Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/123973
weather station closest to the vineyard location. Traps can provide a more site-specific monitor of actual PM spore levels. CVC is looking at the correlation between spore levels and the Gubler-Thomas PM Risk Index. The trap also collects other types of fungicidal spores, and is being studied for its potential to monitor other vineyard pathogens such as Botrytis, and trunk canker diseases such as Eutypa. FIELD TOOL BEING TESTED Mahaffee continues to work with growers to field-test a faster, One BirdGard SuperPRO can control birds in up to 48 acres The Bird Gard SuperPRO Controller/transmitter can broadcast distress calls up to 1000 ft in all directions. And one Controller/ transmitter can control up to eight 4-Speaker Wireless Receivers. No need to buy 8 complete Bird Gard Super PROs. Each 4-Speaker Wireless Receiver protects up to 6 acres. Buy 2, 3, 4, up to eight 4-Speaker Wireless Receivers. You get not only wireless speakers, but also the distress calls randomly jump from speaker to speaker keeping the birds from getting used to the sounds. One BirdGard SuperPRO Controller/ transmitter and one 4-Speaker Wireless Receiver is $799. Each additional 4-Speaker Wireless Receiver that covers up to 6 acres is $399. More and more vineyard managers are replacing netting with the Bird GardPRO series. "Last year we got the SuperPRO Wireless. Had the starling flocks been there, we would have lost $20,000-$30,000 worth of grapes," Mgr, Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards BirdGard Wireless JWB Marketing LLC birddamage.com 800.555.9634 68 V I N E YARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT | May - June 2013 more economical spore analysis method using a hand-held, portable device called the Smart-DART, developed by DIAGENETIX Inc. of Hawaii. The Smart-DART has a 3-inch by 4-inch footprint, weighs less than 1 pound and operates for several hours on one charge to perform about 50 tests, with test tube samples inserted directly into the device. It uses a molecular diagnostic platform that uses assimilating probes, and it comes with an application to use with an Android device. The grower would still have to go through the sample preparation steps of heating the spore sample removed from the trap and then centrifuging the solution. Mahaffee said small, portable "Hot Pot" heating devices are easily obtained, and small centrifuges no bigger than a soup bowl can be purchased for $300. Using these devices and a Smart-DART, trap sample results could be obtained in less than 15 minutes. If this portable device proves successful, Mahaffee estimates a grower could set up a trap and analysis system for less than $2,000 in initial capital equipment costs, with annual costs of about $400 for test reagents, plus the cost of labor during the season to take trap samples and perform analyses. Mahaffee has received inquiries from growers in California and Oregon about the spore traps, and he will provide design information upon request. Oregon growers are interested in developing a PM sampling network, he said, with data on spore counts and locations available through a website that growers could access to monitor where and how PM outbreaks are progressing during the growing season. Ted Rieger , CSW, is a writer and photographer based in Sacramento, Calif., and has been a contributing editor for V&WM since 1990. Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com. w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m