Lumo, the leader in precision irrigation technology for specialty crop growers, announced a new strategic partnership with Wyatt Irrigation Supply, the most trusted leader in irrigation since 1982, to drive expansion and standardization across the vineyards of Napa and Sonoma.
Winegrowers today are reeling, facing unprecedented pressure from rapidly rising labor costs and shortages, soft market demand, and increased water regulation. To survive, winegrowers must adapt and invest in ways to improve fruit quality and vineyard efficiency.
Improving irrigation systems with a proven precision irrigation platform like Lumo is one of the highest return ways to improve fruit quality, while also reducing labor costs and system risks.
Wyatt has seen countless automation solutions come and go over the years, making the same promises to growers over and over again. They are keenly aware of the risks and have been cautious when vetting new technologies.
"Over the years, we've evaluated countless irrigation automation solutions. Lumo is head and shoulders above the rest in its simplicity, ease of use, and ability to help growers irrigate to plan," said Tim Goetz, Irrigation Designer at Wyatt Irrigation. "Lumo's the new standard in vineyard irrigation and it's a solution we believe we'll see deployed across thousands of acres in Napa and Sonoma. It can't happen soon enough."
Wyatt has been working with Lumo for the past three seasons as design advisors and market experts. They've made many recommendations to Lumo to ensure it was reliable and properly supported in the field, and that it would truly drive better business outcomes for growers.
This has resulted in rapid innovation and unmatched market traction, with Lumo now being used in over 150 vineyards including Treasury, JFW, Trinchero, Delicato, Antinori, Chateau Montelena, Clos du Val, and many more.
With 400% annual expansion rates in back-to-back years, it's clear that the system is delivering real world results. Growers would not adopt a product at this rate if it wasn't working in the field and producing tangible cost savings.
"It's high time that winegrowers in Napa and Sonoma standardized on a single irrigation automation platform," said Jay Pelm, President of Wyatt Irrigation Supply. "Doing so will lower the cost through economies of scale, deliver greater innovation through shared learnings, and ensure the solution sticks around and continues to drive value in the years to come."
Finally, the partnership will provide Wyatt access to an invaluable stream of standardized block-level data that they can use to improve their system designs, further optimize performance, and continue to build on their reputation as the most trusted irrigation partner in the region.
"We are tremendously excited about working more closely with Wyatt and grateful for their ongoing support and expertise," said Devon Wright, Lumo's CEO. "Lumo would not be the product it is today without Wyatt and formalizing the partnership can only mean bigger and better things for winegrowers in the seasons to come."
Wyatt's philosophy around selling products has always been simple: Do it right, and do it once.
If you're looking to perfect your vineyard's irrigation, the message is clear:
