Greg Pennyroyal of Wilson Creek Winery and Vineyards was looking for soil moisture systems and found that the products available in the market were all expensive, proprietary systems that did not meet the needs of small block Temecula vineyards.

He partnered with Reinier van der Lee, CEO of Vinduino, to reverse engineer the technology to develop a product that would give the same results for a fraction of the cost. They have expanded this project over the last five years to collect more and more data that can improve irrigation decisions. Today, they can connect the dots between SAP analysis and soil analysis and continue to add more variables. Over collecting data now will allow them to see what things are most actionable so they can develop a system that is economical and implementable for all blocks.

Because there is more to irrigation than how much water is put on, the next phases of research will look at how water holding capacity, organic matter, and biological capacity at vineyards under different farming methods like Regenerative Agriculture impact irrigation efficiency.

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126: Developing New Irrigation Technology for a Fraction of the Cost

Sustainable Winegrowing