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72 WINES&VINES May 2017 GRAPEGROWING Without Avian Control we would clearly need to net our vineyard. Avian Control allows us to get our grapes to full ripeness. Providing us the flexibility to leaf pull and hedge right up to the very end. —Jack Tomasello, Tomasello Winery, Inc. Proven Effective. Endorsed by Thousands of Growers. Invest in your grapes... not expensive netting! Liquid Bird Repellent Call Today For More Information 888-707-4355 Sales@AvianControl.com www.AvianControl.com Drive Birds Away from Barns, Packing Sheds and other structures. Now Approved in California For Vineyards, Wine and Table Grapes 145 Jordan Street, San Rafael, CA 94901 415-457-3955 • www.boswellcompany.com he Premier Silicone Rubber Bung T 3435 Ocean Park Blvd, #107-511 ~ 10 rue François Appert – BP 90095 21703 Nuits Saint Georges Cedex France Getting ahead of labor Monterey Pacific manages more than 12,000 acres of vines in Monterey County, which is lo- cated in California's Central Coast. Dr. Doug Beck, agronomist with the firm, said even in 2004 the staff saw "the writing on the wall" when it came to labor and converted most of a 3,000-acre vineyard for mechanical operations. He said the company first followed an ex- ample from Australia of 12-inch by 12-inch box pruning, which proved effective but had win- ery clients worried about quality because of what they saw as excess wood in the box and yields of 12 to 13 tons per acre. In response, Beck said the company reduced the box size to half the original. "By keeping it at that small size you keep dead wood inside the box to a minimum and maintain yields at levels wineries will accept and grapegrowers will be happy with," he said. "I don't think this system will work everywhere, but it does work very well under our conditions: the wine price point, the adverse fruit-set conditions that keep crops from getting too much out of hand and weather and soil constraints that keep vine vigor moderated. It's a very simplistic no- hands approach, but it has proved to be a very good one." Taking advantage of 'field destemming' During the WiVi conference that was held in Paso Robles in March, Simon Graves, director of vineyard operations for Treasury Wine Estates said the company has invested in 24 mechanical harvesters by Pellenc. He said the company now refers to harvest as "field destemming," and most of Treasury's winer- ies do little to no destemming on the crush pad anymore. He's comfortable with a harvest rate of 7 tons per acre and is adding a side discharge unit for vineyards with long rows. Hand har- vesting can cost between $280 and $350 per ton, while the machine averages $64 per ton, Some harvesters, such as this Oxbo machine, can be set up for side discharge.