Robots and drones audition for grape growers at Hopland center

Pickup trucks lined University Road at the Hopland Research and Extension Center on the morning of June 30, their drivers gathered in the shade at the edge of a sunny demonstration vineyard to watch a robot that kills mildew with ultraviolet light. And then there was the drone that sprays rows too steep for a tractor.

The free field day, hosted by UC ANR Innovate, the innovation arm of the University of California’s agriculture division, brought eight agricultural technology companies to demonstrate their creations to growers that just might buy their tools . The show ran from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., with lunch after, and drew growers, researchers and industry people from as far away as Fresno, Sacramento and the East Bay.