July 2022 - 8

Cornell's precision viticulture research covers
everything from the soil to canopy
By Gary Pullano
Senior Correspondent
Researchers at Cornell University's
School of Integrative Plant Science
are addressing vineyard variability
challenges with new
digital agriculture
solutions.
They are bringing
High-Tech Tools
2022
engineers into the
vineyard to develop
and test various
soil, canopy and
crop sensors; working with software
specialists to map and integrate spatial
vineyard information; and using
variable-rate technology for precision
vineyard management.
Cornell sponsored a webcast in June
that featured Justine Vanden Heuvel,
professor in Cornell's School of Integrative
Plant Science; and Terry Bates, a senior
research associate who runs Cornell's
Lake Erie Research and Extension Lab
in Portland, New York. In the session,
moderated by eCornell's Christopher
Wofford, the researchers described how
precision viticulture offers a new set of
tools for producers to target yield, quality
and sustainability goals.
Originally funded through the U.S.
From left, Cornell University's Justine Vanden Heuvel, moderator Chris Wofford and Terry Bates discuss precision viticulture during a
June 8 Cornell University webcast. Photo: Gary Pullano
Department of Agriculture/National
Institute of Food and Agriculture/
Specialty Crop Research Initiative, a
key element of Cornell's involvement is
participation in the Efficient Vineyard
(EV) project. The national effort is
designed to advance the use of precision
viticulture in wine, juice and table
grape production. The disciplines of
engineering, precision agriculture,
viticulture and economics are blended
to measure vineyard soil, canopy and
crop characteristics, model spatial data
for viticulture information and manage
vineyard crop load through
variable-rate machine applications.
" We've had some of this data available
for years but it's been too pricey for
small growers, " she said. " Now we're
seeing a lot more emphasis on how
we use free satellites or smartphones
or data that you collect on your own
and put in your smartphone. This data
should be available to growers all over.
We've just got to make sure there's not
an economic barrier to that. "
Traditional grape production relies
on sharp-eyed growers walking through
the vineyards to check on vines and
plant health.
" Digital viticulture is using a wide range
of technologies that help us figure out
what exactly is going on in the vineyard,
and then using that information to guide
some of our practices so that they are
more efficient and more sustainable, "
Vanden Heuvel said.
" Precision viticulture is about
collecting spatial data in the vineyard
from various sources and then
processing that data into viticulture
information that's meaningful to
growers and that they can make
decisions on and then applying
variable rate management in the
vineyard by various techniques, " Bates
said. " (These could include) manually
or by making variable rate machines to
do work in the vineyard.
" The My Efficient Vineyard (EV)
software is an important part of that
because it's how we access and work
with our grower groups in accessing
data and working with them on making
management decisions, " he said.
" Anyone who is interested in just getting
started with digital viticulture, all you
need is a cell phone and the GPS that is
on your cell phone, plus the My EV app,
where you can go out and collect your
own spatial data using the data collector
in the software, and be able to map it
and be able to see the variation in your
own vineyard. "
Growers can find more information
and sign up for the free My EV app
at efficientvineyard.com. Bates said
the application can be used for other
specialty and row crops, as well.
A regional benefit
Vanden Heuvel said EV can be
particularly beneficial to New York
grape growers.
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July 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2022