Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
&
by Kelly Mulville
G
ood fortune (or perhaps simply a preference for beer over wine in as awe-inspired by the sight of lush cover crops between vine rows as I was
my younger years) resulted in my learning and practicing Holistic attending a co-ed high school after three years of confinement at an all boys
Management before I became captivated by the world of wine boarding school. For a few minutes I imagined how happy the livestock back
growing. Although I had studied ecological horticulture in home would be to see this feast. Snapping out of my ungulate culinary
California, it wasn’t until a decade later, and back home in the Southwest, fantasy, I quickly realized that this crop was destined not for grazing but
that I developed a strong appreciation for wine—which naturally led to a would be mowed, sprayed, and disced back into bare soil for the summer.
desire to grow grapes. But the seed had been set: the potential for using grazing animals as a
Coming at grape growing with a cerebral hangover from trying to grapple management tool in viticulture was blatantly obvious.
with holism and a formidable amount of ignorance encouraged a little
different perspective in my farming approach. Admittedly, a bit of Tapping the Potential
geographical isolation from the major wine growing regions, as the first The use of livestock (especially sheep) in vineyards is not a new idea,
vineyard I designed and managed was in Southeast Arizona, also played a but even to this day I have yet to come across anyone (including myself)
role, for better or worse, in my learning and methodology. managing grazing animals in vineyards at the potential that seems possible.
The memory of my first pilgrimage to California wine country ten years Vineyard management practices in general have become increasingly
ago is still vivid. Coming out of the drought-plagued Southwest, I was nearly mechanized throughout the world. A typical year on a California vineyard
(organic or conventional) can require anywhere from twelve to twenty-five
tractor passes down each row (roughly 26-34 rows per square acre) for
pre-pruning, mowing, disking or spading, spraying, under-vine cultivation
and in-row cultivation, fertilization, harvesting and seeding. Organic
viticultural practices often require more tractor passes than conventional
because mechanical cultivation, as opposed to herbicides, tends to be
the tool of choice.
Before, during and after grazing in a block of young vines.
The tractor row had previously been cultivated leaving a mass
of weeds around the vines in the grow tubes. The vineyard crew CONTINUED
was delighted at not having to cultivate this area by hand. ON PAGE 10
Based on the quality of life I was working towards it was apparent that the
mechanical domination in both conventional and organic viticulture would
hold little attraction to me. I got into agriculture to creatively and effectively
work towards solar-based biological management practices. In order to grow
grapes and stay true to my desired quality of life, I needed to create or develop
farming practices that reflected these values and produced a triple bottom
line. Upon my return back to the Southwest I immediately decided to make
the row spacing on the vineyard I was planting too narrow for the farm
tractor. This was an important breakthrough in my introduction to the power
of design: there hasn’t been a tractor in that vineyard for ten years and rather
than reducing options it was great incentive to develop creative alternatives.
Large portions of the world’s wine growing regions are located in
Mediterranean climates. This means that virtually all of the annual rainfall Lambs grazing in early spring.
comes during the winter and early spring months with summer and early
autumn being almost completely dry. This unique pattern allows for an
increasingly popular practice of seeding annual cover crops each fall or Dealing with Complexity
simply allowing the native vegetation to grow while the grapevines are Grazing vineyards can be a fairly complex process with a number of
dormant. This helps keep soil in place during the wet season and can aid in factors to plan for while managing the tool of livestock. Elements to consider
maintaining soil fertility. when planning include: carrying capacity, vine/cover crop vigor in specific
Regardless of a vineyard’s location and what season rains occur, areas, reducing erosion potential, coordinating with winter cultural practices
the areas between and under vine rows need to be managed. Keeping like pruning, grafting and spraying, problem plants, water availability,
in line with my quality of life focus on biological (rather than mechanical) avoiding browse damage at bud break and allowing for flowering of cover
management practices, I have experimented grazing vineyards with cattle, crops (especially beneficial insect hosts). With a little modification the
chickens and geese, but sheep have been my main focus for both contract Grazing Plan and Control Chart works very well for both planning livestock
grazing (for clients) and grazing of vineyards that I manage throughout moves and recording factors such as pounds of manure and quantity of urine
the year. For the past five years I have been grazing and managing vineyards deposited per block and acre. Information is then converted to estimated
in the coastal areas of central and northern California. pounds of elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Many
vineyards/wineries pay close attention to their soils and how management
practices affect wine quality. Providing accurate and relevant information is
both an aid to winegrowing practices and broadens awareness to the
biological and economic benefits of livestock grazing.
Overview of The grazing season for vineyards in the north coast region of California is
sheep grazing dependent upon the weather (rainfall timing, amount, and temperature),
in the vineyard but can start anytime from November through January and runs until the
showing electric grapevines start to bud out, which can be from the middle of February until
net fencing the first of April. In order to keep things simple and avoid overstocking,
used to create animal numbers are determined based on an early bud break date (time of
temporary stock removal), total acres to be grazed, assume slow growth for the entire
paddocks. grazing period, type of cover crop being grown, forage estimates and past
experience. Stock densities of 150 to 400+ sheep per acre (375-1,000
sheep/ha) and grazing periods no longer than three days provide effective
animal impact and reduce the undesirable tendency for sheep to chew on the
dormant vines. Generally each paddock receives only one grazing during the
grazing period unless it is desirable to reduce vigor by overgrazing.
Controlling sheep in most vineyards is fairly simple using electrified net
fencing, polywire or a combination of both. Having sheep trained to a whistle
makes the moves impressively fast. Sheep don’t particularly like to be
confined to a single vine row (usually six to eight feet or two to three meters
wide), and can damage hanging plastic drip hose by running underneath to
access forage between rows. Disconnecting drip lines at T’s or elbows tends to
reduce the likelihood of serious damage. As for varieties, I primarily use
hair/meat sheep such as Katahdins, St Croix, and Dorpers, but suspect that
there are many other suitable types out there.
So what are the advantages of grazing vineyards as opposed to the more
conventional approaches of mowing, herbicides, tilling, etc.? Following is a
list of some of the benefits I’ve experienced over the past few years:
Lessons Learned
For the most part my experiences with grazing vines over the past five
years have been positive and very educational. During that time I have only
lost one sheep to a predator (mountain lion) and one to the electric fence
(got tangled up during the night). In addition to the occasional broken
irrigation tube, at times sheep will chew on young grapevine spurs and canes.
This seems to be indicative of a lack of dry matter in their diet and has only
been a problem for a couple of weeks in one year. I have lambed out in the
vines with very few problems in spite of the cold and wet conditions that tend
Sheep grazing
in vineyard.
Shortly Sheep quickly
after sheep adapt to the
have been obstacles of
removed trellis wires and
in late drip tubing,
winter. moving
between rows
with relative
ease.