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72 WINES&VINES December 2015 GRAPEGROWING as different blocks on different properties in two counties become certified. "I have seen some wineries go whole hog," he said, "and then retreat completely. I wanted to do it gradually." A software solution The process does have critics, however. "The whole system is archaic," says Richard Wilen, a produce farmer who runs Hayhurst Organic Farm in Eugene, Ore. A computer developer as well as a farmer, Wilen saw a need to bring both sides together, so he created COG Pro, a software program designed specifically for organic reporting. "Farmers are notorious for having little pieces of paper in their pockets where they've written something down. My goal was to bring the action of doing something and the record- ing of that action closer together," he tells Wines & Vines. The software works across multiple devices, including cell phones, and enables real-time collaboration among multiple users, storing information in the cloud. "You can take a pic- ture of the crop before you sprayed it and at- tach that to your spray record and send both to your certifier," he says. Cog-Pro software sells for $79. While vineyards and wineries are not re- quired to comply with the new GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) food safety laws coming in the future, food farmers will have to comply. "Complying with these regulations will require easily twice as much paperwork as organic," Wilen says. "And all farmers will have to file those, organic or not." In addition, both organic and non-organic vineyards and wineries participating in sustain- ability programs—including the Vineyard Team's popular SIP Certified program, for in- stance—pay certification and inspection fees for those programs, which also require addi- tional paper and/or online reporting. While Fish Friendly Farming certification is free, most sustainability programs have costs in the same ballpark as organic programs and are not eli- gible for Farm Bill subsidies. The whole issue of how grapegrowers and winemakers go organic is a rather complex one, but it is clear that the out-of-pocket cost of wine produced from certified grapes is no more than a few cents per bottle. A wine writer and publisher focused on organic and Biodynamically grown wines, Pam Strayer is the presi- dent of Wine Country Geographic, a publishing, wine touring and consulting company connecting consumers, connoisseurs and wine professionals to wines from certified organic or Biodynamic vines. She is the author of seven apps (Organically Napa, Organically Sonoma and Biodynamic Wine Finder) and the blog Organic Wines Uncorked. Wine Country Geographic is launching a new website in 2016 to list wines from certified vines. past. present. futures. reflect the past, embrace the present, protect your futures Crowning the Achievements of Fine Wine for Generations ™ Lafitte-USA.com • 800.343.2675