SHEEP are not something that you expect to see if you’re wandering around a vineyard, but a flock or two is rapidly becoming one of the options that a vineyard owner can use to improve the quality of their soil, and in the end, their wine.
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Holistic farm management was one of the terms being readily used at a sustainability workshop organised through the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre, an alliance between DPI, Charles Sturt University and NSW Wine Industry Association, the workshop presented the latest input from Entwine Australia, the Australian wine industry’s sustainability program.
Cargo Road Wine’s owner James Sweetapple said that for the past five years he has been adopting a holistic approach to operating his vineyard, and the results are already showing, both in the bottle, and in the bank balance.
“I wish that I had started holistic farming 20 years ago,” he said.
“The sheep not only improve the soil, but we can then sell them for meat and make tremendous gross profit from them.”
Mr Sweetapple said that with the help of dung beetles, the sheep manure is a perfect way of recycling nutrients into the soil and it’s an idea that Mark Renzaglia from Renzaglia Wines in Bathurst is interested in.
“We’re looking for practical ideas that will make us more efficient and to focus on quality grapes. I don’t use sheep in my vineyard at the moment, but being here helps to reinforce some of my own thinking on how to introduce them,” he said.
The workshop wasn’t just about sheep, they also discussed ways to save electricity and water across their enterprises.
“They were talking about ways of reducing power costs in the vineyard, lowering fuel inputs and items such as inter row covering crops to encourage beneficial insects to reduce chemical costs,” said viticultural development officer at DPI Wagga Wagga, Adrian Engelfield.
University of Adelaide wine and viticulture specialist, Chris Penfold, was a guest speaker at the workshop and said that the wine industry was perfectly placed to adopt a more holistic approach to farming.
“The wine industry is a fairly progressive industry in the most part, the producers are very environmentally aware and I would assume that they are a lot younger than other producers out there and tend to be more accepting of new ideas,” he said.
