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COVER STORY View video in the Wines & Vines Digital Edition. Watch a Clemens GPS-guided planting machine in action in this video produced by the German vineyard equipment manufacturer. Technology also has improved how land is prepped for planting. The owners of Vibrosoiler, a system developed in Australia and brought to the United States a few years ago, promise a better option for getting a piece of land ripped and prepped for planting. When used with new grafted, semi-mature vines, the system could cut significant time between planting and harvest. Benchmark Custom Vineyard Planting employs a laser-guided Wagner machine, which the owners say is slower than a GPS-guided machine but still more accurate than planting by hand. Quicker and more accurately The machine Hosmer operates is guided by a laser to ensure a straight row, and the planting device deposits vines at regular intervals. As a tractor pulls the planter, a plow digs a trench for the young vines. Workers, sitting on the rear of the planter, feed vines to spring-loaded fingers that drop the plants into their assigned spots, and another plow fills in the trench. On a good day, Hosmer said he can plant 5,000 vines. He said a typical planting job starts at about $1 per vine, and the land needs to be properly prepped. The machine self-levels and can plant almost anywhere accessible by a tractor. Jan Waltz, owner of 2,500-case Waltz Vineyards & Winery in Manheim, Pa., said he���s contracted Hosmer���s services since 2000 after planting by hand for years. He said a planting job gets Pennsylvania grower and vintner Jan Waltz said it���s easier to mechanize vineyard-management tasks with a uniform, machine-planted field like the one pictured above. Win es & Vin es M A RC H 20 13 25