Jackie Dresser, Viticulture Extension Support Specialist at the Lake Erie Regional Grape Program talks about why estimating vineyard yields is so difficult and the methods she and her team are experimenting with to reach the Holy Grail of estimates that are within five percent of the final harvest. In part one of this two part interview, Jackie explains the Lake Erie region and program, why crop estimation is important depending on who you are in supply chain, the standard techniques, or lack of standard techniques to estimate yield, and how accurate some of these techniques can be.

References:

• Efficient Vineyard website
• Lake Erie Regional Grape Program website
• Predicting Harvest Yield in Juice and Winegrape Vineyards | Paolo Sabbatini, Imed Dami, G. Stanley Howell
• Theory and Assumptions Behind Sampling | Craig Macmillan
• Vineyard Yield Estimation | Brittany Kom & Michelle Moyer, WSU

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