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Cabernet Sauvignon Lake County

Page history last edited by Gayla S. Keesee 13 years, 1 month ago

Sample Cost to Establish Wine Grapes (2005) Lake County, CA
23 page PDF file for vineyard establishment in Shasta County – UC Davis

http://coststudies.ucdavis.edu/files/grapewineredlake2008.pdf

 

Land. The vineyard is located on fairly level land less than 10% slope in the upland area of Lake County. The
hypothetical farm is comprised of 30 contiguous acres, 25 of which are planted with red wine grapes. The other
five acres are occupied by roads, irrigation systems, and farmstead. Land is valued at $20,000 per acre. This
study assumes the land was purchased for planting a vineyard. The vineyard is owned and operated by the
grower.

 

Site Preparation. Gypsum is applied to the ground after which the land is subsoiled once by a custom
operator, disked and rolled by the grower, followed by two rippings each in a different direction to a depth of 2-
3 feet. Afterwards the ground is disked two times. The ground is then leveled and smoothed in three passes
(each in different direction) with a landplane. The following spring (February), Roundup is applied for weed
control prior to planting. Most operations that prepare the vineyard for planting are done in the year prior to
planting, but costs are shown in the first year.


Vines. Dormant bench grafted Cabernet Sauvignon vines are planted in the spring (April) on 6 foot x 8 foot
spacing with 908 vines per acre. Vines will be trained during the first and second years and are expected to
begin yielding harvestable fruit in three years. They are expected to be productive for an additional 22 years.
Planting. Planting the vineyard starts by laying out and marking vine sites in early spring. In April, holes are
dug and the vines are planted. Shortly after planting, a pass is made to place grow tubes around the young vines.
In the second year, 4% of the vines or 36 vines per acre are replaced after dying during the first season.

 

Trellis System. The vertical trellis system (VSP) is designed to support a bilateral, cordon-trained, and spurpruned
vineyard. The trellis system is installed by a commercial trellis company beginning in the first year after
the field is marked for planting and installation completed in the second year. The trellis system is considered
part of the vineyard since it will be removed at the time of vine removal and is included in the vineyard
establishment costs.


The trellis system consists of steel pipe end posts and highway sign stakes placed at every third vine. Steel rods
are placed at vines that are between the highway sign stakes. There are four 13 gauge high tensile strength
movable foliage wires - two wires on each side of the canopy - and a single 12 gauge wire at 23 inches above
ground to support the cordon and fruit. A single wire 18 inches aboveground supports the drip system hose.

 

Vine Management (VM), Pruning, Training. In the first year, two to three weeks after planting, the vines are
cut to two shoots and the vine protectors put over the plant. In July, the vine protectors are removed, the vines
are pruned to a single shoot and the vine protectors replaced. Beginning in January of the second year, the vines
are dormant pruned. In the spring (May), training begins which includes training the cordons and spurs, tying
and suckering the trunks and cordons. In the third year and subsequent years, the vines are dormant pruned in
February. The cordons are tied to the fruiting wire in March, suckered in April; wires moved and shoots tucked
in May, June, and July. Suckering is the removal of sprouts from the rootstock that compete with the trunk and
cordons for water and nutrients. During the first mowing in early March, alternate rows are mowed to shred the
prunings.

 

Pruning/Suckering/Canopy Management (CM). The vines are hand pruned in late February/early March.
The prunings are placed in alternate row middles and shredded during the first mowing in March. The cordons
in a separate pass after pruning (March) are tied to the fruit wire. The trunks and cordons are suckered after
budbreak in April. In late May, the foliage wires are moved up and the shoots are tucked. Wire adjustment and
tucking is also done in June and July. Mechanical leaf removal is done in late June/early July by a custom
operator.


Irrigation. Pumped water plus labor constitute the irrigation cost. The drip lines are flushed in early June prior
to irrigating. The field is drip irrigated weekly from mid-June to late September. The cost is based on using a
15 hp motor to pump water from 75 feet deep applied over 25 acres.

 

Fertilization/Soil Amendments. Gypsum is applied at 10 tons per acre prior to ripping (land preparation).
After planting, gypsum is applied in the fall (October) once every three years at two tons per acre and one-third
of the cost is charged to the vineyard each year. Nitrogen as calcium nitrate (15.5-0-0) is injected into the drip
irrigation system in the first year at 25 pounds of total N per acre, 50 pounds of total N in the second year and
100 pounds of N during the third year. Although application procedures will vary, in this study equally split
amounts are applied once per month in June, July and August. Also, beginning in the third year, potassium
thiosulfate (KTS) at 120 pounds of material is applied in equal amounts during the July irrigations.

 

Pest Management:

Vineyard Floor (Weeds). Roundup is applied to the vine row prior to planting and each year thereafter
in January. A spot spray in the vine row with Roundup is applied in July. During the first two years the
middles are disked four times.


Vineyard Floor (Cover Crop). At the end of the second year (October), the ground is disked twice,
harrowed twice and cover crop seed is drilled at 20 to 30 pounds per acre. From the third year on, the middles
are mowed four times – March (alternate rows to shred prunings), May, June and July.


Insect. In May of the third year and subsequent years, predatory mites are released over the field for
mite control. Provado insecticide is applied in July to control leafhoppers. Insect. Mites are controlled at budbreak in mid April with a Stylet oil spray applied to alternate rows. Western Predatory Mites (Galendromus occidentalis), at 6,000 per acre are spread by placing bean plants with mites on them in the vines in May. Provado insecticide is applied in July to control leafhoppers.


Disease. Treatment for powdery mildew begins in the second year with applications of Thiolux, Flint
and Rally in mid-May and June. Beginning in the third year, Stylet oil is applied in late April, one application
of Rally and an application of Thiolux both in May, an application of Flint in June followed by Rally in June,

and Rubigan in July. In the second year, because of the small vines, the applications are made to alternate rows and in the third year only Stylet oil and the first Rally application are made to alternate rows.

 

Disease Powdery mildew is treated typically at 14 to 21 day intervals depending upon fungicide applied.
Applications are made at budbreak in mid April using Stylet Oil followed with Rally in late April/early May,
and with Thiolux (micronized sulfur) in May. Also, three applications each with a different fungicide and with
a different mode of action are made – Flint in June, Rally in June, Rubigan in late June. The insect and
fungicide sprays are made by the grower using the 50 HP tractor and air blast sprayer. Eutypa occurs in
vineyards that are over 10 years old and is assumed in this study. The disease is controlled in this study by late pruning in July. The prunings are hauled from the field and burned.

 

Vertebrate. Gophers are controlled by baiting using a tractor and mechanical baiter during April of the
first year and March, April and May of the second year. It is assumed that by the end of the second year,
gophers are under control and only spot bait treatments in March using an ATV to move around the field are necessary. Squirrels are treated by baiting beginning in the first year from May to November and from April to November thereafter.

 

Harvest. The first crop is produced in the third year. Because of the low yields, the crops in the third and
fourth year are harvested by hand. In future years the crop is mechanically harvested. The crop is typically
picked during early morning (7AM to 12 N). The pickers pick for 5 or 6 hours and it is assumed that each can
pick one ton of fruit during this period. In this study, it is assumed that the grower will adjust the crew so that
the 25-acre vineyard can be picked in approximately three days. The grower rents three tractors to pull the bin
trailers and a forklift for moving the gondolas.

 

Yields. Yield maturity is reached in the sixth year. An assumed yield of 5.75 tons per acre based on
grower consensus is used to calculate returns.

 

Returns. Return prices per ton for wine grapes are determined by variety and percent sugar. Average
returns based on the California Department of Agriculture (CDFA) Crush Report for Lake County from 2001 to 2006 for Cabernet Sauvignon ranges from $1,508 to $1,803. An average of $1,650 based on the above report is
used for calculating net returns to growers at different yields and price.

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