Progress 06/15/21 to 06/08/22
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for the ASEV-NGRA Precision Viticulture Symposium (held virtually, June 21, 2021) and follow-up Demo Day (held in person in California's Salinas Valley on April 13, 2022) was a mix of: Industry representatives: Grape growers (wine, table grapes and raisins), viticulturists, outreach specialists Grape-related scientists from academic institutions, federal research agencies and extension agencies The Zoom-based format for the Symposium (conference proceedings) enabled participation by a global audience. There were 206 registered attendees for the Zoom-based symposium, not only from the U.S. but also Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Brazil, France, Great Britain, Japan, Mexico and New Zealand. Speakers for the Symposium also included scientists from beyond the U.S., including Australia, France and New Zealand. Demo Day sold out its 150-person capacity, attracting attendees predominantly from industry in California, within driving radius of the event. But they were joined by industry representatives from, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington, as well as a delegation of faculty and students from the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Changes/Problems:When NGRA and ASEV first proposed the Precision Viticulture Symposium, it was envisioned as a two-day in-person meeting co-located with the ASEV National Conference in June 2021 in Monterey, CA. However, during the grant application process, we jointly acknowledged the prudence of pivoting the program to a digital format where possible. Thus, we produced the Symposium via a digital platform in June 2021 and scheduled the Demo Day for April 2022, when we felt we would be able to gather in person again. The two-part event was a success, due in no small part to funding from USDA-NIFA's AFRI program. Thank you! What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?As one journalist (Don Neel, Practical Vineyard and Winery Management) noted, the majority of the technologies discussed and/or demo'ed at the event are yet in the research and development phase, or early in adoption. As was intended, the event illustrated the intersection of science and application, where researchers could show the promise of precision technology and its early results. By showing what's possible, scientists and commercial partners can gauge market demand and gain understanding of additional features and price points. Training and professional development, including extension events and applications for grower adoption, will surely follow as these innovations mature and become more widely commercially available and more affordable. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Please see OTHER PRODUCTS section above. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The grant is complete, no additional reporting is anticipated.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Relevant accomplishments for the major goalsare shown below, in order as they are listed above: 1)The talks at the Symposium revealed the theory behind and data supporting the application of precision viticulture techniques, whether in vine management, disease- and pest-management, crop estimation and other decision support (as the sessions within the event were grouped). At Demo Day, these tenets came to life, showing how early-adopting growers are employing the principles and technologies (in some cases fabricating their own) as needed to support the goals of their operations. 2) As mentioned above, the Symposium was broken into topic areas: Vine Management, Pests & Diseases, Crop Estimation and Other Decision-Making Tools. At Demo Day, additional nuances were added, such as business operations and management, and site preparation and soil health. From the grower panel discussion titled "Bringing it all Together" at the Symposium to the onsite talks and demonstrations at Demo Day, all attendees could see how an applied precision orientation to farming, production and operations overall can improve grape-growing and overall efficiencies. 3)At the Symposium, talks were given by scientists representing... Four other countries: two were from Australia, but different research institutions (CSIRO and University of Adelaide); one from France (L'Institut Agro) and one from New Zealand (Lincoln Agritech) One federal research agency (NASA) not generally associated with agriculture, illustrating the emerging application of satellite imagery and data in precision farming and water management One other specialty crop (almond), employing remote sensing and machine learning for crop estimation Demo Day ended with a demonstration by Stout Technologies of two AI-enabled mechanized solutions for weed management (Stout Smart Sprayer) and cultivation (Stout Smart Cultivator) used in vegetable production. These technologies hold promise for grape, and certainly opened attendees' imaginations to the possibility of tools used in other commodities, based on questions and verbatim comments onsite. 4)The Symposium introduced researchers and growers, where the former could present their science to an engaged and informed audience eager for solutions and the latter could learn about innovations in the works, ask questions, offer suggestions and feedback, and gather contact information for later follow-up. The grower panel at the end of the day was enlightening, both for scientists and industry colleagues, providing insight into how early-adopters are using precision tools and techniques--and making them their own. Research gaps were perhaps most evident at Demo Day, where examples were shown in which growers have had to innovate (and fabricate) their own devices (e.g., a winged ripper at Monterey Pacific, sensors mounted to biocontrol drones at Scheid Family Wines) and/or eagerly await technology already in use in other crops (AI technology on a weed sprayer from Stout Technologies). 5)The Symposium revealed a philosophical tension between use of precision viticulture to: Adapt to the inherent variability of a vineyard site to direct fruit to relevant production streams based on quality and/or describe distinct growing regions, as opening keynoter Rob Bramley explained, or As closing keynoter Nick Dokoozlian suggested, render "prescriptive analytics" for managing vineyards with foresight, moving "beyond what Mother Nature gave us...to drive to the desired quality tier or yield,"proactively not reactively. Both keynoters and other speakers referred to the need for a "killer app" in precision viticulture, and seemed to agree that yield estimation may be that app. However, the shortfalls of sensor technology, relative to their resolution and difficulty in "seeing" through leaves, 3D clusters and double-sided vineyard rows, and the difficulty in collecting, validating and manipulating sufficient amounts of data have continued to hamper efforts at developing this capability. The Precision Viticulture Symposium underscored the fact that crop estimation remains an area for continued research. 6)In the timeframe in which the Precision Viticulture Symposium and Demo Day were held, ASEV's journal, the American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, has published several articles on relevant subject matter, in one instance (see last bullet) by speakers at the event: Assessment of Vineyard Water Status by Multispectral and RGB Imagery Obtained from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle October 2021 (Published ahead of print June 8, 2021) Manipulating Nitrogen and Water Resources for Improved Cool Climate Vine to Wine Quality January 2022 (Published ahead of print November 19, 2021) Mechanical Pruning and Soil Organic Amending in Two Terroirs. Effects on Wine Chemical Composition and Sensory Profile January 2022 (Published ahead of print November 19, 2021) Remote Sensing, Yield, Physical Characteristics, and Fruit Composition Variability in Cabernet Sauvignon Vineyards, April 2022 (Published ahead of print February 24, 2022) 7) Both the Symposium and Demo Day could be described as extension events, ensuring that research outcomes are reaching the industry they're intended to benefit. The industry audience that opted into both events was attentive and eager for answers. They actively interacted with speakers during Q&A portions of the Symposium and, at Demo Day (which achieved maximum capacity of 150 registrants), asked them questions during demos and sought them out for conversations over a glass of wine at the closing reception. The interaction between attendees at both events, including scientists working at research institutions and/or extension agencies, viticulturists and outreach specialists in commercial operations, grape growers, representatives of industry organizations and even aspiring students, and the organizers' ability to assemble a knowledgeable, collegial group, both on stage and in the audience, were viewed as unique and valuable benefits of admission. 8) The value of the research made possible via federal grant programs was underscored as follows: All talks given about all federally funded research projects included an acknowledgement of federal grant fundingas relevant. Symposium and Demo Day promotions and day-of materials prominently featured an acknowledgement of the AFRI Conference Grant that made the program possible. In addition, the two participating NASA scientists (federal researchers) were properly credited. 9)The accessibility of the speakers at both the Symposium and Demo Day underscored a key benefit of attending industry events. But the fact that the event was organized and produced by two membership organizations serving the research needs of the grape and wine industry illustrates the power that members of organizations have to identify a need to gather and share information and promote dialog on a topic--that is, to do something about it, like organize an event that serves their needs. It was not expected that either organization would see a direct uptick in membership inquiries, but we did experience an increase in signups for our research-related communications. Anecdotally, we also noticed a high degree of direct interaction and exchange of contact information among attendees, particularly at the in-person Demo Day.
Publications
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