IT’s pruning time, the last of the vine leaves are about to call it quits exposing the task ahead.
The majority of the wood will be removed mechanically and the hand pruning tidy up will be done a bit later.
Last year’s canes are generally cut back to about 70mm long depending on the variety. With fruit only coming from the previous year’s canes, it’s critical to not cut them too short or if too much wood is left the next year’s crop may be too big leaving ripening and increased risk of disease issues.
Different varieties can carry larger crops than others and still meet the wineries expectations, for example we have some varieties that are cropped at six to eight tonnes/acre and a couple that can ripen up to 16+ tonnes/acre, but it’s risky in wet growing seasons.
The welcome rains have allowed the vines to go into dormancy happy and it has nicely washed in the cow manure and compost that was spread under the vine rows in May.
For the bigger picture situation of the wine job, it’s looking a bit crook, since the China pull back and the restrictive shipping issues has left Australia with too much wine.
While the higher input costs in some commodities has also seen increased values for some crops and products with wine grapes, most red variety prices dropped significantly last year and look to fall further for 2023.
With the start of machine pruning and the cold weather, Sid the Spider has found his way back in the tractor cabin and is full of opinionated conversation.
Sid gives his two cents worth when the talk back is on the radio and even jumps on the numbers of my phone trying to call in.
He has learnt some unsavoury words from channel 40 on the UHF and after I told him who won the federal election, he said, “How the ##ck did that happen!”
