Can Regenerative Organic Farming Pencil Out? Study Provides State-of-the-Art Data and Demonstrates Dramatic Improvements in Wine Quality

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December 18, 2024

Robert Hall Winery General Manager Caine Thompson came on board in 2020 and got the thumbs-up from O’Neill Vintners & Distillers CEO Jeff O’Neill to start the regenerative organic trials.

At Robert Hall Winery on Paso Robles’ east side, a remarkable three-year study is comparing yields, costs, wine quality and more in a conventionally farmed vineyard and a regenerative organic one (supplemented with biodynamic herbal and mineral sprays and compost). The results show a dramatic difference in water retention, soil respiration, soil carbon, wine quality and yields.

The regenerative organic certification (ROC) requires organic certification enhanced with additional practices, including no till, animal integration and keeping the ground covered. The standards were created and are enforced by the Regenerative Organic Alliance (ROA).

Usually, winery trials like this take place under cover of darkness and are typically aided only by subjective, qualitative assessments. Often, growers will try out organic farming on a block or two (and the same for biodynamics) and decide whether to implement these farming techniques. After several years of building their confidence through various vintages, they may decide to become certified organic.

Not so at Robert Hall, which has jumped into an impressive research study that is finding startling new results and is open to the public and peers thanks to an initiative proposed by General Manager Caine Thompson. The winery is also on the brink of ROA certification, having met all the requirements and awaiting the final paperwork.

Thompson praised the ROA certification not only for its faming standards but for the human social fairness practices it encourages. “We’ve got a really transparent feedback loop with monthly meetings with the vineyard team and myself and the winemaking team,” he said. “We’ve noticed more engagement, and turnover has gone down. The quality of work has gone way up.”

When Thompson came on board in 2020, he asked Jeff O’Neill, CEO of O’Neill Vintners & Distillers, if he could conduct a side-by-side comparison and measurement of conventional versus regenerative organic (no till and more). Tablas Creek, certified both biodynamic and ROC, had previously worked with academics to study the impacts of tillage and grazing, which provided a helpful precedent. O’Neill gave the Robert Hall study the thumbs-up.

Thompson, a native of New Zealand, had personally been farming organically and biodynamically for 20 years in New Zealand at Pyramid Valley and Mission Estate Winery and had previously conducted research on converting to organic.

Begun in 2021, the Robert Hall study encompassed 48 acres in the vineyard surrounding the winery (in the Geneseo AVA). 43 acres were converted to regenerative organic. 5 acres were retained as the conventional control. The control includes the use of cover crops and compost which advantaged it with better practices than the average conventional vineyard (though cover crops are widely used). Both the control and regenerative organic vines are Cabernet Sauvignon (clone 15, originally from the Bordeaux region).

Thompson wanted to make sure he was measuring like with like and went the extra mile to make sure that was the case. “We had satellite images and soil maps to ensure we were setting up the trial with like for like literally side by side, the same soil type and the same clone,” he said.

Four years later, he and his team have a lot of data to look at and experiences to review.

Their ongoing study is finding regenerative organic practices have benefits that exceeded their expectations. “I was surprised at how quickly the differences showed up,” he said. “Even in year one, there were noticeable changes.”

On a vineyard tour in November, he pointed to a newly planted neighbor’s vineyard, where the soils were clearly pure hardpan.

“When we broke ground farming this way four years ago, you could barely get a spade into the ground,” he said. “Now, we’ve got a living, breathing soil.

“The soils are more open, more friable, and there’s just so much more life within the vineyard. When you walk into the vineyard now, it’s like this biodiversity nightclub of energy and insects and life all around you, and I think that’s translocating down through the roots, into the soil, and you’re getting that expression back up into the fruit and then into the resulting wine,” he said.

Regenerative organic farming is easier in addition to being more rewarding financially, he said.

“When you have that type of biodiversity within a vineyard, the diversity and the predators take care of a lot of the pests and disease. You’re building these polycultural systems; it’s not just a monoculture. You’ve got a whole bunch of different cover crops growing in there and different species. You get more diversity through predators in there, so the pest populations get brought into balance naturally,” he added.

“When we started the project, we were doing three to four biodiversity drops of pest predators to build up a baseline [predator] population. Now we’re only doing one or two. They’re basically maintenance drops now, and of course, there’s no insecticides being used, no herbicides being used, no synthetic fungicides.”

The team has the data to prove yields are up, water retention is up and wine quality is improving, he said. In 2021 and 2022, they collected all the data themselves.

Farming costs for the regenerative organic block increased an average of 10% annually overall.

Agrology Technology Adds Insights: Water Retention Up 13%
In 2023, the study began integrating state of the art carbon monitoring and other data-gathering technology from Agrology, measuring soil moisture, soil respiration, CO2 in the canopy, carbon concentrations in soil, and ground and canopy temperatures.

The team found the regenerative organic block increased water retention 13% in just one year compared to the conventional block. In a region that typically gets only 18 inches of rain per year, while the climate continues to warm, that is significant.

The regenerative organic vines also boosted microbial activity, Agrology found.

Regenerative Organic Mitigated Heat and Heat Spikes
This fall, Paso’s heat spikes shattered heat records for six days in a row, reaching a high of 107 degrees F and affecting soil temperatures.

The regenerative organic block were consistently lower in temperature than the conventional block, the data showed. Similar results applied in measuring the canopy temperature.

The team calculated there was “a 7.8% decrease in average daily high temperature during the critical harvest period in the regenerative block,” when grapes are typically in danger of ripening too quickly.

Carbon Sequestration Bolstered
In October 2023, the accumulated canopy absorption of CO2 was 26.79 PPM in the control block versus 1,397 PPM in the regenerative block, leading the study to conclude the regenerative block absorbed 192% more CO2 than the control. Organic carbon in the regenerative block was 1.51% vs 0.86% in the conventional block as of July 2024.

The regenerative block scored 7.8 on the Haney soil health score compared to 4.7 for the conventional block.

Yields and Costs
Yields were up three out of four years in the trial, while farming costs increased an average of 10% annually overall, Thompson said.

In the trial’s fourth year (the 2024 vintage) during another warm vintage, yield data showed a 15% increase in the regenerative organic vines.

The conventional control yielded 1.85 t/acre while the regenerative organic yielded 2.17 t/acre. The data highlights in three out of four years, the regenerative organic vineyard has produced a more resilient canopy that has helped protect the fruit, leading to improvements in yield.

Canopy comparison of regenerative organic and conventional vines during year two (summer 2022) of the trial.

Wine Quality Skyrocketed
Another major benefit was dramatically increased wine quality.

Thompson and winemaking partner Amanda Gortermade made wines the exact same way from both the conventional block and the regenerative organic block. After seeing dramatic improvement in wine quality, they upgraded cultural practices in specific areas within the regenerative organic vineyard, increasing shoot and crop thinning in the hopes of creating a $50 bottle wine. Mission accomplished.

“There’s more complexity in the wine compared to the conventional control,” Thompson said. “There’s freshness, there’s more vibrancy, there’s a different energy in the wines. We’ve got more of those classic Cabernet characters,” he said.

Yields in the trial were higher three out of four years for the regenerative organic block vs the conventional block.

Sharing the Data (and the Wine)
An advocate for regenerative organic farming, Thompson is enthusiastic about sharing the trial’s data and findings with the world.

“The whole idea of the study was to be collaborative, to be open to industry,” he said. “We hold quarterly field days to share the results and the learnings and this whole journey toward regenerative organic.”

Visitors are welcome to taste the wines side by side from the trial during field days (open to all) to compare the differences for themselves.

Thompson’s scope in applying learnings from the study is wider than the vines at Robert Hall. He oversees sustainability for all O’Neill Vintners & Distillers properties (the seventh-largest winery in California) and sits on the boards of several international sustainability groups.

O’Neill’s vast holdings include 870 acres in Parlier, Calif. The company also contracts 200 growers with 15,000 acres of vines. All are now required to meet some kind of sustainability program requirements. In July, O’Neill purchased its first Washington winery, Wines of Substance. O’Neill’s luxury brand, Ram’s Gate in Sonoma, is in the process of becoming certified regenerative organic on 28 acres in the Carneros AVA.

Thompson’s study has reinforced his belief and experience that regenerative organic winegrape growing can be profitable for all.

“We now have a vineyard that’s alive, that’s diverse, and more resilient in the face of climate related issues and pests and disease,” he said.

“The vineyards are definitely becoming more resilient to climate change and some of the extremes that we’re seeing with temperature, with heat, and the pressure that’s put on canopies and fruit. Under the regenerative organic side, we’ve got a bigger, healthier canopy, resulting in more shade and protection. We’ve got darker, greener leaves that are working really efficiently, and they’re protecting the fruit. Those leaves obviously move with the sun, but they protect the fruit in these larger canopies, so the resulting fruit is intact. It’s not shriveled, it’s not dehydrated, and that’s leading to better wine quality,” Thompson added.

Robert Hall Winery offers consumer and trade vineyard tours to the control and regenerative organic blocks (side by side) and schedules field days that provide growers and others to learn in depth about the trial.

The full study can be seen online at shorturl.at/suO86.

Blending Wine and Philanthropy at Rancho Oso Libre: The Social Impact of Sustainable Wine

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WHITNEY BROWNIE | Vineyard Team

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December 17, 2024

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The Oso Libre Por Vida Foundation, an integral part of Rancho Oso Libre dedicated to helping those in need, predates the winery by nearly two decades.

Today, Paso Robles residents Chris and Linda Behr may be best known for their successful cattle ranch, winery and SIP Certified® sustainable vineyard: Rancho Oso Libre.

Anyone who has visited the ranch and talked with the Behrs probably knows about their dedication to helping those in need through their Oso Libre Por Vida Foundation. But they may not know the origins of the Foundation predate the establishment of the winery by nearly two decades.

Before the Behrs moved to Paso Robles and started the ranch, they lived in Los Angeles. At this time, Chris ran his construction company, Behr Construction.

Chris was contracted by the Children’s Institute to build special one-way interview rooms to give children a safe space to share their stories. The rooms would allow a social worker to work with a child privately while another agent could observe the interaction without being intrusive or putting stress on the child.

For Chris, this experience turned into more than a construction project. The job invited him to learn about the Institute’s mission. He saw children heal through dedicated time and support, and it moved him deeply.

This experience inspired Chris to reach out to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America program. He felt called to become a mentor. During his time with the program, he took on challenging cases and even coached others to become a “Big” mentor.

Helping children was just the beginning of his and Linda’s devotion to charitable practices. Their attention next turned to people involved with the armed forces, and then to animals in need. When Linda’s parents were diagnosed with and eventually passed from cancer, they dedicated funds to support cancer research.

The impact of Chris’s work with children in need and Linda’s parents’ illnesses were instrumental to what several years later became the Oso Libre Por Vida Foundation.

Chris and Linda Behr are owners of cattle ranch, winery and SIP Certified® sustainable vineyard Rancho Oso Libre (all photos courtesy Rancho Oso Libre.)

La Vida En el Rancho
In 1996, the Behr’s hearts called them north. They bought a 90-acre ranch on the west side of Paso Robles to pursue farming.

The birth of Rancho Oso Libre was a group effort. Chris drew up plans for the home and winery. His Behr Construction crew brought the plans to life. Over the next four years, the Behrs planted their grapes and acquired cattle. In 2000, their good friends Michael and Liz Barreto taught them how to make wine.

In 2008, Chris and Linda’s son, Jeff, and his wife, Liz, joined their parents to put the finishing touches on the winery. But Jeff and Liz’s visit yielded more than a winery ready for business.

The group discussed how the Behrs would tie their charitable services to the winery. Chris and Linda wanted their passion projects to be intertwined, but they weren’t sure what that would look like.

That’s when Linda came up with the name “Oso Libre Por Vida” Foundation. Together with the name of the ranch, the translation is “Free Bear for Life.” The name ties the two together in a meaningful play on the Behr’s name and their charitable philosophy.

Although still unsure of what the union would look like in practice, Chris and Linda knew with a great name and a winery to engage the community, they were off to a good start.

Votive Candle Offering
One of the first features that entwined Rancho Oso Libre and the Por Vida Foundation was built into the winery itself, or, rather, omitted from it. Chris left a hole in the wall near the winery’s entrance.

Despite uncertainty over how the feature would be accepted, the Behrs left this opening for a Votive candle offering: A space for their guests to take a moment to think about someone they love and light a candle in their honor.

To their surprise, it was a hit. The Behrs found that as well as lighting candles, guests were leaving offerings at the Votive. “We really didn’t think it would be used,” Chris said. “Early on, a woman came up to me to tell me the tray was full and handed me her offering. That’s when we knew this was something people truly appreciated.”

All Votive offerings are donated to support people and animals in need under the Por Vida Foundation. At the end of each weekend, Oso Libre’s team collects the offerings from the tray and puts out fresh candles for the following week’s guests.

Winemaker Michael Barreto is a business partner in Rancho Oso Libre and taught the Behrs how to make wine.

Vines, Wines and Angus
With the space to host, wine to bring people together and beef to feed them, the Behrs came up with another way to tie the ranch’s activities to the Por Vida Foundation: Saturday Angus Days.

While tickets to the event welcome guests to enjoy an Estate Angus Burger, sides, wine and live music, they also give back to the community.

Each of Oso Libre’s Angus Day events is held to support a specific cause. Prior to each event, the team sits down to decide what that cause will be. If there is an issue or tragedy affecting the community, that’s where their Angus Day proceeds go.

Chris said Angus Days have “really gotten a life of their own. People connect drinking their wine with the money that will go to charitable causes; some even give money without drinking wine.”

The Behrs host around 20 Angus Day events each year, inviting the community to come together to enjoy great wine and angus and support those in need. “If people don’t like their burger, they like it more knowing it goes to charity. They say, ‘That burger was delicious.’”

Poker-Style Tasting Chips
Oso Libre’s Poker Style Tasting Chips are tasting certificates with a twist. Similar to standard certificates, guests can exchange a chip for a complimentary tasting for two. What makes them unique is for each chip that is redeemed, Oso Libre gives $5 to charity.

Chips are easy to come by. They are given to new members who can pass them along to friends, and Oso Libre staff hands them out to guests at their own discretion.

The over-1000 chips Oso Libre distributes each year represent thousands of dollars the community helps give in charitable contributions.

Rancho Oso Libre has a tradition whereby all its wines are combined into one called Solera. It’s served growler-style in the tasting room.

Solera
The beacon of the winery is the Solera wine program. “It’s a continuous layered wine that has over 10 years of vintages and varietals,” Chris said. “Every wine we make is in it.”

Solera is treated like a growler at a brewery. Oso Libre even uses growler bottles for this special club-exclusive blend. Two barrels of Solera are kept safe right in the tasting room so members can bring their growler in and watch it be refilled. All proceeds from Solera sales and refills go to the Por Vida Foundation.

The Solera tradition began in 2004, back when Jeff and Liz were Oso Libre’s winemakers. Since then, Solera has never been emptied.

“We keep the bung proper, keep nitrogen clear, monitor S.O., we keep it safe and freshen it up. It’s got to taste great, people love it,” Chris said.

When Jeff and Liz returned to Los Angeles in 2019, the Behrs brought in winemakers Michael and Joey Barreto, who are now also business partners. The team who taught the team how to make wine in 2000 continue the Solera tradition today.

Every quarter, the Oso Libre team counts all the Por Vida Foundation funds and sits down to decide how they will be distributed to different charities.

Passion in Every Pour
Every quarter, the Oso Libre team counts all the Por Vida funds and sits down to decide how they will be distributed.

Keeping with the roots of their charitable activities, Chris and Linda donate most of the funds to the same four main causes: cancer research, prevention of child abuse, support for armed forces and veterans, and humane care of animals.

“We often plan weeks or even months in advance,” Chris said. But tragedy can strike at any time. If the team hears about an issue affecting the community, plans change and they direct funds toward reliving the local issue.

“We’ll switch gears if a big deal comes up and dedicate an event to it.”

Chris and Linda Behr take great pride in Oso Libre’s Por Vida Foundation and love telling their guests how their visit supports the community. “People connect enjoying wine with giving back,” Chris said. “It makes them feel pretty darn good!”

Sustainability doesn’t stop at the farm level. Like Oso Libre’s Por Vida Foundation demonstrates, it includes socially responsible practices that support the community and those in need. A winery in San Luis Obispo, Calif. found a creative way to get their staff involved in finding new ways to practice sustainability. Read the next Sustainable Story to learn how.

California Association of Winegrape Growers Begins Work on 2025 Advocacy Agenda

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Steve Pastis | Contributing Writer

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December 16, 2024

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Senate Bill 399, which addressed employer intimidation at a heightened level, was top of mind for California Association of Winegrape Growers during the 2023-24 legislative session (photo courtesy Kingman Ag.)

The California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG) prides itself on its work advocating for (or when necessary, against) legislation that affects the winegrape industry.

“One of the most essential and valuable CAWG member benefits is advocacy,” states the organization’s website. “CAWG is the only statewide organization dedicated exclusively to protecting and promoting your interests before the state legislature, Congress and regulators.”

Now that the 2023-24 California legislative session is over, Michael Miiller, CAWG’s director of government relations, looked back at the most important bills of that session and looked ahead to the group’s advocacy goals for 2025.

Senate Bill 399
Earlier this year, CAWG urged a “no” vote on SB 399 in the California State Senate. This was arguably the most important of the more than 20 bills that CAWG took a stand on.

“The bill was sponsored by labor unions, and they said the bill was needed to make sure employers aren’t forcing their employees to listen to political posturing, diatribe, whatever, from their employer,” Miiller explained. “That’s what they said the bill is trying to do.

“But that is already illegal,” he said. “I can’t say, ‘Hey everybody, stop what you’re doing and let’s get together and talk about whatever candidate.’ That’s not allowed in the workplace. You can’t push your employees to do that.

“But the bill, the way it was written, goes way, way, way beyond that,” he continued. “It basically says things like if you have a vineyard and you put up a sign that says, ‘Vote for Bob for State Senate’ and any employee who’s working in that vineyard doesn’t like Bob, they can say, ‘I refuse to work at that vineyard because I don’t like Bob, and I don’t want to see that sign.’”

Despite CAWG’s efforts, SB 399, known as the California Worker Freedom from Employer Intimidation Act, was signed into law in late September and will take effect Jan. 1, 2025.

California Association of Winegrape Growers is looking to revisit the housing issue for ag workers in 2025. Director of Government Relations Michael Miiller said the first step toward more affordable housing for ag workers would be streamlining the permitting process.

Groundwater Recharge
The organization was more successful with groundwater recharge legislation and is currently considering ways to expand it in 2025.

“Even though we have droughts, and climate change is real, we know how climate change is going to affect the water supply,” Miiller said. “We’re still going to get the same amount of water, but it’s going to be delivered differently.

“We’re not going to get the big snow cap in the Sierra that we’ve had before,” he continued. “We’re not going to get a routine winter rainfall like we have before. Instead we’re going to get periods of drought and we’re going to get periods of heavy storms.

“So, what we what we’ve done is to say, ‘Well, we have the heavy storms happening right now, and that water is in large part flowing out to the Pacific through flood protection and storm water runoff in urban settings,’” Miiller said. “What we’d like to do is capture that water and pump it underground and do groundwater recharge so we have a more reliable supply of groundwater across the state.”

Miiller believes local groundwater basins with a Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) program in place should receive some kind of a credit.

“If you are actually pumping water underground, adding to the groundwater supply, shouldn’t there be a little bit of a break for you?” he asked. “The discussion of SGMA has to be not just on the demand side but on the supply side as well.

“We need to make it easier for people to do groundwater recharge because that is the future of our water supply in California,” Miiller said. “We really need to make that a priority.”

He suggested the possibility of a metering system to determine credits like how credits are calculated for electricity generated by solar energy.

“We’re still looking at the concept,” Miiller said. “We’re working with environmental groups. We’re working with water agencies and others to figure out how we want to approach that next year.”

The California Water Supply Solutions Act of 2023 was authored by Senator Angelique V. Ashby and co-sponsored by CAWG.

“California’s water supply is becoming alarmingly scarce due to changes brought on by climate change, and groundwater recharge is an essential tool to address these challenges,” said Senator Ashby in a press release.

“The ability in wet times to store water underground to be used in dry years is central to the ability to conjunctively manage groundwater and surface water supplies,” she added. “SB 659 sets realistic groundwater recharge and storage goals to put our state on track to ensure we have a reliable supply of water for the environment, our communities and California industries.”

The legislation was passed by the state legislature and went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.

“SB 659 represents the most significant effort since creation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in 2014 in emphasizing the supply side of managing groundwater,” said CAWG President Natalie Collins in a press release.

“Now we’re looking at expanding that,” Miiller said. “Now we’ve got to figure out how do we make that happen in practice. How do we help reach that goal? What are the policies we could put in place to help achieve that goal?”

Housing for Ag Workers
“We’re also looking at things like revisiting the housing issue,” Miiller said. “What can we do to provide more housing for ag workers? That’s something that we’re going to look at addressing again in 2025.”
However, the state legislature is reluctant to take that issue on, according to Miiller.

“There were a few small bills that were passed last year that we supported, but they’re kind of around the edges,” he said. “They don’t really deal with the bigger problem. We just have a lack of affordable housing for ag workers.”

As things currently stand, many ag workers have to drive two hours to work because they can’t afford to live where they’re working, according to Miiller.

“There are a couple of challenges with housing: One is the NIMBYs (people who say, ‘not in my backyard’) are very strong in in local communities,” he explained.

Miiller used the situation in Half Moon Bay as an example of the problem for ag workers. A mobile housing development was under construction after the tragic murders that occurred in ag worker housing there.

“The city government said, ‘We don’t want to build housing here because we think that the protection of the coast is more important,’” he said. “So, they were looking at the coastal zone and environmental laws, and giving that a higher value than meeting the housing needs of their community.”

Miiller called that “a subjective analysis to how you build housing” because people there view affordable housing for ag workers as something negative. “We view it as you need more affordable housing for ag workers.

“It is a tough industry right now,” Miiller said. “The market for winegrapes is down, and we’re looking at probably taking out about 50,000 acres of winegrapes statewide. If you take out winegrapes and take out vineyards, there’s an opportunity to build housing on that same land for ag workers who are working in other vineyards or in other commodities, but to do that is very difficult.”

The challenges are in getting the permits, getting everything done, and “fighting the NIMBYs,” he said. “But it’s also difficult in the financing, and so we need to really make that a higher priority.”

Currently, the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program helps to fund the construction, renovation and acquisition of housing for ag workers. Assistance is offered in the form of deferred-payment loans for multifamily housing and grants for new single-family housing.

“That fund, frankly, needs more funding,” Miiller said. “It needs to increase dollars to help support ag worker housing. It should be ag worker housing on ag land, where it’s closer to where people are working so people aren’t driving two hours to work. Those are the things we’d like to see the legislature really take on.”

Miiller said the first step toward more affordable housing for ag workers would be streamlining the permitting process.

“We did a bill last year that we may revisit,” he said. “This is [Assemblymember Carlos] Villapudua’s legislation that we couldn’t get a hearing on. The committee wouldn’t even hear it because they just don’t like the idea of building ag worker housing on ag land. They think this should all be run by nonprofits or local governments, and we don’t object to that, per se, but it hasn’t happened. So if nonprofits and local governments aren’t stepping up to build the housing, then we think you should really look at the growers who are willing to do that and make it easier for that to happen.”

Villapudua initially had registered to run for reelection in Assembly District 13 but following some political maneuvering before the election, will be replaced.

“So, we’ll be looking for somebody else next year,” Miiller said. “The legislature doesn’t even come back in until January, so we have some time to figure out how we’re going to approach it.”

SB 1135, introduced last year by State Senator Monique Limón, would make it easier for growers to increase composting on their farms. California Association of Winegrape Growers Director of Government Relations Michael Miiller said the organization will work with Limón on this front in 2025.

Composting
“We’re also looking at things like composting on agricultural land,” Miiller said. “We know we have the ability to create healthy soils by doing some carbon sequestration on ag land.”

Increased composting offers environmental benefits as well as climate change benefits, he said, “but we need to make it easier for growers to compost.”

Miiller suggested a tax credit to subsidize some of that cost, adding expediting the permit process would also help.

“We’re still looking at what to do with that,” he said. “We did a tax credit last year that didn’t make it through, but we’ll be revisiting what we want to do with that again next year.”

State Senator Monique Limón was the author of SB 1135, the bill introduced last year that would have made it easier for growers to increase composting on their farms.

“She was a great author,” Miiller said. “She worked very hard on that bill last year, so obviously she’s somebody we’d want to talk to first.”

Senator Limón, who represents Senate District 19, which includes Santa Barbara and the surrounding winegrape-growing areas, seems receptive to introducing a compost bill in the state senate next year.

“[Senate District] 19 is a leading producer in the wine industry for our state, and for that reason I want to ensure our farmers and winemakers are able to find ways to divert organic wastes from landfills in a cost-effective manner,” she said. “Compost is expensive to produce, transport and apply to the land, making it a significant barrier for far too many. SB 1135 would have provided an economic incentive to utilize the practice of composting by providing a tax credit to cover costs associated with composting.

“At this point in time, I am working with my team to solidify our legislative package and would be open to the idea of continuing our work on this issue from 2024,” she added. “With that said, California is currently facing a budget shortfall making it challenging to pass tax credits.”

“I would just say, generally, winegrape growers are having a hard year,” Miiller said. “Obviously, the whole industry globally is having a difficult time and we are looking for legislative opportunities to help make things easier for growers. We’re trying to also deal with legislation that’s coming down the pipe that may be challenging for them, but we’re going to try to engage in those to protect our growers’ interests.”

Forward-Thinking Ag Tech for Improved Vineyard Autonomy

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Pam Strayer | Contributing Writer

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December 15, 2024

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Naio’s TED autonomous weeder demonstrated at Robert Hall Winery in Paso Robles

Dozens of forward-thinking ag tech companies showed off next gen vineyard solutions and products at the third annual FIRA-USA expo, held October 22-24 in Woodland. Solar-powered, real-time spore detectors, AI-enabled drones and electric autonomous tractors all strutted their stuff, giving glimpses of what many larger growers are already trialing behind the scenes.

Afternoon demos provided real-world examples of advanced technology ranging from Chinese-designed MQ Technologies’ orange carrier robot to the NAIO over-the-vine platform widely used in France, though most solutions were made in the U.S.

Equipment Highlights: Filling the Labor Gap
State-of-the-art solutions are works in progress approaching the ag tech field from many different angles and ideas. Top vendors demonstrated their equipment at the show.

The Amos tractor is autonomous and runs on 90 continuous hp from three electric-powered motors (photo by P. Strayer.)

Amos Power: A 90-hp Autonomous Electric Tractor

While the Monarch tractor was early to market in California, many growers have found its power too limited for their needs. They were excitedly looking at the Amos tractor designed by former John Deere engineer Tom Boe, who runs Amos Power from his base in Iowa. Introduced to the vineyard community in 2022, when it was demoed in Lodi and Napa, the tractor has been redesigned and upgraded and uses an Xbox remote to control it.

“The military told us, ‘Don’t waste time buying really expensive remotes. Just use Xbox. People understand them,’” Boe said.

For the sake of comparison, Amos is about double the horsepower of a Monarch, Boe estimated.

Amos has a battery life of 8 hours and takes about 8 hours to recharge. The whole thing weighs 7,200 lbs.

“That battery weighs probably about 2,500 of it,” Boe said. For that reason, changing the battery is an unwieldy task requiring equipment to raise and lower it once removed.

It costs $225,000.

“I think you’re going to start to see the electric power is going to start to pencil out pretty well,” said Boe, “when you compare that to diesel fuel.”

Labor savings are the biggest payoff, he said.

“Cal/OSHA has pretty much said they don’t regulate a farm field unless there’s humans in there, right? So, you can shut the field down, do a quick drive through, make sure there’s no humans, document it’s got no humans, and then OSHA doesn’t regulate it,” Boe said.

Boe said no one is taking jobs away from workers. “There are definitely people that say, ‘What about my job?’ But at the same time, there’s a lot of people that are saying, ‘We don’t have anybody showing up,’ right? People decided to quit showing up, so we’re filling the void as they quit showing up.

Agtonomy tractors in a client’s vineyard. The software can control multiple tractors (photo courtesy Agtonomy.)

“We restrict our entire tractor to continuous horsepower. We never even go into the peak range. And the reason is we designed the entire tractor to be able to hit continuous horsepower, very close to 100 horsepower. It’s 90 [hp], what we measure, it’s 90 continuous horsepower,” he said.

“It doesn’t have a clutch and gear system. It does have three motors. We are, for the most part, the only electric tractor company that did that. Everybody else took an existing tractor, took the diesel out, put an electric motor in and powered the motor.”

After the FIRA show, Boe was busy doing demos all over California in Suisun Valley, Napa, Lodi, Livermore and Santa Maria.

Amos tractors are built in California’s Central Valley.

Monterey Pacific, which farms 16,000 acres of vineyards in Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties, has ordered one, Boe said.

Agtonomy: AI-Enabled Software Solution

Founded by Geyserville grower and vintner Tim Bucher of Trattore Farms, Agtonomy’s product is state-of-the-art artificial intelligence-enabled automation software used to control tractors growers already use.

In a show of force in an afternoon demo at FIRA, Agtonomy deployed three Doosan Bobcat tractors moving simultaneously and autonomously through parallel vineyard rows. They were all controlled from a single device.

In May, the company announced that Jorge Heraud, formerly John Deere’s vice president of automation and autonomy, joined Agtonomy’s board.

The company announced in October it has raised a total of $32 million from investors, making it one of the more well-capitalized new companies.

The company’s units are currently in use in trials with E. & J. Gallo, Silver Oak, Treasury Wine Estates and others. The company reports it has 25 units in service. Pricing ranges from $50,000 to $100,000.

Naio Technologies
Founded in 2011, Toulouse-based Naio Technologies in southern France is one of the more established robot companies in the vineyard robot world. Its co-founders also founded the FIRA expo.

“The robot offers effective and precise mechanical weeding, without herbicides, which respects your soil and crops,” said a company spokesperson via email. “We have dozens of TED robots at work in France and several in other European countries.”

Its two vineyard robots are JO and TED. Both come with five-year warranties.

JO is designed for narrower rows (one meter) and is half the price of a TED.

While state-of-the-art vineyard tech geeks have admired NAIO, it was not available in California until October, having just passed its FCC test.

Caine Thompson, general manager of O’Neill Vintners & Distilleries’ Robert Hall Winery, tried Naio’s TED out on the winery’s Paso Robles vines. “It’s an impressive machine that provides effective and accurate autonomous undervine weed control,” he said. “We found the quality of weeding was excellent through the various tool options available, which made it a simple machine to operate.”

A video demo featuring the French producer is on YouTube at youtube.com/watch?v=aal7XQ_9xcU.

2025 Global FIRA and FIRA-USA
The 2025 World FIRA expo will be held February 4-6 in Toulouse, France. More information is at world-fira.com.

The FIRA-USA event is a three-way partnership with GOFAR (a French nonprofit that runs the global FIRA agtech robotics show in Toulouse), UC ANR (and its innovation group The Vine) and Western Growers Association and its 2,200 grower-members. Next year, it will be held once again at the Yolo County Fairgrounds in Woodland in the fall.

“I was impressed by the FIRA event, especially since it is so young,” said Eric Pooler, vice president, viticulture, winery relations and bulk wine sales for Nuveen Natural Capital. “Vanguard technology, interactive demos and an impressive lineup of speakers broaching pertinent topics made it a valuable use of my time. The location in Woodland was excellent, too; relatively central for North State growers. It’ll be a do-not-miss for me in 2025.

Field-Scale Ultraviolet-C Light Applications to Manage Grapevine Powdery Mildew in Eastern Washington

By

Alexa McDaniels, Ph.D. | Research Scholar, Viticulture Research and Extension, Dept. of Horticultural Science, North Carolina State University

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December 14, 2024

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Over-the-row ultraviolet-C light (UV-C) array applying a UV-C dose of 200 J/m2 to Vitis Vinifera ‘Chardonnay’ grapevines for management of grapevine powdery mildew. Tractor driver is wearing proper personnel protective equipment (clothes and gloves that cover all skin with ANSI Z87.1 rated eyeglasses and face shield). Shown are applications made at early shoot growth (left) and applications made at post-bloom (right) (all photos courtesy A. McDaniels.)

Ultraviolet-C light (UV-C) for crop protection is not a new concept, but how we integrate the technology into pest and disease management programs is. Field application of UV-C has successfully reduced powdery mildews of strawberry (Onofre et al. 2021), cantaloupe (Lopes et al. 2023) and grapevine (Ledermann et al. 2021, Gadoury et al. 2023). This was possible due to key findings that enhanced efficacy by applying UV-C during a dark period that continued for at least four hours after application (Janisiewicz et al. 2016a, Suthaparan et al. 2016a, Onofre et al. 2021). This dark period allows the UV-C damage to be permanent by bypassing the robust fungal photolyase repair mechanism that is driven by the blue and UV-A components of sunlight (Beggs 2002). Applying UV-C followed by a dark period (i.e., a lower, non-phytotoxic dose) can be used to suppress pathogens effectively (Suthaparan et al. 2014, 2016b, Janisiewicz et al. 2016b, Onofre et al. 2021). Pioneers in UV-C application for crop protection (David Gadoury with Cornell University and USDA scientists Fumiomi Takeda and Wojciech Janisiewicz) have previously written articles in Progressive Crop Consultant. These articles further describe past UV-C research that has led to the successful application of UV-C.

Our research conducted at Washington State University, led by Michelle Moyer, was in collaboration with Gadoury and Walt Mahaffee with USDA to expand UV-C applications for field-scale pest and disease management in grapevines. Our goal was to expand our knowledge of how UV-C can be used as a non-pesticidal alternative to suppress grapevine powdery mildew (Fig. 1) in Eastern Washington State Vitis vinifera vineyards through testing different timing and intervals for UV-C application. We additionally explored UV-C effects on basic fruit chemistry. The results of our research (McDaniel et al. 2024) are now published open access at American Journal for Viticulture and Enology.

Figure 1. Grapevine powdery mildew (Erysiphe necator) colonizes the surface of any green tissue, making it susceptible to environmental conditions. Powdery mildew appears as white, powdery mass on the surface of the plant. Infection can reduce photosynthesis of leaves (left) and renders fruit (right) unusable due to negative effects on pH, soluble sugars and flavor components.

Experiment Methods
Our field-scale UV-C (Fig. 2) array was based on designs from Gadoury and Mahaffee. It was built as an over-the-row triangular arch with 12 ballasts to power 24 UV-C lamps backed by polished aluminum reflectors. It was supported by a metal tower attached to the three-point hitch system of a tractor. Thick PVC strips were mounted on each end of the array like curtains to contain UV-C within the apparatus. The framework was built by VineTech Equipment in Prosser, Wash. A dose of 200 J/m2 was achieved by adjusting ground speed based upon the array length and mean irradiance at the approximate height of the fruiting zone in the vineyard (Gadoury et al. 2023). UV-C dose is based on how long the vine is exposed; a longer array, slower speed or more bulbs would equal a higher dosage. UV-C treatments were applied 30 minutes post-sunset to allow for an optimal dark period.

Our trials conducted at the WSU research vineyard in Prosser tested UV-C intervals of weekly or twice-weekly in two different timing strategies to manage grapevine powdery mildew from 2020-22. Early season timing trial consisted of UV-C treatments made from early shoot growth to pre-bloom followed by a fungicide spray program post-bloom. Season-long timing trial had UV-C treatments that replaced all fungicides from early shoot growth to three weeks post-fruit set. Early season UV-C treatments were compared against three controls and season-long UV-C treatments were compared against two controls.

Figure 2. Washington State University over-the-row ultraviolet-C light (UV-C) array at the WSU research vineyard in Prosser, Wash.

Treatments for the early season trial:
1) Early weekly UV-C
2) Early twice-weekly UV-C
3) Early unsprayed, no fungicide treatments from early shoot growth till pre-bloom
4) Unsprayed, no fungicide treatments for the season
5) Fungicide program, based off typical spray programs in Eastern Washington Vineyards

Treatments for the Season-long Trial:
1) Weekly UV-C
2) Twice-weekly UV-C
3) Unsprayed, no fungicide treatments for the season
4) Fungicide program, based off typical spray programs in Eastern Washington Vineyards

Grapevine powdery mildew was visually rated as a disease severity percentage on leaves and clusters from bloom and continued until harvest. Severity ratings were converted into an area under disease progress curve (AUDPC), which quantifies disease intensity over time, providing an understanding of how disease accumulates throughout the season. The following berry harvest metrics were measured: yield, soluble solids, titratable acidity and pH. Berry skin tannin and phenolic concentrations were additionally measured from season-long treatments following the Adam-Harbertson Methods (Harbertson et al. 2002, 2003) as phenolics are shown to increase with sunlight exposure.

Results
The hot and dry weather conditions in Eastern Washington State for 2020 and 2021 did not favor grapevine powdery mildew infection. In 2021, the daytime high temperatures from bloom to veraison exceeded 35 degrees C for 17 consecutive days. The 2022 vintage was dramatically different than the previous years, creating a favorable climate for grapevine powdery mildew infection with below-average temperatures and above-average precipitation. The low disease pressure experienced in 2020 and 2021 influenced our ability to evaluate the potential reduction of disease. It is hard to separate disease ratings when low to no disease is present.

Early season UV-C treatments significantly reduced foliar and cluster disease severity relative to the unsprayed control in 2020 and 2022 (Fig. 3). In 2021, due to extended high temperatures throughout the growing season, there was low foliar and no cluster disease in the vineyard, resulting in no separation of UV-C treatments, the fungicide program and untreated vines. Overall, early season UV-C, either weekly or twice-weekly, was as effective as the fungicide program for reducing disease. This indicates UV-C could replace standard fungicides early season in a grapevine powdery mildew management program for Eastern Washington.

Figure 3. Results based on our research published in American Journal for Viticulture and Enology (McDaniel et al. 2024). Foliar and cluster disease severity ratings represented as accumulated area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) for early season treatments. A) and C) 2020 and 2022 foliar disease AUDPC, respectively. B) and D) 2020 and 2022 cluster disease AUDPC, respectively. 2021 foliar and cluster disease is not represented as there was low to no recorded disease. Error bars are standard error (n = 4). Different letters denote significant differences among treatment means at α = 0.05 using Tukey’s honest significant difference test.

Season-long UV-C treatments (Fig. 4) in 2020 did not significantly reduce foliar or cluster AUDPC relative to the unsprayed treatments. In 2021, due to high temperatures and low precipitation, there were no differences between any treatments in foliar AUDPC, and there was no observable disease on clusters regardless of treatment. In 2022, weekly and twice-weekly UV-C applications significantly reduced foliar AUDPC relative to the season-long unsprayed control. Cluster AUDPC in 2022 was significantly reduced with weekly and twice-weekly UV-C applications with twice-weekly UV-C performing the best. In 2022, both UV-C treatments did not significantly reduce foliar, or cluster disease compared to the fungicide program. This leads us to believe that improvements to UV-C application treatments can be improved. Season-long UV-C did not affect the yield, pH, titratable acidity or Brix of the grapes. The effects of season-long UV-C on tannins and phenolics were inconsistent year-to-year, suggesting factors other than UV-C were more influential on these measures. Nonetheless, season-long or exclusive UV-C for grapevine powdery mildew management requires further evaluation under Washington State conditions.

Figure 4. Results based on our research published in American Journal for Viticulture and Enology (McDaniel et al. 2024). Foliar and cluster disease severity ratings represented as accumulated area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) for season-long treatments, including an unsprayed control, a full fungicide program or weekly/twice-weekly ultraviolet-C light (UV-C) treatments. A) and C) 2020 and 2022 foliar disease AUDPC, respectively. B) and D) 2020 and 2022 cluster disease AUDPC, respectively. 2021 foliar and cluster disease is not represented as there was low to no recorded disease. Error bars are standard error (n = 4). Different letters denote significant differences among treatment means for season-long AUDPC (final date) at α = 0.05 using Tukey’s honest significant difference test.

While not always statically significant, the consistent trend in reduction in powdery mildew disease as a result of weekly or twice-weekly UV-C treatment indicates the incorporation of UV-C into a vineyard IPM program could be an effective alternative for powdery mildew management without compromising fruit quality. To improve UV-C efficacy we believe that canopy management could play a critical role. For this experiment, we did not implement any canopy management practices as we were trying to induce grapevine powdery mildew disease. As with many foliar pesticide applications, coverage of the desired target is required for efficacy. A dense and complex canopy architecture (which our canopies were in this experiment) makes access to the fruiting zone a challenge. This might explain the more-consistent disease suppression when UV-C was applied only in the early season as canopies were less dense and allowed greater UV-C penetration. This also suggests UV-C efficacy may respond favorably to pruning and training systems that open canopies and expose the fruiting zone. To allow light (or spray) penetration to the fruiting zone, the following practices are important: shoot training, shoot thinning and leaf removal.

Future Studies
Though we are pleased with these results, considering the benefits and potential negative impacts must be addressed for grower adoption. One main benefit of UV-C is it can be used in rain or wind, making it less environmentally dependent compared to typical pesticide sprays. Another plus, there is immediate reentry after treatment. This technology provides a residue free option, uses no water, and can be used when fungicide resistance is present in populations. All these examples make UV-C a potential tool for a sustainability forward pest management program. The cons to this technology are application is labor-intensive and requires nighttime applications. Management of grapevine powdery mildew with UV-C would demand at least weekly applications, most likely twice-weekly for improved efficacy, which could be a substantial amount of tractor hours. As it is a new tool, it requires either you build it yourself or wait for commercial units. Lastly, the effects to beneficial insects are still unknown. Studies that explore these challenges will be important for grower adoption.

UV-C research is still being continued at WSU within the Moyer lab by graduate student Jesse Stevens based on the results from these findings. They are exploring how canopy management practices, such as shoot thinning and fruit zone leaf removal, can increase the efficacy of UV-C applications for managing grapevine powdery mildew.

Alexa McDaniel is now a Viticulture Extension and Research Scholar at North Carolina State University where her program aims to provide extension education materials for best viticulture practices and field-applied research focuses on pest and disease management. Additional information on UV-C can be requested from McDaniel (almcdan2@ncsu.edu) or Michelle Moyer (michelle.moyer@wsu.edu).

This work was funded by the Washington State Grape and Wine Research Program. The author would like to thank Bernadette Gagnier, Jake Shrader, Maria Mireles, Charlotte Oliver and Margaret McCoy for their help in this project.

References
Beggs CB. 2002. A quantitative method for evaluating the photo-reactivation of ultraviolet damaged microorganisms. Photochem Photobiol Sci 1:431-437. DOI: 10.1039/B202801H

Harbertson JF, Kennedy JA and Adams DO. 2002. Tannin in skins and seeds of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Pinot noir berries during ripening. Am J Enol Vitic 53:54-59. DOI: 10.5344/ajev.2002.53.1.54

Harbertson JF, Picciotto EA and Adams DO. 2003. Measurement of polymeric pigments in grape berry extract sand wines using a protein precipitation assay combined with bisulfite bleaching. Am J Enol Vitic 54:301-306. DOI: 10.5344/ajev.2003.54.4.301

Gadoury DM, Sapkota S, Cadle-Davidson L, Underhill A, McCann T, Gold KM et al. 2023. Effects of nighttime applications of germicidal ultraviolet light upon powdery mildew (Erysiphe necator), downy mildew (Plasmopara viticola), and sour rot of grapevine. Plant Dis 107:1452-1462. DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-04-22-0984-RE

Janisiewicz WJ, Takeda F, Nichols B, Glenn DM, Jurick II WM and Camp MJ. 2016a. Use of low-dose UV-C irradiation to control powdery mildew caused by Podosphaera aphanis on strawberry plants. Can J Plant Pathol 38:430-439. DOI: 10.1080/07060661.2016.1263807

Janisiewicz WJ, Takeda F, Glenn DM, Camp MJ and Jurick II WM. 2016b. Dark period following UV-C treatment enhances killing of Botrytis cinerea conidia and controls gray mold of strawberries. Phytopathology 106:386-394. DOI: 10.1094/PHYTO-09-15-0240-R

Ledermann L, Daouda S, Gouttesoulard C, Aarrouf J and Urban L. 2021. Flashes of UV-C light stimulate defenses of Vitis vinifera L. ‘Chardonnay’ against Erysiphe necator in greenhouse and vineyard conditions. Plant Dis 105:2106-2113. DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-10-20-2229-RE

Lopes UP, Alonzo G, Onofre RB, Melo PP, Vallad GE, Gadoury DM et al. 2023. Effective management of powdery mildew in cantaloupe plants using nighttime applications of UV light. Plant Dis 107:2483-2489. DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-08-22-1941-RE

McDaniel AL, Mireles M, Gadoury D, Collins T and Moyer MM. 2024. Effects of ultraviolet-C light on grapevine powdery mildew and fruit quality in Vitis vinifera Chardonnay. Am J Enol Vitic 75:0750014. DOI: 10.5344/ajev.2024.23071

Onofre RB, Gadoury DM, Stensvand A, Bierman A, Rea M and Peres NA. 2021. Use of ultraviolet light to suppress powdery mildew in strawberry fruit production fields. Plant Dis 105:2402-2409. DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-04-20-0781-RE

Suthaparan A, Stensvand A, Solhaug KA, Torre S, Telfer KH, Ruud AK et al. 2014. Suppression of cucumber powdery mildew (Podosphaera xanthii) by supplemental UV-B radiation in greenhouses can be augmented or reduced by background radiation quality. Plant Dis 98:1349-1357. DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-03-13-0222-RE

Suthaparan A, Solhaug KA, Stensvand A and Gislerød HR. 2016a. Determination of U V action spectra affecting the infection process of Oidium neolycopersici, the cause of tomato powdery mildew. J Photochem Photobiol B 156:41-49. DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2016.01.009

Suthaparan A, Solhaug KA, Bjugstad N, Gislerød HR, Gadoury DM and Stensvand A. 2016b. Suppression of powdery mildews by UV-B: Application frequency and timing, dose, reflectance, and automation. Plant Dis 100:1643-1650. DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-12-15-1440-RE

Miller Family, CAWG’s 2025 Grower of the Year, Plan Their Vineyards for the Next Generation

By

W. Blake Gray | Contributing Writer

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December 13, 2024

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Left to right is Nicholas, Stephen and Marshall Miller. The Miller family were recently named 2025 Grower of the Year by the California Association of Winegrape Growers for their endurance and commitment to strengthening the California winegrape industry (photo courtesy Miller family.)

California minimum wage was $9 an hour in 2015. Now it is $16.

Marshall Miller said his company, The Thornhill Companies of Santa Barbara County, has always paid above minimum wage. But if it continues to double every decade, Miller foresees a time when his company will not be able to afford hand pruning.

However, pruning machines that are good enough for premium wines haven’t yet been invented. But Miller believes they will be, and his family is redesigning and replanting some of their vineyards to be ready for the future.

“We think we’re at a real inflection point in the vineyard business in California,” Marshall told Grape & Wine. “We’ve seen a lot of farming by hand. We do not believe our kids’ generation will be farming this way. There’s going to be a lot more mechanization. Our goal right now is to put in the investment and planning in what grape growing looks like going forward. The tools we use now, if you’re using it for mechanical farming, they’re clumsy. I like to compare them to smart phones before the iPhone. We don’t have the iPhone yet. But it’s coming.”

The Miller family grows winegrapes in Santa Barbara County on over 1,500 acres of land.

The Miller family, fifth-generation growers, was recently named 2025 Grower of the Year by the California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG). Marshall had advance notice (about a minute). He is on the CAWG board, and when he showed up for the meeting, he learned the award was on the agenda.

“I was trying to play it cool,” Marshall said. “The people who vote on it are all growers we respect. It’s one thing to be recognized by the consumer. Being recognized by a group of people who know what they’re talking about is special.”

“It does feel good,” Nicholas Miller told Grape & Wine. “You do need to have good news in times like this. When you get a huge affirmation like this, it raises the tide of your whole organization. This is more meaningful than accolades and scores. We believe in CAWG. It’s a pretty big landscape to pick just one grower. Kind of a weird year to be it. We’re going to be celebrating at Unified while everybody is talking about Armageddon.”

The Miller family engages in a unique business strategy by tearing out grapevines on parts of their property and leasing those lands to growers of annual crops. Grapes eventually go back in the ground, allowing for less monocropping and better soil health.

Unique Operation
Nicholas and Marshall divide up responsibilities, with Marshall serving as Chief Operating Officer and Nicholas serving as Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Marketing Officer. Their father, Stephen Miller, is Chief Executive Officer. They farm 1900 acres in Santa Barbara County, 1500 of which are winegrapes. They also farm avocados and lemons and have since long before their parents planted winegrapes in 1973.

“I’ve been working with them for a long time,” said Bob Lindquist, founder of Qupé and now owner of Lindquist Family Vineyards. “My history with the Millers goes back to 1985 when Bob Miller approached me about grafting some of their vineyard over to Syrah. I said, ‘You’re probably in too cool a site.’ This was 1985. We didn’t have a lot of information about cool-climate Syrah. And he said, ‘We have Merlot and Cabernet out in our vineyard, and they ripen every year.’ And I said, ‘But have you tasted them? They’re terrible.’ He laughed. He invited me out to Bien Nacido and asked me what blocks could be grafted over to Syrah. We settled on a Riesling block that had been planted in 1973. In 1986, 7 acres were grafted over to Syrah. First crop was 1987. I’ve been making Syrah from it ever since.”

In fact, the Millers’ main marketing point for their grapes has been the quality of winemakers who work with them. They are in a position at their main Bien Nacido Vineyard of choosing their clients and have chosen well enough that the vineyard, unusually, is better known than some of the wineries that make wine from it. You can also say that about To Kalon in Napa but not many other California vineyards.

“We need to be a little bit style agnostic ourselves,” Marshall said. “For Russell From or Paul Lato who want a very rich Syrah, we are doing that, whereas for Lane Tanner who wants a very light Pinot Noir, we are doing that. In our minds, this is good customer service, to understand what the winemakers’ goals are and trying to help them make those goals.”

In addition to Bien Nacido Vineyard and Solomon Hills Vineyard in Santa Maria Valley, they own 1500-acre French Camp Vineyard in Paso Robles Highlands. It’s one of the largest certified organic vineyards in the state and allows them to sell to big wine brands, including Cupcake and Rex Goliath, that can’t afford their higher-priced Santa Maria Valley grapes.

Currently, they are doing something at Bien Nacido that other grape growers might want to consider: After tearing out grapevines on parts of their property, they are leasing those lands to growers of annual crops.

The Miller family is always looking forward and preparing for the next generation. “Our goal right now is to put in the investment and planning in what grape growing looks like going forward,” said Marshall Miller.

“Our family has really tried to stick to permanent crops,” Nicholas said. “It’s usually working with an annual grower. We want them to be able to sow the land, putting back nutrients. We’ve leased it to vegetable growers. We’ve had leafy greens. We’ve had flowers. That’s a fun one, when we get into the fields and we have gladiolas. Unlike regions like Napa that are fully planted to grapes, we really have that diversity in Santa Barbara County.”

Strawberries are by far the most valuable crop in Santa Barbara County at $775 million, worth nearly eight times as much as winegrapes, according to the county agricultural commissioner’s office. Flowers are second. Winegrapes, at $98 million, are just ahead of broccoli, cauliflower and two kinds of lettuce.

“This kind of diversity forced people in Santa Barbara County to plant grapes where they should be, up on the hillsides and the slopes,” Nicholas said. “Other farmers are happy to take that land for a short term. Leasing land is lower dollar value than winegrapes but it’s commercially viable.”

“There’s a broader protocol for us,” Marshall said. “Grapevines are a monocrop. When we can take what has been a block of grapes and farm it for something else for a period of time, it does really well for the soil health. That’s crop rotation on a generational basis. There are some plots on hillsides that are only good for grapes. But where possible, we are farming other things. We are going to put grapes back in, but with a learning dialectic.”

That said, reducing the need for labor is also a constant goal that leasing some land helps achieve. Marshall was inspired by a visit to a Porsche factory in Germany.

“They take great pride in Porsches being hand-assembled,” Marshall said. “But if you stand there and watch, an automated cart brings the part to the worker. The worker doesn’t have to move. They have thought about how to use hand labor where it has the most impact.”

Miller sees that analogy for pruning grapevines.

“We need to look at what are the capabilities of our staff,” Marshall said. “What are the things that can only be done by hand? If we can mechanize one pass at pruning, and then come back and clean that up by hand, there’s synergy there.”

The Miller family’s The Thornhill Companies include brands like Bien Nacido, Solomon Hills and more.

Everything Done Mindfully
The Millers have also been ruthless about replanting when their yield drops.

On the Central Coast, we’re in the price/value area. We need to overdeliver on the value,” Nicholas Miller said. “We have to redevelop when yields fall. If you’re an estate farmer, you can raise your bottle prices. In Napa, they can charge $300, $400 a bottle. It’s hard to get to $100 a bottle on the Central Coast. When you start getting vines that are producing plus or minus one ton an acre, it’s not commercially viable. What we don’t need in the industry right now is people holding onto unproductive and non-commercially viable vineyards. We really saw this as a leadership position we can take.”

The Millers plan to add a second drip line on all new vineyards. It will be their third irrigation system, after the first drip line and the overhead sprinklers that are mainly used for frost control. The reason is the prevalence of viruses like leafroll has led growers to pull out a single underperforming grapevine from a row much more often than a generation ago.

“No one wants this; everyone wants the vines in a vineyard to be on the same schedule,” Marshall said. “But roguing has become an important part of farming. At any given time, 2% to 3% of the vineyard will be new vines that need to be farmed very differently.”

By having a second drip line, the Millers can turn on irrigation (and fertigation) just for new vines.

“In the past, what you would do is run a water truck around and give more water to younger vines,” Marshall said. “But that’s a labor challenge for the next 20 to 30 years.”

And the Millers, in their fifth generation already, are spending a lot of time thinking about the sixth.

A Nose for Pests Trained detector dogs prove their worth in identifying VMB-and leafroll-infested grapevines.

By

Vicky Boyd | Contributing Writer

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December 12, 2024

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Lisa Finke, owner of Canine Detection Services, works a detector dog in a Lodi winegrape vineyard (photo courtesy Lodi Winegrape Commission.)

Specially trained dogs have been used to sniff out bombs, drugs and earthquake survivors, and now they’re proving their worth in finding grape pests.

A proof-of-concept trial led by the Lodi Winegrape Commission found trained dogs could identify vines with vine mealybug (VMB) infestations or grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 (GLRaV-3) infections with at least 90% accuracy. It was funded by a $428,000 California Department of Pesticide Regulation grant.

Having a cost-effective and non-destructive way to accurately identify infected vines fits nicely into the commission’s areawide integrated pest management and sustainability efforts, said Stephanie Bolton, commission grower research and education director.

Preventing GLRaV-3-infected vines from being planted in a vineyard should be at the forefront, she said. If vines become infected in a vineyard, the sooner they can be identified and removed, the less chance there is of GLRaV-3 spreading to neighboring vines or vineyards. Several growers within the Lodi area have ongoing programs to survey vineyards for GLRaV-3 in the fall when symptoms in red varieties are most prominent, send samples for laboratory confirmation and remove infected vines in the winter. The challenge is with white varieties, which exhibit few if any outward symptoms, making visual disease detection nearly impossible.

GLRaV-3 is only part of the equation. The Lodi effort also includes reducing populations of VMB, which transmit the virus. With input from the industry and researchers, the commission developed an integrated VMB pest management program that includes using clean plant material, surveying and pest detection, judicious use of insecticides, ant control and mating disruption.

An added cause for the concern is recent research suggests GLRaV-3 and one or more grapevine vitiviruses together may contribute to sudden vine collapse. Symptoms start with stunted vine growth, and within a matter of weeks, entire vines die and become dried out. The issue appears to be associated with sensitive rootstocks, including Freedom.

Lisa Finke, owner of Canine Detection Services, has trained dogs to detect various agricultural pests, including grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 and vine mealybug. She prefers medium-sized dog breeds with floppy years because they appear more approachable (photo by L. Finke.)

Early Detection
Bolton said she got the idea for the project after hearing Tim Gottwald, a now-retired USDA-ARS plant pathologist, talk about using dogs to sniff out the causal agent of citrus greening. Also known as huanglongbing or HLB, the bacterial disease has decimated the Florida citrus industry. It is spread by Asian citrus psyllid.

California agricultural pest management leaders hope to slow the spread of HLB and Asian citrus psyllid within the state to prevent an outcome like Florida’s.

In his trials, Gottwald found trained dogs could identify infected trees with more than 99% accuracy. They also could find trees within two weeks of inoculating with Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, which causes HLB. That compared to laboratory PCR testing, which identified only 3% of infections at two months after inoculation. In trials, the dogs had a 100% detection rate for Asian citrus psyllid.

Bolton, who was the principal investigator on the grant, turned to Lisa Finke, owner of Canine Detection Services in Fresno. Finke had already trained dogs and shown the value of using their super-developed olfactory senses to detect bedbugs, Asian citrus psyllid and HLB. She currently is training several dogs to detect ACP and HLB in Ventura County as part of a CDFA survey program.

Lisa Finke, owner of Canine Detection Services, rewards a dog with play time after it positively detected a grapevine pest in a vineyard (photo courtesy Lodi Winegrape Commission.)

Although Finke said most dogs can be trained to detect pests if they have the drive, she prefers mid-sized, floppy-eared breeds, such as Labrador retrievers and springer spaniels, for field work. They’re tall enough to reach branches or cordons without having to stand on their hind legs all the time yet their floppy ears project a welcoming animal.

The Lodi project was the first time Finke had worked with a virus pest, but she used the same training techniques she had with the bacterial disease HLB, citrus psyllid and bedbugs.

“It took me a year because these are tricky target odors,” Finke said about GLRaV-3. With that experience under her belt, she said she could now train a dog to detect the grape virus in one to six months.

As part of the grant, Finke acquired and trained nine dogs. In both indoor and outdoor trials, she and Bolton used potted grapevines on which they attached small pieces of VMB-infested or virus-infected plant material. They also included VMB mating disruption as well as several winegrape varieties to try to intentionally distract the dogs.

Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 (GLRaV-3) is one of the targets of the detector dogs. In red varieties, telltale symptoms are most visible in the fall. But in whites and roostocks, visual syptoms are rarely apparent (photo by V. Boyd.)

The proof-of-concept project culminated with field trials in real vineyards. To avoid moving VMB, Bolton had the dogs conduct insect-detection trials in the commission’s demonstration vineyard, which was already infested. The GLRaV-3 field trial was conducted in a vineyard in which every vine had been laboratory tested for the virus. Using plots of 25 vines, they conducted 17 to 18 reps.

Among all three detection set-ups for VMB, the dogs averaged 97.3% sensitivity and 99.6% specificity. A high specificity means few false positives.

For GLRaV-3, the dogs averaged 93.4% sensitivity and 99.6% specificity among all three types of tests. That compared to the results from five labs, which averaged 92.9% sensitivity and 91.4% specificity.

“These results kind of blew away the results from the lab,” Bolton said. “The dogs and the handlers only improved with time. The vine mealybug dogs were even better. By the time they got to the end of the trials, they were 100%.”

Detector dogs also were trained to sniff out vine mealybugs, which can spread grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 (GLRaV-3) (photo by S. Bolton.)

Most Bang for the Buck
Where Bolton sees detection dogs providing the most value is in nurseries, based on the concentrated number of vines for which they’re responsible. One mother vine, for example, may provide budwood for propagating 20 or 30 scions.

Although the state Grapevine Registration & Certification Program samples nurseries, it tests less than 1% of vines in registered increase blocks for viruses and only does so once every five years.

“Rootstocks and white grape varieties, whether at the FPS nursery level or the grower commercial vineyard level, can be sneaky sources of virus inoculum,” Bolton said. “There is a lot of false sense of security around the grape certification program. There’s a dire need for something better.”

Currently growers or PCAs walk vineyards in the fall, looking for telltale symptoms of grapevine leafroll-associated virus-3 and marking suspect vines for genetic testing. If they test positive, the vines will be removed during the winter (photo by V. Boyd.)

Bolton was referring to the lack of visual GLRaV-3 symptoms in infected rootstocks or white grape varieties. Infected red grape varieties typically exhibit reddish leaves with green veins in the fall. But that’s not true in all cases.

If detection dogs continue performing as they have, Bolton said they could help significantly reduce the number of infected asymptomatic vines moving from nurseries into vineyards. That would go a long way to addressing GLRaV-3, she said.

Based on an economic analysis of their research project, Bolton said detection dogs could inspect nurseries at a cost of about 1 cent per vine.

Exciting Changes: Grape & Wine Magazine Goes Digital

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Jason Scott | Publisher/CEO, Grape & Wine, JCS Marketing Inc.

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December 11, 2024

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Dear Valued Reader,
I’m Jason Scott, publisher of Grape & Wine, and I’m reaching out to share some exciting news about the future of our publication. As part of our commitment to sustainability and delivering high-quality content more efficiently, we are transitioning Grape & Wine to an entirely digital format.

This change allows us to align with environmentally conscious practices while continuing to provide you with the in-depth articles, industry updates and insights you’ve come to expect. By going digital, we can also reach you faster, expand the types of content we offer and ensure that Grape & Wine remains the trusted source for grape and wine professionals.

What You Need to Know
• Print Copies Discontinued: Beginning February 1, Grape & Wine will no longer produce print editions.

• High-Level Content, Now Online: All our articles, news and resources will be available in an easy-to-access digital format, ensuring you don’t miss a beat.

• Free Subscription: To continue receiving our content for free, simply subscribe online at myaglife.com/subscribe.

By subscribing, you’ll gain access to:
• Industry-leading articles and research

• Exclusive digital resources and updates delivered straight to your inbox

• Enhanced multimedia content, such as videos and podcasts

We value your continued support and look forward to providing you with even more dynamic, engaging content in this new format. Subscribe today to stay connected and ensure you don’t miss out on the latest trends and insights in the grape and wine industry.

Thank you for being part of the Grape & Wine community. Together, we’re taking a step toward a more sustainable future for our industry.

Warm regards,
Jason Scott, Publisher, Grape & Wine

Grapevine Red Blotch Virus Requires a Different Approach Than Other Maladies

By

Pam Strayer | Contributing Writer

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December 9, 2024

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1-1-1b — Grapevine Red Blotch Virus Requires a Different Approach Than Other Maladies

“Red blotch is not only novel,” said Cornell researcher Mark Fuchs, speaking at the Napa Grape Growers’ Rootstock conference on November 19. “Red blotch does not behave like anything else we are familiar with.

“Forget about making analogies with Pierce’s disease. Forget about making analogies with leaf roll. We have to empty our hard drive and start rewiring everything, the way we see everything, the way we think about red blotch. So, it requires a whole village to start thinking outside the box.”

Over the last 15 years, grapevine red blotch virus (GRBV) has impacted countless winegrape vines, spreading in mysterious ways with no known cure other than vine removal, which has an enormous impact on profitability. Experts recommend replanting a vineyard when GRBV has infected 30% of the vines. Typically, vintners remove individual infected vines, a challenge as the disease can take three years for vines to show symptoms.

A native of Alsace, Fuchs is professor in the School of Integrative Plant Science Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section at Cornell AgriTech.

In 2012, Fuchs began studying GRBV in Rutherford on a Cabernet Franc vineyard when, he said, he naively made the mistake of thinking the virus was moving in from the riparian areas. But subsequent DNA analysis did not fit that hypothesis. He studied the vineyard for 10 consecutive years, seeing the disease spread year after year.

Over time, he realized there were two distinct epidemics going on in the same vineyard. The clue was the disease spread differently in different parts of the vineyard. There was random distribution (what he called “salt and pepper” type of distribution) in a portion of the vineyard, resulting in a 1% annual increase. In another part of the vineyard, the disease spread quickly and increased 6% per year.

“There are two factors that influence the rate of spread: the level of disease, or the prevalence in any particular block, and the population density of the three-cornered alfalfa hopper (TCAH). These two factors are key to explaining fast spread or slower spread, or very little spread or almost no spread,” Fuchs said. “Because how many times have we seen a fully infected block adjacent to a less infected block and there is barely any spread here? And sometimes it spreads almost like wildfire?”

Untangling the way GRBV spreads is even more complicated because weather events affect the rate of spread, he said.

“This is something very unique to red blotch,” he said. “I’m not aware of any equivalent, whether there is a statistically supported correlation between weather events and disease increase three to four years later. Let that sink in for a second. What I’m trying to say is what we see visually today is the result of an event that happened three or four years prior.”

Weather “doesn’t affect the virus, it doesn’t affect the vine. It affects the three-cornered alfalfa hopper.” Fuchs said TCAH eat mostly from sources outside the vineyard. But in dryer years, they find less to eat beyond the vineyard and gravitate to the vineyards, which are green and irrigated, to find food. Hence, in wetter years, the insect spends more time in the vineyard, but the resulting infection is not seen until three years later.

Fuchs and collaborators came to this conclusion after studying the guts of the hoppers and found TCAH eat more than 150 species. “It eats almost everything, but the plants we found, mostly in their gut, are not grown in vineyard settings. They are in the surroundings. They are in natural habitats. They are in ditches, in dirt roads, in riparian areas, in woodlands and the kind of things rarely grown in vineyards, rarely part of cover crop mixes.

“They don’t spend as much time in vineyards when it’s wet. They don’t need to. They have the preferred food outside vineyard settings,” he added.

5 acres of Cabernet franc with grapevine red blotch virus exposure in 2014 through 2023. 2014 (top) showed 4% disease prevalence and increased to 36.3% in 2023 (bottom).

Managing Red Blotch: Zonal Roguing

The takeaway from all this research? Fuchs recommended tailoring management to each block and keeping the hoppers out when it rains.

When removing infected vines, Fuchs advocated a specific type of vine removal, zonal roguing, which calls for removing adjacent vines that have not yet shown GRBV symptoms.

“Zonal roguing is a new concept whereby you eliminate diseased vines and some of the neighboring vines whether they are infected or not, or whether they are diseased or not,” he said. Growers can choose from two patterns, he said.

In closing remarks, UCCE Viticulture Farm Advisor Monica Cooper in Napa County said her team was learning more and more about TCAH habitat. “We’re more likely to catch TCAH when our study site is surrounded by grasslands or oak woodlands, and less likely when it’s surrounded by vineyards or riparian woodlands.”

She reiterated zonal roguing is the best way forward.

“We cannot get ahead of GRBV by just pulling out the symptomatic vines every year,” she said. “The issue that we’ve been having is our vine-by-vine roguing efforts have not reduced spread in aggregated areas, so we keep removing all those symptomatic vines and instead of the epidemic going downhill, it still continues to climb.”

She said the best practice is zonal roguing, which removes vines adjacent to infected ones. Though the adjacent vines are asymptomatic, they are likely to show signs of infection in future years, she said.

FIRA Ag Tech Robotics Show Offers Solutions for Vineyards, Wineries

By

Pam Strayer | Contributing Writer

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November 14, 2024

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1-1-1 (16) — Organizers of a new ag tech incubator, Reservoir Farm, announced the launch of their two coming facilities in Salinas and Merced in 2025, which will offer spaces for startups to conduct research and development to create new ag tech products that meet growers’ needs. From left to right: Richard Chapman, Hartnell College; Cody Jacobsen, Merced College; Gabe Youtsey, The Vine (UC Davis); Walt Duflock, Western Growers Association; and Danny Bernstein, HawkTower.

The third-annual FIRA USA expo held October 22 to 24 at the Yolo County Fairgrounds set record levels of attendance for the event, with more than 2,000 attending the three-day conference. Admission for growers was free, leading to a grower turnout of 500.

Held in Woodland, the event brought tech innovators, venture capitalists, UC staff, ag tech connectors, state officials and growers together to network and learn about automation solutions for specialty crops, including winegrapes.

CDFA Secretary Karen Ross kicked things off, praising the development of the ag tech sector as a welcome addition supporting the state’s agriculture industry, ensuring food security, promoting climate resilience and creating high-paying jobs.

The event featured 85 exhibitors and 20 demos. Attendees came from more than 30 states and 40 countries. According to the list of registrants, vineyard company attendees included a dozen employees from Lodi-based Vino Farms as well as staff from Napa-based wineries Caymus and Domaine Chandon, along with other wine industry participants.

The exhibition areas were wildly diverse, a true melting pot with Indian entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley hawking their vineyard Wi-Fi technology, a San Joaquin Valley-based sales team showing off its autonomous LIDAR enabled sprayers, a Sonoma vintner turned ag tech software maker demonstrating a fleet, and a first-time exhibitor from China with a vineyard robot.

“Labor challenges and climate change are particularly impacting specialty crop production,” said Walt Duflock, senior vice president of innovation for Western Growers Association (WGA), one of the main sponsors of the event. “We are convinced robots are the new era of climate-smart machinery.”

The FIRA USA event is a three-way partnership with GO FAR (a French nonprofit that runs the global FIRA ag tech robotics show in Toulouse), UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (and its innovation group The Vine), and WGA (which has 2,200 farmer members).

WGA recently published a landmark case study showing Braga Fresh “ran two [Carbon Robotics] LaserWeeders to cover 4,700 acres… including spinach and arugula… resulting in annual savings of $822,500, a 39% reduction in weeding costs.”

As a result, startups, venture capitalists and investors and growers are taking note and bringing more products to market.

New Ag Tech Robotics Incubator Announced

On October 23 at the show, organizers of a new ag tech incubator, Reservoir Farm, announced the launch of their two coming facilities in Salinas and Merced in 2025, which will offer spaces for startups to conduct research and development to create new ag tech products that meet growers’ needs. The goal is to help startups go further faster with access to Reservoir Farm’s testbed plots and offices to speed up commercialization of innovative products.

The centers are not focused on specific crops and welcome startups to become members no matter what crop they work with.

New products like the Amos Power autonomous tractor were featured as innovative ag tech solutions to winegrape growers and producers at the 2024 FIRA USA expo.

Vineyard Automation Products Demos

More than 20 vineyard equipment manufacturers brought their products to the event, including Agtonomy (software enabling partners’ tractors), Amos Power (autonomous tractors), Burro, Farm-ng, Guss and MQ Autonomous Agtech (both sprayers), Map and Zap (laser weeders), Naio (autonomous vineyard machines used in France) and Skysense (drones).

Popular in France, Naio just recently received FCC approval for its equipment to operate in California. It offers both a wheel-based solution and a crawler (gentler in terms of soil compaction).

To see a list of vineyard products from FIRA USA exhibitors, click here.

In a show of force in an afternoon demo, Agtonomy deployed three Doosan Bobcat tractors moving simultaneously and autonomously through parallel vineyard rows. Founded by Geyserville grower and vintner Tim Bucher of Trattore Farms, Agtonomy’s approach is to develop state of the art software to control tractors growers already use. The company’s units are currently in use in trials with E. & J. Gallo, Silver Oak, Treasury Wine Estates and others.

Vineyard Automation Panel

A Thursday panel titled “Addressing Automation Needs in the Vine Industry” featured growers demonstrating a variety of vineyard sizes. Panelists included Agustin Santi, vineyard operations project manager at sparkling wine producer Domaine Chandon in Napa, owned by LVMH, a French luxury company. The winery farms 1,000 acres of vineyards in Napa. It recently stopped using synthetic herbicide and received a (non-organic) regenerative certification. It relies on automated irrigation systems.

Jamie Reamer of Reamer Farms in Clarksburg farms 1,200 acres of vines. She spoke about the challenges of holding vendors accountable when equipment does not work, and it is unclear which vendor in the system is responsible for fixing things.

Eric Pooler, vice president of viticulture and winery relations at Silverado and Nuveen Natural Capital, oversees winegrape growing on more than 15,000 acres in California and was enthusiastic about some of the products he saw at the show.

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