Richard Hoff
Director of Viticulture, Mercer Ranches; Prosser, WA
Mechanically managing vineyards over 5+ years, in the manner laid out below, has shown that it is possible to meet all quality and yield parameters that were previously achieved using hand labor.
- Mechanical spur pruning down to 1-2 buds per spur is achievable using Pellenc’s TRP Pruner
- Mechanical shoot thinning and desuckering can be achieved using current technologies
- Mechanical fruit thinning (and deleafing) can be accomplished using suck-and-cut style deleafers between bloom and bb-size berries
- Mechanical harvesting can deliver mostly whole berry and debris-free fruit to the winery
The future will see operations like these being automated and carried out in a variable-rate fashion. Further, mechanical wire lifting is already possible, but still leaves much to be desired with current technologies.
Key takeaways from mechanically managing vineyards are:
- Set high expectations no differently than if the operation was being done by hand
- Establish and maintain precise measurements and standards for your equipment
- It is necessary to be ready to frequently change strategies based on phenology and logistics
- Thinking in longer segments of linear feet will help you measure yield parameters in a way that smooths out the additional variability that mechanization brings to the vineyard