When you’re weighing your irrigation automation options for your next vineyard development project, there are good reasons to consider putting Lumo in from the start. 1. Faster Vine Establishment With Lumo installed, you’re never going to miss irrigations, which is especially important during heat events that can damage young vines. Everything will run automatically according to the schedule you set, even overnight and on weekends and holidays.  You’ll eliminate the risk of under or over-irrigating because you’ll be tracking water volumes at a block level and you’ll receive alerts whenever there’s something up with your irrigation system performance.  Nailing your irrigation upfront is critical to the longevity of your vines, ensuring their roots get properly established and improving the long-term productivity of your vineyard.  With Lumo in from the start, you can be 100% certain your vines are getting the care they need to thr

If this year is defined by a singular emotion, it’s anxiety. That’s nothing new in farming, however I’m talking about anxiety over the abysmal grape market rather than any natural phenomenon. Many of us were so busy scrambling for buyers, we may have forgotten to notice just how great the weather has been. Why wouldn’t we get handed a great year when most of us can’t sell any grapes? Let’s look at some numbers My gut feeling was that 2025 was similar to 2023 with a few big differences. 2023 saw some record high rainfall in the winter and early spring throughout California. Even the Paso Robles area got around 21” of rain from July 1st 2022 to July 1st 2023, up from a whopping 6.5” the year prior. That amounted to lots of nice canopy development early in the year and some good yield potential, provided you didn’t get shatter during the chilly springtime. This year however, the Central Coast was back to a measly <7” of rain w

Trying to manage the weeds in your vineyard? John Roncoroni, Weed Science Farm Advisor Emeritus with the University of California Cooperative Extension, Agriculture and Natural Resources covers control practices including biological, mechanical, cultural, chemical, and perhaps in the future, electrocution. Although weeds rarely compete with vines, they can host insect and vertebrate pests and get in the way of pruning crews, increasing labor costs. Listen in for John’s number one tip to better manage weeds in your vineyard. LISTEN IN Resources:           128: A New Focus on Weed Management (Rebroadcast) 26th IPM Seminar #1: Sustainable Weed Management for Vineyards and Vineyard Ponds Herbicide-resistant weeds challenge some signature cropping systems (Journal article) John Roncoroni MAINTAINING LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT: Herbicide-resistant weeds challenge some signature cropping systems Post-harvest Weed Control with Napa RCD and John Roncoroni (video) Sus

In the 1880s, Pierce’s disease caused a devastating, total collapse of the Southern California grapevine industry. Today, growers have hope for the future thanks to new varieties. Adam Tolmach, owner of Ojai Vineyard, planted four of these new varieties as a field trial on a plot of land where Pierce's disease wiped out his grapes in 1995.  Pierce’s disease is a bacterium spread by insects, typically a sharpshooter. One bite and the vine dies within two to three years. To develop resistant varieties, Andy Walker of the University of California at Davis crossed the European grape Vitis vinifera with Vitis arizonica. 20 years later, commercial growers have access to three red and two white varieties. Listen in to learn how Tolmach’s experiment is a success both in the vineyard and with customers. Plus get tasting notes for the new varieties. LISTEN IN Resources:         REGISTER: The Ins & Outs of Developing a New Vineyard Site 89: New

UC Cooperative Extension Diversified Agriculture and Viticulture collaboration - Join us for the first ever UCCE Pear and Grape Field Day this May 28th in Hopland, CA. The event will focus on the intersection between pear and winegrape production in the north coast. Presentations will be given by experts from University of California and other trusted organizations. Topics will include: Site Monitoring Cover Crops Fungal Pathogens Common Pathogens Soil Health Water Use Efficiency in Perennial Crops Invertebrate Pests Vertebrate Pests and more When and where: May 28, 2024 8:00 am – 11:00 am: – Rosetti Orchards (14200 Old River Rd., Hopland, CA 95449) 11:30 am – 3:00 pm: – Campovida Winery (13601 Old River Rd, Hopland, CA 95449) Register Here

Despite the deluge we Californians got this winter and early spring, we’re not out of the drought. Many of the state’s groundwater basins are still overdrafted, some by a lot. The reason we’re in dire straits right now is because of agriculture. There are not enough low-flow toilets in the world to offset the water requirements of the Central Valley. Most of that demand is irrigation-related and that seems to be the focus of water-savings measures. I know we at AV certainly hang our hat on it. But there’s an elephant in the room… Its name is frost protection. Now frost protection can get hairy because if you mess it up, you can lose an entire season’s crop. Anybody remember 2022? Over-head sprinklers are also really good at preventing frost-related damage. Even microsprinklers have their limitations. If you get super low temperatures, that water can freeze inside the emitter and render them useless. Hard water can also clog microsprinklers just as t

Santa Barbara County Wine Legends for Sale: Longoria wines seeks to sell it all, while Ampelos Cellars offloading vineyard, not brand... The post Afternoon Brief, October 15 appeared first on Wine Industry Advisor. Url:https://wineindustryadvisor.com/2020/10/15/afternoon-brief-1718?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=afternoon-brief-1718 Published Date:Thu, 15 Oct 2020 21:57:51 +0000 

Society gains $10 in benefits, on average, per $1 invested in international agricultural research and development, according to a new report released today (Oct. 14, 2020) by the Supporters of Agricultural Research (SoAR) Foundation. “This report shows that international agricultural R&D, of the type that drove the Green Revolution, continues to generate a fantastic rate […] The post Report Finds 10 to 1 Return on Investment in International Agricultural Research appeared first on Wine Industry Advisor. Url:https://wineindustryadvisor.com/2020/10/15/investment-international-agricultural-research?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=investment-international-agricultural-research Published Date:Thu, 15 Oct 2020 19:38:24 +0000