Introduction:
I can’t understate how important vineyard team training is. Managing a vineyard, and managing a vineyard well are two very different things. Having an experienced crew in your vineyard can be a huge game changer. It can save you weeks of labor, thousands of dollars, and lots of brain space when you have a trusted and knowledgeable team on your farm. Growing wine is the type of operation where every question that is asked requires at least three follow-up questions to really know what the original question is referring to. Sending a text like, ‘Leaf-pull the Chardonnay today’ can be a very dangerous message to an untrained crew that is new to a property. Here are a few examples to explain why; I have seen a text like that sent to a crew and they’ve pulled leaves in the wrong block. Oops. I have seen a crew pull leaves the same way on a block of Chardonnay as they do on a block of Cabernet Sauvignon, resulting in serious sunburn and crop loss in the Chardonnay. I have seen management show an untrained crew how to pull leaves on a single vine in a block of Cabernet Franc, then returning at the end of the day to see the crew of 5 people had stripped the vines of leaves completely up into the first catch wire. 5 people pulling leaves for 9 hours… that’s a lot of damage.
Having a well-trained vineyard crew is absolutely vital to the success of the operation. I am not understating the importance when I say it can literally make or break your business.
- Understanding the Importance of Training:
Vineyards can be great long-term investments, but only if they are maintained well and are continually productive. This is only possible with a team that has the essential skills necessary to keep the vines productive. Annual vineyard team training is key to a healthy and balanced property. I encourage vineyard team training on every task throughout the entire year. Whether they have done it for a single season or multiple decades, driving home good vineyard management strategies will ensure a ripe harvest each year. And hey, after investing over $20,000 an acre to establish your vineyard, taking two hours to review sound vineyard practices and spending less than a percent of that cost to protect your investment is about as cheap as you can get in any industry. It’s a lot easier to maintain a healthy vineyard than have to continually be fixing problems in one.
Keeping at least one team member annually is highly advisable. Even a single well-trained member can keep an eye on a team of workers to ensure some of the issues described in the intro can be avoided. There are many different ways to structure labor in the vineyard; keeping a single person year-round then filling in with unskilled labor throughout the year, bringing the same H2A crew back annually, employing a trained vineyard management team when tasks arise, or working the vines yourself (for small operations). Regardless, you do not want to employ the next door neighbor’s crew that works their apple orchard to prune your vines thinking they innately know how to prune vines, I have seen this done with devastating results. Always keep an informed employee on your property, who knows what you want done, and how you want it done. You will certainly see a huge impact on grape quality by keeping someone who knows your property.
- Identifying Key Team Members:
Depending on the size of your operation there will be different team members who focus on the various parts of the property. For example, Bonterra in California has a team of three people specifically designated to trellis repair throughout the year. Granted, they farm hundreds of acres, but I feel like it is a good indication that the higher quality product you want, the more you will want to invest in making an ‘expert’ in your vineyard on certain topics.
Always play to your team’s strengths. If a team member has a keen eye for spotting insects and the start of certain diseases but is always running over row-end anchors when they mow or cultivate, then they are probably not the one you want to assign to tractor work. Another thing that I have learned by experience is to not be afraid to hire out of the industry. If you need a trusted vineyard hand to take over aspects of your operation, but the current option is someone with lots of experience but who has bounced from farm to farm, then I would suggest to forego that candidate and find someone who you can trust. Then take the time to train them. It’s better to train the right person than to retrain a stubborn or bitter vineyard laborer who will hinder your farm’s progress (and end up costing you the time and money you had hoped to save).
- Essential Skills for Vineyard Management:
One thing I see time and time again is Team Leads doing the same task in the vineyard each year regardless of the situation or timing. They do it, “Because that’s what we do”. Training your Vineyard Managers to understand why certain things in the vineyard happen seems obvious, but is not something that is walked out often. Unfortunately, many times this is the case due to language barriers. The terrific Spanish-speaking men and women of the wine industry are at a distinct disadvantage because many, if not all, of the East Coast grape growers meetings are spoken/presented in English. Having been to many meetings like this I know that being presented a Doctoral thesis on grapevine trunk diseases can be confusing at times, containing words that many English speakers don’t even know.
Spending time investing on vineyard management skills like pruning techniques, canopy management, and pest and disease identification can result in increased fruitfulness, lessening disease pressure and effort and money saved on chemical sprays. Having a team member send you a picture of an insect that you missed on your scouting walk can be the difference between omitting an insecticide to treat for grape berry moth and playing catchup and getting them in their first flight.
My strong suggestion is this; spend time investing in your vineyard crew. Without them, grape growing on the East Coast screeches to a halt.
- Techniques for Effective Training:
What I have done and seen work is holding vineyard workshops throughout the year. Take a second, walk and talk with your team. They likely have some interesting insights into the vineyard that only comes by spending hours and days working in the vines. Hear what they have to say, you might be surprised.
In any given wine vineyard there are typically between 10 and 12 tasks a vineyard laborer will complete throughout the year. Many vine varieties coincide with each other, and can be done one after another making for an annual pattern to follow. When each task is completed it is a great practice to take two hours and walk the crew through the next task. Visit each block and describe how the task will differ from one varietal to another, one site to another. Along with precision viticulture, this will help the team feel involved and will help to create a sense of purpose in the vineyard. You will notice tasks getting done better, and sloppy mistakes will be minimized.
- Case Studies:
I once visited a vineyard where they had been experiencing lower yields and decreased vigor in their blocks. This had started a few years ago, and their trusted vineyard hand was taking me to one block after the next, explaining how he had taken to heart the vineyard sanitation talk he was given when he started, and was removing as much wood as possible during pruning. I took a look at the vines and his attention to detail was amazing, but unfortunately what he was doing was making cuts too close to the head of the vine and at the trunk, causing desiccation that decreased sap flow severely causing the decreased vigor and yields. Within a few years new trunks were established and the vines were healthy and productive.
Another vineyard I visited had a disease they couldn’t identify and were experiencing severe damage on their fruit. This always happened right around the pea-sized berries and always showed up right after leaf pulling. I asked to see how the crew pulled leaves and my suspicion was confirmed. The team did a great job of pulling leaves, only they were incredibly rough with the new clusters and gave them essentially no thought as they would dive their hands into the canopy to pull the leaf off at the base. I saw them hitting the new clusters with their hands time and time again, bruising the berries and causing the necrotic lesions on the fruit they were seeing throughout the vineyard. With a little explanation on how gentle you need to be with the fruit the team understood and continued to do a great job, only without damaging the fruit.
These are simple training success stories in the vineyard that saved huge amounts of time and money.
- Resources for Ongoing Education:
Some good ways to elevate your team and promote vineyard education are annual growers meetings. Your state has a grape growers association, vineyards association, or something of the sort. Check them out and I’m sure they will have meetings and seminars to help educate the industry.
There are many podcasts out there these days full of great free information. Providing some sort of small incentive to listen to them while your team is working is a great way to implement vineyard training resources.
If you have trouble communicating with your team, then it is absolutely necessary to hire a translator, or to find a neighboring farm who has access to a bilingual employee who can translate for you. Having all the information in the world is completely useless if you are not able to communicate it effectively to your team. Collaborating with other farms is a great way to get involved in the industry and make friends who can be relied upon. Or hey, you could hire me 🙂
Conclusion:
Recognizing the importance of vineyard training is paramount for achieving success in viticulture. It’s not merely about managing a vineyard; it’s about fostering a knowledgeable and skilled team that can navigate the complexities of vineyard management effectively. From understanding the essential skills for vineyard success to identifying key team members and implementing tailored training techniques, investing in your vineyard crew is vital. As demonstrated by the case studies, proper training can lead to significant improvements in crop quality, disease prevention, and overall vineyard health. So, prioritize vineyard team training—it’s a decision that can truly make or break your business.
Join the conversation below! Share your experiences or questions about vineyard team training in the comments section. We’re here to listen and help you thrive. If interested, reach out to us today and let’s discuss how we can elevate your vineyard operations together.
