Wine grape growers in California and elsewhere face increasing labor costs and severe labor shortages, making it difficult to manage and harvest a vineyard while maintaining profitability. Growers are increasingly turning to machines for pruning, canopy management and harvesting, but how well these practices are executed can substantially affect yield and quality. A new review by researchers at the University of California, Davis provides guidelines for growers to make the best use of machines.
The Impact of Wildfire Smoke on California Raisins
Temperature of raisin grapes drying on trays (left) and on the vine (right) near Fresno, CA. Ambient temperature was about 92°F at the time temperature measurements were made. Relatively low temperatures were due to lack of sunlight caused by wildfire smoke.
Photos by Stephen Vasquez, SUN-MAID
The ongoing international COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted everyone’s life and work, and when most people think of 2020, the pandemic will be top-of-mind. However, when many Californians, including some grape growers, think of 2020, wildfires will also come to mind.
Since the beginning of the year, wildfires have burned more than 4 million acres in California, impacting much of the state. According to Cal Fire, five of the top 20 most destructive California wildfires occurred in 2020. Some of the worst fires were in coastal wine grape-growing regions. The location, scale, and timing of the fires caused unprecedented exposure of grapes to
Matthew Fidelibus
Matthew Fidelibus has a Ph.D. in Horticultural Sciences from the University of Florida, and he has served as a Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California-Davis, since 2002.