Rolling out tech to trim vines, costs
Lodi winery brings new pruning machines to the field
Lodi grape growers got a first-hand look at two new pruning machines recently purchased by LangeTwins Family Winery & Vineyards on a rainy Monday morning in Acampo.
Kyle Brown, vineyard manager for LangeTwins, gave a demonstration of the two pruners during the Lodi Winegrape Commission’s Mechanized Pruning Tailgate Talk.
Mounted on the back of a Bobcat trailer, the $50,000 Collard pruner uses saw blades to trim the tops and sides of LangeTwins’ 65-inch high-wire grapevines, before spraying them with a 300-gallon tank of fungus protectant to prevent diseases from spreading through freshly-cut vines, Brown explained.
“They’re really sharp, really fast-spinning blades that will cut through anything. It’s more for maintaining highwire systems every three to five years when we want to reform the box and get it back into shape,” Brown said.
Although the Collard pruner can trim two rows at a time, LangeTwins operators currently only trim one row at a time, Brown added, as they have had difficulties maintaining the same quality of trimming for two rows at once. “Hopefully, with advances in technology in the future, we’ll be able to do two rows at a time with that machine,” Brown said.
After the Collard pruner finishes its work, Brown said, an $80,000 sickle pruner trims the undersides of the vines by opening up around the stakes holding them in place. The sickle pruner currently lacks a protectant sprayer, as it was purchased approximately one week ago, Brown added, although he hopes to change that soon. He also plans to mount the pruner on a tracklaying tractor for stability, especially during the winter months.
“The advantage there is that there’s less work for the hand crews to do. I also think it’s more versatile. We’ll be able to use it in more trellis systems that have more cross arms. In the future, we also hope to be able to get the sickle pruner on a two-row system with a sprayer,” Brown said.
LangeTwins began using the new pruners in the past few weeks, Brown said, hoping to save on labor costs.
Vineyards cost approximately $200 per acre to prune in the first few years after planting, he explained, although that cost can drop down to around $100 by the fifth year.
While a crew of 20 pruners can cover an average of eight to 10 acres per day, mechanized pruners can cover 10 to 20
acres, Brown said. With 300-plus acres of high-wire vineyards, he hopes that LangeTwins will eventually be able to rely solely on their pruning machines, although he said that it may take a few years to accomplish that goal.
Bruce Blodgett, executive director of the San Joaquin County Farm Bureau, said that other vineyards throughout the county have begun looking into mechanized pruning to cut back on labor costs. Asparagus farmers have also been researching
the machines, as their labor costs are similar to those for grape growers, Blodgett said.
“It’s a sign of the times, based on the availability and cost of labor. When you start looking at what we’re gonna see here in terms of the $15-per-hour minimum wage and the 40-hour work week for agriculture, labor costs are going to be through the roof, and people have to look at other options,” Blodgett said.