Artificial Intelligence (AI) has integrated into our world in multiple sectors. Now, AI is making its way into wine vineyards as a supplement for labor cutting back on waste, and maintaining more sustainable practices.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now making its way to the wine industry, specifically within vineyards. The ways in which AI is being integrated within these vineyards is actually proving that new technology can be utilized within businesses without displacing real workers.
AI can now help farmers to cut back on waste while helping maintain sustainable practices such as monitoring water use and helping laborers determine when to use fertilizers or pest control. According to AP, farmers are saying that AI-backed tractors and irrigation systems can help minimize water usage and analyze soil or vines.
AI can help farmers manage their vineyards and give them data on the health of their crops. Tom Gamble runs a vineyard in Napa Valley that has begun utilizing AI tractors. He told AP that he’s planning on using the tractor’s self-driving feature, and is currently using it to map his vineyard and make decisions about his crops.
“It’s not going to completely replace the human element of putting your boot into the vineyard, and that’s one of my favorite things to do, but it’s going to be able to allow you to work more smartly, more intelligently and in the end, make better decisions under less fatigue.”
Gamble also said he plans on using the technology for its “economic, air quality, and regulatory imperatives,” to cut back on pollution.
“I don’t see anybody losing their job, because I think that a tractor operator’s skills are going to increase and as a result, and maybe they’re overseeing a small fleet of these machines that are out there, and they’ll be compensated as a result of their increased skill level,” he said.
John Deere is a large company that started using AI as well, utilizing “Smart Apply” technology on tractors to help farmers determine what materials to use for crop retention.
“The tractors that use that tech then only spray where there are grapes or leaves or whatnot so that it doesn’t spray material unnecessarily,” said Sean Sundberg, business integration manager at John Deere.
Partner at Redwood Empire Vineyard Management, Tyler Klick, stated that the company has begun using automating irrigation valves at the vineyards they manage. These valves are able to alert the workers when there’s a leak and can automatically shut off the system if there’s excessive water that could cause a flood.
“That valve is actually starting to learn typical water use. It’ll learn how much water is used before the production starts to fall off. Our job, viticulture, is to adjust our operations to the climatic conditions we’re dealt. I can see AI helping us with finite conditions.”
Angelo A. Camillo, a professor of wine business at Sonoma State University, said that some smaller vineyards around the nation are more skeptical about their ability to access and use this technology. 80% of wine businesses in America are small operations, and many of them are disappearing. They likely can’t afford to use the AI tech.
“For small wineries, there’s a question mark, which is the investment. Then there’s education. Who’s going to work with all of these AI applications? Where is the training?” Camillo said.
“However, AI is particularly good at tracking a crop’s health – including how the plant itself is doing and whether it’s growing enough leaves – while also monitoring grapes to aid in yield projections,” said Mason Earles, an assistant professor who leads the Plant AI and Biophysics Lab at UC Davis, to AP.
“Diseases or viruses can sneak up and destroy entire vineyards, [like an] elephant in the room across the wine industry,” Earles said, adding that he’s hopeful and believes that AI will become more accessible and will be used throughout many farms across the country.
“They’ve seen people trying to sell them tech for decades. It’s hard to farm; it’s unpredictable compared to most other jobs,” he said.
“The walking and counting, I think people would have said a long time ago, ‘I would happily let a machine take over.’”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
