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w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m J a n - F e b 2 016 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 1 3 A four-year, $6.2 million grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Spe- cialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) will fund research and development of technologies designed to help grapegrowers achieve greater productivity through precision agriculture. The research, which has been actively sup- ported by the National Grape and Wine Initiative (NGWI), is focused on developing digital mapping tools that growers can use to make informed crop management and harvesting decisions. Sensors, soil probes and custom-developed instrumentation will gather raw spatial data for metrics such as canopy condition, berry size and color, and soil characteristics. The data then will flow into maps that growers can use and anno- tate to achieve the ideal crop balance and elimi- nate variability. Terry Bates of Cornell University and Stephen Nuske of Carnegie Mellon Univer- sity are leading the research. "I think 2015 (in California) is a good example of the challenges that growers have with accu- rate crop estimation," said John Aguirre, presi- dent of the California Association of Winegrape Growers. "Many growers saw cluster counts that seemed to be in line with average yields, USDA Grant Goes to Precision Ag Research either the same or comparable. But ultimately, reports came in that yields were far lower than expected." Although this grant may be new, the work is not. It will extend research on which Bates and Nuske have been working for the past five years, with the support of vineyard operations across the country. "The main goal we've been work- ing toward is being able to measure the production characteristics of vines and vineyards," Nuske said. There is now little information about how vines and vineyards perform dur- ing the growing season, which ulti- mately can lead to production losses if specific issues are not addressed as plants are growing. The work seeks to provide growers with a cost-effective NEWS FLASH Southern and Glazer's Sign Letter Of Intent Two of the country's most powerful wine distributors, Southern Wine & Spirits and Glazer's, have signed a letter of intent to form a strate- gic alliance. The two wholesalers collectively operate in more than 40 U.S. states. The companies announced plans to merge in 2008, but the deal fell through the following year. Cornell Receives $6 Million Federal Grant Cornell University has been awarded a $6 million federal grant as part of the USDA's Specialty Crop Research Initiative. Funds will go toward a four-year project, led by Terry Bates of the Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Lab, to develop and implement digital map- ping technology for use in vineyards. Jackson Family Makes Management Changes Jackson Family Wines has promoted Rick Tigner to CEO and Hugh Reimers to president. Tigner was previously the company's president; Reimers was COO. Tigner will provide strategic leadership, establish- ing long-range goals, while Reimers will oversee global sales, mar- keting and production activities. Grape Seed Color Not Helpful in Assessing Tannins Research by Washington State University (WSU) has found that look- ing at the color of grape seeds is not an effective method of determin- ing the amount of tannins the grapes will impart into wine. According to WSU professor Jim Harbertson, green seeds indicate more tan- nins, but that doesn't necessarily translate to more-tannic wine. For more industry news briefs, visit the News Flash page on V&WM's website: http://www.vwmmedia.com/magazine/web-exclusive1.asp. BY LINDA DAILEY PAULSON Terry Bates of Cornell University is leading the research, along with Stephen Nuske of Carnegie Mellon University.