The 22 weather and soil monitoring stations in Idaho vineyards may soon get new sensors and some additional capabilities.

One new sensor would track soil-moisture potential.

In addition to how much water stays in soil, “now we would be looking at: Is that water available to plants, and how is it moving?” said David Wilkins, a Boise State University associate professor of geosciences and the project’s principal investigator. The sensor would track “not just water content, but what is available to the plants.”

He has applied for a two-year Specialty Crop Block Grant. Proceeds would cover summer personnel costs and about $70,000 worth of instrumentation and software, he said. The state Department of Agriculture recommended it to USDA for approval.

Station-mounted instruments measure wind, sunlight, temperature and atmospheric pressure in addition to soil temperature and moisture.

If the new grant is approved, new temperature, precipitation, humidity and soil-moisture sensors would be installed next spring and summer, followed by monitoring and maintenance in 2023.

A 2015-17 grant covered the first 10 stations, in the Sunny Slope grape-growing region between Caldwell and Marsing.

A 2018-20 Specialty Crop Block Grant for $96,809 funded creation of a statewide network and digital atlas. It was extended to June 30, 2021, due to COVID-19 impacts.

The network includes 14 Sunnyslope stations, three in the Eagle Foothills growing region and five in the Lewiston area. Another in north Boise is for testing.

Wilkins said the project aims to help inform growers’ decisions such as how much irrigation water to apply and when. Soil-temperature sensors can help with that, and with determining timing of bud break and fruit set.

The system also tracks variations in microclimates between vineyards, even those close to one another.

“There can be 10 degrees difference within a mile,” Wilkins said.

Most vineyard operators who have a station report they use it as part of their operating routines, he said. The data also can help identify sites with potential for plantings of new vineyards or other crops.