Page 65 - Grapevine JanFeb 2022

Around The Vineyard

Sustainability Tips and Advice
for Vineyards

Experts in the fields of biodynamics, eco-friendly
agriculture and organic viticulture have been devis-
ing new solutions to common challenges so that Professional Certificates
these approaches are more practical and profitable
for vineyards. Meanwhile, the professionals we Delivered via Distance Education
consulted about sustainable viticulture had many Viticulture • Winemaking
helpful ideas about how to choose the right solu-
tions for a vineyard and additional ways to focus on “Program combines
responsible grape-growing. the theoretical with the
practical aspects - real
world solutions. I can’t
For example, Winkler from Traditional & recommend it strongly
Biodynamic Vineyard Consulting said that farm enough for either a fu-
machinery focused on weed management has ture or current grower.”
developed significantly in recent years.
“One can now find a perfectly adapted implement James Kasparek
to almost every vineyard’s soil,” Winkler said. “The Class of 2018
combination of a uniquely adapted weed manage-
ment plan and the introduction of animal grazing 806‐834‐7137
can help with timely weed control and increase
organic matter. This allows vineyards to move away grapesandwine.ttu.edu
from herbicide use and build soil health.”

Vadon from BioSafe said that sustainability comes “We have a number of different application pro-
in many forms but that one of the most important grams depending on what the key benefits some-
ways to practice it in a vineyard is to rotate a pes- one is looking for,” Little said. “Soil applications
ticide’s mode of action or in the case of fungicides, throughout the season are beneficial in building soil
FRAC groups. microbial populations and with plant stress resis-
tance. Soil applications during natural root flush
“Fungicides have different ways they kill an times will increase root growth leading to enhanced
organism, and continually using the same mode of nutrient and water uptake. Foliar applications will
action back-to-back greatly increases the chances help improve stress resistance, but also increase
for developing mutational resistance,” Vadon said. bunch length early season and help with uniformi-
“Reducing the chances of mutational resistance ty of growth. When it makes sense for the grow-
developing is the key to keeping the fantastic prod- er, I recommend a combination of foliar and soil
ucts available to us in the grape world, viable for applications of Acadian Organic® or Stella Maris®
years to come.” Organic to gain the most benefits.”

Little from Acadian said that some of the best
advice comes from other growers, so learn about
their successes and failures and then evaluate how
to incorporate their best practices into your oper-
ation. She recommended reviewing different prod-
ucts with a critical eye and experimenting with new
things while keeping track of what works and what
doesn’t.

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