TAC-Box by HotSpot AG: Transforming Vineyard Operations with Smart Solutions

HotSpot AG founder James Nichols lived the daily challenges of farming when he returned home to Hanford after his UC Davis graduation. His family tasked him with implementing a water budget for irrigating their 4,600 acres of almonds and pistachios. After researching and testing automated irrigation systems that didn’t meet his needs, Nichols designed his own and then spent five years perfecting it in the family orchards.

At that point, the family encouraged him to focus on sharing his invention with others, convinced it would help many people. And so, in 2018, HotSpot AG was born.

The HotSpot AG solution streamlines a grower’s workflow by making it easier to manage, track and schedule sensor data and automate irrigation pumps and valves from anywhere. HotSpot can also monitor groundwater levels and automate fertigation and chemigation. Another timely solution for North Coast growers as the frost season approaches is HotSpot’s ability to automate wind machinery. These capabilities work together to save farmers time and money in costs like labor and energy.

Nichols remains involved in the family farming operations, keeping him current with agriculture, pest and disease management and the different valves coming onto the market. However, he focuses most of his energy on HotSpot, identifying needs within farming operations and developing technological solutions to help growers.

The company’s latest invention is the TAC-Box, designed to save installation time and make automation more affordable for its wine industry customers. This all-in-one enclosure allows growers to monitor and control their farming operations in real time. It enables valve automation and sensor monitoring from pressure sensors to flow meters, groundwater levels, reservoir levels, tanks, soil moisture sensors, weather stations and more from a single versatile enclosure powered by a more durable, long-lasting lithium-ion battery.

“The versatility sets TAC-Box apart,” says Cassie Braswell, HotSpot’s Customer Success Manager for California’s North Coast. “Everyone has a different system based on the best farming processes and practices for their vineyard and team. So, instead of saying, ‘Here’s the solution,’ we work with the grower to learn their challenges and then design a way to solve them.”

For example, if growers need to monitor the groundwater, they can tie in monitoring flow and pressure for a nominal fee, increasing the TAC-Box’s value. A grower with a new weather station can easily add an air quality sensor and temperature probe to gather temperature data from within the canopy. We’re also getting more information on growing degree days for that year or vapor pressure deficit conditions so the grower can cool the vineyard with foggers if needed.

HotSpot’s new TAC-Box saves time, labor and money by scheduling irrigation days, weeks or months in advance. Its real-time 5G IIoT lets growers monitor and operate farm operations remotely via desktop, tablet or mobile device, saving them extra trips into the field. They don’t need to constantly check their devices because they’ll receive alarms and notifications of any issues or custom events — and the TAC-Box can even perform emergency shut-offs when necessary. Even an outage doesn’t shut down communications since telemetry will keep farm operations running smoothly.

To learn more about HotSpot AG and the new TAC-Box, visit Booth 304 at the 12th Annual North Coast Wine Industry Expo (WIN Expo) on December 5th, in Santa Rosa, CA., wineindustryexpo.com, like outsourcing tax preparation, wineries can focus on what they do best ― making and selling wine.