Page 54 - Grapevine SeptOct 2021

Around The Vineyard

begin? You’re not alone. Not too many grape grow- work on creating free, user-friendly web-based
ers have embraced PV yet. platforms that growers can use to get started.
He and other speakers argued that working with
But many feel that this is just the beginning of PV PV-trained vineyard advisors would make this easi-
adoption, and some of the speakers cited strong er as well.
interest in their regions. They feel that the poten-
tial for these tools is strong, because of their ability Bates works on the Efficient Viticulture Project
to improve vine management. and the myEV Platform (my.efficientvineyard.com),
where growers can create accounts and collect,
Most of the applications described above are not organize, map and interpret their own vineyard
yet fully available, as researchers work to develop data. The goal is to make it easy and accessible.
them. However, some applications such as yield
maps, soil fertility maps, and vine vigor maps are According to Bates, many growers shy away from
entirely possible for growers willing to give them a PV because of the learning curve. Bramley argues
try. that avoiding PV due to the learning curve would
be a “missed opportunity” for America’s grape
One major obstacle is finding the expertise and industry.
technical support to make it happen, and learning
how to map data on your vineyard. Fortunately, I will add that some PV applications are much sim-
Researchers are also working hard to develop tools pler than others, and growers can start small while
that will allow growers to more readily use it. learning the ropes.

Terry Bates from the Cornell Lake Erie Research Bates also recommends growers have a goal in
and Extension Lab suggested that PV developers mind for what they want to use PV for, rather than
Page 52 The Grapevine • September - October 2021 877-892-5332

Grapevine Main Pages GV091021_Layout 1-1 .indd 52 8/19/21 2:26 PM