HTTP/1.1 200 OKServer: AkamaiNetStorageContent-Length: 42530Content-Type: text/htmlSet-Cookie: nk=d4fd537ff29480321d64cc0d8815e26d; expires=Fri, 03-Oct-2025 09:54:47 GMT; domain=.weeklytimesnow.com.au; secure; SameSite=NoneSet-Cookie: nk_debug=nk_set; expires=Sun, 03 Oct 2027 09:54:47 GMT; path=/; domain=weeklytimesnow.com.au; SameSite=None; Secure;Set-Cookie: nk_ts=1711775422; expires=Sun, 03 Oct 2027 09:54:47 GMT; path=/; domain=weeklytimesnow.com.au; SameSite=None; Secure;Set-Cookie: nk=d4fd537ff29480321d64cc0d8815e26d; expires=Sun, 03 Oct 2027 09:54:47 GMT; path=/; domain=weeklytimesnow.com.au; SameSite=None; Secure;Vary: User-AgentX-PathQS: TRUEX-ARRRG4: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/X-ARRRG5: /blaize/decision-engine?path=https%3a%2f%2fwww.weeklytimesnow.com.au%2fsponsored%2f2TdhRxee09nl1Fh9av9D%2ftechnological-advances-shaping-the-future-of-viticulture%3fnk%3dd4fd537ff29480321d64cc0d8815e26d-1711775422&blaizehost=v4-news-au-weeklytimesnow.cdn.zephr.com&content_id=&session=d4fd537ff29480321d64cc0d8815e26dBlaizeHappened: trueContent-Security-Policy: block-all-mixed-content; style-src https: 'unsafe-inline'; script-src https: blob: 'unsafe-inline' 'unsafe-eval'; img-src https: data:; frame-src https:;Content-Security-Policy-Report-Only: frame-ancestors 'self'; report-uri https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/csp-reportsStrict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000 ; includeSubDomainsETag: "d61d9f0fc6178ec585237f5fb8365334:1710812926.059959"Expires: Thu, 03 Oct 2024 09:54:47 GMTCache-Control: max-age=0, no-cachePragma: no-cacheDate: Thu, 03 Oct 2024 09:54:47 GMTConnection: keep-aliveTechnological advances shaping the future of viticulture Technological advances shaping the future of viticulture
Winemakers are turning to creative technical solutions in order to adapt in a challenging market.
Viticulture technology is changing winemaking in Australia.
FutureAg, powered by AGRITECHNICA, Australia’s International Agricultural Exhibition and Conference.
It’s a long way from the days of standing in a barrel squishing grapes with your feet. Today’s winemakers are receiving text messages from their vines, telling them when it’s time for some extra water.
It’s just one of the extraordinary advances in viticulture technology that is changing winemaking in Australia.
CEO of Athena IR-Tech Jay Holata said winemakers are embracing technology due to the pressures in the industry.
He explained one of the biggest challenges is the availability of water. Not only has climate change made rainfall less reliable, but other pressures such as government buy-back schemes have made it critical for those in viticulture to better manage their water supply.
“What it really boils down to is grape growers are being asked to do a lot more with a lot less water,” Mr Holata said.
“Their product needs a higher yield and to be a higher quality.”
He said his business has developed technology called Transp-IR, which senses the moisture levels of a grape vine, allowing growers to be more strategic in the way they irrigate.
“Historically many growers would water based on a schedule,” Mr Holata said. “But with our solution, the plant says how much water it has (sending a text to a winemaker), and a grower might be able to make the decision not to water to save money,” he added.
Mr Holata explained that Transp-IR works by using sensors sitting just above the crop, which monitor how well the plant is using water to photosynthesise.
“It tells the grower when they should irrigate. So we’re giving the crop only the water it needs and no more.”
CEO Fiona Turner from Bitwise Agronomy. Image supplied.
INDUSTRY UNDER PRESSURE
But water is just one of the huge pressures those in viticulture are currently facing.
With China placing tariffs on Australian wine, many growers are struggling to make a profit, so they have to be strategic about using technology to reduce ongoing costs.
Bitwise Agronomy CEO Fiona Turner is an experienced winemaker and said many growers are struggling.
“It’s hard in the Australian wine industry right now. We’ve got to be really efficient. What we’ve been seeing is people are looking at cutting costs, and (aiming to) have the right staff on, doing the right things,” she said.
She explained Bitwise Agronomy has developed technology designed to help winemakers minimise their staff costs by using technology, rather than people, for repetitive tasks.
“Our customers take a GoPro camera while they’re out there doing another job like mowing,” she said, explaining the camera would be attached to the tractor, filming the vines as it drives past.
GoPro camera would be attached to the tractor, filming the vines as it drives past. Image supplied.
“They will then upload that into the portal where our artificial intelligence will give operational insights as to what might happen with the crop at a certain time,” she said.
Ms Turner said by using AI, a grower can save the huge amount of time it takes to walk through every vineyard. The AI will give them data, so they can address a particular area of their crop.
“We need to drive down the operational price,” she explained, adding that in many cases it wasn’t about asking a robot to do the job a person once had – there simply isn’t the labour available in many parts of Australia to manage vineyards successfully.
“It’s not about replacing people with robots. We (need to ask) how can we do these repetitive jobs with technology?”
By using AI, a grower can save the huge amount of time it takes to walk through every vineyard. Image supplied.
VITICULTURE LOOKING TO TECHNOLOGY FOR SOLUTIONS
These questions are being posed at the FutureAg Expo, where pressures on the viticulture industry and potential solutions will be explored.
Principal engineer at The Australian Wine Research Institute Dr Simon Nordestgaard, who is speaking at the conference, explained that winemakers are responding to challenges in the industry by looking for a variety of solutions.
“Grape growers are trialling new technologies, such as autonomous machinery, which will help address labour shortages, while keeping production costs down,” he said.
He said the difficult reality is that too many winemakers have their backs against the wall right now and need to look for creative solutions to stay profitable.
“It is a very challenging time for the Australian wine industry at the moment. There is a global surplus of wine and, unfortunately, many growers are currently unable to sell their grapes profitably,” he said.
Dr Nordestgaard believes the industry is on the precipice of a huge change in terms of how technology is used.
“I believe that autonomous machinery will be the biggest step-change in farming technology in decades. AI techniques will also help to facilitate autonomous machinery, for example camera image analysis to detect genuine obstacles in front of vehicles … and stop, while continuing to drive through large overhanging vine canopies just as a human driver would do,” he said.
This huge improvement in technology is something Mr Holata also believes is about to completely change the viticulture industry.
“I feel we are in the early stages of ag tech when it comes to wine grape growing, and we’ve got a long way to go,” he said.
Register today at futureagexpo.com.au, April 17-19, 2024, at Melbourne Showgrounds.
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