Ontario growers gain local access to affordable, retrofit irrigation automation backed by more than 70 years of irrigation expertise.

Verdi, the leading global provider of easy and affordable irrigation automation, today announced a new partnership with Vanden Bussche Irrigation, Ontario’s leading provider of irrigation solutions.

Verdi currently supports more than 20,000 acres across North America, works with some of the world’s largest food producers, and helped farms save over 1 billion liters of water last year. Through this partnership, Ontario growers will now have local access to Verdi’s automation platform, delivered with design, installation, and ongoing support from the Vanden Bussche team.

For growers managing labor constraints, rising water costs, and increasing pressure to protect yield and quality, the partnership brings together Verdi’s retrofit automation platform and Vanden Bussche’s long-standing irrigation expertise.

Expanding Access for Ontario Growers

Vanden Bussche Irrigation has served Ontario’s agriculture industry for more than 70 years. As a fourth-generation family-owned company with locations in Delhi, Simcoe, Burlington, and Concord, the company supports growers with irrigation design, installation, service, and training across the province.

Through this partnership, Vanden Bussche will work directly with growers to assess irrigation systems, design automation plans, install and commission equipment, and provide ongoing support.

“Our mission is to make easy and affordable irrigation automation accessible to every farm by retrofitting intelligence onto the systems growers already use,” said Val King, Director of Channel Partnerships at Verdi. “Vanden Bussche has built deep trust with growers across Ontario. Their technical expertise and commitment to service make them an ideal partner as we expand access to affordable irrigation automation in the region.”

Interest in irrigation automation continues to grow across Ontario, particularly among specialty crop producers facing labor shortages and tighter water management requirements.

“Vanden Bussche Irrigation is very excited to bring Verdi products to the Ontario market,” said Gerard Vanden Bussche, Vice President at Vanden Bussche Irrigation. “Growers are under constant pressure to produce high-quality crops while managing costs. Verdi’s automation platform fits those needs extremely well. We believe this technology is exactly what many growers in our region have been looking for.”

Easy and Affordable Irrigation Automation That Works With Existing Infrastructure

Verdi upgrades the irrigation infrastructure growers already use and trust by retrofitting wireless intelligence onto existing valves and pumps.

The system enables growers to remotely control irrigation, monitor pressure and flow in real time, receive alerts when issues occur, and verify that each irrigation completed as intended.

Because Verdi retrofits onto existing infrastructure, there is no need for trenching, rewiring, or full system replacement. This makes automation significantly more affordable and far less complex to implement compared to traditional solutions.

Growers can start with a single block and expand over time, making automation scalable and accessible to farms of all sizes.

Verdi customers report:

• $250 to $500 per acre in labor and fuel savings
• 10 to 30 percent water savings
• 10 to 20 percent per acre revenue increases through improved crop stress management and uniformity

Now, Ontario growers can access those same outcomes with trusted local support.

About Verdi

Verdi is an agricultural technology company making irrigation automation easy, affordable, and accessible for specialty crop growers. By retrofitting wireless intelligence onto existing irrigation systems, Verdi enables growers to automate valves and pumps, verify irrigation completion, monitor soil moisture and pressure, and protect yield and quality without replacing infrastructure.

About Vanden Bussche Irrigation

Founded more than 70 years ago, Vanden Bussche Irrigation is a fourth-generation family-owned company and Ontario’s leading provider of irrigation solutions for agriculture, golf, residential, and commercial landscape industries. With locations in Delhi, Simcoe, Burlington, and Concord, the company is committed to service excellence, trusted products, and innovative solutions tailored to customer needs.

‍

Vineyard irrigation has a familiar frustration. You can do everything right and still end the day wondering whether each set actually ran the way you intended.

A stuck valve, a pressure issue, a line break, or a simple timing miss can quietly turn into wasted water, uneven blocks, and unnecessary stress. In many vineyards, the only reliable way to catch those problems is still the old way. Drive out, walk the line, and check.

At a time when the wine industry is navigating declining demand and tightening margins, lowering operational costs matters more than ever. Growers are looking for ways to cut labor, reduce water waste, and get more certainty from every dollar invested in the vineyard because the broader wine market continues to face headwinds. Global wine consumption has seen persistent downward pressure in recent years, and many regions are adjusting acreage and operations in response to weaker demand.

Visit Verdi at Unified

Verdi will be exhibiting at the 2026 Unified Wine & Grape Symposium at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in Sacramento. Visit Booth A2600 to see how vineyards are adding modern irrigation automation without replacing the system they already use and trust.

A Smarter Path to Irrigation Automation

Traditional irrigation automation solutions can be expensive. Many growers face sticker shock when reviewing proposals that require trenching, hardwiring, and system redesigns. This is especially difficult in a market where keeping costs low is critical to staying competitive.

Verdi approaches automation differently by retrofitting intelligence onto the valves and pumps you already have. Because it leverages existing infrastructure, Verdi systems run at roughly one-tenth the cost of many traditional automation systems, making automation accessible to more vineyards without a heavy upfront investment.

This means you can modernize irrigation while protecting your bottom line and getting more value from your current equipment.

Control, Scheduling, and Knowing What Happened

The real job isn’t collecting more data. The real job is knowing what happened and being able to act quickly.

Verdi gives vineyard teams remote control and schedule-based irrigation, along with real-time verification using live field signals like pressure and flow. When something does not look right, the system can alert you immediately so issues get addressed sooner rather than after vines show stress.

This reduces manual checking, limits surprises, and builds confidence across every block. In a year when many vineyards are tightening belts and seeking operating efficiencies, that confidence translates into fewer wasted labor hours and better water use.

Start Small, Grow with Your Needs

Not every operation wants to automate everything at once, and most do not need to. Verdi is designed for practical adoption. Growers can start with a single block where labor, risk, or variability is highest, prove the workflow, and expand across additional blocks or properties over time. This makes automation approachable both operationally and financially.

And because vineyards vary so much in layout and resource constraints, Verdi offers a 90-day money-back guarantee. If the system isn’t a fit for your operation, you can return it within 90 days. That guarantee removes risk during a time when careful budgeting and certainty of outcomes are top priorities for growers.

See Verdi in Action at Booth A2600

If you are attending Unified, stop by Booth A2600. Our team will walk you through the hardware and dashboard and talk through what retrofit automation could look like in your vineyard, block by block. 

Unified Wine & Grape Symposium
January 27–29, 2026
Exhibits: January 28–29
SAFE Credit Union Convention Center, Sacramento, CA
Verdi Booth: A2600

Not attending Unified? Book a demo to get a free consultation with our agronomists today.

Declining groundwater levels and increasing pressure under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act are changing how California wine growers think about water. What was once largely an operational concern is now directly tied to long-term viability, regulatory compliance, and sustainability planning.

These issues were front and center during a session at the 2025 WIN Expo, where vineyard operators, hydrologists, and county leaders discussed how groundwater management is evolving and what growers can do to stay ahead. Moderated by Val King, Director of Channel Partnerships at Verdi, the session underscored a clear reality. There is no single solution, but there is a shift toward local control, better data, and practical changes in vineyard management.

SGMA Was Built to Be Local, Not One-Size-Fits-All

SGMA is often misunderstood as a rigid, top-down mandate. In reality, it was designed around California’s variability in geology, climate, and water availability.

Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, SGMA places responsibility with local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies, which develop plans based on basin conditions. As Marcus Trotta, Principal Hydrologist and SGMA Plan Manager at Sonoma Water, explained, “having a one size fits all, this is how you all have to manage groundwater, was never going to work here in California.”

For growers, the takeaway is straightforward. Participation matters. Local agencies rely on shared data and grower input to build workable plans. If agencies fail to act, the state can step in temporarily, but long-term management always returns to the local level.

SGMA is less about enforcement today and more about forcing better planning before problems become irreversible.

Improving Infiltration Starts in the Vineyard

Policy sets the framework, but many of the most impactful changes happen in the vineyard. Improving infiltration and soil water-holding capacity is one of the most direct ways growers can influence groundwater outcomes.

Building organic matter through compost, cover cropping, and reduced tillage helps soils absorb and store more water. David Gates, Vice President of Vineyard Operations at Ridge Vineyards, highlighted how early-season conditions shape outcomes, noting that “those first rains, if they’re hitting dry soil, they tend to seal the soil,” limiting infiltration later in the season.

That makes winter vineyard floor management critical. Ground cover, straw ahead of early storms, and simple water-slowing features like berms or swales can help keep water on-site longer. Avoiding compaction and bare ground further supports infiltration during recharge periods.

Why Groundwater Risk Is More Complex Than It Looks

Groundwater conditions are rarely uniform, especially in coastal California. Some areas draw down quickly and rebound just as fast. Others decline slowly and recover with difficulty. That variability makes simple answers unrealistic.

As Will Drayton, Director of Technical Viticulture, Sustainability and Research at Treasury Wine Estates, put it, “there really is no silver bullet.” Resilience comes from stacking practical, site-specific actions over time.

Those actions include soil and floor management, slowing and absorbing winter water, and improving surface water systems so less water leaves the basin during high-flow events. Underlying all of it is measurement. Better monitoring helps growers and agencies understand what is working and where adjustments are needed.

What This Means for Wine Growers

Across the panel, a few themes were consistent:

• Groundwater management is becoming more local

• Winter water is an opportunity when managed well

• Vineyard practices directly affect infiltration and recharge

• Measurement and shared data are increasingly essential

SGMA is accelerating a shift toward more intentional water management, with growers playing a central role. Groundwater security will be built through informed decisions and steady adaptation, block by block and season by season.

Turning Better Data Into Easier SGMA Reporting

As groundwater management becomes more local and data-driven, growers face a familiar challenge: documenting water use without adding administrative burden.

Measurement is foundational under SGMA. Clear records of how much water was applied, when, and where are becoming increasingly important.

Verdi supports this by creating a live, historical water record at the block level. These records help growers manage irrigation more precisely and make SGMA reporting and local data-sharing easier as requirements evolve.

The goal is not more technology. It is less guesswork, fewer surprises, and clearer documentation that aligns daily irrigation decisions with long-term groundwater sustainability.

Learn How Verdi Supports SGMA Reporting

If you are thinking about how to simplify irrigation management while preparing for evolving SGMA requirements, Verdi can help.

Verdi retrofits onto existing irrigation systems to automate valves and pumps, verify irrigations actually ran, and generate accurate water records by block. Those records support both operational decisions and SGMA reporting, without adding extra steps for your team.

‍

Book a demo to see how Verdi helps growers automate irrigation and maintain clear water records for SGMA reporting.

Introducing the Verdi Smart Valve

Precision irrigation depends on one thing: knowing that every irrigation is delivered exactly as planned. For specialty crop growers managing multiple blocks, varied valve sizes, and rising production costs, achieving that level of control and visibility has often been difficult.

Verdi’s new Smart Valve changes that. Each wireless unit enables remote control, real-time irrigation verification, flow-based scheduling, and water-use reporting, all powered by the Verdi Dashboard. It’s available in a full range of sizes from 1 inch to 4 inches.

Built for Today’s Challenges

Growers across specialty crops, from orchards and vineyards to berries and vegetables, are dealing with rising input costs, labor shortages, and increasing pressure to optimize resources. Many are navigating tighter margins while striving to maintain quality and compliance.

The Smart Valve fills a critical gap in the market for growers who need automation that’s precise, proven, and easy to deploy.

Each unit arrives pre-mounted, pre-wired, and pressure-tested for fast installation, typically in 30 minutes or less using standard tools. There’s no trenching, no field wiring, and no need for specialized labor.

But fast installation is just the beginning.

The Smart Valve gives growers the ability to:

• Control irrigations remotely from any phone or computer
• Verify irrigations in real time using built-in pressure and flow sensing
• Track total water applied for compliance and internal reporting
• Irrigate by volume to deliver precise amounts of water to each block
• Maintain complete irrigation records for audits, water use reporting, and operational visibility

This is automation that saves time in the field and delivers precision at scale.

What’s Inside Every Smart Valve 

The Verdi Smart Valve combines everything needed for automation and verification into one ready-to-go unit:

• A Verdi Block Controller for wireless valve control and dashboard integration
• A pilot-actuated solenoid valve, matched to your pipe size:
  • 1"–2": Irritrol 200B + DCL solenoid
  • 3"–4": Netafim 90 Series + Aquative Plus solenoid
• A Honeywell pressure sensor (±1.0% accuracy, 0–150 psi)
• Optional: FLOMEC ultrasonic flow meter (±2% accuracy, 0.5–537 GPM depending on valve sizing)
• Union, slip, or flange plumbing connections
  
  

Each unit arrives pre-mounted, pre-wired, and pressure-tested, so you can install it quickly with basic tools and standard fittings. No specialized labor. No trenching. No multi-hour setup.

Smart Valve vs. Smart Valve Pro

To support different levels of monitoring and control, we offer two configurations:

Smart Valve: Includes Verdi Block Controller + Pressure Sensor

The Verdi Smart Valve provides remote valve control, pressure-based irrigation verification, and full integration with the Verdi Dashboard. It's ideal for upgrading existing pilot-actuated valves or adding essential remote monitoring.

Smart Valve Pro: Includes Verdi Block Controller + Pressure Sensor + Ultrasonic Flow Meter

The Verdi Smart Valve Pro enables water-use tracking, flow + pressure verification, and irrigation by volume using verified flow rates. It's built for growers who want complete visibility and automation across their irrigation network.

Designed for Real-World Farms, Managed From Anywhere

Smart irrigation tools need to work where it counts—in the field, under pressure, and across a wide range of crops and conditions.

That’s why the Verdi Smart Valve is:

• Pre-mounted, pre-tested, and fast to install typically in 30 minutes or less
• Field-serviceable with standard parts from most irrigation suppliers
• Compatible with existing infrastructure no trenching, rewiring, or custom plumbing
• Rugged and reliable for consistent performance season after season

And with built-in remote control, real-time verification, and automated alerts, growers can eliminate manual checks, reduce setup time, and respond to issues faster, all from the Verdi Dashboard.

Available Now

Verdi Smart Valves are available in:

• Pipe sizes: 1", 1.5", 2", 3", and 4"
• Connection types: Union, slip, or flange
• Configurations: Smart (pressure only) or Smart Pro (pressure + flow)

Explore full specs and model options on the Verdi product page.

Smarter Irrigation Built for Every Block

Specialty crop growers need tools that help them irrigate accurately, verify performance, and maintain clear irrigation records across the season. Verdi’s Smart Valve delivers all three across a wider range of valve sizes, crop types, and infrastructure scenarios than any other system available today.

If your goal is to irrigate precisely, verify every run, and ensure full traceability in your irrigation program, all with less time in the field, the Verdi Smart Valve is ready to support your operation.

Want a walkthrough? Book a demo today or reach out directly to your regional contact:

• Brian Borges (California) (559) 366-9237 | brian.borges@verdiag.com
• Eugene Kovalenko (Pacific Northwest) (250) 328-2982 | eugene.kovalenko@verdiag.com
• Gill Costa (All other regions) (530) 564-5272 | gill.costa@verdiag.com

Vineyard owners and grape growers lie awake at night trying to map a path to the future through today’s volatile market. Worries that run through their minds include the overflowing bulk market that is cancelling contracts and lowering grape prices, and the higher pay rates and immigration raids that are compounding an already stressed labor supply.

Two clear steps forward are to lower operational costs and reduce existing staff workload.

Automating irrigation management is a logical way to achieve this, as it reduces labor, water usage and materials costs. But small or mid-sized growers often forego these benefits because the automation price tag outweighs the return on investment. Instead, 95% of growers still choose to continue irrigating manually.

Verdi addresses this ROI concern with affordable irrigation automation technology that growers and their teams can easily install themselves without any training.

What makes Verdi unique is how its smart hardware and easy-to-use software work together to automate irrigation from end to end. At the heart of the system is the combination of wireless Block Controllers and the Verdi Dashboard, giving growers complete control over pumps, valves, sensors, and drip lines with real-time monitoring and action – without having to get in the truck and drive to the vineyard.

Verdi retrofits existing irrigation systems with battery-powered Block Controllers that execute irrigation commands automatically and can be installed in just 5 minutes. Each unit verifies irrigation events, eliminating the need to drive across rows to open or close valves. The system also sends instant alerts to a grower’s phone or computer if a line breaks or a valve fails, allowing them to pinpoint water loss as it happens.

The Verdi precision irrigation automation system saves growers up to 70% on labor and up to 30% on water usage. It can also increase yields by up to 20% and revenue per acre by of 21%.

Matthew Fortuna, of 50th Parallel Estate Winery, shares his experience: “Before Verdi, I would spend up to four hours a day turning on valves, turning on pumps, ensuring everything was working on our 50-acre vineyard. Now I can remotely plan and execute my irrigations within 15 or 20 minutes, which has really freed me up to do bigger and better things on our site.”

Because each block controller takes only 5 minutes to install, a 100-acre vineyard can be fully automated in a single morning. Growers can start with 20-50 acres as a test, rent the system by the year for a 30% lower cost or install their whole property with the confidence of a 90-day money-back guarantee. 

“Verdi wasn’t built for ideal conditions—we built it for tough years like this,” says Verdi’s co-founder Arthur Chen. “While others focus on complexity and scale, we focused on ROI, scalability and ease of use. Verdi is 1/10th the price of traditional automation and pays off in the first season—keeping farms running lean.” 

Learn how to achieve a make-or-break 10–20% cost reduction by visiting Verdi at WIN Expo booth 200 at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds on Dec. 4, 2026.

Exclusive Expo offer: Wine growers who book a demo by December 31, 2025, will receive a free soil moisture probe. All attendees visiting the Verdi booth are eligible.

Until now, getting reliable weather and soil data meant installing and maintaining a physical weather station, or relying on generic, imprecise forecasts.

Verdi Weather changes that.

This new feature gives you hyper-local weather data, right inside your Verdi dashboard.

Powered by Precip, it puts actionable insights exactly where growers make irrigation decisions.

Why We Built It

Every week, growers make irrigation decisions that directly affect yield, quality, and costs. But too often, those decisions rely on assumptions, not field-specific data.

“Knowing how much rain fell yesterday, last week, or across the whole season changes everything,” says Nart Barileva, Verdi’s Head of Data. “Precip’s data fills that gap instantly.”

With Verdi Weather, there’s no hardware to buy or maintain. It’s already embedded in your dashboard, and the data is specific to your farm.

What You Can See

When you open the Verdi Dashboard, click the new Weather button to view the latest data for any field or your full operation:

• Current air temperature, wind speed, and (USA only) soil temperature
• Recent rainfall and snowfall totals, plus last significant precipitation event
• Soil temperature and relative soil moisture (USA only)
• 16-day forecasts and historical weather trends
• Hourly and daily precipitation breakdowns
• Cumulative rainfall graphs comparing recent years to each other and to 30-year normals

No Station? No Problem.

Weather stations can be expensive to install and maintain, and often require switching between platforms to access the data.

Verdi Weather removes that friction.

“This is some of the most accurate historical precipitation data available anywhere,” says Barileva. “It unlocks powerful decisions for every farm, no matter its setup–especially for growers expanding into new blocks or those without a station.”

Weather-Based Irrigation Works

The science is clear: using weather and soil data to guide irrigation saves water and improves yields. For example:

• Save up to 35% water using weather- or soil-based scheduling without yield loss (Sustainability, 2023)
• Increase yields by 3.4 t/ha with weather-based scheduling for blueberries (HortScience, 2024)
• Boost water productivity by 20–30% using forecast-informed irrigation (Journal of Hydrology, 2024)

When you align irrigation schedules with actual field conditions, you eliminate guesswork and maximize ROI, without adding complexity.

Built for Action, Not Just Insight

Unlike standalone weather apps, Verdi Weather appears directly next to your irrigation scheduler. That means you can check conditions and act on them, without toggling tools or copying data.

“By integrating weather where irrigation decisions are made, we make data actionable,” says Roman Kozak, Verdi’s CTO. “The next step is using this data to automate irrigation intelligently.”

Free for Verdi Users

Verdi Weather is live today for all Verdi users in the Contiguous USA (Lower 48) and Canada.
Soil temperature and moisture data are currently available only in the US, with additional data types and regions coming soon.

No hardware. No additional cost. Just better decisions, on demand.

What's Next

“This is just the beginning,” says Arthur Chen, Verdi’s CEO. “We’re building toward AI-driven irrigation recommendations that help every farm, regardless of size or infrastructure, irrigate like a smart farm.”

Features in development include:

• Humidity and evapotranspiration (ETo) tracking
• Custom weather dashboards tailored to each grower‍
• Intelligent irrigation suggestions based on rainfall and soil data

See It In Action Today

Log in to the Verdi app and click the Weather button to explore your farm’s live and historical weather data today.

Want a walkthrough? Book a demo today or reach out directly to your regional contact:

• Brian Borges (California) (559) 366-9237 | brian.borges@verdiag.com
• Eugene Kovalenko (Pacific Northwest) (250) 328-2982 | eugene.kovalenko@verdiag.com
• Gill Costa (All other regions) (530) 564-5272 | gill.costa@verdiag.com

‍