Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/117824
This trunk scrubber of the vMech system is used by Ste. Michelle Wine Estates to control suckers. The device looks similar to a weed whacker with multiple strings. Equipment A series of online financial tools, developed by Oregon State University���s agricultural economist Clark Seavert, are available to help growers consider long-term strategies, including estimating the cost and payback of machines. The AgTools include AgProfit, AgLease, and AgFinance and can be found at: www.agtools.org. was discovered in the vines. ���The pest didn���t seem to cause economic damage, but it scared me, so we hand pruned all of the vines last year.��� Leafing A mechanical shoot thinner uses two rubberhose type whips on each row to remove shoots. and have made pruning easier, but the method still uses hand labor. Kiona Vineyards���s Scott Williams bought a prepruner implement in 2004 to use on his Red Mountain vineyards that had significant bud damage from cold temperatures. He paid for the machine in the first year, and continued to use the pruner until last year when a cane-boring beetle MECHANIZING VINEYARD saves hundreds per acre A t year���s end, when costs of all the grapevine tasks are added up, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates���s Mike Means calculates that the company saves more than $750 per acre in labor costs by using machines for pruning, shoot thinning, leaf removal, sucker control, and harvest. Means noted that his estimated costs (���Labor cost comparisons per acre���) do not include cost of the equipment, but represent the labor to operate the machines. Ste. Michelle���s mechanized vineyards need no crop load adjustments or color thinning, Means said. ���Our philosophy has been to open up canopies through mechanical shoot thinning and leafing so that nothing further is needed to ripen the crop.��� He added that they���ve been very successful in hitting their yield targets. For Riesling and Gewurztraminer, target yields are five to six tons per acre, and for Cabernet Sauvignon, the target is in the six-ton range. Their spray program did require fine-tuning after the switch to mechanization to ensure they had the necessary coverage and penetration, he noted. ���We are dealing with a much denser canopy, so we had to slow our speed down.��� Means says that Ste. Michelle is expanding its use of mechanization because it makes economic sense. ���But other growers must consider where their grapes are going and what wine tiers are targeted. Fruit from our mechanized vineyards is not going into our hightier wines but to the low- to mid-tiers. But the winemakers using the fruit have been very pleased with what we���ve been delivering.��� ���M. Hansen Mechanical leaf removal implements were a hot-selling item last year, according to Grant DeVries of Vine Tech Equipment, Prosser, which sold a record 17 leaf removal implements. Timing is very important when using a leafing machine, Williams stressed. ���If done too early and the grapes are too small, you can suck the clusters and berries into the roller that is pulling the leaves from the canopy,��� he said. ���If done too late, you can skin up the grapes, and they have potential to crack later on. In vigorous vineyards, the leaves may regrow by veraison, defeating the purpose of leafing.��� Time of day can also be critical when using leafing machines. Leaf turgidity is needed for the pulsating air machine, and they often lack turgidity on warm afternoons. With the suck-and-pluck type of machine, the operator has more hours in the day to run the equipment, Means noted. He advised growers to move trellis wires out of the way several days before running a leafing machine to allow the leaves to reorient to the sun so the machine works more effectively. Shoot thinning The vMech system has a flexible, rubber flapper that removes shoots for shoot thinning. Means credits the shoot thinner for reducing input costs in Ste. Michelle���s lower- to mid-tier vineyards. The machine is most effective with shoots that are shorter than six inches. ���It���s important that growers do shoot counts prior to and immediately following use of the shoot thinner to make sure things are adjusted at the proper speed and the right number of shoots are removed,��� he said. ���We did a lot of Cabernet Sauvignon with the shoot thinner; at harvest, we were getting 24 Brix and around six tons per acre.��� Sucker control Ste. Michelle uses a trunk scrubber, also available with the vMech system, to remove suckers at the trunk base with a plastic brush tool. It is then followed with an application of the herbicide Aim (carfentrazone-ethyl). A sprayer with an electric eye is used to selectively spray only green vegetation. Means has found that time of day also matters when going after suckers. Shoots snap off more easily in the morning than they do in the afternoon when temperatures are warmer. And, he warned growers to watch out for drip hose line when using the sucker brushes. Emitters can get knocked off by the brushes and hose line wrapped around the tool if the operator is not careful. ��� TREE SPREADERS Lowest possible prices on 4��� to 48��� nailed or notched spreaders Additional services: We assemble and repair new and old pallets for re-sale NATIONWIDE SHIPPING AVAILABLE! Labor cost comparisons per acre Tasks Mechanized Tradititonal Pruning $6 ��� 8 $90 ��� 125 Shoot thinning $5 ��� 7 $100 ��� 225 Sucker control $5 ��� 7 $52 ��� 72 Leafing $10 $100 ��� 150 Harvest $35 ��� 500 $1,000 ��� 1,200* * Based on a yield of 5 to 6 tons per acre. SOURCE: Ste. Michelle Wine Estates www.goodfruit.com Yakima Specialties, Inc. P: 509.453.0386 F: 509.453.1279 4 in b8 yea usi rs nes s www.yakimaspecialties.com Yakima Specialties Inc. I Non-Profit Agency Hiring Disabled Adults Visa and MasterCard Accepted I 1819 West ���J��� Street, Yakima, WA GOOD FRUIT GROWER April 1, 2013 41