Growers can use Tule Vision to take midday leaf water potential readings by simply taking short iPhone videos of their vines. Photos from each video are then fed into a model that reports the readings in real-time to the grower on their phone. Water stress readings and photos are also displayed on Tule’s web dashboard and app.

“Tule Vision gives us the ability to take quick, accurate water stress measurements that don’t require specialized training or cumbersome equipment. This helps us easily create our weekly irrigation schedules. My advice to anyone considering Tule Vision is to give it a try, expect to be humbled, learn from technology, and let it help you become a better irrigator.”

says viticulture consultant Chris Storm.

In 2014, Tule launched Tule Sensors, a UC Davis research-based product that uses field sensors to measure Actual Evapotranspiration (ETa) and water stress in crops. The sensors also connect to a field’s irrigation system to measure how much water is being applied. The combination of data is used to make irrigation recommendations that maintain the exact water stress levels that the grower prefers. Using thousands of grapevine water stress measurements from Tule sensors and photos taken by field technicians, Tule was able to develop the artificial intelligence model that powers Tule Vision.

For growers who rely on pressure chamber readings, Tule Vision makes it easier to take more readings in less time. For vineyard managers who are less familiar with pressure chambers, Tule Vision provides a simple, quick, and cost-effective way to take midday leaf water potential readings that show vine water stress. With unlimited users, anyone in the grower’s organization can take readings and access this information to get a more complete picture of vineyard health.

“Since the demo launch of Tule Vision, we’ve received tremendous feedback from users that have allowed us to make improvements to the model and provide an even better experience for growers,”

says Tom Shapland, Ph.D., founder, and CEO of Tule.

One change that growers will notice this season is a feature that enables users to attach an iPhone to an ATV and passively collect readings as they drive down vineyard rows.

“Helping growers achieve their production goals is at the heart of what we do. We rely heavily on our customer relationships and are always looking for new ways to improve what we provide them.”

says Shapland.

Source: Tule

The post Grape Growers Use Tule Vision App to Take Pictures of Their Vines and Measure Vine Stress appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

Presented at SITEVI 2019, the Combi-Grape is a new sorting system available only on the Braud 8030L compact grape harvester. This system offers an intermediate harvest quality between a standard destemmer and the Opti-Grape. It has been developed to meet the needs of winemakers looking for destemming and sorting system of premium-red varietals.

Since 2002, all New Holland Braud grape harvesters can be fitted with a destemmer, a feature that has undergone continuous improvements over the last two decades, and is now able to process every grape variety, every yield in every part of the world.

The Opti-Grape, launched in 2013, was the first New Holland Braud on-board sorting table. It features a destemmer, two sorting tables with rollers and an air-cushion sorting system to perfectly clean the harvest. This system delivers the best harvest quality ever achieved on board a grape harvester.

Pierre Cayrouse, Grape Harvester Product marketing specialist for Grape Harvesters at New Holland France, says:

“The Combi-Grape combines harvest quality and simple operation. We have chosen the best performance / quality ratio on our compact machine so that our customers working in private cellars continue to enhance their production while improving the quality of the harvest.”

“Processing the grapes can be done directly, without crushing the harvest and with exceptional cleanliness. Our machine is perfectly sized for the needs of medium-sized vineyards. The controls are at the driver’s fingertips, making operation easy! The 8030L Combi-Grape is a concentrate of Braud know-how,”

he adds.

A smart and compact sorting table

The new Combi-Grape features a sorting table with specific rollers under a standard destemmer. The receiving conveyors feed the grapes into the destemmer. The stems are expelled at the back of the machine. All the free grapes and the MOG (Material Other than Grape) fall on the sorting table, which features open rollers that allow the grapes to fall into the hopper. Leaf pieces and petioles are guided by the rollers to the side of the machine and drop down to the floor.

The Combi-Grape is able to remove all the petioles inside the harvest, delivering a higher crop quality compared to the standard destemmer.

The sorting table was built to work in very diverse conditions. Depending on the crop varieties, it can process grapes of different sizes. The operator can adjust from the cab the distance between rollers from 14 mm to 23 mm. The roller speed can be controlled from the multifunction handle to adapt the system’s capacity to the yield. The sorting table can slide to the side of the machine to facilitate daily washing operation.

The Combi-Grape works on the Braud 8030L in most conditions and grape varieties.

Source: New Holland Agriculture

The post New Holland launches the new Combi-Grap sorting System for its Braud harvesters appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.