increase font size
Mechanical harvesters start the 2016 grape harvest at the Waipara Hills vineyard in North Canterbury.
Under the sweltering North Canterbury sun the 2016 grape harvest has begun.
Waipara Hills vineyard kicked off this year’s vintage just before Easter when it started harvesting pinot noir grapes to be made into rose and bubble base.
Winemaker Simon McGeorge said with weather permitting they’ll be harvesting their chardonnay grapes in about two weeks.
Waipara Hills uses mechanical harvesters for 90% of the 200ha it has in grapes.
McGeorge says one harvester can cover about a hectare an hour and the fruit arrives in a better condition than what humans can do. McGeorge told Rural News the harvesters also enable them to cover more ground with consistent quality, as the machines de-stem, and remove leaves and leaf litter so only grapes arrive in the vats.
Ironically the harvesters are made in Europe, but many of the vineyards there are too small for the machines to be financially viable for most.
Despite overnight rain when the harvest began, McGeorge said there was about 48 hours after rain to harvest before the grapes began to be affected by the moisture.
The mechanical harvesters have blowers that rid the canopy of water so the grapes arrive dry in the vats.
McGeorge, the season this year had been great: a largely dry February had enabled the grapes to ripen without damage.
With 74 vineyards in Waipara and 1250ha in grapes, it’s about to get very busy in North Canterbury as wineries begin to reap the benefits of the past year’s toil.
Waipara Hills has announced that it will be the national wine sponsor at the 2015 Food Show. The Waipara Hills wines will match dishes prepared by celebrity chefs in the Whirlpool Cooking Theatre across three New Zealand shows.
Sam Pearce, age 25 works as a vineyard hand/tractor operator at Waipara Hills.
LIC shareholders have elected a new North Island representative to the co-operative's Board, along with five representatives to its Shareholder Reference Group (SRG), following the company's Annual Meeting held in Invercargill.
Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.
Federated Farmers says it welcomes Labour's commitment to reviewing the Sharemilking Agreements Act, calling on other major parties to do the same.
For Canterbury dairy farmers Sian Meijer and Rick Wobben, wearable technology has become one of their most valuable on-farm tools - helping manage 1850 cows across an expansive, high-performing dairy operation while improving efficiency, mating outcomes and day-to-day decision making.
Fonterra has unveiled its annual results for the 2026 financial year, posting $27 billion in revenue and close to $20 billion returned to New Zealand farmer owners and unit holders.
The first major update to the Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare in more than a decade has been released, marking what DairyNZ describes as an important step in ensuring animal welfare standards continue to evolve alongside scientific evidence and on-farm realities.
OPINION: The same mainstream media muppets that brought you Jacindamania in 2017 have been flat out pimping for the Opportunities…
OPINION: Your old mate reckons the atrocious way farmers in the UK are treated by their lords and masters in…
