Sustainable Winegrowing

Imagine one vineyard machine that can prune, harvest, monitor vine health, and help guide irrigation decisions throughout the season.
Manoj Karkee, the Norman R. and Sharon R. Scott Professor of Agricultural Science at Cornell University, explores how artificial intelligence, robotics, and cyber-physical systems can make farming more efficient and economical.
Learn how multipurpose and soft robotics can tackle vineyard tasks, how cameras and sensors feed AI models to guide crop management, and how human-robot collaboration reduces labor, input costs, and resource use. 

Resources:  

233: The Gap Between Space and Farm: Ground Truthing Satellite Data Models
249: Making it Easier to Use Satellite Data in Agriculture
312: Why the Best Ag Tech Is Built With Growers 
Beckstoffer Vineyards
Cornell University Ag Robotics Lab
Manoj Karkee 
Manoj Karkee | Google Scholar
Manoj Karkee | LinkedIn
Manoj Karkee | Research Gate 

Support the Podcast: 

Make a Donation 

Vineyard Team Programs: 

Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Help students from vineyard families pursue higher education
Online Courses - Earn DPR and CCA hours with expert-led sustainability trainings
SIP Certified - A trusted third-party certification proving your sustainable practices with science-backed standards
Sustainable Ag Expo - Join top experts at the premier winegrowing event of the year
Vineyard Team Membership - Connect with a community advancing sustainable winegrowing

When we talk about sustainability in wine, practices like conserving water, enhancing soil quality, and supporting biodiversity often come to mind. But sustainability is about more than caring for the land; it's about caring for the people behind every bottle. 

Resources: 

Apply for SIP Certified Wine
Join 2027 ReSIProcal February (Members Only)
Marketing Tips eNewsletter
Real Stories, Real Impact
SIP Certified Marketing Toolkit

Support the Podcast: 

Make a Donation 

Vineyard Team Programs: 

Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Help students from vineyard families pursue higher education
Online Courses - Earn DPR and CCA hours with expert-led sustainability trainings
SIP Certified - A trusted third-party certification proving your sustainable practices with science-backed standards
Sustainable Ag Expo - Join top experts at the premier winegrowing event of the year
Vineyard Team Membership - Connect with a community advancing sustainable winegrowing

Healthy soils are built through years of management decisions and sometimes rethinking old practices. Jim Lincoln, General Manager of Beckstoffer Vineyards in Napa Valley, shares how his approach to weed management has evolved from cultivation and herbicides to mowing, sheep grazing, cover crops, and no-till practices.
Learn how these changes have improved under-vine soil health, influenced weed populations, and affected costs. Jim discusses the real-world tradeoffs of building soil health and the opportunities it creates to improve fruit quality. 

Resources:  

128: A New Focus on Weed Management (Rebroadcast)
229: Weed Control in Vineyards
Beckstoffer Vineyards
Jim Lincoln Named Senior Vineyard and Environmental Sustainability Manager of Beckstoffer Vineyards
University of California Integrated Pest Management Integrated Weed Management 

Support the Podcast: 

Make a Donation 

Vineyard Team Programs: 

Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Help students from vineyard families pursue higher education
Online Courses - Earn DPR and CCA hours with expert-led sustainability trainings
SIP Certified - A trusted third-party certification proving your sustainable practices with science-backed standards
Sustainable Ag Expo - Join top experts at the premier winegrowing event of the year
Vineyard Team Membership - Connect with a community advancing sustainable winegrowing

Growers rarely taste the wine made from their grapes. At Hope Family Wines, Stasi Seay uses annual tastings to help them connect their farming decisions to what's in the glass. 
Resources: 

Apply for SIP Certified Wine
Marketing Tips eNewsletter
Real Stories, Real Impact
SIP Certified Marketing Toolkit
Tell Your Sustainable Story Online Course  

Support the Podcast: 

Make a Donation 

Vineyard Team Programs: 

Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Help students from vineyard families pursue higher education
Online Courses - Earn DPR and CCA hours with expert-led sustainability trainings
SIP Certified - A trusted third-party certification proving your sustainable practices with science-backed standards
Sustainable Ag Expo - Join top experts at the premier winegrowing event of the year
Vineyard Team Membership - Connect with a community advancing sustainable winegrowing

Microbats are tiny natural predators with a big appetite for insects, but the uniform structure of a vineyard can keep them from venturing far into the block. Matt Fowles, Owner and CEO of Fowles Wine, noticed that vineyard blocks near trees had less moth pressure than those bordered by open grassland.
He shares how that observation inspired a system of vertical structures designed to give microbats echolocation points and encourage them to move deeper into the vineyard. Early trials show increased bat activity and promising potential for natural pest control in vineyards. 

Resources:  

272: 30 Gophers a Night: Why Barn Owls Belong in Your Vineyard
306: Using Barn Owls for Gopher and Rodent Control in Vineyards
Bat Navs: A project by Fowles – Series Trailer 
Fowles Wine Activates $500K Grant to Go Into Bat for Aussie Viticulture, Safeguarding Against Costly Pests
Matt Fowles - Fowles Wines - a cool-climate wine producer
Microbats (little bats) 
Microbat | Wikipedia
The bats safeguarding against pests in vineyards
What are 5 species of microbats? 

Support the Podcast: 

Make a Donation 

Vineyard Team Programs: 

Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Help students from vineyard families pursue higher education
Online Courses - Earn DPR and CCA hours with expert-led sustainability trainings
SIP Certified - A trusted third-party certification proving your sustainable practices with science-backed standards
Sustainable Ag Expo - Join top experts at the premier winegrowing event of the year
Vineyard Team Membership - Connect with a community advancing sustainable winegrowing