Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/643683
March 2016 WINES&VINES 43 GRAPEGROWING Walnut shells used to be consumed by the oil industry and by co-generation plants. Now, with the drop in energy prices, it has become too expensive to haul the shells to co-generation plants relative to the energy they provide. The consequence is that walnut shells are being stockpiled around the Central Valley. We have taken this opportunity to use crushed walnut shells for vineyard avenue dust control as well as weed control on our berms. We are currently conducting a few 1-acre trials of 6-inch-thick mulch for berm weed suppres- sion. Our only concern would be damage done by meadow voles. However, because the crushed shells tend to erode, much like dry sand, we believe that any tunneling by voles would be undermined. We will study the results of our experiments during the 2016 growing year. Q What sorts of mechanization are you looking to add in the next few months or years? Bokisch: We are looking at pre-pruners from Pellenc and Clemens. By pre-pruning, we in- tend to take out the majority of the time dedi- cated to pulling canes out of the trellis system, allowing our pruners to walk down each row faster. When labor was cheaper and more read- ily accessible, the difference in cost of pre- pruning vs. not was almost insignificant. Now, with the increase in labor cost and the reduc- tion in laborers, the difference is significant enough to justify the investment. We are also entertaining the idea of aban- doning traditional (human) suckering for ei- ther chemical or mechanical suckering, or a combination of both. We are currently studying a company out of New Zealand, Cropland, that has produced an implement that tracks the ground with wheels. The vine trunks enter a steel enclosure surrounded by stiff bristles. The inside of the enclosure has herbicide spray nozzles. The spray remains within the enclo- sure, surrounding the trunks. The bristles wick the herbicide to the green shoots and aid in breaking some of the most tender shoots off. Because this implement tracks along the ground, it performs very well on hillsides, where the arms can extend further downhill to the ground. Also, by adding a few more nozzles, one could direct herbicide onto the berm for further berm weed control. Leaf pulling is a simple and repetitive task, requiring low skill level. However, it does put workers into direct contact with sulfur residues that can lead to eye and lung irritation. By purchasing an automated leaf puller, we reduce the risk of worker injury either through chemi- cal exposure or repetitive wrist action. We also free up our labor pool to focus on more detailed tasks, such as crop adjustment. We have been looking at the Clemens leaf remover. Weight scales on our gondola axles, cou- pled with GPS tracking systems, allow us to understand the cropping level in every area of our vineyard. We can then correct the TONNELLERIE RADOUX USA, INC 707-284-2888 | rx.usa@radoux-usa.com www.radouxcooperage.com 7 years in operation, 5 MILLION analyses carried out A jewel of world barrel making in the H A N D S of A R T I S A N S T E C H N O L O G Y Markus Bokisch owns 150 acres of vines in the Lodi area.