By Kara Lynn Dunn

Precision technology is alive and thriving in the Betts Farms vineyard blocks at Westfield, N.Y. “Variable-rate management helps us work smarter,” says Thom Betts, a fifth-generation grape grower.

He and his mom and dad, Dawn and Robert Betts, have been ramping up precision management to work 185 acres of Concord grapes. “Using precision scanning and prescription management, we apply mechanical thinning to manage for variation in each block of grapes to achieve optimal crop load,” he explains. It substantially reduces the labor workload. In fact, the family hires just one worker for 100 hours to help harvest the grapes for shipment through the National Grape Cooperative to a nearby Welch’s plant.

NO SOUR GRAPES: “Participating in innovative research has taught us how to let machines be our labor,” says Dawn Betts.

As part of a Lake Erie Regional Grape Program research trial six years ago, the family began using three sensor systems to spatially map their vineyard block characteristics — the Duelem mobile soil sensor system, normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) canopy sensors, and ATV yield sensors with GPS receivers and data loggers. The data identifies and maps patterns of growth and fruit production.  

The mapping drives management activities. It guides hand-sampling for crop yield estimation. It also provides data for shoot or fruit thinning by variable-rate machines, plus guides fertilizer application and harvest auditing activities.

For midseason fruit thinning, the data drives the picking head and the number of times the beaters hit the vine to remove targeted amount of fruit for ideal vine load.

The $20,000 payback

Harvest-validated results proved valuable enough to justify a $20,000 investment in farm-owned NDVI sensors, monitor, GPS, software and liquid components for the sprayer.

Before scanning, “our crop estimates were off 10% to 15% of actual harvest,” reports Thom. “Using the precision mapping, we’ve been less than 5% off for four years and less than 2% off for two years. It’s nice to know in July what our crop will be instead of on the last day of harvest.”

Drought, however, threw the family a curve in 2016. Sensor data was on track like any “normal” year until late-season NDVI scanning indicated the vines on gravel soils were stressed even with an average crop load and had stopped growing.

“I wish we would have acted on the over-stressed vines and taken some fruit off,” reflects Thom. “The data ended up being very accurate as our 2017 crop estimation showed the potential for half a crop on our gravel soil due to the drought.

“Research has proven that the data are a very good tool for our farm, or any farm. We learn from every experience and plan going forward to pay more attention to the data as another tool for success.”

Next on the precision ag agenda

The family currently tracks 17 different datasets. Now they’re exploring variable-rate application of potash and nitrogen, and precision liming.

“NDVI mapping is one of the most profitable and beneficial things we’ve done,” affirms this grower. The data helps them manage vine health throughout the year and plan for years to come. He’s confident it’ll help to produce a more consistent crop year-in, year-out.

Thom credits LERGP for inviting the family to test the technology, BCA Ag Technologies for assistance in applying it, and the New York Farm Viability Institute for funding the research trials. “It’s awesome to have support for precision ag research. I believe it’s necessary to keep agriculture and its economic impact in New York.

“We’re harvesting a more uniform crop already in the six years that we’ve utilized this technology. And we’re able to deliver our fruit to the factory earlier with better quality.”

“With New York’s highly variable soils, there’s tremendous potential for farmers to benefit from adopting this precision technology,” notes NYFVI Managing Director David Grusenmeyer. For more on precision grape vineyard management, contact Terry Bates, Lake Erie Regional Grape Program, 716-792-2800, ext. 207, or visit lergp.cce.cornell.edu.

Precision grape management by the numbers

The Lake Erie Grape Research Program offers these economic impact values for precision ag application:

• $75 per acre: Estimated cost of bud thinning
• $275 to $3,300: Estimated profitability (gain per acre from thinning)
• Up to $15 million: Regional benefit of precision vineyard management
• 1-degree brix gain for every 3 tons of fruit thinned to reach ideal crop load

Dunn writes from Mannsville, N.Y.

NYFVI is a farmer-led nonprofit that invests in innovative projects to increase the success of ag production enterprises, protect farm-based natural resources and produce measurable farm-level results. Visit nyfvi.org for more information.