A Protocol to Map Vine Size in Commercial Single High-Wire Trellis Vineyards Using “Off-the-Shelf” Proximal Canopy-Sensing Systems

Goals: This report aims to present a clear protocol for (a) deploying proximal canopy sensors into single high-wire trellis Concord (Vitis labruscana cv. Bailey) vineyards and (b) converting the canopy sensor response into an indication of vine size (pruning weight). The protocol is designed to be robust and practical for easy adoption in commercial systems. Evidence will be presented of the efficacy of vine size prediction using the protocol in multiple research and commercial vineyards.

Key Findings:

• Using different vineyards and pruning crews, the protocol performed well in >80% of vineyards and permitted growers to generate maps of actual vine size within vineyards.

• These maps provide a valuable indication of current site-specific production potential and a baseline to assess changes in vine size over time.

• In a few vineyards, the proposed simplified calibration process did not generate a clear relationship between canopy response and vine size, which may be due to changes in vine shape in highly mechanized systems.

Impact and Significance: Managing vine size is critical to the long-term sustainability of cool climate viticulture and to managing quality in all viticulture systems. However, convincing growers to routinely measure vine size for more effective management has been difficult historically because of the time involved and the difficulty of translating the data into a decision process. The proposed protocol uses technology and targeted sampling to minimize the effort required, and presents more coherent information that allows fast grower responses. Grower adoption of this protocol should promote continual vine size measurement, with the goal of decreasing vine size variation within vineyards.