By: Gerald Dlubala
Vineyard pruning is sometimes approached with a different passion than harvest, but it’s no less critical and can have a noticeable effect on the following year’s harvest. Proper pruning encourages robust vine growth and enriches the health of the vine and fruiting grapes. A well-pruned and maintained vine directs all of its energy into producing high-quality fruit rather than sending resources into nonproductive areas of the vine.
On the surface, pruning sounds simple, but it really is an art form that separates the healthy wood from any dead or damaged vines to help increase the production and quality of the fruit in the next harvest. Locate your previous year’s growth and eliminate the dead or diseased wood. Select the strongest and healthiest-looking vines and trim any excess, leaving a few well-spaced buds on those canes to encourage optimal shoot development and production.
If done early, vineyard managers give themselves plenty of time to complete the pruning. Late pruning is known to help reduce the damaging effects of frost, but then the workers may have to deal with less-than-optimal weather to complete the pruning before bud break. Younger vines can be trained at this time, while older, mature vines are pruned to encourage ongoing productivity. Pruning is also the time to help form a well-ventilated canopy that features proper air circulation and optimal sun penetration.
Pruning is also critical to disease detection and to determining which vines, if any, should be replaced. Additionally, any detected diseases can be spread from one vine to another through the tools used, so regularly sterilizing pruning tools with isopropyl alcohol or a bleach solution is a must.
Many vineyards have turned to pre-pruning to reduce the time needed for pruning and the labor involved.
Pre-Pruning to Ease the Load: Provide Agro
Sean Bartlett, business unit manager for Provide Agro, a Bartlett Company, told The Grapevine Magazine that pre-pruning is one way to ease the demands on vineyard managers during the pruning season.
“Pre-pruning cordon and spur-trained vines can significantly help cut down on labor costs and time spent pruning,” said Bartlett. “We recommend doing this anytime throughout the dormant season before you do the final pruning. The best time for final pruning is usually as late as possible in the dormant season, but that’s not often practical with larger vineyards with more acreage and labor limitations. This is when a pre-pruning strategy really pays off.”
Bartlett says that all long canes measuring six to 12 inches long are cut back during pre-pruning. By doing this now, there is less manual manipulation, saving labor and time later during traditional pruning.
“Leaving the longer cane length during pre-pruning has also been shown to help deter fungal disease,” said Bartlett. “Additionally, while pre-pruning, you can prioritize and choose your vines based on their expected susceptibility to winter injury. Sometimes, based on observations, you may want to leave more buds now and reassess at final pruning.”
Provide Agro works with clients to provide custom solutions and proper equipment for their field equipment, packhouse and custom manufacturing needs. For vineyard management, Bartlett recommends Freilauber products. Freilauber has specialized in vineyard equipment for over 25 years, focusing on quality and new innovative processes for the future.
Combining Experience & Technology for Cost-Effective, Efficient Pruning: Cypress Agritech Partners With INFACO USA
“Vineyard pruning isn’t a one-size-fits-all task,” said Joey Traut, vice president of Cypress Agritech, a provider of practical and sustainable solutions to the agriculture industry. “The optimal time for pruning depends on the growing region you’re in, the weather and the vineyard location’s microclimate. It also depends on if you’re growing table grapes or wine grapes.
Sometimes, it’s just a result of getting through harvest and wanting to take some time off before undertaking another labor-intensive vineyard task. The normal pruning window lies between November and January. Table grape growers may begin in November after harvest; wine grape regions usually hold off until later in January. Vineyards further north, such as those in the Pacific Northwest, may prune in February or March to get past the coldest winter months and not have to prune when it’s cold and wet. The farther north you go, the later they start pruning. Regarding completion time, we know that most vineyards would like to complete their pruning within one to two months.”
Cypress Agritech is the dealer and service provider for INFACO, a premium hand-held power tool manufacturer servicing the agricultural industry for over 35 years. INFACO is credited with developing the first electric pruning shear, and through continuous development, its F3020 Professional Battery Powered Pruning Shear is considered the gold standard in electric pruning shears.
“We partnered with two vineyards through two pruning cycles to test the effectiveness of INFACO’s F3020 shears,” said Traut. “These tools aren’t cheap, so if you have to buy enough shears so that a block of up to 50 workers can all prune the vineyard at the same time, you want to make sure you’re getting a return on your investment.”
“So, we looked at how to prove that return,” he said. “The idea is simple enough: you provide an electric shear that will prune faster with quicker cuts, saving time and money on labor hours. But how much? Is there a potential to reduce your pruning crew and have those available workers do other vineyard activities at the same time? If crews can prune in half the time, pruning crews can be reduced, making other workers available for additional vineyard tasks at the same time. We’re not looking to reduce jobs. We look to automate those we can to increase efficiency across the vineyard. That’s a win for everyone.”
“For our trials, we had two vineyards that were each about 200 acres, with 900 vines per acre planted with the same spacing,” said Traut. “Rows were alternated being pruned either manually or by using INFACO’s F3020 shears. We continued the trial over two years, using two pruning cycles to validate our findings and compare the labor data to the cost of shears needed. We know upfront that the manual pruning is going to naturally take longer, with more mental and hand fatigue from clenching down manually on bigger branches. The end of the two-year trials gave us the results of using electric shears in a real-time test under real-world conditions in two prominent and well-managed vineyards.”
He shared, “We ended up with some great, specific data sets. Those data sets showed that, with all things being equal, the pruning was completed with INFACO’s electric shears in 1.64 months compared to 2.18 months for those using traditional manual pruning methods. We then compared the labor data to the cost of the shears, and we see that we’ve also cut costs while optimizing our labor.”
Traut said they have created spreadsheets in cooperation with vineyard pruning experts and have come up with a formula that provides a vineyard manager or owner with an idea of the return on investment and how much they would save by using electric shears for their pruning tasks. Different spreadsheets are available for wine and table grapes because each features different intricacies, including different pruning methods.
Look for Equipment with Functionality, Durability, Safety & Non-Stop Battery Life
Traut said that, as with any farm equipment, vineyard workers want to know about the safety and durability of any new equipment. Additionally, when it comes to battery-powered equipment, battery life is always one of the first questions that come to mind.
“Those are all legitimate concerns,” said Traut. “In trials, battery life was a big question. After all, these shears are farm equipment and will be subjected to rough use while in the elements. Downtime due to battery failure or the need for a recharge is not acceptable. INFACO’s F3020 shears can easily go a couple of days without a recharge, but we recommend that vineyard workers do the simplest and most efficient thing and store them in their charging cradle after completing a day’s work. In all of our trials, vineyards have loved these shears. We’ve had the same success stories with orchard and blueberry farmers. The batteries won’t fail in the field unless they haven’t been charged in a few days.”
Traut says that the F3020 is essentially a modular unit. It attaches to a cable that hooks into the battery pack located in the included backpack-type mechanism, or it can attach to a belt. The backpack keeps the cable out of the way and keeps the unit ergonomically valid, reducing stress on the hand and wrist and effectively reducing workman’s compensation claims.
The blades of the shear are interchangeable. The shear comes with a medium head size, which is the most popular and widely used in vineyards. The larger maxi head size has a bigger cut radius, which is more popular in orchard use. When pruning smaller diameter branches, the diameter cut radius of the shear can be adjusted, optimizing cut speed. An interesting safety feature is that the shear’s bottom blade can pick up on the electromagnetic current that runs through a human’s skin. If the shear senses that current, it will not close or cut.
“It’s an extreme safety feature that I demonstrate at shows with my own fingers,” said Traut. “We’ve had very positive reviews from those that have adopted INFACO’s shears for use in their vineyards, and that’s just one reason we’ve decided to work with them. There are a lot of electric shears on the market that are capable of doing a job for you, but when considering safety, quality, maintenance, service and overall function, INFACO was the one that gave us everything. For anyone looking to purchase electric shears, I would say that they should look at the product’s safety, durability and reliability in that order. Additionally, we provide an excellent annual maintenance program that essentially extends the original warranty to last a lifetime.”
Innovation and Improvements Continue
Even though the F3020 is just two years old, INFACO is always looking for new ways and features to get better. They’ve increased their Bluetooth connectivity and enhanced their safety function, giving it more reliability by decreasing the lag that sometimes occurs in wet or heavy dew conditions. The improved Bluetooth connectivity will also allow their app to record every trigger pull to make a cut. All new orders starting for this season will have the enhancements already installed.
These features will be added to existing shears at the next maintenance interval. Traut tells The Grapevine that INFACO has multiple tools for different crops, and they’ve also had great reviews on their AT 1000, an electric tying device that provides orchard and vineyard workers a quicker way to tie vines rather than hand tying.
“We believe that INFACO has the best electric shears on the market,” said Traut. “We do our due diligence, learning from having locations along the Central Valley and Central Coast of California wine regions. We’ve done extensive trials with both table and wine grapes just because we know there are different intricacies within those varietals, including timing, pruning methods and training methods. But we don’t want to just blast out data. We travel up and down the state and are always happy to give demos and sit down with vineyard owners/managers who can input their own data points into our calculator to get an idea of the savings they can realize by going to electric shears.
We have plenty of references to speak with as well. We believe in good relationships and want everyone to stay safe during harvest and pruning season.”
