Creating Curiosity through Transparency
“This is why I think INCYT will play such a key role in our operation in future: INCYT is helping us get ready to face challenges we don’t even know right now what they are yet and has increased our curiosity of what’s possible.”
Type: Winegrapes
Varieties: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Shiraz, Pinot Gris, Cabernet Sauvignon
Size: 55 hectares
The Swift family grows a number of different grape varieties on 5 different vineyard sites spread around Orange, NSW. Without any digital monitoring solutions they had to rely on public data that’s not very accurate, like BOM weather stations that are over 50kms away, or just an experience-based educated guess in the case of irrigating the vines.
Understanding the need to start their own on-farm monitoring program in order to establish a baseline of data, David Swift started looking around for a preferred supplier. Knowing that he wants to have all farm data on the same platform and partner with a company that is focused on solving real-world problems in combination with a solid future vision, David chose to work with INCYT.
With INCYT weather stations and soil moisture probes now installed across Printhie’s vineyards, David is able to accurately monitor the weather conditions in the different areas, as well as collect both weather conditions and soil moisture data that will act as a baseline for future data driven improvement projects.
Managing geographical differences
Every grape grower, and wine connoisseur, knows that high quality grapes can only be grown under the ideal climatic conditions in the right soil, and that this ideal combination is different for every grape variety. It’s safe to say then that for Printhie wines, managing 5 different vineyards that are over 100km apart and range in elevation from 600 to 1068 meters above sea level, is no easy task. David Swift, part of the Swift family who own and manage Printhie wines as a team, says that not knowing the exact weather conditions in the different vineyards used to cost him a lot of extra time: “Sometimes I’d turn up to a vineyard to find out that it was a misty, rainy day, and we were sitting in the sunshine at home.”
“This is one of the big advantages that we get from having INCYT weather stations deployed across the different vineyards: we know exactly what the weather conditions are in the different vineyards without having to drive all the way out there to check this in-person. If I’m planning on spraying a vineyard for example, I need to know the conditions are right to do so; with INCYT I know exactly whether I’m good to go or not, and so I don’t have to drive out to a vineyard only to find out that I’m not able to do what I was planning to do. Or alternatively, it might be completely dry at home but one of the vineyards 70km down the road gets rain and therefore needs a fungicide spray applied within 48 hours. Instead of getting a surprise when I go down to that block a day or two later, with INCYT I know exactly what’s happening and when, and I can act on this immediately.”
Collecting data
When David started to look for an agtech supplier, he found INCYT through the Farms of the Future program, run by the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, and decided to install the equipment himself. David: “I had already seen the INCYT equipment during the Farms of the Future roadshow, and understood clearly that it’s all configured and ready to go. When it shipped out of the warehouse, all I had to do was turn it on and install the equipment - base stations, weather stations and soil moisture probes - in the vineyards. The whole process of installing the INCYT equipment was far simpler than I had anticipated. We had an issue with a base station, but it was replaced within days and once I had the replacement, it was very quick and easy to get everything online.”
David continues: “We had never used moisture probes in any of our vineyards, and so it takes time for us to understand the data that’s presented to us, how to interpret it, and then set the parameters for our own specific needs. We haven’t needed to irrigate our vineyards for the last two seasons, so it has actually been good timing for us to install the soil moisture probes. It allows us to collect and analyse the data for a couple of seasons first, so that when we do need to irrigate again in years to come, we have our soil moisture intelligence dialed-in on the INCYT cockpit and we’ll know exactly what to do from an irrigation perspective. With irrigation not being a routine management activity for us, this leaves the door open to make crucial mistakes by not applying the water at the right time or at the right place by not having enough experience. With INCYT moisture probe data we’ll be able to mitigate this risk.”
While collecting data is important, being able to break this data down and use it in a meaningful way is even more important according to David: “If you’re not able to do this, it doesn’t mean a lot. With INCYT, the ability to customise my dashboards in the INCYT cockpit is the best part of the whole system to me. I want to work with a system that I use every day, for all my information; I don’t want to be on multiple platforms to get my information. Having all our critical information in the same spot on INCYT is a huge benefit and one of the key reasons why we chose INCYT over other providers.”
Getting ready for the future
When David looked at the different providers that he could potentially work with he didn’t only look at the current equipment and software platform he was buying into, but also at the future vision of the company. This is where INCYT stood out, says David: “I not only got to see the breadth of the current offering, but also the view for the future and that what’s developed to date is only just the first step. Being able to create the network connectivity on our vineyards now with the INCYT base stations and having the ability to keep adding to the platform with new sensors in future is very important to me.”
David: “When I think about the future, I think it’s impossible to know what this will exactly look like for us. And so creating a baseline of data, is really about taking the first step on a data-driven journey. I think that for producers in general, until you start implementing agtech and collecting data, you don’t really know what you’ll get and what you’ll be able to use it for. You just have to make that first investment and start collecting data, that’s when you can start to piece everything together within your network and solve problems and create solutions for decisions that you’ll need to make at that time.”
David concludes with: “A good example for us is the addition of UV and solar radiation sensors to our weather stations. I don’t know yet what we’ll use this data for, but within the wine industry a lot of work is being done on the importance of UV and solar radiation, and the influence it has on ripening fruit and the style of wines that result from it. So, by already collecting this data now, we’re ready to start utilising it in future when we know how to let it influence our vine management decisions. This is why I think INCYT will play such a key role in our operation in future: INCYT is helping us get ready to face challenges we don’t even know right now what they are yet and has increased our curiosity of what’s possible. Going back 18 months, before we implemented INCYT, we didn’t actively think about solutions for potential or perceived problems. Whereas now with having access to INCYT’s data, a thought process of that a solution to the problem, no matter how complex or left field it may seem, is actually out there.”