While you’re up on the harvester this vintage, consider the ideal position you’re in to see your vineyard block from a bird’s eye view. This is a great time to spot any vine health issues.
Monitoring on foot obviously gives you a close up view of your vines where you can discover the unusual…. but do you know what you are looking for, or what to do if you find something unfamiliar?
Vinehealth Australia, through its recent e-newsletters, has been introducing growers to a range of high priority endemic pests and diseases.
Continuing this, we have recently reproduced information on the high priority exotic pests and diseases (including Pierce’s Disease and its vector the Glassy-winged sharpshooter and Grapevine red blotch-associated virus) and notifiable endemic pests and diseases (including phylloxera and fruit flies) from the Biosecurity Manual for the Viticulture Industry Version 1.0 (2013) with permission from Plant Health Australia, in an article called ‘Know Your Pest: A Guide to Grapevine Threats’.
Look out for this article in the April issue of the Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower and Winemaker magazine. Plans are also in place to produce a poster for growers to display these threats to keep them front of mind.
And there is also a range of pest and disease information on our website:
https://vinehealth.com.au/pests-and-diseases/
