Wine grape producers and cellars are currently participating in the Vinpro Production Plan Survey – a financial analysis at farm and cellar level – of which the first information sessions kicked off in July in the various wine regions.
“By participating in the Production Plan study groups, producers and cellars gain reliable management insights into their business and can benchmark themselves against their own historical performance, the region and the rest of the industry to make more informed decisions and improve efficiency,” says Pierre-André Rabie, senior agricultural economist at Vinpro.
The first series of information sessions is being presented according to Covid-19 protocols for small groups in the respective regions, during which participants receive an overview of the current state of the wine industry, as well as more details about the participation process. “Participation is free and a more user-friendly process enables you to get powerful analyses right down to block level, with less input,” Pierre-André says.
Feedback sessions will be presented in October and November, during which each participant will receive their own results, benchmarked against the region and industry. This year Vinpro also started inviting certain focus groups from the participants to practical demonstration sessions where they exchanged ideas on cost-effectiveness in the vineyard.
Small tweaks make a big difference
Close to 20 of the top wine grape producers from across six cultivation regions recently met during such a practical session in the Breedekloof. Wine grape producers who farm at profitable levels include a variety of farming units, from small to large.
“These producers consider even the slightest cost savings to be important and base all management decisions on the ultimate yield, wine target, topography and climate of the region,” Pierre-André says.
By switching from one spray pump to another, Zirkie du Toit from the farm Klipfontein in the Breedekloof was able to achieve significant cost and time savings with no loss of quality in terms of disease control. The new, electrostatic spray pump provided enough coverage so that it was only necessary to spray every second row and the action could be carried out in half the time, which greatly reduced time spent, fuel costs, running costs and labour per hectare. The new spray pump also necessitated a smaller volume of systemic agent, which cut costs even further.
To join a Production Plan study group, or for more information on the survey, contact Vinpro agricultural economic services at tel 021 276 0429 or e-mail info@vinpro.co.za.
