Wine grape growers are urgently needed to participate in dissertation research examining what drives—and prevents—the adoption of new agricultural technology.
August 18, 2026 (Eagle, ID) — After years of doctoral coursework, research, literature review, and dissertation development, George Fox University DBA candidate Carl D. Hays III has reached one of the final—and unexpectedly most difficult—stages of his doctoral journey: finding enough wine grape growers willing to complete his research survey.
Hays is asking members of the wine grape industry for help.
If you grow wine grapes, please consider taking the survey today:
Survey: https://qualtricsxmb5r6fwsyb.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3f6EHjmKbeVVfr8
The dissertation examines a problem with major implications for the future of agricultural technology: Why do growers adopt some innovations while rejecting others?
Agriculture faces increasing pressure to produce more with fewer resources. At the same time, agricultural technology companies continue to invest heavily in automation, sensors, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and precision agriculture. Yet developing an innovative technology does not guarantee growers will adopt it.
Research has identified numerous barriers to agricultural technology adoption, including cost, risk, uncertainty, lack of demonstrated benefits, complexity, trust, and whether a technology actually addresses the practical needs of growers.
This disconnect can be costly. Technology companies may spend years and millions of dollars developing solutions only to discover that the people they were designed for do not perceive enough value—or face too much risk or difficulty—to adopt them.
Hays’ dissertation uses automated wine grape yield estimation as a real-world case for studying this problem.
Traditional wine grape yield estimation can require workers to manually count grape clusters, develop samples, and extrapolate those observations into expected pounds or tons per acre. Emerging automated systems could instead use sensors, computer vision, machine learning, and other technologies to analyze substantially more of the vineyard and produce yield estimates.
But technological capability is only part of the equation.
Will growers actually use it?
More importantly, could adoption change if the technology were provided as a service, allowing a contractor to perform the work rather than requiring the grower to purchase, learn, operate, and maintain another piece of technology?
The study examines factors including perceived usefulness, relative advantage, compatibility, trust, perceived risk, cost efficiency, effort expectancy, ease of use, and behavioral intention to adopt.
The goal is not simply to determine whether growers like a particular technology. The research seeks to identify which factors actually predict adoption so agricultural technology companies, entrepreneurs, researchers, and investors can better understand where to focus limited resources when developing innovations for agriculture.
A PERSONAL APPEAL TO THE WINE GRAPE INDUSTRY
There is one thing this research cannot accomplish without the industry: wine grape growers have to participate.
Reaching this specialized population has proven extraordinarily difficult.
After investing years in reaching this stage of the doctoral process, Hays is now asking vineyard owners, managers, growers, and members of the wine industry to help him cross the finish line.
If you are involved in an operation that grows wine grapes, your perspective matters.
Even if you have little interest in automated yield estimation—or are skeptical of agricultural technology—that perspective is equally valuable. A valid study requires hearing from growers across the technology-adoption spectrum, not simply those enthusiastic about new technology.
HOW THE WINE INDUSTRY CAN HELP
1. If you grow wine grapes, complete the dissertation survey:
https://qualtricsxmb5r6fwsyb.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3f6EHjmKbeVVfr8
2. If you know a wine grape grower, vineyard manager, or vineyard owner, please forward the survey to them.
3. If you belong to a wine grape association, grower organization, cooperative, extension network, or industry group, please consider distributing the survey to your members.
A few minutes from members of the wine grape community could make the difference between a research project struggling for sufficient participation and a completed dissertation capable of contributing meaningful knowledge back to agriculture.
Please help a doctoral candidate finish this research—and help the agricultural technology industry better understand the growers it is trying to serve.
ABOUT THE RESEARCHER
Carl D. Hays III is a Doctor of Business Administration candidate at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon. His dissertation research examines the factors influencing wine grape growers’ behavioral intention to adopt automated yield estimation as a service, drawing from established technology adoption and acceptance theory.
PARTICIPATE IN THE STUDY
Wine Grape Grower Dissertation Survey:
https://qualtricsxmb5r6fwsyb.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3f6EHjmKbeVVfr8
