Managing your vineyard after a wet spring

Above average rainfall and devastating floods have been plaguing growers across the country this season, disrupting early season spraying. And as the soil warms up and retains more moisture, you’re likely having to make more spray applications than usual to combat early growth and increased disease pressure.

So the question becomes this: Is your spray setup working well enough to withstand these testing conditions? And are you wasting time, money and chemicals on drift and inefficiencies?

To answer these questions, it helps to go back to basics. This season’s wetter soil profile means more undervine growth. And as the soil becomes more humid and water-logged, diseases are more likely to flourish, threatening both the vine and the grapes.

As a result, you’ll need to make sure your spraying equipment and canopy management equipment is configured correctly and working efficiently. Otherwise, your coverage is likely to be compromised. At the same time, you run the risk of accidental drift causing more damage to grapevines.

Of course, now isn’t the best time to be investing in new equipment. The rising cost of living and increased interest rates are biting growers across the country – on top of the recent climate and environmental challenges.

But if you don’t address spraying inefficiencies now, it’s likely to cost you much more in the long run.

So what’s a grower to do?

As your partner in growth, we’re not only here for the good times. We’re also here to help our clients rise above whatever challenges they face. So as well as investing early to ensure we have spraying and undervine management equipment in stock and ready to deliver through your local dealer, we also offer flexible finance programs.

So if you would like to know where and how you can save on your spray program or anything else, just get in touch with our friendly team and we’ll see what’s possible.