A Jambalaya of Funding, Key Events, and Leaf(hopper) Removal
We're really excited to see you at our Demo Day July 8th.
Intro
To all the farmers out there - I hope your crop is growing well. In the Okanagan we’re seeing strong growth aided by an overall healthy growing season and I figure a lot of carb storage from last year.
We’ve been incredibly busy, our permanent team of is now growing to four (or four and a half). We’ve expanded into GPS machine planting (you can book us for next year) and we now have clients in Washington and California. It’s been a stretch (hence very few newsletters) but a good one.
Lots is happening in our industry I’ve really wanted to write about (and hope to do so soon). I’ve got pieces on the California wine industry, Pedro Parra, terroir, and more in the pipeline. And a total non-sequitur on literature and the role of landscape that I can’t decide if it would be fun or annoying for our readers (if you’re interested let me know and I’ll publish).
There’s a few things going on we wanted to share:
We’re hosting a Demo Day July 8th 12:30 p.m. @ Wesbert Winery + other events
A slightly new funding grant has opened (CAF)
Leafhopper scouting and leaf removal with Addison
Demo Day + Other Events
First, I’m super excited to announce our demo day at Wesbert Winery in Naramata, BC on July 8th starting at 12:30 p.m.
It’s going to be a fun event, we’ll be showcasing some incredibly cool products and more. We’ll have food and drink (Wesbert’s pizza oven will be firing) along with wine giveaways from some of our clients.
I also always want to have some education baked in so we’ll have a couple short talks (max 10 minutes) just focused on punchy takeaways for this part of the season. Details on that coming.
It’ll be fun, we’ll of course have time just to connect with others in the industry over a drink or bite of food.
The big piece of the event is the grand opening of Lumo wireless valves. We’ve been working with them for the past few months and now have over 250 valves installed. These aren’t trials but fully operating farms. We’ll be unveiling some of those names soon. And the Canadian co-founder, Devon Wright, will be up here for the event.
More will be happening there. It will be fun and I think useful. Anyone is welcome. We just ask you register so we can make sure to have the right amount of food and drink.
Other Events
There are a few other things going on as well:
BCWGC AGM
August 7, 2025, 12:30 - 1:30 via Zoom
The BC Wine Grape Council Annual General Meeting has been set for Wednesday, August 7, 2025. Full agenda and details will be distributed in the coming weeks. Visit the AGM WEBPAGE for up-to-date information.
Register for the meeting hereMonthly R&D Series Third Thursdays
July 17, 2025 - 12:00 - 1:00 - Dr. Wesley Zandberg, UBC Okanagan - Smoke exposure update: Improved tests and novel off-vine models suggests alternative mechanisms for smoke exposure in wine and suggest new targets for mitigation
New research from the Zandberg lab is challenging the currently accepted model of how grape exposure to forest fire smoke may (potentially) lead to smoke-exposed wines.Evaluating Intra-Vineyard Variation
This isn’t an event but a post from a previous R&D Thursday based on a 3-year research project we did with the Castellarin Lab at UBC. We found some very cool results as we did very in-depth soil sampling, drone multispectral, precision fertilisation, and grape parameter testing.
You can watch here.
“New” Funding Open NOW
The IAF changed some of their funding parameters and have now called this program the “Climate Agri-Solutions Fund (CAF)” . We’re still learning about the exact paramaters but the most improtant fact is you can access up to $100,000 at an 85% (!!!) cost share.
It’s very similar to previous IAF funding under “nitrogen management” and “cover cropping”. It’s one of the easiest funding sources to access. And of course we’re happy to provide support.
The primary activities it covers:
Soil testing
Soil mapping
Organic ammendments
Cover cropping
You can find more details here.
You can apply through your IAF account.
If you need support, please reach out.
Leaf Removal and Leafhopper Scouting
We shot a few videos with our team member Addison on best practices for leaf removal as well as leafhopper scouting. You can find those videos on our Instagram here:
Have a great week.