Managing a winegrape vineyard, like any agricultural enterprise, is a knowledge intensive activity. Winegrape growers learn about vineyard management by accessing a wide variety of information resources. The available information can directly influence vineyard management practices, which ultimately impacts environmental, economic, and social outcomes. This research brief focuses on two issues. First, grower perceptions of the usefulness of a number of different information resources growers. The information resources measured include personal experience, interpersonal relationships, outreach by local agricultural institutions, and published materials. Second, we also take a novel approach and analyze the knowledge sharing network of growers and outreach professionals to estimate which types of individuals are most central in this network. This analysis can help inform the outreach and education efforts of local agricultural organizations, like the Lodi Winegrape Commission (LWC), which plays a critical role in the local knowledge system. The research also provides insights into learning pathways within agricultural systems more generally. Our region of study was Lodi, CA, which is one of Californias oldest winegrape growing regions and is home to an estimated 500 growers managing 100,000 acres of winegrapes.
