Precision irrigation automation has never been accessible for most viticulturists. Because it’s expensive and complicated, only the largest producers with sizable budgets could afford its benefits – until now. Since its inception, Verdi has thrown open the door to a high quality, affordable, user-installed irrigation automation system for wine grape growers at all levels of production. Verdi allows irrigation to be managed on multiple properties manually, remotely, with schedules, and by utilizing farm sensors that notify the system when crops require additional water. It also alerts them when there are problems, so they always know if their watering systems are functioning properly. “We installed Verdi on a couple of our properties, which historically had been difficult to manage as far as irrigation and immediately I noticed just the labor cost savings overall.” — Stephanie Adamson, Irrigation Technician, Quails Gate Winery The Verdi system solves anot

Precision irrigation automation has never been accessible for most wine grape growers. Because it’s expensive and complicated, only the largest producers with sizeable budgets could afford its benefits – until now. Since its inception, Verdi, has thrown open the door to a high quality, affordable, user-installed irrigation automation system for wine grape growers at all levels of production. Verdi allows irrigation to be managed on multiple properties manually, remotely, with schedules and by having farm sensors tell the system when the crops need more water. It also tells them when there’s problems, so they always know if their watering systems are functioning properly. “Previously, we would spend up to four hours a day, turning on valves, turning on pumps, ensuring everything was working. Now, I can remotely plan out execute my whole day within fifteen or twenty minutes, which frees me up to do bigger and better things on our site.” — Mathew Fortu

Afternoon Brief: New US Alcohol Report Tainted by Bias, Conflicts

Broad Group of National Agriculture, Beverage and Hospitality Associations Urges Secretaries of USDA and HHS to Reject Findings...

Verdi’s mission is to make modern irrigation automation accessible to all growers, regardless of vineyard size or type of irrigation system — even manual systems can be automated.  Most automation solutions for irrigation are expensive and tailored toward the upper tier of vineyard operations. Existing systems also fail to address the worsening conditions farmers face, including labor shortages and environmental concerns such as droughts, water scarcity and new water usage monitoring requirements from the government.  Yet, every grower needs to reduce water costs and waste and the time their team spends patrolling the vineyards for valve malfunctions and line breaks, as well as improve the quality and yield of their crop. As Verdi’s founders, CTO Roman Kozak and CEO Arthur Chen, worked to solve these problems, they realized the solution was to make the latest technology affordable and simple enough for farmers to install themselves.  “Arthur and I

Afternoon Brief, June 13th

Vintners Warn a Wine Shortage Could Be Coming, as They Try to Adapt to Climate Change: From cold snaps in B.C. to flooding in Italy, extreme weather is damaging crops...

British Columbia 2021 Vintage Report: Okanagan Winemakers Optimistic After Difficult Growing Season

A difficult growing year for the Okanagan Valley to produce superbly flavorful Canadian wine. —Andrew Monro Wineries and vineyards in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley are optimistic that this might be one of the most flavorful vintages they’ve ever had—but with a reduced yield. The Okanagan is British Columbia’s oldest appellation, a roughly 124-mile-long area stretching […]