Like many producers, Tamburlaine Organic Wines face the season-to-season challenges of pest and disease management, accurate yield estimation and the efficient allocation of resources.
Add 700 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Semillon, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Noir, Malbec, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Franc vines across the Orange and Hunter regions, and you quadruple the challenge.
In November last year, with Wine Australia support, Tamburlaine began trialing a new integrated management system that incorporates yield estimation, automated irrigation optimisation and disease predictions in a single system designed to simplify processes and save time.
Tamburlaine viticulturist Marty Gransden said while Terraview’s Platform system was new, they were open to trialling it.
“As a progressive business we wanted to be part of the early adoption and research and development of technology and were quietly confident the Platform system had the potential to benefit not only our business, but also the wider wine sector.”
Marty says the Platform system – which uses an online dashboard, detailed weather and agronomic data combined with artificial intelligence and machine learning – has given Tamburlaine real-time, block by block information including NDVI imagery, yield estimates, moisture index and vegetation health index throughout the growing season.
“Of particular interest to us is the yield estimation function that uses localised weather data, historical yields and machine learning.”
Marty said while early results for the 2022 vintage have been around 65 per cent accurate, they expect accuracy to increase to 85 per cent or greater in the second year of the trial.
Marty said the ability for Tamburlaine’s vineyard managers to access real-time, block-by-block information combined with the pest and disease alerts has been very helpful to manage viticultural issues before they impact on yield or quality.
“For example, the Terraview Vine Click app was particularly helpful giving managers and operators the ability to capture images of leaves and vines they suspected might have had a nutritional or disease issue.
“These images were uploaded to the online vineyard maps, which helped create a real-time picture of how the season is progressing and gave our vineyard managers timely, vineyard specific information.”
Marty said having all the information on one dashboard, rather than spread across a number of different programs or websites, has been useful.
“The yield estimates have also been valuable for our winemakers and production managers to identify any shortfall in varieties needed to fill wine orders, and we are looking forward to the reduction in labour costs associated with traditional yield estimation techniques.”
Marty’s message to other growers and viticulturists thinking about trialling new technology was to do their homework – and keep their minds open.
“Research what technology is on the market and ask yourself what you want any new technology to do for you – and how can it make your business more efficient and resilient.”
Marty will be involved in an agtech demonstration day of the Terraview Platform in mid-2022. Keep an eye out in RD&A News for registration.
You can learn more about the Platform system here.