The problem
Vineyards in England and Wales spray often in a wet season, mostly against mildew, and every application has to be recorded with product, rate, block and date. With 4 blocks sprayed 12 times a season, that's 48 records, often written up from a notebook at the weekend. At 10 minutes each, plus 4 hours pulling together a season summary for a winery buying the grapes, that's 12 hours a season, about 2 hours a month over a 6-month season.
What the AI does
fieldmargin is a farm mapping and records app. Its pricing page lists field jobs, notes and input records for sprays, fertilizers and seed, with Plus adding unlimited inputs, sub-fields, full reporting with field history and input reports, and report export and printing. Map each block as a field, or split varieties into sub-fields, add the products you use as inputs, and record each spray as a field job from the phone in the rows. At harvest, export the field history for the winery or an inspection. The person spraying still works from the label for rates and harvest intervals; the app records what was done.
A worked example
A 5-hectare vineyard in Sussex with 4 blocks of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier sprays every 10 to 14 days from May to September and sells part of its crop to a winery that asks for spray records at harvest.
Before
48 sprays a season written up at 10 minutes each, plus 4 hours on a season summary: 12 hours, about 2 hours a month over 6 months
After
Each spray logged in the rows in 2 minutes and the report exported in 15 minutes: about 1.8 hours a season, 0.3 hours a month
What it's worth
About $68£51€61A$98C$96 a month in the spraying season, against about $28£21€25A$40C$39 for fieldmargin Plus. That is 1.7 hours a month (2 down to 0.3) at an assumed $40£30€36A$58C$56 an hour. Plus is shown at $27.69£20.82€24.78A$39.97C$39.14 per farm per month excluding VAT; the page says annual billing saves up to $119.67£89.98€107.08A$172.76C$169.16, so check which rate that is. Paying all year for a 6-month season is about $333£250€298A$480C$470 a year, against about $407£306€364A$588C$575 of time saved over the season.
How to set it up
- Map each vineyard block, using sub-fields for different varieties once you're on Plus.
- Add every fungicide, foliar feed and herbicide you use as an input, named as it is on the label.
- Record each spray as a field job in the rows on the day, with block, product, rate and water volume.
- Each month, check the jobs against the chemical store so nothing's missing.
- At harvest, export the field history and send the spray report to any winery buying your grapes.
What goes wrong
- Free and Essentials allow only 5 inputs, and a vineyard's spray program usually needs more, so plan on Plus.
- The app doesn't tell you harvest intervals or maximum doses. Check every label, especially in the weeks before picking.
- A missed log in a wet week leaves a gap a buyer will notice. Agree that whoever sprays logs it before leaving the vineyard.