The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) hosted a webinar titled ‘Options and considerations for unharvested fruit in vineyards following smoke taint’ on 27 February. This webinar featured Vinehealth Australia’s Technical Manager, Suzanne McLoughlin, talking about biosecurity principles related to movement of smoke-affected winegrapes.
One of the options for growers with smoke-affected winegrapes to consider was harvesting the grapes and dropping them into the midrow as a feed source for stock.
While biosecurity aspects of stock agistment were not covered in this webinar, Vinehealth Australia reminds growers who are considering this option that stock agistment does come with a risk of transfer of pests, diseases and weeds.
Refer to Vinehealth Australia’s ‘Sheep and Vine Biosecurity’ fact sheet for important information, relevant to all stock agistment.