How To Start A Vineyard In South Africa
What is a vineyard?
A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture.
How To Start A Vineyard In South Africa
1. Select your site
2 Prep the soil
3. Assess Equipment – This is simple stuff. If your tractor is six feet wide, your rows should be at least 8 to 10 feet wide. If you have an ATV with a little sprayer on the back, it should be able to fit comfortably down the row without running over errant shoots. If you have no equipment, your options are unlimited and you may want to pack in some extra vines to increase your land-use efficiency.
4. Plant Your Vines! – After your trellising and irrigation are set up, tested and functioning perfectly, you should be ready to plant some grapevines. Planting usually occurs in late spring after the threat of frost has passed. I suggest using dormant grapevines and not “green-growing” vines. My rates of success with dormant vines have proven significantly higher than using green-growing vines. If you receive your dormant vines from refrigerated storage, let them acclimate outside in the shade for about a week. Keep the vines moist and in the material (usually moist wood chips) until the morning of planting. At that time fill a 5-gallon plastic bucket halfway with water, put the vines in root first, and carry the vines 20 to 40 at a time into the vineyard for planting.
5. Enjoy Your Vineyard – If all went as planned, you should now have a thriving little vineyard in your back yard. The shoots are climbing a few inches a week, the green leaves are visible from your kitchen window, and in a few years, after you have produced vines with enough vigor to leave healthy, thick dormant wood on the trellis wires, you will start producing fruit.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How much does it cost to plant a vineyard in South Africa?
Production costs average about R35 000/ ha, but this does not take re-establishment costs into account. “A vineyard has to be replaced every 25 years, otherwise yields become too low to justify the vineyard’s economic existence. It costs around R225 000/ha to replace a vineyard.
How much does it cost to establish a vineyard?
Vineyards cost about A$25,000 – A$30,000 per hectare to plant and maintain for the first three or four years. By the fourth or fifth year, a good crop should be available. Depending on climate, season, irrigation, grape variety and other factors, a well set up vineyard will produce 12 – 15 tonnes of grapes per hectare.
How much does a vineyard make in South Africa?
Vinpro said the average SA wine grape producer earned a net farming income of R20,617/ha in 2019, 37% higher than in 2018. Average production costs, which include cash expenditure and provision for replacement, were 7% higher than in 2018 at R51,821/ha. However, gross farming income increased 14% to R72,439/ha.
How much does it cost to plant a vineyard?
Planting costs can range anywhere from $30,000 acre over a three year period for a straight forward relatively flat piece of land to upwards of $100,000 per acre over a three year period for a very steep slope with lots of rocks and infrastructure to install