Winegrape growers appear to be in for a bright growing season after substantial rains came through during the winter. An abundance of moisture can often be problematic for vineyards, providing optimal environments for disease pathogens. However, President of Allied Grape Growers, Jeff Bitter said the rain does not appear to be having any negative impacts on production.
“That’s been nothing but a blessing quite honestly. We are not facing any uncustomary amounts of disease pressure in the vineyard right now,” Bitter noted. “Most vineyards are growing very well after having heavy winter rainfall totals and leeching out some of the undesirables in the soils that you tend to accumulate after years of drought.”
The expectation is for an average season in terms of disease and pest pressures. So long as winegrape growers were on top of their crop protection programs, it should prove to be a successful season. Bitter did note that overall crop progression has been delayed a couple of weeks this year due to the weather. “That could end up catching up to us at the end of harvest if we were to get early Fall rains. So that’s something to be aware of. Nobody’s panicking yet, but it’s a possibility,” Bitter explained.
Market conditions will be another issue that growers will be closely monitoring as the season progresses. Bitter said that there is a high percentage of growers with active and multi-year contracts. Given the current market for winegrapes, it could create challenges for some growers. ”What happens to those growers that do not have an active contract and what’s the market environment like for those folks versus the ones that do?… It would be kind of a disproportionate impact from the market on those folks,” said Bitter.
Brian German
Ag News Director / AgNet West