DETERMINING THE IMPACT OF VINEYARD EQUIPMENT ON VINEYARD SOIL STRUCTURE AND VINE PRODUCTIVITY

Objectives:

  • To determine if increasing mechanized cultural practices (cultivation, spray application, hedging, etc) negatively impacts soil structure.
  • To develop a reliable methodology to measure soil compaction structural changes over the production season to evaluate the impact on vine productivity and potentially lead to fewer activities necessary to reduce some input costs for vinifera grape production.

 

  
Cultivation influence on compaction

 
Beneath vine levels versus in row measurements

  
Impact of cover crops near vine and mid travel row