Pictures from Summerland and Penticton

Soil Science: A Day with the Winemaker from Road 13

Road 13 is a local winery located in the south Okanagan in Oliver, BC.  On the third day of my visit to the area, the winemaker for Road 13, J-M, offered to meet with me to give me better insight into the environmental and operational conditions that influence winemaking in the region.

I am really excited about one of the ideas J-M shared with me for a research topic. He exolained that microbial flora develop differently when different irrigation techniques are used in vineyards. Irrigation techniques include drip irrigation, sprinkler irrigation and micro-jet irrigation. Apparently, drip irrigation is said to be better for soil quality because it is a consistent and more precise means of irrigating. This results in less disease and stronger plants. Overhead systems distribute water onto the grapes which dilutes their composition - which is not ideal for winemaking. He said measuring the changes in the soil activity and root systems could be a very practical and appropriately sized project for my masters. He said too that many winemakers are currently transitioning between methods and are using both overhead and drip irrigation in their transition zones. The overall goal is to use an irrigation system that minimizes the stress on the vines. The reason that overhead systems have generally been used to date is that they are cheaper to set up and slightly easier to maintain.

We briefly touched on the topic of precision viticulture, in which an aquainted winemaker has been one of the early adpoters in the technology and practice, about which I would like to learn more.

We quickly left our meeting place and got into his pick-up to start exploring the local vineyards to see some of the typical conditions in which the grapes are being grown. First I was told about 'bulldozer disease', in which a plot of land is bulldozed to create uniformity and ease the ability for tractors to access/service the land. However, bulldozing strips the soil of it's top horizons completely or mixes them with the subsoil which is much less fertile and has less micro-organism (life) presence.

Another common problem are frost pockets. Lakes provide frost protection and extend the seasons in the spring and fall, however frost damage still happens. In the spring and fall, leaves and buds are easily damaged, and in the winter, severe frosts cause more permanent trunk damage to the vines. Sometimes the trunk will die, but the root stock survives, however J-M shared that it is rarely worth regrafting the trunk because the long term survival of the damaged vine is not likely.

An interesting topic discussed on our journey to Oliver was the influence of First Nations communities on the local wine industry. I didn't realize that it is native land owners that own a huge percentage of the plantable land in the area. This fact makes the First Nations groups very important long term players in the wine industry. For example, the Vincor (now Constellation) plant is located on native land and pays a lease to the local Indian band. Apparently in the contract there is an employment agreement that requires almost 60% of the employees to be First Nations. Very interesting. Very cool.

Other cultural influences in the area include the large presence of East Indians in the farming community.

We first visited Covert Farms Winery where I first saw wind machines in the vineyards that are used in the winter to circulate warm air down among the plants to reduce frost damage. Since damage is prevalent - you could see the patchiness of the vineyards from above - J-M says it is important to lease land on the survival rate of the plants to leave a lot of the risk with the land owner.

We then talked about some winemakers that are at the next stage of development in the valley and are searching out marginal land at much lower prices to convert to wine land. A problem with these lands, often located higher up on benches in the hillsides, are that there are strict irrigation and water access rules for owners - water can only go through properties that already have water rights and so need to be purchased by the established neighbouring properties to make irrigation possible. And still, to pump water up the hillside, boosters pumps are needed, the benches are generally small and access for machinery has definite labour and movement costs.

Elements to consdier when trying to locate a good piece of land for a vineyard in the valley are the slope of the land, the soil conditions and mountain shadow. Mountain shadow is good for some wines, but not for many, especially reds.

The vineyards in the south of the Okanagan (south of McIntire bluff) are the most profitable. If a vinyeard is producing well, one can receive $11,000 - $12,000 per acre. The very best can make up to $15,000 per acre if the right grape is used and 10-15% more grapes are left on the plant. North of McIntire, for example in Summerland and Naramata, $8,000-$10,000 per acre for grapes such as Chardonnay and Pinot. The benefit of being in places like Summerland and Naramata are that you receive more foot traffic for on farm sales.

Soil Science: Summerland Research Centre

This past weekend I made a four day trip up to the Okanagan valley to better aquaint myself with the research and opportunities for research that exist for Okanagan soils at present time. I started my journey at the Summerland Research Station where I had made an appointment to meet with three of the research scientists that are involved with the soils lab. I met with Denise Neilsen and Gerry Neilsen, both of whom have a PhD in soil science from Mcgill's MacDonald College in Montreal, and Tom Forge, who has a PhD in plant pathology from Wisconsin and works as a soil biologist.

 

The three met with me to learn more about who I was, my experience, my objectives and answer my many questions about the scientific research community, the work is done at the research station, Okanagan soils and soil problems, and how to determine in what field you want to do your field work.

 

I started by summarizing my undergraduate work in global resources, my subsequent desire to work in the private sector, specifically in hospitality, my reexamination of my involvement in the agriculture industry and my subsequent exploration of said industry which has taken me to all parts of BC and Argentina farming. I also explained that my long term goal is to have my own farm in the Okanagan and my current pursuit of a master's in soil science is with the intention of making this dream more tangible by giving me options to work in the industry as a researcher or technician to build the knowledge and capital I will require to have a farm.

 

The three then shared with me their career paths and current areas of study. Denise Neilsen works a lot in water management at the plant, field and regional level. She is involved with water supply modeling and evaluating climate surfaces to see the influence of climate change At the field level, finding ways to implement precision with regard to necessary inputs to automate irrigation and nutrient management. She also does a lot of work documenting the changes in phenology, the stages in the development of a plant, based on the input changes.

 

Tom Forge is currently in the process of moving his operation from the Agassiz station to the Summerland station. He works primarily with soil nematodes, which are microscopic roundworms, assessing the influences of alternative agricultural practices and evaluating their quality implications based on the affect on the nematodes. He looks at the diversity of nematodes, biodiversity, nitrogen mineralization and how the presence of these are sped up or slowed as practices change. He has spent much time looking at root growth and pest/pathogen development in wine, fruit trees and berries as an effect of different mulch, compost, and irrigation uses for these crops. He shared that though Denise, Gerry and he collaborate on projects, the emphasis each puts on the data collection for same sample set varies based on each person'r priority. Research priorities change with location as well. For example, in Abbotsford the aquifer is very vulnerable to contamination, which is why studies there have focuse on nitrate contamination given the local context.

 

Last, Gerry Neilsen explained that his research lately has involved the nitrogen content in grapes. He explained that yeast assembly is dependent on nitrogen for the wine to ferment and that they are trying topical appications (foliar sprays) to the grapes as an alternative to the soil/root applications for nitrogen uptake to mitigate nitrogen leeching.

 

Apparently doing work in organics is not common at the research station. Organic soil treatments and floor management practices are currently being explored, but often chemicals (such as roundup) are required to maintain the base conditions of the sample set so that an evaluation of the change can take place. Also, it was interesting to learn that there is less pest control required for the fruit trees and grape vines in the Okanagan because the weather is much more dry than most other climates; apple scab too is not as big a problem.

 

For grapes, the industry is still relatively young in the area and still developing problems. Major issues are urban encroachment, water supply and water use, and soil quality, though the 2/3 coarse composition and low organic matter seem to be ok for the grapes so far. Generally, growers are applying fertilizers by the book which is resulting in overapplication. There is a need to be able to relate better to locale conditions. The concept of fertigation, in which fertilizers are distributed through irrigation systems, was also introduced to me.

 

As I listened, I realized more and more that my interests in working in soil studies related to wine were developing. The unique atmosphere of small acreages of high value make the stakeholder group attractive as well. Apparently, as of June 7, 2012, the cross provincial trade of wines has been approved which should alter the influence of the industry.

 

I asked what the responsibility of the Summerland Research Station is to the agricultural industry given it is a federally funded institution. The research is generally BC-focused, but there is a responsibility for the information to be applicable accross Canada. Currently, the station is being restructured due to budget cuts, which appears to be systemic when working in the public sector scientific community. In the past, Ag Canada used to be very regionally focused. The impetus of responsibility then switched to create national research teams and develop Canada wide projects, and the current restructuring is shifting back to being more localized. Nevertheless, cross-provincial projects still exist, such as a apple breeding program currently being shared with Quebec.

 

I then asked, if like Brazil's embrapa, Ag Canada has many international partnerships with other countries. The answer was generally no, but partnerships are often made between individual scientists from countries abroad. In terms of outputs, Ag Canada does produce Production Guides for farmers, grower groups and develop best/beneficial management practices (BMPs).

 

The most important piece of information I gained from this meeting though was this: As I enter my new academic career, it is important to know that the purpose of one's master's degree is primarily to learn how to do research. A PhD is about exploring your own ideas. What this means, is that it is less important to figure out what I am going to focus my research thesis on, but be open to the collaboration opportunities that come my way and ensure that these projects allow me to gain the skills, experience and tools necessary to be a successful scientific researcher.