Beware of Dubious Agricultural Terms

The language of agriculture and wine grape growing is constantly evolving and we seem to come across new words all the time. Ultimately, the goal of all new words should be to improve our ability for clear and concise communication. Some additions to our lexicon are...

Ciatti Global Market Update – August 2014

With tanks full around the world, we decided to offer a brief respite from the detailed version of the Ciatti Global Market Update. If you are reading this in the Southern Hemisphere we hope you are settling in for a nice winter as the wines finish and ready...

Late-season Mite Infestations and Management

Every year in Lodi there are a few vineyards that have a late-season infestation of spider mites, especially the Pacific spider mite. By late-season I mean late August or September. Typically the grower’s attention during that time period is shifting to harvest and...

Regulated Deficit Irrigation – Part II

Part I of this series presented basic concepts of regulated deficit irrigation (RDI), early season soil moisture management, and the vine component of the soil-vine-atmosphere moisture continuum. In this posting, we will explore the other components of the continuum...

Regulated Deficit Irrigation – Part I

Deficit irrigation refers to the practice of applying less than the full amount of water a vineyard can use.  The objective of deficit irrigation is to induce and sustain moderate water stress that arrests shoot growth and limits fruit growth without impacting foliage...

Lodi Acreage and Potential 2014 Crop Size

Here at Allied Grape Growers AGG, we recently combed through the 2013 Grape Acreage Report published by the California Ag Statistics Service.  As we have done over the years, we analyzed every corner of the report, identifying missing acres and creating a better...