SPECIALTY CROPS
sustainability efforts. Employing low-cost monitoring techniques, the research analyzed irrigation across 84 vineyard sites for four years, mapping irrigation volumes against seasonal rainfall and evapotranspiration patterns. The results revealed a tangible inverse relationship between winter rainfall and annual irrigation, offering a data-centric strategy for managing vineyard water use.
Further advancing sustainable practices, the “Energy Efficiency and Water Savings in Agriculture by Innovative Plant-Aware Irrigation” study, conducted by the California Energy Commission, outlines the practice of “plant-aware irrigation.” Tested in California’s vineyards, the method — which utilizes sap flow sensors to tailor irrigation precisely to the plants’ needs — yielded up to 61% savings in water and energy but has also led to improvements in grape quality, according to the study.
Tom Darling, the winemaker behind Darling Wines, Sonoma, California, affirms that sustainable approaches aren’t exclusively for those with access to the latest technology. He and his contemporaries are marrying time- honored techniques, such as maintaining ground cover and practicing limited tillage, with modern irrigation methods. “On the vineyard side, there’s a lot of movements going on right now around sustainability, particularly regenerative farming,” says Darling. “Leaving a ground cover in the middle of the vineyard allows for a better soil structure, more water retention and then also it allows for more life in the soil in the center. Tilling directly under the vine is especially important if you’re doing a lot of irrigation because you are going to have more green growth and more competition. So, finding that balance on the tillage side has been a really great conversation in recent years, and it’s definitely pushing sustainability further.”
As vineyards navigate these challenges, the drive for innovative solutions becomes increasingly crucial.
22 Irrigation TODAY | Winter 2024
Experts like Battany and Darling predict future trends in vineyard irrigation technology, emphasizing the need for continued innovation to ensure the sustainability and success of the wine industry, but also point out that adopting new technologies can pose challenges. Battany discusses the barriers of cost, training and scalability, while Darling emphasizes the balance between technological advances and environmental concerns.
Alongside these environmental considerations, Battany highlights operational challenges vineyards face, particularly in data management.
“If you’re farming a large acreage, just keeping track of the data associated with your irrigation management, that’s a huge task for people,” says Battany. “One of the really challenging things for a lot of these vineyard companies is just the constant turnover of people that happens in many industries, right? So it’s difficult to have systems if you’re relying on people keeping data in their memory to then transfer use in future years, especially if that person moves on to another company.”
Battany adds that innovations are great, but just because they exist doesn’t necessarily mean they will be adopted immediately.
“A lot of these farming operations, especially of perennial crops, once you get a system established, you are not able to make 180-degree turns and totally change the system,” says Battany. “There’s no way that the industry can change overnight. Even if somebody comes up with some fantastic new product implementation, it is still going to take some time. There’s going to be an inertia that’s just unavoidable with a permanent crop.”
Despite this, Darling illustrates this balance through innovative practices being adopted by forward-thinking growers.
“We’re seeing a lot more growers who are open to thinking in this more progressive
mindset, which is instead of using artificial fertilizers, renting a flock or a herd of sheep and getting them into the vineyard to take care of some of the weeds and also put manure back into the soil, which increases the nitrogen, helping the soil along with the vine health,” says Darling. “And ultimately, it’ll help the yields down the road as well. It’s just that how can we work more naturally and more in partnership with the ecosystem and try and nourish the ecosystem versus using more of the synthetic products that may neutralize or hurt the natural ecosystem?”
Innovations in irrigation technology are poised to influence the future of viticulture, with the potential for a meaningful industry impact. Insights from Battany and Darling underscore the importance of continued innovation for the sustainability and success of the wine industry.
Battany highlights the proactive nature of the industry, noting, “The global wine grape industry is probably one of the most progressive sectors of agriculture where they really do look for and try to be early adopters of any tool or method that they think can help them do better. Especially if it’s a crop product which is driven by quality. The margins can be very slim, just like in many crops. So, everybody is really looking for ways to do things better.”
This forward-thinking approach is essential in an industry where quality is paramount and the margins are often slim. Finding that balance is crucial, says Darling.
“I think that the more deeper that I get into it, I feel like balance is always the answer,” he says. “Seeking balance in your vineyard will ultimately help your balance in your wines, and irrigation, depending on the vineyard, plays an important role in that. So, I think it’s an important conversation, and I appreciate being a part of it.”
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irrigationtoday.org
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