Assessment types What is a BARS assessment? The process Contact →
Biological Asset Risk Assessment

The financial cost of vine disease, in dollar terms.

Grapevine Leafroll Virus (GLRaV-3) and trunk disease don't just reduce yield — they reduce future vineyard value. BARS converts biological condition into financial intelligence: quantifying the cost of inaction, the return on intervention, and which blocks carry the greatest share of that risk.

Published Methodology · New Zealand
Framework Design
Lead Assessor
Sarah Macfarlane
Expertise Basis
Former IANZ-Accredited Key Technical Person — Plant Virus Detection
Testing Standard
Processed via IANZ Accredited Laboratories (ISO/IEC 17025)
Methodology
MET-BARS-001
Why it matters

The cost accumulates long before anyone sees it.

GLRaV-3 and trunk disease don't announce themselves on a P&L. They show up as slightly lower yield, a slightly earlier replant, a vector count that's crept up — spread across dozens of blocks, unnoticed until the cost is too large to reverse. BARS Institute puts a number on that hidden cost, block by block, and shows which response — tighter vector control, closer monitoring, or replanting — actually pays for itself.

Financial outputs

What a BARS assessment delivers

Four outputs that PCR testing alone cannot produce — built on accredited diagnostics, epidemiological modelling, and discounted cashflow analysis.

NPV
Impairment in dollars

Disease-driven revenue loss and replant CAPEX, expressed per hectare and as a percentage of clean vineyard value. Reported as median (P50) and stress-case (P95) outcomes, virus and trunk disease separately.

Reported as: Median and P95 downside, virus and GTD separately.
IV
Intervention Value

Compares intervention scenarios — tighter vector management, intensified monitoring, targeted vine removal — to quantify whether additional operational effort on a given block actually pays for itself.

Reported as: NPV comparison, current management vs. improved-control scenario.
CAP
Capital Allocation Priorities

Ranks blocks by their contribution to total portfolio biological risk. Shows which blocks are driving the downside — and where intervention has the greatest financial return.

Reported as: Block risk ranking and tail-risk contribution table.
RDI
Replant Decision Intelligence

Projects when each block will reach its economic replant threshold, based on current disease burden, trunk disease progression rate, and productive life remaining.

Reported as: Replant trigger year and CAPEX planning horizon.

Underpinned by independently derived biological condition scores

BARS Virus Score (BVS)

GLRaV-3 infection prevalence, expressed as a current-condition score from 0–100. Derived from ISO/IEC 17025 accredited PCR results using validated composite pool testing.

BARS GTD Score (BGS)

Current trunk disease burden expressed as a score from 0–100, assessed across three tiers. Each figure carries a tier confidence label and disclosed uncertainty interval.

Built to sit alongside your viticulture team

Large-scale vineyard operators already have experienced technical teams who know their blocks. BARS doesn't replace that judgement — it provides the independent, standardised layer that converts what your team observes into a comparable dollar figure across every block, every region, and every season. The same evidence also supports lenders, valuers, accountants, and transaction advisers where a transaction, covenant review, or audit requires independent evidence.

Expertise basis

Sarah Macfarlane is a former IANZ-accredited Key Technical Person for plant virus detection within an ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory. She has led commercial grapevine virus testing programmes, developed diagnostic quality systems, and managed vineyard-scale health surveillance across New Zealand. BARS Institute translates that technical depth into a standardised, independent risk and capital model for vineyard operators.

Methodology and standards

All assessments follow published methodology MET-BARS-001, with assumptions, calibration bases, and sensitivity ranges disclosed in every report. Diagnostic samples are submitted to independent IANZ-accredited laboratories under full chain-of-custody documentation.

Framework Summary
Framework Lead
Sarah Macfarlane
Technical Foundation
Designed to BARS Institute standard specifications
Diagnostic Testing
Executed exclusively by independent, IANZ-accredited labs
Methodology Document
MET-BARS-001
Monte Carlo Runs
10,000 per block
Independence
No vineyard management, supply, or purchase conflicts
Framework alignment

Outputs are designed for direct use in impairment testing, fair value assessment, and due diligence workflows aligned with these standards.

NZ IAS 36
NZ IAS 41
NZ IFRS 13
NZ IAS 16

Talk about your vineyard

Contact Sarah Macfarlane directly to discuss where hidden biological cost might be concentrated across your blocks.

Get in touch →

BARS outputs are decision-support evidence, not a registered valuation, accounting opinion, or credit approval recommendation. They do not determine market value, loan terms, impairment recognition, or financial statement treatment.