Lumo

Once farmers add instrumentation, they don’t go back.

That’s an idea we picked up from Clay at Fall Line Capital (an early Lumo investor).

And it’s proven true.

Once a farm manager gains block-level visibility and control, going back to operating the old way seems unimaginable.

How would you know if your system was performing as expected?

How would you detect leaks right away?

How would you optimize your sets to hit the right pressure at every block?

You wouldn’t.

It would feel too risky. Like a loss of control.

Over 99% of the farms that have tried Lumo still use it today.

Growers stick with the system. Season after season.

Once you see the data. Once you feel the confidence, the control, the peace of mind. There’s no going back to the old way.

Almost time for harvest in Paso.

"I would get excited and turn it on at 2 in the morning."

That's Roberto, the irrigator at Shafer Vineyards.

Roberto and Lolo, the foreman, cover four ranches: Borderline, Rustler, Ridgeback and Schoolbus. 58 blocks across 96 acres, all running on Lumo.

That kind of expansion is driven from the bottom up, by the people who use the system every day.

Maria Silvia, our Customer Support Specialist, interviewed them in Spanish a while back about how they’ve been able to get such great value out of the system.

Here’s what they had to say:

Why the Irrigators at Shafer Love Lumo Shafer Vineyards put Lumo on Borderline. Then expanded to Rustler, Ridgeback and Schoolbus. That kind of expansion is driven from the bottom up, by irrigators.

Watching the first scheduled irrigation at a vineyard in Edna Valley.

It's a beautiful thing.

Beautiful Spring morning in the mountains overlooking the Napa Valley.

This top-tier Cabernet vineyard is going on its second year with Lumo. They’re impressed with the labor savings and how easy the system is to use.

It's a mountain cab vineyard. Makes great wine.

If there’s one word that’s always been at the heart of the work we do at Lumo it’s Accountability.

When we were first getting started, it was the word that kept coming up in every grower conversation.

“I need a system with built-in accountability.”
“I don’t just need automation. I need accountability. Something I can rely on.”

Not just a timer. Not just a way to open and close valves. But a system that could prove that it was running as intended and delivering water as expected.

All of the good outcomes – labor savings, increased precision, lower risk, greater control, reduced pumping costs - they’re all downstream of accountability.

Because they all hinge on whether the grower can actually trust the data.

Is this something I can rely on?
Can I trust that I’ll get a notification as soon as something goes wrong?
Is this really gonna help me sleep at night or end up being one more thing to worry about?

Earning that trust. Becoming that dependable system. Helping growers sleep better at night. It always comes back to that one word we heard so often in the beginning.

Accountability. Accountability. Accountability.

You simply can’t irrigate with a high degree of precision and performance without it.

New Napa install by Morgan Jernigan.

Photo from Andy White and a bit of commentary too:

“Beautiful ranch. Great work from the vineyard team, who’s optimistic about the future quality of grapes and wine that will be coming out of this vineyard. Turkey's gobbling and cows grazing in the surrounding hills. Lively Spring time feel.”

Ducks? No, no, no. Around here, we get our domes in a row.