Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/51841
those that pulled out unprofitable vineyard acreage over the past 10 years. There are people out there who are willing to buy open land and plant vineyards. And growers are now asking, "What's the return on investment for planting?" and that's a good sign. what is the outlook for labor avail- ability and immigration policies? ND: Labor issues got worse in 2011. There was a labor shortage statewide, and the ag labor short- age is a national issue. The wine grape harvest was complicated in the San Joaquin Valley by a late to see some kind of immigration reform, so legal workers are avail- able when needed. V&WM: Any other advice you'd give growers in the current market? ND: As a word of caution to growers negotiating long-term deals: Don't get greedy, but get the right amount up front. That's a potential problem in an up market. It's possible to tie up prices that are too low, and be sorry in later years. Overall, I'm upbeat. This is the best potential market I've seen for Cali- fornia wine grape growers since May of 2000. Ted Rieger, CSW, is a writer and photographer based in Sacramento, Calif., and has been a contributing editor for V&WM since 1990. Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwm-online.com. DiBuduo examines grape clusters in a Fresno State vineyard. V&WM: Are quarantines for the European Grapevine Moth (EGVM) and the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) affecting grape sales, movement and prices in some loca- tions? ND: We've had some restric- tions due to quarantines that cre- ate additional costs for transporting grape loads outside quarantine zones. This includes additional paperwork, inspections, and there are requirements for tarping of loads. Some wineries don't want to go through the hassle of buying and moving grapes from a quaran- tine zone. Generally, we've been able to move grapes within the San Joaquin Valley without major restrictions. But we've had some confusing signals when moving grapes from county to county. In Fresno County, we've not had any new EGVM finds in 2011, so we hope to have the quarantine lifted. Napa County also had significantly fewer finds in 2011, so we hope this will be less of an issue in the future. V&WM: Will labor issues get worse before they get better, and 92 VINEYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT JAN - FEB 2012 raisin harvest, so crews were still picking raisins when wine grapes were ready to harvest. I also heard of some vineyards in the North Coast that couldn't get picked ahead of the rains, because labor was unavailable. We need com- prehensive immigration reform at the national level. I think Senator Dianne Feinstein is working with other California representatives to propose ag jobs legislation, but until we can get both our Republi- can and Democratic friends seeing eye-to-eye, it won't get better. V&WM: Did immigrat ion enforcement create problems with the 2011 harvest? ND: Immigration enforcement officials were doing their jobs during the harvest. Most of the enforcement we heard about was done off-premise rather than at job sites. They were picking up work- ers and checking for documenta- tion in agricultural communities when the workers were going to grocery stores, for example. Enforcement was also heavy along the border, so potential workers were discouraged. Again, we want wine@hoyt-shepston.com WWW.VWM-ONLINE.COM