional fining agents are natural, growing concerns over additives have prompted producers to seek cleaner, simpler winemaking techniques.
“Egg whites, gelatin, milk, they’re all natural products, but they don’t sit well with some people,” he said. “And if you can reduce the additives, that’s a really strong message.”
The precision of molecular filtration allows winemakers to remove only unwanted compounds without adding foreign substances, preserving the wine’s authenticity and integrity.
“One thing we did find with this technology is that you’re not adding anything,” Shouler said. “You’re not actually adding anything to the wine. You’re removing what you want to remove to give you the style and quality you’re after, without adding anything else.”
That minimalist approach, he added, enhances both the wine’s sensory quality and its broader consumer appeal.
Producers in the U.S., Canada and New Zealand have applied molecular filtration to treat hundreds of thousands of gallons of wine. amaea’s largest molecular filtration system (pictured) is owned and operated by California based service provider VA Filtration.
Applications in California Wine and the United States Other major producers are exploring the technology’s potential. California producer Jackson Family Wines has successfully trialed molecular filtration to reduce bitterness in hard-pressed white wines, replacing traditional single-use fining agents in the process. “One area where we see a lot of potential is replacing single-use fining agents with reusable media…” said Dr. Caroline Merrell, senior manager of winemaking technical services at Jackson Family Wines, in a recent press release. “During a recent trial, amaea’s MIP treatment decreased bitterness and was preferred sensorially over wines treated with traditional fining agents. The results were impressive and will allow us to simultaneously improve quality in select wines while decreasing waste from single-use inputs.”
Over the past 18 months, more than 55 producers have applied molecularly imprinted polymer technology to treat an estimated 450,000 gallons (1.7 million liters) of wine across the United States, Canada and New Zealand, according to an amaea spokesperson. Industry reports estimate the adoption of molecular filtration has helped producers reclaim substantial wine volumes previously considered unsalvageable due to quality issues.
In the United States, the technology has been deployed on approximately 265,000 gallons (1 million liters) of wine affected by challenges like hard pressing, smoke taint, pyrazine-related flavors and frost impact.
The technology is currently available in the United States through treatment providers, including VA Filtration and Winesecrets, focusing primarily on West Coast wineries.
Molecular filtration technology allows winemakers to remove bitterness and astringency without affecting desirable wine characteristics (all photos courtesy amaea.)
The Future of Molecular Filtration The emergence of molecularly imprinted polymer filtration marks a turning point for producers balancing quality, sustainability and market expectations. For full-alcohol wines, the technology offers a path to smoother, cleaner flavor profiles without sacrificing aging potential. For nonalcoholic and low-alcohol wines, where structural imbalances are magnified, it provides a vital tool to restore harmony and drinkability.
By reducing waste through less volume lost to fining and eliminating animal-derived agents, the technology supports more ethical production methods aligned with vegan, vegetarian and eco-conscious consumer values. And for brands wanting to tell a compelling sustainability story, that is an increasingly important point of differentiation.
As molecular filtration gains traction in winery trials across the United States, Canada and New Zealand, its long-term impact will depend on cost scalability and sensory consistency across varietals and vintage conditions. But for winemakers like Shouler at Giesen, the early results are promising.
“We’ve reduced bitterness,” he said. “We’ve reduced astringency. We’ve preserved flavor. We’ve kept volume. We’ve remained vegan-friendly. And we’ve improved our sustainability message while ensuring the quality of the product. That’s a pretty strong win all round.”
EthniFacts’ Mike Lakusta says demographic shifts and longer life expectancy among multicultural groups increase the long-term value of loyal wine consumers. “If you get the loyalty of the Hispanic buyer in the U.S., you get about 14 more years of buying power... that compound effect... makes a multicultural study important” (photo courtesy EthniFacts Calculations.)
Thanks to new shopalong researchtools, an innovative, up-close-and-personal study of younger and multicultural wine buyers lets researchers and marketers go along on the buyer’s journey in store and online. The study of wine-curious consumers in their 20s and 30s offers revelations on the novice wine buyer’s motivations and mindset and provides insights on what wine marketers need to do to cultivate new customers.
Takeaways: Ethnic food traditions have a huge impact on wine buying, as marketers know, but how many are activating these consumers (new multicultural consumers who will have a huge impact on the industry’s future)?
Mike Lakusta runs a multicultural market research firm, EthniFacts, helping marketers better understand culturally diverse audiences. His firm worked with the Wine Market Council on a recent study titled “Attracting More Young Adults and Multicultural Consumers to Wine.” In a subsequent webinar with the research technology firm itracks, he revealed more details from the study and how it used a unique new technology to do shopalongs (recorded on video) with 27 different consumers who purchased wine both in store and online. “As we all know,” Lakusta said, “focus groups may happen in one city, and you have eight people in a room that are influencing each other.” He praised the itracks software for its “ability to actually be at the location with the individual consumer directly at the point of purchase, in both retail and online.”
Joey S., a Hispanic study participant, buys wine occasionally (often to share with a partner) but views it as less fitting for casual or sporting events. He prefers higher-alcohol beverages but sees wine as a healthier choice (photo courtesy Wine Market Council Study: Young/Multicultural <40 Consumers.)
Why Demographic Data Matters to Wine Marketers
Lakusta said wineries need to recognize the future U.S. population will be more diverse. That’s because most non-Hispanic whites are moving beyond their childbearing years.
“They’re going to actually decline [as a percentage of the population],” he said. But that’s not all. There’s a compounding effect, he added, making the shifts even more essential for marketers to understand.
“What people don’t realize in the United States is that the compound effect of the growing population of multicultural consumers and the declining population of non-Hispanic whites is making all this happen much faster,” he said. “Only 10% of new wine drinkers of legal drinking age will be non-Hispanic white over the 10 years from 2018 to 2028.”
That means 90% of new wine drinkers will be from a variety of ethnicities and diverse food and wine cultures.
Layering On Lifetime Data
On top of the baseline shifts, generational buying power is also very important because, according to the Center for Disease Control, Asians and Hispanics in the United States tend to live significantly longer, and their current median age is much younger, Lakusta said.
“So when you compound those two things [demographic shifts and life expectancy]… if you get the loyalty of the Hispanic buyer in the U.S., you get about 14 more years of buying power out of that consumer once they become loyal to your product. And for an Asian consumer in the U.S., it’s about 12, and for an African American consumer, it’s more as well. So again, that compound effect, that ROI on the lifetime of that consumer, makes a multicultural study important.”
Study Overview
The latest study with itracks was designed to capture the wine-buying journey in a funnel from awareness to consideration, purchase retention and then advocacy, Lakusta said.
The itracks software leverages the technology most shoppers have today, shooting video and sharing it from their mobile phone, to see the buyer’s journey. The shopalong study included 27 shoppers monitoring their buyers’ journeys shopping both in store and online.
“We did about 20 minutes average on the online and then about an hour and 15 minutes at the point of purchase with these consumers. So the net was 54 engagements [with 27 buyers] and over 46 hours of buying video footage,” said Lakusta.
Buyers’ Journeys Lakusta illustrated a recent webinar with four sample participants’ journeys (see second and third photos in article). Their motivations and wine choices varied greatly. (Though these examples show more men than women, in the overall study, the gender numbers were equal.)
Joey S.’s journey brings up two common themes: the idea of learning more about wine after he’s more settled in his life circumstances (i.e., married) and thinking wine is out of place at a sports event.
Amy L. is very occasional wine drinker, who doesn’t see wine as her first choice in the most common situations in her life: sporting events, bars, hanging out or barbecues. Her take? It’s best for girlfriend get-togethers and one-on-one conversations. A dinner party is also an occasion for wine. Like many of her age and many women, she likes fruit-flavored spritzes.
Like Joey S., Chris H. is buying wine to enjoy with his girlfriend. He drinks wine only every two to three months and prefers higher-alcohol beverages, but believes wine is healthier.
Brandon K. has varied tastes when it comes to alcoholic beverages, citing everything from spicy flavors to European imports he thinks are “fancy.” He and Joey S. drink wine one to three times per month, while Chris H. and Amy L. drink only every two to three months.
In addition to the qualitative research with itracks software, the study also included responses from 1,800 online participants.
The featured profiles in this story show only 20-somethings. But there’s more to the study (and the story) than this age group.
When consumers start to be more settled in their lives, the picture changes, Lakusta said.
“Millennials are the light at the end of the tunnel. When people get through their 20s and they get to their 30s… wow, there’s a light that goes on, ‘Permission to drink wine,’” he said.
Living a more settled lifestyle, often with children, 30-somethings typically up their wine drinking as they entertain friends at home.
“How can we speed up that process so that younger people can be hitting that earlier?” Lakusta said.
Amy L., a white study participant, sees wine as ideal for intimate gatherings like girlfriend get-togethers or dinner parties. Like many women in her age group, she prefers fruit-flavored spritzes over traditional wine options (photo courtesy Wine Market Council Study: Young/Multicultural <40 Consumers.)
Wineries Try Solutions
Wine marketers seeking solutions are finding more 20- to 40-year-old customers in various venues, ranging from sporting events to TikTok food and drink influencers.
One bit of good news: Multicultural consumers live mostly in the states that already consume the most wine (California, Florida, New York and Texas).
Sports
Many of this survey’s participants noted they do not usually think of drinking wine at basketball, baseball or football sports events, but major wine companies hope to change this.
Gallo’s Barefoot Wines, the biggest-selling brand in the United States, inked a deal with the NFL to become the official wine of the NFL. Jackson Family signed deals with the NBA to promote its two biggest brands, La Crema and Kendall-Jackson.
Smaller brands could try this strategy with local or regional team events.
Innovative Flavored Wines and Wine Cocktails
Riboli Family Wines’ Stella Rosa brand features sweet Moscato, imported from northern Italy, in a variety of conventional and unconventional styles. Among its offerings: blueberry, pineapple and chili, mango and chili, and lime and chili. It has also leaned into nonalcoholic wines and sparkling wines. It is the second-biggest U.S. wine import and is very affordably priced. It’s also known as a tailgate party wine. It says that a quarter of its consumers have never had wine before.
Its young consumers are engaged in social media. It has 235,000 followers on Instagram. (For the sake of comparison, Gallo’s Barefoot Wines, the No. 1 best-selling brand, has 70,000 followers.)
Wines as Mixers
The cocktail generation isn’t fussy about making drinks, and why not with wine? Instagram and TikTok videos feature wine cocktails. Some are made in the blender. Food and wine together is always a popular subject. For Hispanic Americans, wine cocktails might be another beverage to pair with ceviche.
On their recent tour in New York and San Francisco, even the Vins de Bordeaux marketing campaign featured wine cocktails, tailoring the cocktail ingredients to specific white blends. Offering recipes for wine cocktails is becoming increasingly popular.
Vintners in Napa have also successfully engaged younger wine consumers by launching popular music events, including BottleRock, which began in 2013 and in 2025 featured 80 performers on three stages. About 120,000 people attended, 40,000 a day.
Online Wine Buying: A New Horizon for Younger Wine Consumers
The best research unveils new discoveries and insights, as this EthniFacts study did.
Said Lakusta, “Many of these people had not actually shopped for wine online before, but they shopped for everything else online.
“So many of the females said, ‘Oh my gosh. This is just like Ulta Beauty and how I buy makeup. This is like Michaels and how I buy craft supplies.’ So they loved the opportunity to shop online for wine, and many had never done that before.
“The insights that come out of being with the consumer at the point of purchase are invaluable,” Lakusta added.
The Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship honors vineyard workers and supports their children in pursuing higher education, creating opportunities rooted in community and resilience (photo by Jeanine Madson Photography.)
Each morning, thousands of vineyard workers rise before dawn in California’s wine country. Many have traveled thousands of miles, building new lives rooted in hard work. Their labor ensures wine lovers around the world find full shelves, but their impact reaches far deeper.
These workers are the backbone of a thriving community, their lives interwoven with every grapevine and bottle produced. Since 2015, the Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship honors their stories by creating new ones, empowering their children to pursue futures shaped by education, purpose and possibility.
“Juan was not only a pillar in the community but a respected colleague and friend,” said Chloé Asseo-Fabre of L’Aventure Winery. “He valued education and made it his mission to help the families of his employees reach their full potential. We are honored to keep his legacy alive by supporting this cause.”
At 17, Juan Nevarez left Durango, Mexico, for the mushroom fields of Pennsylvania. Years later, he and his wife, Marta, made their way to Paso Robles, where Juan took on every vineyard job imaginable. His dedication and eye for improvement soon earned him a leadership role in the region’s wine industry.
Despite his own struggles with reading and writing, Juan was deeply committed to education. “Our dad’s one rule was we must graduate from college,” said his daughter, Eufemia. “It didn’t matter what or where, but a diploma had to hang on the wall.” Today, she continues his legacy as a member of the scholarship’s selection committee, where she helps identify the next generation of students this program will support.
Scholarship recipient Erid, pursuing biomedical engineering at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, draws inspiration from his family’s sacrifices and his personal journey overcoming hearing loss (photo by Jeanine Madson Photography.)
A Lifeline for First-Generation Students According to research by the Education Advisory Board, while more than half of U.S. undergraduates in 2023 were the first in their families to attend college, they graduated at less than half the rate of their peers with college-educated parents. These students often carry financial stress, cultural barriers and the weight of family expectations.
The Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship not only provides financial support to recipients on an ongoing basis, but it also provides mentorship, helping students navigate the complexities of higher education. Scholarship mentor Alex Gonzalez, a seasoned financial aid expert with more than two decades of experience, offers tailored guidance to the program’s students. His support helps them overcome obstacles while fostering a sense of belonging that allows them to thrive academically and personally.
Students Who Are Shaping the Future
Each scholarship recipient embodies the perseverance and hope that defined Juan Nevarez’s journey. Their stories speak not only of personal achievement but of breaking cycles, lifting families and building stronger communities.
Below are three students whose paths reflect the scholarship’s transformative power. These are real people turning aspiration into action.
Erid: Early Mornings, Relentless Drive
Throughout high school, Erid began each day at 5 a.m. to catch a bus and walk nearly two miles through chilly streets, not out of obligation but to honor his parents’ sacrifices. In a household of nine filled with laughter, noise and endless chores, he carved out time for rigorous study, mastering AP calculus and chemistry and graduating in the top 5% of his class.
Diagnosed with unilateral hearing loss as a child, Erid faced the kinds of medical and language barriers that are all too common for immigrant families. Because his parents struggled to understand his diagnosis, a new purpose crystallized for him: to make health care more accessible. Today, he is pursuing biomedical engineering at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, with a goal of designing medical devices that bring clarity and care to those who need it most.
Alberto (right), a graduate student in viticulture at California State University, Fresno, used the Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship to advance his higher education.
Alberto: From Vineyard Rows to Research Halls
Raised in small-town Shandon, Calif., Alberto often heard that his future would be limited. But working alongside his father in the vineyards, he learned that dreams are forged through effort. He balanced academics, sports and leadership, driven to turn his family’s sacrifices into success.
Alberto graduated high school with honors and earned a welding certificate from Cuesta College. He then used the Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship to advance to California State University, Fresno, where he thrived in viticulture. Now pursuing a master’s degree, he will present his thesis this November at the Sustainable Ag Expo, a premier conference that spotlights innovation in agriculture and environmental stewardship. His journey reflects not only hard work but the scholarship’s role in expanding opportunity and building lasting networks.
Daisy: Composing Harmony in Land and Life
Music has always been Daisy’s language. Her fingers move effortlessly across instruments, translating emotion into sound. But her strongest rhythm comes from the land she calls home. Raised in wine country, she developed a deep respect for the environment and a desire to protect it.
At a recent Vineyard Team tailgate, a hands-on gathering where local growers share best practices in sustainable viticulture, Daisy connected with professionals equally passionate about the future of farming. For her, the experience was more than a networking opportunity. It was a glimpse into the world she’s preparing to shape.
“This scholarship not only helps financially,” Daisy said, “but also gives me a sense of community, and that’s something really special.” With every step, Daisy is not just pursuing a degree; she’s building a future grounded in sustainability and shared purpose.
Daisy, a scholarship recipient and aspiring environmental advocate, connects her love of music and land stewardship as she works toward a degree focused on sustainability (photo by Refugio Garcia Jr.)
How You Can Help Juan Nevarez Scholars Behind every scholarship is a story, and behind every story, a community that believes in rising together. Supporting the Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship is not just about giving money. It’s about opening doors, empowering futures and walking alongside students who are redefining what’s possible.
Your contribution becomes a bridge between hard work and lasting success. As donor Matt Kleefisch from the Ava Hotel expressed, “We are proud to support the Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship, a program that shares our values in commitment to community, education and the future of California’s wine industry. This partnership not only honors the legacy of hard work, but also invests in a brighter, more inclusive future for our community.”
Join Vineyard Team in honoring Juan Nevarez’s legacy. In collaboration with Must! Charities, we are investing in young leaders and strengthening our communities, one student, one scholarship, one story at a time.
References
EAB. (n.d.). Four tactics to support the first-generation student [Infographic]. Retrieved July 10, 2025, from https://eab.com/resources/infographic/four-tactics-to-support-the-first-generation-student/
Must! Charities. (n.d.). Must! Charities: Together we do more. Retrieved July 10, 2025, from https://www.mustcharities.org/
Sustainable Ag Expo. (n.d.). Sustainable Ag Expo. Retrieved July 10, 2025, from https://www.sustainableagexpo.org/
Vineyard Team. (n.d.). Scholarship program. Retrieved July 10, 2025, from https://www.vineyardteam.org/scholarship/
Vineyard Team. (n.d.). Vineyard Team. Retrieved July 10, 2025, from https://www.vineyardteam.org/
Prescribed burns are used in California to reduce wildfire risk but may contribute to smoke taint in nearby vineyards (all photos courtesy C. Chen.)
In California and across many grape-growing regions of the world, fire and the resulting smoke pose significant risks to fruit quality at harvest. Beyond direct damage imposed from combustion or the impacts of ash-derived shading on vine respiration and photosynthesis, smoke taint is a primary concern of grape producers in high fire-risk areas. In these regions, prescribed burning may also be a common practice. Prescription fires are often applied to help reduce fuel loads in natural systems and decrease the risks of wildfire events that burn out of control. The implementation of prescribed burning may seem to contradict the goal of limiting smoke exposure in vineyards but is often applied with regard to crop developmental timing and with the goal of reducing risks of large-scale wildfire events.
Researchers are studying how distance from smoke sources affects volatile organic compound concentrations in vineyard regions.
Understanding Smoke Taint Risks in Vineyard Regions The primary compounds that impart the emerging characteristic of smoke taint in wine are the phenolic diglycosides (PDs) bound within the molecular structure of the wine itself (Crews et al. 2022; Krstic et al. 2015). Some of the more common PDs are guaiacol and 4-methyl guaiacol, with others also capable of imparting “smoke taint” characteristics (Caffrey et al. 2019; Modesti et al. 2021). It is also known that some phenolic glycosides can naturally occur in grape berries but often at much lower concentrations than the values seen in smoke-tainted fruit (Hayasaka et al. 2010).
However, PDs are the “bound” version of these smoke-derived phenols. Prior to finding a binding site in berry flesh or skin, they persist in the smoke as volatile phenols (VPs) and are produced by combustion of lignocellulose and other compounds in plant matter (Crews et al. 2022). It is common for VPs to bind to sugars, including glucose and fructose, which can be found in fruit and persist through fermentation as PDs in the resulting wine (Bönisch et al. 2014; Caffrey et al. 2019). As a result, the amount of lignocellulose in the fuel source for any fire will affect the concentrations of VPs released during burning (Chira and Teissedre 2013).
Basic depiction of how volatile phenols released from burning plant material can bind to grape sugars, potentially leading to smoke taint in wine.
Unfortunately, this relationship is not a straightforward one. While grasses and small vegetative species tend to have lower lignocellulose concentrations than perennial woody species, this is not true in all cases (Krstic et al. 2015; Simoneit 2002). Some work has shown that oats produce similar amounts of 4-vinyl guaiacol to pines when burned (Kelly et al. 2012). Taking past studies into consideration, the species composition of the fuel material and the VP production of each species should be considered when pursuing further information on smoke-taint risks to winegrapes.
The UC ANR Hopland Research and Extension Center (HREC) hosts more than 5,000 acres of natural systems with numerous studies examining a wide diversity of topics. In 2024, UCCE collaborated with HREC to assess smoke risk from prescribed burns in a preliminary study. Many prescribed burns occur in grassland or rangeland habitats in California consisting primarily of small vegetative species and few woody species. Many of these burn sites exist near vineyards, potentially posing a smoke-taint risk when controlled burns are implemented. Few existing studies specify smoke-taint risk from prescribed burns of grasslands or rangelands. Many recent studies focus on hardwood or conifer combustion and the risk posed by wildfires fueled by these sources.
Distance from the source of smoke is one factor that plays a significant role in the concentration of VPs that remain suspended in smoke (Krstic et al. 2015). Often, the farther from the source, the lower the VP concentration in the air. These VPs can be measured within the umbrella term of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which include VPs and other compounds. The study conducted at the HREC station tested the concentrations of VOCs suspended in smoke at the source of the fire and at 465 m (0.29 miles) from that source. This was done to elucidate the output of VOCs from grassland/rangeland fuel loads and their persistence in the air at a considerable distance from the burn.
Grassland and rangeland burns near vineyards pose unique, understudied risks to grape quality at harvest.
Preliminary Findings from Prescribed Grassland Burns The following addresses data that have not been peer reviewed at this time and only represent preliminary work conducted by UCCE in Mendocino County.
A prescribed burn was conducted at HREC on Oct. 29, 2024, which covered rangeland consisting primarily of small vegetative plant species. During this burn, two PurpleAir Flex sensors were installed at 1 m and 465 m from the source of the fire, directly downwind. These sensors are capable of measuring VOCs suspended in the air and are powered by external batteries. While the sensors measure VOCs, which include VPs, they are unable to delineate between the various volatilized compounds and may include measurements of compounds that will not influence smoke-taint risk in winegrapes. As a result, the data collected represent the relative risk of VPs as a proportion of the VOCs directly measured. They do not represent an exact measurement of objective VP concentrations in smoke.
‘This preliminary study hints at the benefit of distance for reducing smoke taint risk from prescribed grassland/rangeland burns.’
The effect of distance on VOC concentration was statistically significant in these data and much lower in the sensor placed farther from the source of the smoke. When comparing the farther sensor readings to the readings at the source of the smoke, the concentrations of VOCs measured were 31% lower on average during the burn period (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.). This was the time frame where smoke was released from combustion of the fuel materials. These results were statistically significant across time and identified an average 40 µg/m³ decrease in airborne VOC concentrations at the more distant measurement point. The maximum decrease in VOC concentrations at 465 m occurred at the height of the burn (≈3:00 p.m.) and represented a 49% lower VOC value at the distant sensor when compared with the sensor close to the fire.
This preliminary study hints at the benefit of distance for reducing smoke taint risk from prescribed grassland/rangeland burns. However, these results do not represent the true risk of smoke taint on winegrapes at greater distances. Many other factors are likely to play a significant role in the final PD concentrations in musts and wine, including physical and foliar barriers, stage of fruit development, scion cultivar and more. This study is planned to continue in 2025 and will increase the number of sensors placed to identify effects of both distance and foliar barriers on VOC persistence in airborne smoke.
Figure 1. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) quantified at two distances (0 m and 465 m) from the source of a prescribed burn. Fuel loads were predominately grass and forb species.
References
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A demo at Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley at Michel‑Schlumberger Wine Estate in May featured four different weed control implements and showed decisions growers face in choosing their mowing and weed control options (all photos by P. Strayer.)
A crowd of 50 wine industry professionals looking for the best way to mechanically remove under-vine weeds gathered on a hillside in Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley at Michel‑Schlumberger Wine Estate in May to see a demo from four different manufacturers: Clemens, Pellenc, Fischer’s Twister and the Italian-made Gramegna.
Incoming vineyard manager and winemaker Natalie Winkler, an expert in organic viticulture, is converting the formerly conventionally farmed vineyard to organic. She’s already converted Salvestrin in Napa to organic farming and certification, including its historic Dr. Crane vineyard.
Now that she’s back working in Healdsburg, in her new job Winkler needs to buy weed-control equipment. She invited friends from Napa Green to broaden the invite list to the demo so dozens of locals could come have a look and see firsthand how each of the implements cut fresh spring weeds.
Fueled by donuts and coffee, the assembled group was very attentive, closely examining exactly how precisely the blades, plastic tubes and string whippers lash the juicy, young spring weeds.
Vintner and vineyard manager/winemaker Ames Morrison of nearby Ames Medlock winery came to look for equipment compatible with his regenerative no-till vineyard. He said his current but aging weed implement raises a lot of dust and has parts that wear out fast. He’s looking for an implement with a whipper, which would be gentler than tilling.
Others just want something that will get the job done.
Prices for the equipment at the demo ranged from $14,000 to $16,000 for the Gramegna, $18,000 to $35,000 for the Clemens (modular), $27,000 for the Pellenc under-vine system and $35,000 for the Fisher Tornado.
Growers around the state say under-vine weed control is not a one-size-fits-all equation and different methods can be used. Companies like Clemens (pictured) and Pellenc offer under-vine solutions.
Vineyard Managers Use a Wide Variety of Solutions Growers around the state were quick to say that under-vine weed control is not a one-size-fits-all equation.
In Napa, longtime vineyard management company head Mark Neal of Jack Neal & Sons says he has many different models. As to which one is best, he said, “It all depends on the methods or what type of terrain you have, the slope and the type of cover crop.”
On the company’s Instagram, a posted photo of a Pellenc under-vine cultivator says in the caption, “We love this thing!”
Over in Lodi at Vino Farms, the huge vineyard management company is now farming 900 acres organically. Vineyard manager Mike Hardester likes the popular Clemens equipment.
“We use the finger roller in conjunction with the weed knives,” he said. “The weed knives tend to move dirt away from the berm while cutting the weeds below the soil surface. After we run the weed knife, we wait a couple weeks or until we have new weed growth, then come back with the finger roller, which throws dirt back on to the berm. The finger roller has angled tines that move the dirt inwards toward the berm. The finger roller also can cover emerging weeds, suffocating them.”
On hillsides, the team uses the Spedo, he said. “We can connect under-vine flail mowers or a rotary cultivator, if we want, depending on if we want to mow or cultivate.”
In the Santa Cruz Mountains, longtime organic vineyard manager Prudy Foxx has run her vineyard management company since 1997 and farmed for 30-plus vineyards and wineries. She said she’s tried a lot of the implements but comes back to just two main favorites: the Clemens and Gramegna.
She has gotten rid of others that were ergonomically too difficult or ones that tore up the ground too much.
“You want to be somewhat gentle with your soils… especially as we become so aware of biological activity in the soil. So you don’t want to be ripping the soil apart a foot down or half a foot down,” Foxx said.
She also likes a handheld weeder that’s electric. “The only problem I’ve had with it is just teaching the guys to use it without over‑manhandling it because they tend to want to use it like a regular hoe and drag it back and forth. It’s called the Cultivion Alpha from Pellenc.
“It’s really nice for areas that don’t have tractors or have tight spacings or real small vineyards where they can’t afford the more expensive equipment.”
The Pellenc Sunflower, Foxx said, “actually looks like a sun. There’s another one that’s kind of got these weed fingers, it basically looks like a disc with fingers sticking out of it, like a little kid would draw a sun. It is made of a rubbery material, and so it doesn’t really go in and out between the vines. But when it hits the vine, it doesn’t hurt the vine. It just sort of keeps going. It just sort of whacks it, because it’s rubbery, and it just goes around and it just bends back and goes around. It doesn’t get stuck there. It’s not metal. And so that’s pretty good. That works well if you’re there early and often, and you get your weeds while they’re still really small. If you wait until they get big, it really doesn’t work well.”
A rare one on her list is the Rinieri. “That’s actually a really nice one because it fits on a three-point hitch. That’s an important feature because some of these little ones might not even require hydraulics. If you’re using it on a tractor, you want to be able to take it on and off easily. That ease of use is huge.
“The downside of it is that it’s behind you, so you’re constantly looking back behind you. So that’s an issue,” she added.
But one of her guys figured out a workaround. “He put a piece of pipe in front of the tractor that was flexible the same distance out that the back implement goes, and so basically he could see where the edge of the multi-clean was in the back by watching where the pipe was in the front. And it was flexible, so when it would hit the vines, it wouldn’t hurt anything. But he could see where he was without having to look back all the time. I thought that was super clever. So there’s these kind of hacks to try to make it easier on the person using the equipment.”
Longtime organic vineyard manager Prudy Foxx said she’s tried many weed control implements but comes back to two main favorites: the Clemens and Gramegna (pictured).
Nature-Based Options for Weed Control An increasing number of wineries are renting sheep to graze in the vineyard before bud break, saving a few tractor passes and fertilizing the soil as well as inoculating it with sheep saliva.
In California’s Capay Valley, one tiny grower with a one-acre vineyard, Vitis Ovis, uses ducks year-round.
A cutting-edge, autonomous French-manufactured solution called TED from Naio is being used in France. The company demoed it at the FIRA USA show in Woodland, Calif. in October and plans to exhibit it again this fall at the next FIRA USA show.
The Long View Santa Rosa-based PellencUSA dealer John Felice, a vineyard-equipment industry veteran, said trends come and go in weed control. He said sustainable winegrowing killed the market for what once was the most popular organic weed-control implement, the Pellenc Sunflower, which Pellenc no longer makes.
“Weeding and cultivating movement was really strong during the organic season,” Felice said, “back in the early 2000s. And then everything changed to sustainable, and they told people they could spray it under the vine again. And about 2012 or 2013, that eliminated the Sunflower because our factory wasn’t going to produce it, because it wasn’t being sold, because everybody was spraying under the vine again.
“We went from selling 50 of those things a year to selling one because everybody could cover a lot more ground spraying.
“But then there was a study done, and the under-vine spraying found traces of the chemicals [glyphosate] in the actual finished product of the wine. So that brought back the emergence of under-vine cultivation [and herbicide-free vineyards] and mowing under the vine.”
Today, he said, people still clamor for the Sunflower, citing a recent demo in Mendocino County. “You go up into the Anderson Valley where there’s a lot of different hillsides… We did a show up, it was just us and Clemens. And everybody there was asking for the Sunflower. ‘How do we get Sunflowers? Right? We love our Sunflowers.’
“They also have our under-the-vine cultivator,” Felice continued. “Some people have the Clemens under the vine. They all know what works. But then you try to put a knife in the ground and the ground starts going away because there’s a slope. If you have limited adjustment for that slope, you can only go so far. With the Sunflower, it just kind of lays on the ground, hugs the ground and centers itself on the row.
“I just sold one of our new under-vine cultivating tools to a vineyard here in Sonoma, and that guy has two used Sunflowers for sale. Someone would have to buy them and put some money into them, but if anybody’s interested, they’re around.”
Felice said he’s also appealed to the higher-ups at Pellenc in France to bring back the Sunflower. “This is what people want. We need to bring it back,” Felice said.
Handcrafted using traditional methods, Tuscan amphorae are built layer by layer from galestro clay known for its durability and freeze resistance.
Everything old is new again. The trendiest vessel for aging, and sometimes fermenting, wine is one that has been used since the Neolithic Period, also known as the New Stone Age.
Just one generation ago, amphorae were something winemakers saw in museums, or perhaps on a trip to the country of Georgia. Today, they’re the latest must-have for trendy wineries. But unlike concrete eggs, which seem to have disappeared into a back room somewhere, amphorae have demonstrated staying power.
Amphorae give something to wine that other vessels do not: barrel-like oxygenation without additional tannins from wood. Many winemakers cite purity of expression in saying why they use them.
“For Pinot Noir, the amphora is an absolutely fantastic vessel,” said Chris Hermann, owner and winemaker of 00 Wines in the Willamette Valley. “My goal was a wine with finesse, elegance and very gentle tannins. I was trying to get something that was similar in texture and tannins to Burgundy to represent the purity of Oregon Pinot fruit. That’s why people from Burgundy came here. Their fruit doesn’t have the kind of magical quality our fruit has here.”
Amphorae were practically unknown on the West Coast in 2012, when Manu Fiorentini of Itek, a barrel importer in Paso Robles, decided to commission some in Tuscany. His wife, Jordan, the winemaker at Epoch Estate, was interested in trying an amphora, and Manu is from the area around Siena that is famous for terracotta. He showed a terracotta producer a photo of an amphora from Spain and asked him to make one to his specifications. While making his rounds of Paso producers, he showed what he was working on and discovered several other wineries were interested. He ended up importing a full container of 40 amphorae, all pre-sold.
At the time, Manu had no real competition. He does now. Major barrel importer Bouchard jumped headlong into the amphora market in 2015 and now sells what Paolo Bouchard calls “technical amphorae” from three different Italian producers.
“The amphora game, 15 years ago, was in a very raw state,” Bouchard told Grape & Wine Magazine. “I don’t think people really knew what they were making. The people making very technical amphorae now do. These amphorae are cooked at constant temperatures. There’s a lot of reproducibility.”
While most amphorae in the U.S. today come from Italy, one man in Oregon, Andrew Beckham, has developed his own method of producing them. But Beckham mostly uses them for his own wine at Beckham Estate Vineyard, though he has sold a few to wineries in New Zealand and France as well as to a whiskey producer in Mexico.
Terracotta amphorae provide micro-oxygenation similar to oak barrels without adding wood tannins, enhancing purity of expression in wines (all photos by W.B. Gray.)
The Traditional Method In Tuscany, terracotta amphorae are made much as they were millennia ago. The technique is called “colombino.” An artisan builds up the clay layer by layer from the outside. These amphorae are not spun, and there is no mold. When finished, they are fired in a kiln. They are truly handmade products.
The type of clay, called galestro, is important; it is best known from the town of Impruneta but can come from other parts of Tuscany. The tiles that cover the duomo in Florence are made of galestro.
“It has a specific composition of sand, clay, water and minerals,” Fiorentini said. “It is world-renowned for its characteristic of being freeze-resistant. It was used for statues, and some of those statues have been standing for hundreds of years.”
Another Tuscan company, Manetti Gusmano & Figli, also uses this method.
“Since the Middle Ages they started to make terracotta using this specific clay,” Federico Manetti told Grape & Wine Magazine. “There is a field behind me. If you make terracotta by processing this clay, you don’t have to use any additives. You come up with the most dense, the most noble, the most durable terracotta in the world.
Manetti said only about 20 people in the world currently have mastered the traditional technique, which limits production scalability. His company makes only 120 amphorae per year, between 400 and 800 liters each. He said about 15% go to the U.S., mostly to Napa Valley.
“Most amphora producers use chalk molds right now. That can speed up the process a lot,” Manetti said. “We go round and round, and every day we attach one piece of clay. The amphora stands still and every day we attach 5 centimeters. It takes two months to finish it. And then one week for drying, for the humidity. One week for the firing process, going up to 1,000 degrees C. Then we fill the amphoras up with water. We wait two weeks. Then we are ready to package the amphora to prepare for the shipment.
“Ours are a bit more expensive, but I think not expensive enough,” Manetti said.
Modern amphorae, produced using molds and high-temperature firing, offer controlled porosity and consistent oxygen transfer rates for winemaking.
The Ancient Vessel Made Faster The colombino method is artisanal, but as Bouchard said, not necessarily reproducible. In 2013, a company called Tava in Trentino in northern Italy began making amphora by placing clay in a mold and firing it at extremely high temperatures of 2,192 to 2,300 degrees F.
Bouchard said the oxygen transfer rate can be controlled by the temperature at which the amphorae are fired. Tava claims its standard porosity is 5%, similar to an oak barrel, but wineries can request an amphora that is either more or less porous. Tava also offers amphorae made from a porcelain-like material called grés Monolite that it says has 2.5% porosity.
This is a bit counterintuitive. I talked to several wineries that use terracotta amphorae, which should be less predictable, to make 100% amphora wines without blending with wine from other vessels. In contrast, Bouchard said most wineries use the more standardized Tava amphorae as a component in finished wines.
“They use the amphorae for 20% or 30% to have freshness and complexity, and they mix it with other vessels,” Bouchard said. “This is something we see in the Rhone and in Bordeaux. We’re seeing it in these red-wine areas that are having to change to make the type of wine consumers are looking for, something a little fresher. Wines that are 100% amphorae can be a little mono-dimensional. A little boring. It’s like if you only make a wine in stainless steel. The wines that are best, they use it as a component.”
Indeed, Varinder Sahi, owner and winemaker of Copia Vineyards and Winery in Paso Robles, said, “I ferment and age our white wines and rosé in all three mediums: oak barrels, stainless steel and amphorae. I believe it creates different layers of mouthfeel as the rate of micro-oxygenation is different in all three mediums.”
A New Method in Oregon Beckham was a ceramicist before becoming a winemaker. He said he developed his own method of creating amphorae that involves spinning the clay, as in other forms of pottery.
“They’re spun using a method I’ve developed that gives me increased mechanical advantage,” Beckham told. “I developed this method so that they’re seamless, which is unusual. We have in our cellar 110 amphorae for wine production. We’re producing 4,000 cases each year for the estate. We’ve shifted all our production, with the exception of two Pinot Noir cuvées, to a clay vessel.”
Beckham said he went through six iterations of his method, working with materials scientists and chemists, to get the oxygen transfer rate where he wants it.
“We are micro-oxygenating the wine at the same rate as a barrel,” Beckham said. “It’s one thing to make a ceramic vessel that will hold liquid. It’s another thing to work through the steps of the engineering and the chemistry to get the winemaking right. Our vessels are very informed as the winemaker is the potter. The potter has been listening to the winemaker.
“All this leads to is a vessel that provides neutrality and purity,” he said. “That provides texture and mouthfeel, but without adding flavor. It can really showcase the place, the effort we put into farming our fruit. To me, our wines have a unique texture. They have a dusty, chalky, mineral-driven mouthfeel that is not about integrating something into the wine that was never part of its inception, but are about showcasing the place. A barrel is going to impart sweetness and smokiness and notes that were never part of the grape.”
Amphorae were practically unknown on the West Coast in 2012, when Manu Fiorentini (left) of Itek, a barrel importer in Paso Robles, decided to commission some in Tuscany. Andrea Pesci (right) produces and manufactures terracotta amphorae for the wine industry.
The Downsides There are three main downsides to amphorae:
• They are heavy and can break when moved.
• They can be difficult to clean.
• Even the largest amphora cannot contain as much wine as a steel tank.
“They’re hard to move around,” said 00 Wines’ Hermann. “If you try to move them by themselves, they’ll break. We put them in half-ton bins. We’ll use the forklift to move them around. Sometimes we’ve had harvest interns make mistakes and they’ll break. The good news is insurance carriers will pay for new ones. You also have to be careful how you clean them.”
Jared Etzel, owner and winemaker of Rodeo Hills in the Willamette Valley, said he bought some amphorae but stopped using them mainly because he was concerned about contamination.
“The main thing for me was what’s the benefit of using amphorae?” Etzel said. “There is a benefit when it’s done right and they’re brand new. I actually quite like them when the risk isn’t there. I like the more open profile and the mineral element you can get with amphorae. But not at the cost of potentially having Brettanomyces.
“The other issue is from a volume basis standpoint,” Etzel said. “I want to have enough fermenters to fill from a desired block. Most of my blocks are 1 to 2 acres. You’d be looking at a lot of amphorae to fill those. The practicality of it; it didn’t make sense to me.”
As with everything in winemaking, every winemaker has a different experience.
“The fruit and the floral notes are more alive,” said Alessandro Meniconi, winemaker for Valdangius in Spoleto, Italy.
Hermann, who acknowledges the difficulty of using them, says in the end, the results justify the effort.
“I travel around the world showing my wine to high-end sommeliers. They’re very excited about my wines,” Hermann said. “All of our single-vineyard wines go into amphorae. We use just the 500-liter clay amphorae, and we do single-berry fermentation inside the clay amphorae. There is not another wine on the market like it.”
Research presented at the Smoke Summit shows vineyards closer to wildfires face greater risk of smoke damage, affecting grape quality and wine characteristics.
For the past six years, the West Coast Smoke ExposureTask Force’s (WCSETF) Smoke Summit has served as a platform for sharing updates, recent findings and future initiatives on the impacts of wildfire smoke on the wine industry.
More than 350 people from 19 U.S. states and nine countries participated in the July 15 summit, hearing from leading researchers, experts and industry representatives from California, Oregon and Washington.
“The impacts of wildfire smoke have left a lasting mark on our industry,” said Natalie Collins, California Association of Winegrape Growers president and WCSETF co-chair. “As we continue to navigate these challenges, our annual Smoke Summit has been a critical space for collaboration and progress. Together we are advancing our understanding of smoke exposure and charting a path forward with science, innovation and shared resolve.”
Federal Funding Dr. Tim Rinehart, a national program leader with the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), spoke about federally funded efforts for smoke exposure research that started in 2020. His portfolio focuses on specialty crops with about $27 million for grape research annually. That funding is appropriated by Congress. He said $5 million of that $27 million is dedicated to the topic of smoke exposure in winegrapes.
“I try to make sure the research dollars are spent wisely and that we have a coordinated national strategy,” Rinehart said.
The research has been a collaborative affair with more than 25 scientists participating in some form. He said he’s proud of what’s been accomplished over the past five years.
“We have some fantastic people who have been working on [smoke exposure]. It’s a great example of a research community that’s coming together for a common goal.”
Rinehart also cited language in the fiscal 2026 appropriations bill. “There is potentially more funding for wildfire smoke exposure, which is truly unexpected,” he said. “This gives us the opportunity in this transition year of fiscal 2025 to really look forward to focusing on the future research goals and how we can work together to create some impact.”
Rinehart also mentioned a new “roadmap” for smoke exposure research that will be used moving forward. The roadmap was created by Dr. Arran Rumbaugh following a November 2024 industry workshop with the intent to chart current research, identify gaps and outline next steps.
“This is a dynamic document,” Rinehart said. “It’s a very flexible strategy to meet the real-time needs of the growers.” The roadmap is posted on the WCSETF website.
Presentations at the Smoke Summit cover detection tools, mitigation techniques and insurance options to help growers manage smoke exposure risks (all photos courtesy West Coast Smoke Exposure Task Force.)
USDA-ARS Research
Rumbaugh, a research chemist with USDA-ARS, was hired three years ago to focus her research program on wildfire smoke impacts on vineyards.
During her presentation, she explained her program’s four areas of research: early portable detection, establishing thresholds, atmospheric analysis and metabolic studies. “The more data we can collect, the better the models can be,” she said.
Rumbaugh mentioned that the November 2024 industry workshop and roadmap have been helpful for understanding “where we are and where we need to go” for USDA-ARS and university research.
Additional USDA-ARS research highlighted by Rumbaugh included:
• Dr. Roger Thilmony (Albany, Calif.): Biotechnology tools to better understand genes involved in the response to smoke exposure in grapevines.
• Dr. Yixiang Xu (Albany, Calif.): Spray coatings for the prevention of smoke taint in grapes by wildfires.
• Dr. Walt Mahaffee (Corvallis, Ore.): Atmospheric modeling to help with risk assessment during smoke events.
• Dr. Anita Oberholster lab (Davis, Calif.): Rapid assessment of smoke taint risk in grapes and wine, barrier sprays, threshold impact of smoke taint in wine (odor) and impact of storing smoke-impacted wine in oak barrels.
USDA-ARS food technologist Dr. Torey Arvik shared his research plan and progress report focused on developing practical means to mitigate smoke impact during winemaking. Through various technologies his research is exploring the effectiveness of commercially available tools, the impacts of multiple treatment rates on smoky wines and how quality impacts relate to economic values based on sensory data.
Oregon State University’s Dr. Elizabeth Tomasino presented about interpreting grape and small fermentation smoke data from samples and how that data can be helpful to make decisions about wine.
The research looks mainly at three categories: no smoke impact, significant smoke taint (ashy flavor characteristic) and smoke taint or smoky wine. “Depending on which zone you’re in, you would potentially make some adjustments,” she said. “Not all smoke is problematic. But at this moment we still recommend chemical testing as the best way to know if your grapes or wine have an issue.”
Tomasino strongly recommended some form of small-scale fermentations before harvest so the wine is analyzed. She said to review contracts and insurance to see if grape samples are needed. It could be helpful to put a cluster in the freezer. It’s also important to know baselines and thresholds for your wines.
“From a taste standpoint, know what your thresholds are for the wine style you’re looking for,” Tomasino said. “Take really good notes and add dates. Each year you do this you’ll start to have more information that you can use to help your specific vineyard or wine.”
Washington State University’s Dr. Tom Collins shared research exploring the role wildfire proximity plays in the level and likelihood of smoke impact on grapes and wine.
“Fires near vineyards are more likely to cause a negative impact on quality than fires that are further away,” he said. “The reason is that smoke ‘ages’ as it is carried from the fire to the vineyard. The longer it’s carried, the more time there is for things like atmospheric reactions that degrade these compounds.”
He said vineyard proximity to the fire really does matter. “There are often gradients as you move from the close edge of a vineyard to the fire to the far edge,” Collins said. “Even in that short of a distance there can be some decrease in the extent of the impact.”
Collins referred summit attendees to the WCSETF website best practices page which features information about grape sampling, microfermentation (bucket) and nanoscale fermentation (Mason jars).
Insurance
Kristine Fox with Relation Insurance provided information about the benefits of multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI) and fire insurance.
Referencing the MPCI smoke claims checklist, she emphasized the importance of pulling samples from the vineyard before harvest and clearly identifying variety and location.
With MPCI smoke claims, documentation is critical, Fox said. “Keep records of all marketing attempts, any rejections you’ve received, any lab testing and even a freezer of berries. Anything that the insurance carrier would need to prove that you had smoke in your vineyard.”
The Fire Insurance Protection Smoke Index (FIP-SI) Endorsement, new in California in 2025, established separate coverage that only covers smoke events. The endorsement is stacked on the underlying MPCI policy. FIP-SI is a county loss triggered coverage.
“Heavy smoke in any area of the county triggers a smoke event for the entire county,” Fox said.
She said FIP-SI was successful in California in the past year with 86 endorsements. It is expected to expand to Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
To watch the two-hour Smoke Summit (with presenter slides), visit wcsetf.org/events/recordings/.
WCSETF is a coalition of industry leaders committed to providing timely communications, resources and best practices to help winegrape growers and vintners navigate the challenges of wildfire smoke. Its website offers a centralized hub of information from WCSETF, universities, government agencies and industry groups, including FAQs, best practices, labs, contracts, crop insurance, wildfire preparedness, informational videos, university resources, research, a subscription newsletter and Smoke Summit recordings.
John Deere Autonomous 5ML Orchard Tractor - Photo Credit John Deere
WOODLAND, Calif. (AgPR) Oct. 7, 2025 – FIRA USA 2025 puts farmers at the center of agtech innovation. From October 21–23 in Woodland, California, growers get free admission and access to the brand-new VIP Grower Tour, featuring tailored visits, one-on-one meetings with robotics manufacturers, and a curated agenda addressing real farm challenges — from automating harvests and precision weed control to data-driven decision-making. The event also showcases Grower Pitches, where farmers share their experiences with cutting-edge technologies, and includes networking breakfasts and hands-on demos. The highlight: John Deere’s Autonomous 5ML Orchard Tractor — first unveiled at CES 2025 — will make its exclusive debut at an agricultural event during FIRA USA.
A Vision Resolutely Focused on the Needs of Farmers
At the heart of FIRA USA 2025 is a clear mission: to accelerate the adoption of agricultural technologies in North America, ensuring they precisely meet the expectations of producers.
“Ag robotics is booming, but every farm is different,” says Gwendoline Legrand, co-director of FIRA USA. “That’s why FIRA now focuses on direct matchmaking between growers and tech providers, ensuring automation delivers real value in the field and drives business on the spot.”
Exclusive VIP Program Designed for Growers
This year, FIRA USA 2025 launches the VIP Grower Tour, a free and exclusive program designed to welcome farmers with tailored guided tours, one-on-one meetings with ag robotics manufacturers, and a curated agenda to bring the right solutions to their specific needs.
All VIP Growers are invited to the exclusive John Deere’s Autonomous 5ML Orchard Tractor demo on Wednesday, October 22 (8-9 am): first revealed at CES 2025, the autonomous tractor will be demoing for the first time at an ag event at FIRA USA.
They are also kindly invited to the exclusive VIP Breakfast, sponsored by the California Farm Bureau, on Thursday, October 23 (9-10 am), for peer-to-peer networking and open discussion with robotics experts.
“If I’m a grower leaving this event today, I’m going home with a pocket full of business cards and a pocket full of ideas,” says Josh Roberts, VP Global Ag Development, Taylor Farms.
Hands-On Field Demonstrations
A highlight of FIRA USA 2025 is the series of live field demos, where attendees can see ag robotics and automation technologies in real-world farm conditions. The official program is available online, allowing growers to plan their visit and select demos and sessions most relevant to their operations.
Producers Share Innovations and Challenges at FIRA USA
“I’ve attended FIRA the past 2 years and found an invaluable way to stay informed on the latest robotics and automation innovations for California agriculture”, Tim Nuss from Nuss Farm. “Seeing product demonstrations firsthand is a great way to envision real world applications on our farm. We’ve connected with several companies at FIRA as a result and currently evaluating how we adopt their technologies on the farm. The event is a good mix of tangible field ready tech as well as early stage developments. I highly recommend the event and am excited to attend again in 2025!”
Building on the momentum of 2024, which saw farmer participation increase by 53%, FIRA USA 2025 will give the floor directly to growers through a series of Growers Pitches. These sessions will highlight the cutting-edge tools already being implemented on farms and open discussions about ongoing technological needs.
Among the key topics:
Automating the Harvest: Cutting-Edge Technologies Revolutionizing America’s Farming (October 21)
About FIRA USA
FIRA USA is the leading North American event dedicated to robotics and automation in agriculture. It brings together farmers, manufacturers, researchers, and investors to accelerate the adoption of innovative technologies in the face of modern agricultural challenges.
Interactions in the rhizosphere. Plants influence their rhizosphere microbiome through exudation of compounds that stimulate (green arrows) or inhibit (red blocked arrows). Most microbes affect neither the plant nor the pathogen because they occupy different ecological niches (commensal microbes) but may affect every other organism to somewhat through a complex network of interactions.
“Soil health” and “healthy soils” have become popular topics in recent years as evidenced by the increased number of government programs and commercial products aimed at improving soil health. The desirable properties of healthy soils are efficiency and efficacy of nutrient cycling, capacity to hold and release plant-available water, an environment conducive to root growth, supportive of beneficial soil organisms and improved resilience of the vine to stress from pests, diseases, drought and/or heat.
Characteristics of a healthy soil are those that promote healthy plant growth:
• A living matrix of plant residues, plant roots, animal residue and microorganisms.
• Porous, with a range of pore sizes that allow a balance between water and air in the soil and space for a complex network of microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, etc.), microarthropods and roots to establish.
• Chemically balanced to allow for nutrient cycling and conducive to the environmental needs of different types of soil organisms in the soil food web and vine roots.
• High in organic matter, which adds nutrients and microbes to soil; those microbes support essential ecological functions of soil, including recycling of nutrients.
Different vineyards and different soil types support different soil ecosystems. What would be considered healthy for sandy soils may not be the same as what is considered healthy for clay soils. Assessing whether the functioning of the soil ecosystem is optimal for any given crop/soil combination is difficult as comparisons between combinations are not necessarily valid.
Roles of Microorganisms in Soil Health Healthy functioning of soil is promoted by complex networks of microorganisms and their grazers, such as beneficial microarthropods. The microbiome of a soil is composed of a host of organisms, including but not limited to bacteria, fungi, protists, nematodes, earthworms and microarthropods. Within these groups, some species can be beneficial, others pathogenic. This can be true even within a genus. For example, the bacteria Pseudomonas fluorescens is beneficial, while Pseudomonas syringae is a pathogen.
Soil microbes play an important role in nutrient cycling in the soil. Decomposers break down organic matter, making it available as an energy and nutrient source for other organisms. Macronutrients such as potassium and phosphorus, which are often immobile in soil, are made available to the vine by some soil microbes.
Soil microorganisms improve soil structure. Bacteria play an important role in aggregate structure and stability. They produce sugars that hold the mineral parts of the soil together. Fungal hyphae weave soils together as do plant roots. Collectively, soil minerals, roots, bacteria and fungi comprise soil aggregates.
Some microbes are biological control agents that antagonize or compete with deleterious microorganisms. For example, predatory nematodes are beneficial. As fungi and bacteria, respectively, Trichoderma spp. and Bacillus subtilis are other examples of well-known biocontrol agents.
Plant growth-promoting bacteria produce chemicals that stimulate vine growth, and amoeba protists stimulate lateral root formation by producing a plant hormone mimic. A vine might react to these compounds like a plant hormone. Other types of bacteria convert nutrients into forms more available to the vine.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) live in the soil and on vine roots in a symbiotic relationship with the plant. The plant delivers photosynthates to the fungi for energy, and the fungi provide additional water and nutrients such as phosphate and nitrogen to the plant. AMF have structures called hyphae that extend great distances through the soil. Hyphae are essentially long tubes that can transport water to vines from areas beyond the root zone. This helps the vine cope with drought. Hyphae also play a role in soil structure.
Soil rich in organic matter supports a diverse microbial ecosystem that helps improve structure, nutrient cycling and plant resilience. Healthy vineyard soils often contain visible root systems and fungal hyphae interwoven through soil aggregates (photo courtesy Katie Bruce, Niner Wine Estates.)
Soil Microbial Consortia
Soil microbial species do not function in isolation. The survival and success of any one type of soil microorganism is dependent on the presence and activity of many other unrelated but collaborating microbes. One type of organism provides the resources another type of organism needs or changes the environment such as to favor a different type of organism. Collaborations of multiple species of bacteria and fungi are referred to as a soil microbial consortium. Applying compost to the field can be a method for delivering or manipulating these synergistic soil microbial consortia.
Like other food webs found in nature, soil food webs are composed of three trophic levels or positions in the food chain: primary producers, consumers and detritivores or decomposers that feed on dead and decaying matter, returning energy and nutrients back to the ecosystem for use by primary producers. From the bottom to the top of the food chain, the biomass and number of individuals per volume of soil decreases by orders of magnitude. Soil food chains may be more complex than aboveground food chains, as they tend to exhibit a greater incidence of omnivores that can occupy multiple trophic levels.
The three basic pathways that energy is moved between and within trophic levels are roots, bacteria and fungi. Pathogenic fungi, bacteria and nematodes and their consumers comprise the root pathway. The bacterial pathway is made up of bacteria that feed on dead plant material (saprophytic), those that cause diseases in plants (pathogenic), plus the organisms that feed on them, such as protists and bacterial-feeding nematodes.
Fungi found in the fungal pathway include species that are saprophytic, pathogenic and/or mycorrhizal. This pathway also includes consumers of these fungi. Some mesofauna organisms occupy other trophic levels as secondary, tertiary and quaternary predators. Such organisms include protists, nematodes, mites, fly larvae, centipedes, spiders and beetles. The conversion and movement of energy and nutrients around the soil ecosystem is what allows the functions of decomposition, mineralization and soil aggregate formation to occur.
Soils with collaborative suites of microbial species are likely to be more resilient than single species, which are more vulnerable to disease or stress. Species within these communities turn “on” and “off” according to different environmental signals, such that when one classification of soil organisms declines, another one can fill that same role or function. An analogy is an orchestra that features different instruments at different times in a performance. Unfortunately, the identification of the diversity of members composing different soil consortia and their ecological functions in soil health is still in its infancy.
Monitoring Soil Microbiome and Soil Health
Most methods for identifying and quantifying soil microbes are indirect. The methods include measures based on soil aggregation, biomass (estimated by a phospholipid fatty acid profile or counting cells under the microscope), biological activity such as production of extracellular enzymes, and identification by matching DNA fingerprints found in a soil sample to the known genomes of species of bacteria, fungi, protists or nematodes.
Aggregate stability can be a good measure of soil health because it reflects both structure and biology. The bulk density of soil is not a direct measure of soil aggregates but is related. A qualitative way of judging aggregate stability is to take a small sample of soil and drip water on it. If the soil crumbles and falls apart, that is an indication of poor aggregation. If the sample absorbs the water, that is a sign the soil has good structure and ability to hold water. Even if all the species of microorganisms in a soil are unknown, measuring aggregates comprised of bacteria and fungi is useful for monitoring changes through time.
Knowing the functional activity of fungi and bacteria provides a general description of the soil ecosystem and soil health. Functional activity can be measured as enzymes metabolizing specific substrates in soils containing cellulose, amino acids or phosphorus, for example.
Monitoring these and other variables can inform decisions about ground cover, cultivation and fertilization toward the goals of reducing compaction, improving soil aggregate stability, increased water infiltration and disease suppression. The limitation of this type of description is that it does not identify or differentiate what genera or species of these organisms are present. The diversity and complexity of the soil microbiome is crucial to the healthy function of the soil.
Techniques like aggregate stability tests and microbial enzyme analysis help monitor soil health and guide management practices (photo courtesy Katie Bruce, Niner Wine Estates.)
Biological Indicators Soil ecology is a complex set of interactions between different elements of the environment and myriad soil biota. No single measure can capture all the variables that contribute to soil health, but choosing measurements that complement each other can help. Interpreting simple measurements of broad groups like fungi or bacteria is difficult because it does not distinguish pathogens from beneficials.
The total biomass of bacteria and fungi can be estimated. Phospholipid fatty acid profiles or cell counts are two methods for estimating microbial biomass. Use of viability stains can distinguish active from dormant organisms. Measuring the ratios between fungi and bacteria can be useful as well because it reflects disturbance. A well-functioning vineyard soil will have a higher ratio of fungi to bacteria, which is promoted by reducing or eliminating tillage to keep vegetation with living roots in the system and avoiding the disruption of the physical characteristics of the microbial habitat.
Measuring respiration in the soil provides a picture of how much life there is in the soil, but it is hard to interpret because it combines respiration of roots, microorganisms and their consumers. Although these measures provide rough estimates of biomass, they do not reflect “who” is there.
Soil organic matter is composed of both living and decaying material. The active or living portion of total soil organic matter can be quantified using a technique based on changes in the color of a permanganate solution mixed with soil. Measurements using this method correlate positively with soil biological activity and are sensitive to management practices.
Current research is being performed to identify sentinel species of microorganisms. If there are genetic markers for these organisms, then identifying specific soil microorganisms is possible. For example, DNA can be extracted from soil. Strands of DNA are replicated using polymerase chain reaction techniques. Those strands are compared to the known genomes of different organisms. The longer the strand of DNA replicated determines how specific identification can be. As the genomes of more soil microbes are mapped, identifying the composition of the microbial community in the soil will become more accurate and useful. This research is still in its infancy.
Encouraging and Preserving Soil Microbial Ecosystem
Diversity of plants in the vineyard increases the diversity of the soil microbial community. This can be achieved with cover crops and grazing. Planting a blend of multiple species of grasses and legumes accomplishes this. Soil covered with vegetation is typically healthier than bare ground.
Applying compost is an excellent way of introducing more carbon into the soil. Compost can potentially inoculate soil with beneficial microbes, provide nitrogen in plant-available forms and increase soil organic matter overall. The carbon and nitrogen provided by compost feeds both vines and soil microorganisms.
Reducing tillage as much as possible is advisable. Excessive tillage disrupts the soil food web. The mechanical action of tilling severs earthworms and breaks up soil aggregates, which are habitat for beneficial soil bacteria. Hyphae of AMF are torn. Soil organic matter is lost to the atmosphere from tillage, reducing the food source and habitat of many soil microbes. Microorganisms are redistributed in space, separating them from their habitats and food sources such as predators from prey, decomposers from material that needs decomposing, and beneficial relationships between microbes and roots. Organisms surviving a tillage event will need to repopulate and recreate communities within the soil.
Preserving and encouraging the microbial community of the soil is crucial to improving and maintaining soil health. Differences between soil types and the necessities of vineyard management make comparisons difficult. Developing a soil health management program for any vineyard takes time, dedication and the willingness to experiment. Appreciating the role of the soil microbial ecosystems will contribute to the success of a grower’s efforts in improving and maintaining a healthy soil.
