Rise of the MACHINES

摘要

The vineyards of Mercer Ranches never sleep. Precision pruners mounted to over-the-row harvesters run row after row, 24 hours a day, to get the vineyard's 3,400 acres pruned before bud break each spring in Washington's Horse Heaven Hills.That pruning — with sharp blades grinding away just a few inches above the cordon — is the backbone of a mechanized program many years in the making, said Richard Hoff, the company's director of viticulture. With the exception of very young blocks anda few premium blocks contracted to winemakers who want hand labor, the entire vineyard is managed by machines that prune, de-sucker, shoot thin, cut crop load, pull leaves and harvest.