Two researchers at Cornell University aim to use high-resolution sensors to help vineyard growers identify nutrient deficiencies and have received a grant worth $67.6 million from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Terry Bates (Terry Bates), a senior research associate at the Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Laboratory, studied effective vineyard technologies to assess field conditions. Photo credit: Dan Bell / Provided.

The two researchers are from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, including Terry Bates, a senior research associate at the Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Laboratory, and Justin Vanden Heuvel, a professor of horticulture.

Like most plants, proper nutrient uptake is critical for fruit yield and grapevine health. However, for vineyard managers, identifying deficiencies in magnesium, potassium, nitrogen, and other key nutrients is a laborious, difficult, and expensive process.

It involves manually collecting leaves during the growing season and mailing samples to a laboratory for analysis.

In New York State, in addition to costly conventional practices, nutrient levels can vary significantly from one location to another (even within individual vineyard blocks) due to differences in soil types. Due to these difficulties, growers often opt for a one-size-fits-all approach rather than adjusting their management area acre by acre.

Regarding vine nutrition, growers tend to apply fertilizers across the entire vineyard block rather than only to the areas that need them most.

Excessive application of fertilizers such as nitrogen can lead to leaching problems, which is particularly undesirable in wine-growing regions near water bodies. [However] data from [our new] sensors can accurately tell growers which parts of the vineyard area need fertilizer, thereby reducing the area receiving applications.

Cornell University Professor of Horticulture Justine Vanden Heuvel

Vanden Heuvel will develop a measurement mechanism that combines satellite imaging and ground sampling to measure where nutrient deficiencies occur. Furthermore, some vineyard sampling as part of this method will enable growers to effectively conduct what Heuvel calls "ground truthing," i.e., using actual numbers to reinforce satellite measurements, thereby ensuring growers obtain accurate data.

According to Vanden Heuvel, one of the advantages of this tracking method is its moderate cost and its applicability to grape growing operations of various scales.

Bates has already analyzed vineyard health through the Evficient Vineyard Project (EVP), and he is applying this understanding to develop nutrient sensors.

EVP collects data on sugar content, yield, canopy, and soil sensing to generate typical vineyard maps to assist managers in assessing plant quality, productivity, and growth in commercial vineyards. Growers then use this data to create more precise maps for their own vineyards to better support their management practices.

Bates will collaborate with Jan van Aardt, a professor at the Center for Imaging Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology, to design new proximal nutrient sensors to detect defects before they are discovered by field workers.

Bates and Van Aardt (Bates) and Van Aard (van Aardt) have been matching ground measurement results with remote imaging measurements to establish standards for vineyard nutritional health. Together with the sensors, this will enable growers to make real-time nutrient management decisions.

The most important part of the project is to help growers manage vineyards more effectively, with a focus on profitability and environmental sustainability.

Terry Bates, Senior Research Associate at the Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Laboratory, Cornell University

The grants for Bates and Vanden Heuvel are part of a grant worth $475 million; collaborators on the overall grant include researchers from Washington State University, the University of California, Davis, Oregon State University, and the USDA Agricultural Research Service. Of the total grant, $100 million has already been awarded, with the remainder contingent on project development.