Page 40 - Grapevine NovDec 2021
P. 40
Around The Vineyard
because of the intricacies involved in the process. shear. Infaco-USA is based in Livermore, California
Removing vine branches that are a couple of years and produces tools used in vineyards and orchards
old, known as canes, comes first. It is typical to cut in at least 35 countries. Infaco’s president, Daniel
the cane back to 12 to 15 inches from the trunk in Delmas, is credited with inventing the world’s first
this first phase. Then, remove the spurs, which are electric pruning shears.
the young branches about a year old. The second
phase is done later to leave only shoots that will “Our F3015 electric pruning shear came out a few
produce fruit. years ago, but it remains the most technological-
ly advanced shear in the world, in part because it
For winter protection, remove all old-growth works with our patented safety system,” Ananda
except for new fruiting canes and renewal spurs Van Hoorn, operations manager for Infaco-USA,
that will supply fruit canes for the next growing told The Grapevine Magazine. “No other shear has
season. Proper canopy management allows vine- anything that comes close to it, as this system pre-
yard workers to pull leaves and control the vigor vents users from accidentally cutting themselves
of the vines. Many vineyards use a machine pruner or lopping off a finger. In vineyard pruning, this is
first to do the bulk of the cutting and then hand particularly important since mistakes happen when
pruning for greater precision. workers are fatigued and in crews try to go as fast
as they can, especially if they’re paid piece-rate,
Tools for Pruning and they often work long hours.”
In general, the tools necessary for pruning are Meanwhile, Zenport Industries is another com-
fairly straightforward. Vineyard workers use hand pany that has developed several tools, accesso-
shears, lopping shears, saws, gloves, and ribbons or ries and technologies for the vineyard. Based in
colored cloth strips to identify renewal spurs and Sherwood, Oregon, Zenport has introduced bat-
fruiting canes. tery-powered pruning shears and, more recently, a
new “cordless” version of this product. In general,
Innovative companies have developed special- Zenport manufactures specialty horticulture tools
ized products for pruning that seem simple at first and supplies for the agriculture, landscape, irriga-
glance but are very technologically advanced. One tion and lawn and garden markets.
example is Infaco-USA’s F3015 electric pruning
“The reason why we say
‘cordless’ is because unlike
previous generations of bat-
tery-powered pruners, there
is no external battery pack or
electronics, as everything is
encapsulated inside the tool,”
Daryl Shatto, who handles
marketing for Zenport, told
The Grapevine Magazine.
Shatto said that the inter-
changeable battery packs
offer three to four hours of
pruning runtime per battery
charge.
“The Zenport EP26 cuts one-
Infaco USA’s F3015 Electric Pruning Shear inch and comes with two bat-
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