Los Angeles – When tractors supported by artificial intelligence have become available for vineyards, Tom Gamble wanted to be an early adopter. He knew there would be a learning curve, but Gamble decided that technology was worth understanding.
The third generation farmer bought an autonomous tractor. It plans to deploy its autonomous functionality this spring and currently uses the AI sensor of the tractor to map its Napa Valley vineyard. As he learns each line, the tractor will know where to go once it is used independently. The AI in the machine will then process the data it collects and will help play better informed decisions concerning its cultures – what it calls “precision agriculture”.
“This will not completely replace the human element to put your boot in the vineyard, and this is one of my favorite things to do,” he said. “But that will allow you to work more intelligently, more intelligently and ultimately, make better decisions under less fatigue.”
Gamble said that he planned to use technology as much as possible due to “economic quality, air quality and regulatory imperatives”. Autonomous tractors, he said, could help reduce its use of fuel and reduce pollution.
While AI continues to grow, experts say that the wine industry is proof that companies can effectively integrate technology to complete work without moving labor. New agricultural technology and AI can help farmers reduce waste and manage more efficient and durable vineyards by monitoring water use and helping to determine when and where to use products such as fertilizers or antiparasitic control. Tractors and irrigation systems supported by AI, according to farmers, can minimize the use of water by analyzing soils or vines, while helping farmers manage vineyard acres by providing more precise data on the health of a culture or what will be the performance of a season.
Other facets of the wine industry have also started to adopt technology, since the use of generative AI to create personalized wine labels to turn to Chatgpt to develop, label and price a whole bottle.
“I do not see anyone losing his job, because I think that the skills of a tractor operator will increase and accordingly, and maybe they supervise a small fleet of these machines which are there, and they will be offset because of their increased level of competence,” he said.
Farmers said Gamble, still evolve. There were fears when the tractor replaced the horses and mules that pull plows, but that technology “proven”, just like AI agricultural technology, he said, adding that the adoption of any new technology always takes time.
Companies like John Deere have started using AI that wine producers are starting to adopt. The agricultural giant uses “Smart Application” technology on tractors, for example, helping producers applying cultures retention using sensors and algorithms to feel foliage on grape awnings, said Sean Sundberg, director of business integration at John Deere.
The tractors who use this technology then vaporize “where there are grapes or leaves or so on so that it does not spray unnecessarily equipment,” he said. Last year, the company announced a project with Sonoma County Winersers to use technology to help viticultural people maximize their performance.
Tyler Klick, partner at Redwood Empire Vineyard Management, said his business had started automating the vineyard irrigation valves that he helps to manage. The valves send an alert in the event of a leak and automatically stop if they notice an “excessive” water flow.
“This valve actually begins to learn the typical use of water,” said Klick. “He will learn how much water is used before production begins to fall.”
Klick said that each valve costs around $ 600, plus $ 150 per acre each year to subscribe to the service.
“Our work, viticulture, is to adjust our operations to the climatic conditions we have dealt with,” said Klick. “I can see AI help us in finished conditions.”
Angelo A. Camillo, professor of vittalers at the Sonoma State University, said that despite the excitement compared to AI in the wine industry, some smaller vineyards are more skeptical about their ability to use technology. Small family operations, which, according to Camillo, represent about 80% of the wine sector in America, disappear slowly-many have no money to invest in AI, he said. A robotic arm that helps bring together wine pallets, for example, can cost up to $ 150,000, he said.
“For small vineyards, there is a question mark, which is the investment. Then there is education. Who will work with all these AI applications? Where is the training? He said.
There are also potential challenges with scalability, added Camillo. Drones, for example, could be useful for smaller vineyards that could use AI to target specific crops that have a bug problem, he said-it would be much more difficult to exploit 100 drones in a 1000 acres vineyard while using IT workers who include technology.
“I don’t think a person can manage 40 drones like a drone swarm,” he said. “There is therefore a constraint for operators to adopt certain things.”
However, AI is particularly good for monitoring the health of a harvest – including the way the plant itself goes and if it cultivates enough leaves – while monitoring the grapes to help the yield projections, said Mason Earles, an assistant professor who directs AI of the plant and the Biophysics laboratory at UC Davis.
Diseases or viruses can sneak and destroy whole vineyards, said Earles, calling it an “elephant in the room” through the wine industry. The process of replanting a vineyard and making it well produced takes at least five years, he said. AI can help producers determine which virus affects their plants, he said, and if they should tear off a few crops immediately to avoid losing all their vineyards.
Earles, which is also co -founder of the agricultural management scout fueled by AI, said that his company uses AI to process thousands of images in hours and quickly extract data – something that would be difficult in hand in large vineyards that extend over hundreds of acres. The Scout AI platform counts and measures the number of grape clusters as soon as a plant begins to flower in order to predict what will be a yield.
The winegrowers earlier know how much performance to expect, the better they can “compose” their wine manufacturing process, he added.
“Predict the yields you are going to have at the end of the season, no one is so good for the moment,” he said. “But this is really important because it determines the amount of employment contract you will need and the supplies you will need to make wine.”
Earles does not think that the budding use of AI in the vineyards “freaks the farmers”. Rather, it provides that AI will be used more frequently to help with difficult labor and discern problems in the vineyards with which farmers need help.
“They saw people trying to sell them technology for decades. It is difficult to cultivate; It is unpredictable compared to most other jobs, “he said. “Walking and counting, I think people would have said a long time ago:” I would let a machine take over. “”