THE big picture scenario in the wine job will not change until a joint effort to remove the more than 20 million litres of surplus of red wine hanging over the industry like a dark cloud is addressed.
Without it, all we can expect is an extremely slow return to some form of sustainability.
The government gains a lot of tax from the wine industry, and it did encourage the large, tax-incentive and shareholder-driven companies to become involved years ago – which resulted in putting the industry way out of balance.
Fortunately, our recent warm-to-hot dry weather has been welcome as the grapes move through the ripening stage.
If it does stay dry it will prove to be ideal, but as we all know, we normally end up with a few rain events which risk damaging the fruit.
You know the type of celebration you see when a new King is proclaimed, or a Pope elected – well I had the same type of celebration here last week with the unhooking of the canopy sprayer for the growing season.
After towing it around and around, and up and down, since September way back there in 2024, it was simply great to tow it back into the shed – and leave it there for a while.
But I am still slashing, chasing weeds and continuously adjusting the irrigation program with that very warm and windy weather we’re having, which is leading to plenty of water use.
The grape harvester will be hooked up within the week to get it excited about the task ahead, and to sort out any gremlins prior to kicking off the harvest, which should begin in a week or so.
The creatures headed to the lake at Boga recently to escape the heat and enjoy the water.
It wasn’t surprising to see three snails at a time on ice cream sticks, skipping over the waves being pulled by with some orb web used as a ski rope by the Chinooks (aka dragonflies).
The lizards pretended to be crocs along the water’s edge of the lake, swimming around, scaring the bejeesus out of the little kids.
Talk to your mates.
