Four Winds Vineyard in Murrumbateman and Brindabella Hills near Hall were both selected to have the weather stations installed on their properties. 

Both have been funded by the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (DPI), and are among 18 installed in wine regions around the state.

Four Winds Vineyard manager John Collingwood said that it is hoped more accurate weather data will help prevent the loss of produce to diseases.

“The NSW selected two properties that would provide a good representation of the majority of the vineyards in the area, thankfully we were one of them,” he said.

“If individual farmers wanted to get their own station, that data would be collaborated and sent away, but we only have funding for the two in this area."

The stations are capable of measuring basic conditions, such as rainfall, humidity and wind speed, along with agricultural conditions such as leaf wetness and soil temperature.

“The main thing is that weather data will help make decisions about spray timing and application, the benefits are improving running costs of the vineyard but also decreasing the risk of disease if we are really keeping on top of our spray program and using the data to the best of our ability.”

Farmers around Murrumbateman have always relied upon stations at Canberra Airport and Yass. These readings have proved to be varied to the conditions around Murrumbateman.  

Data recorded by both new stations will be publicly available online and updated every two hours.

“We are very excited about this data now available to us," Mr Collingwood said. 

“The DPI will create a Vinewatch Bulletin which they will release to growers giving them information on different periods of disease risk from the data obtained from the stations. 

“At the moment they have it for Riverina and Mudgee ... so it is great to have this available to us here.”