Do you read Vinehealth Australia’s weekly tips in Daily Wine News? If you’ve missed them, we theme the tips according to activities we know you’re doing at the time.
We have tips focused on getting you ‘biosecurity-ready’ for vintage and we encourage you to use them as a checklist to improve your preparedness from a biosecurity perspective for vintage 2022.
- What’s in your induction program for vintage employees and contractors? Have you included your biosecurity practices and expectations? See our Top 10 poster for inspiration, updated in September 2021. How many boxes can you tick?
- Where are you sourcing your grapes from for vintage 2022? Have you checked the biosecurity regulations associated with winegrape movement into or within your state? Note that if you can’t move grapes, you may be able to move unfiltered or filtered juice.
- Are you planning to truck your winegrapes interstate for processing? Contact the receiving state biosecurity department and your purchaser to understand the legal movement requirements as these might differ for importing winegrapes into SA.
- Are you considering importing a grape harvester from interstate into SA to harvest your grapes for vintage 2022? If yes, you must ensure it meets the legal entry requirements into the state prior to and upon arrival. Refer to Condition 7 Clause 2 in the South Australian Plant Quarantine Standard v17.2 for details.
- Will you be employing a machine harvesting contractor for vintage 2022? Ensure you have a conversation with them well prior to vintage to discuss your biosecurity expectations. Best practice is to adopt a clean in, clean out policy. This does rely on you supplying appropriate facilities onsite to ensure the harvester and tractors involved in picking can leave your vineyard clean of soil and grapevine material for the next vineyard property.
- Do you envisage moving machinery or equipment into/out of the Limestone Coast from/to other parts of SA during vintage 2022? If so, consider the Naracoorte Heat Shed for machinery and equipment disinfestation. Phone Sarah Bird (Heat Shed Manager) on 0429 430 641 to make a booking.
- Are you likely to be hand thinning or hand picking during vintage 2022, do you have biosecurity policies in place for visitors including seasonal workers? Be ready to implement best practice farm-gate hygiene for visitor footwear and clothing to keep your vineyard, region and state safe. See our footwear and small hand tool disinfestation protocol updated in September 2021 with Dettol also added as a valid disinfectant. And consider best practice options for managing clothing of your visitors, depending on where your vineyard is located.
- Vintage is a time when there is significant movement of people, machinery and equipment onto and off properties. Use our TOOLS to help be biosecurity-ready. This includes fact sheets, bulletins, posters, signage, disinfestation kits and more. If you’ll be communicating important biosecurity information to seasonal workers, check out our Seasonal Workers multi-language fact sheet available in English, Vietnamese, Urdu, Hindi, Thai, Dari and Malay.
Check out more of our tips here.