Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/620640
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 a n - F e b 2 016 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m California Bill Eases Social Media Restrictions BY SHANA BULL On Oct. 1, California Governor Jerry B r o w n s i g n e d A s s e m b l y B i l l 7 8 0 , authored by Das Williams (D-Santa Bar- bara), which eases tied-house restric- tions on social media use by wineries, breweries and distillers. As of Jan. 1, 2016, alcoholic beverage producers will be allowed to identify retailers, via "elec- tronic media," that carry their products. According to John Carr, information officer at the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), "Elec- tronic media is a term that includes all forms of electronic media, requiring the release of information in a direct com- munication to a consumer, including the manufacturer's website, Twitter handle, Facebook page, LinkedIn page, etc." In simple terms, beverage alcohol companies and employees that use social networks as brand ambassadors will be able to share content regarding where to purchase their products via social media, as long as the posts meet the following conditions: (1) The listing does not also contain the retail price of the product. (2) The listing is the only reference to the on-sale or off-sale retailers in the direct communication. (3) The listing does not refer only to one retailer or only to on-sale or off-sale retail establishments controlled directly or indirectly by the same retailer. (4) The listing is made, produced or paid for exclusively by the non-retail industry member. Brands must mention two or more retailers (unaffiliated on-sale or off-sale retailers) in a social media post, so as not to play favorites and provide a "thing of value" to a single retailer. While the bill removes the require- ment that the information be provided only in response to a direct inquiry, some producers say there are still a few missing pieces. For example, alcoholic beverage producers are not allowed to v i n e y a r d m a n a g e m e n t t o o l based on spatial measurements, said Bates, senior research asso- ciate and director of the Cornell Lake Erie Research and Exten- sion Laboratory. The tool should inform management decisions that will enable maximum profit- ability of the vines. Different technology-based productivity measurements – such as the amount of crop, the size and vigor of the plant as measured via canopy, and soil characteristics – have been developed. "The funding by the USDA and NWGI enables us to take this research to the next step," Nuske said. That next step is taking those precision measurements and developing a suite of tools to help growers become more effi- cient and productive. In addition to developing a "dashboard" or a means for growers to work with the existing spatial data from a single computer interface, the researchers also are investi- gating the applicability of other m e a s u r e m e n t m e t h o d s a n d techniques, such as nonde- structive vine estimation and berry count, said Jean-Mari Peltier, NGWI president. T h i s i n f o r m a t i o n – v i n e health, canopy size and crop size – can be used to determine the crop load measurement. Crop load is a different metric from crop size or yield. Differ- ent management techniques can be applied to ensure uni- formity in fruit maturation, for example, which can help ensure better wine quality, Bates said. The technology addresses an important question for grow- ers: yield estimation. Bates said this information can help opera- tions to better plan and manage assets such as forklifts, tanks and labor. The tool itself, Peltier said, will take all the raw spatial data and flow that into a knowledge system for growers. It will be designed to provide support for vineyard management deci- sions. Although much of the focus surrounding the research grant has been on crop estima- tion, this will be a sophisticat- ed, data-rich management tool. Researchers also will develop a GPS system that growers can use to make informed deci- sions on issues such as inputs, thinning, pruning, or even har- vesting. "We don't spell it out, but there is the opportunity to do other things with the technol- ogy beyond crop yields," Bates said. Since a grower could use and overlay any GPS data – pest observations, for exam- ple, or where and when wind machines were used in a block – she could notice other trends. A canopy in declining health, for example, could be indicated by NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) data. This could indicate the presence of Eutypa, Pierce's disease, crown gall, or one of any other diseas- es that affects canopy health. The technology could bet- ter enable growers to practice v a r i a b l e c r o p m a n a g e m e n t on a larger scale. Sensors on equipment such as shoot and fruit thinners or tractors could enable growers to use technol- ogy to manipulate individual vines appropriately to achieve balance, as opposed to treat- ing a field uniformly. Controlling balance allows growers to opti- mize for yield and quality while also reducing the variability, Nuske said. S o m e t h i n g t h e r e s e a r c h questions will address is the relative value of variable crop management versus uniform crop management. "One of the things we're g o i n g t o l e a r n i s h o w t h i s impacts grape sectors differ - ently," Peltier said. "The dif- ferences between high-end, premium grapes and grapes managed for tonnage are going to be important. "I do think this research has the potential to radically change how we farm grapes."