Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/534849
1 4 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | J u l y - A u g 2 015 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m "Both the Canadian and Mexican governments have said that nothing less than a full repeal of the law will satisfy them," said Kaiser. Wine would not be the only product export hit with stiff tariffs, but because if its value, it could be hit hard. According to Kaiser, the U.S. sold half a billion dollars' worth of wine to Canada in 2013. "There's been a marked increase in the amount of wine sold to Canada from California, Washington, Ore- gon, Virginia, New York and Michi- gan. It's the No. 1 foreign market for American wine." Kaiser points out that entry-lev- el wines exported to Canada and As drones become increasingly common in daily life, could the approval of Unmanned Aircraft Sys- tems (UAS) for widespread com- mercial use be on the horizon? On May 1, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), under Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, granted the Yamaha Motor Corp. of Cypress, Calif., an exemption to conduct agricultural operations in the U.S. using its remotely piloted RMAX helicopter. "The RMAX is capable of pro- viding a wide array of essential a g r i c u l t u r a l s p r a y i n g s e r v i c e s , including watering, fertilizers, pes- ticides and herbicides," the FAA noted in Exemption 11448. "The Mexico might be subject to the most dramatic taxes. The effect would be to drive wine consum- ers in those countries to otherwise comparably priced imports from New Zealand, Chile or South Africa. Loss of revenue for American win- eries would be immediate, but lost shelf space can also be difficult and costly to regain even after the pen- alty tariffs are removed. There is some room for opti- mism. While some cattle farmers would very much like the COOL labeling laws to stay in place, there seems to be a bipartisan Congres- sional understanding that these proposed Canadian and Mexican RMAX can also be equipped with sensors and equipment to detect and monitor agricultural areas that require irrigation, fertilization or other treatments." I n J a p a n , t h e R M A X h a s a 20-year history of safely perform- ing agricultural operations. The FAA indicated that this safety record, along with RMAX's recent approved use in Australia and South Korea, influenced its decision to grant the exemption. Yamaha's RMAX also has a histo- ry of use in the U.S., albeit a briefer one. The remote-controlled helicop- ter has been used since 2012 to spray some California vineyards through a research partnership with UC Davis. sanctions, if put into practice, would do serious damage to sev- eral other American industries. On May 20, the House Agriculture Committee passed a bill that would repeal the COOL legislation by a 38-6 margin. If the same bill passed both houses of Congress, it would head off the trade sanctions. Update: On June 11, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2393, the Country of Origin Label- ing Amendments Act of 2015. This bipartisan bill repeals the country of origin labeling requirements for beef, pork and poultry. Its pas- sage is the first step in avoiding retaliatory tariffs. Ken Giles, a UC Davis agricul- tural engineering professor and lead researcher on the university's remote-controlled aircraft project, told V&WM: "The FAA approval is certainly cause for optimism, if not celebration, in that it affirms that integration of a larger, payload- delivering UAS into the airspace system is a reality and that respon- sible, safe and regulated use of the technology is now possible." John Aguirre, president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers in Sacramento, Calif., agreed. "I think we'll see greater creativity in the application of UASs to address real-world problems and challenges." When it comes to vineyard use specifically, Aguirre wonders if the RMAX's capacity might hinder its potential. "The Yamaha's load capacity of 61 pounds is a significant limitation, particularly when you think about general mildew prevention and control efforts in large vineyard set- tings," he explained. That said, Aguirre noted, "It seems to me that growers will be most interested in using UASs to monitor and track vine performance during the growing season. They can help growers more quickly BY JENNIFER STRAILEY FAA Approves Drone for Agricultural Use The FAA has given Yamaha's RMAX drone a green light for agricultural use.