IRRIGATION DISTRIBUTION UNIFORMITY

Did you know that yields within a single grapevine row can vary up to 5x? One factor in this yield variation is irrigation. Poor Irrigation System Distribution Uniformity (DU) has been shown to negatively impact crop yields in numerous studies conducted over the past...

USDA NRCS EQIP Funding

The USDA’s NRCS  Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is a voluntary program that provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers to plan and implement conservation practices that improve soil, water, plant, animal, air and...

TO HEDGE OR NOT TO HEDGE?

Hedging is a summer pruning method involving the removal the distal or apical ends of shoots.  In some parts of the world hedging is called topping or tipping.  Like all pruning methods, hedging depresses vine growth vigor and capacity.   It does so by reducing the...

WHEN NEGOTIATION DOESN’T WORK

In January the Lodi Winegrape Commission hosted a very informative and well-attended workshop on negotiation presented by Jim Olson from the Graduate School of Management at U.C. Davis.  Jim is extremely knowledgeable and his presentation was universally well...

GRAPEVINE SHOOT THINNING FOR MULTIPLE BENEFITS

If shoot thinning were a book or movie it might be entitled Pruning: The Final Chapter.  Quite simply, shoot thinning, which is the selective removal of shoots, enhances the viticultural effects of pruning and in some ways, finishes the pruning job.  Here we will...