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Vinehealth Australia
eNewsletter: April 2020
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Note from our Chair


We are living in uncertain and challenging times. The Board of Vinehealth Australia appreciates the difficulties of this season and foreseeable future.

We consider it important to reassure you that Vinehealth Australia is adeptly navigating the situation. Inca and her team swiftly moved to a work-from-home scenario in March and are ensuring business continuity. They continually review and prioritise operations to maintain support and engagement with growers, industry and government. 

The Board met via teleconference recently and remains responsible for risk management, strategy, employee health and wellbeing, and finances. Each area is notably fluid and receiving heightened attention.

With confirmation that agriculture and viticulture are essential services, the protection of vineyards from pest and disease incursions is more important than ever.

Now that ‘biosecurity’ is in the general vocabulary, Vinehealth Australia has an increasingly captive audience to demonstrate its expertise in plant biosecurity. 

Thank you for your ongoing support and engagement.

Prue McMichael
Chair, Vinehealth Australia
Note from our CEO

Our thoughts are with you all as we deal with this unprecedented health pandemic. We know this crisis has hit the wine industry hard, with cellar door restrictions following a low yielding vintage, bushfires and drought.

But we also know that the wine industry is a resilient one. We will adapt, survive and eventually again thrive.

We're continuing the important work needed to keep our vineyards safe from significant pest and disease threats. We're making good progress on the State Phylloxera Outbreak Plan and we will soon be confirming the new phylloxera conditions within SA's Plant Quarantine Standard (PQS). 

And don't forget, we’re here to help you with your biosecurity needs. Call us on (08) 8273 0550 or email me at inca@vinehealth.com.au if you have questions or need advice.

Inca Lee
CEO, Vinehealth Australia

In this issue

Last issue highlights

How to clean a harvester

With vintage drawing to an end, now is the time to give your grape harvesters a good clean, to ensure they are free of soil and plant material.
In the newest version of the Plant Quarantine Standard for South Australia, which is awaiting Ministerial sign-off prior to release, a description for cleaning used grape harvesters is provided.
The cleaning method includes removing any parts of the harvester that may hold and hide vineyard soil and plant material.

Read more

The power of video

Humans love videos. We learn from videos, we’re entertained by videos and we watch thousands of videos each year.
We know that videos are one of the most effective ways to get messages across to people and we’ve worked hard over the past three years to create engaging biosecurity videos.
To make it easy to find our videos, we’ve created a video gallery on our website, which you can find here.

Read more

Fall armyworm:
the march is on

In our February e-news we advised that the exotic insect pest, Fall armyworm, had been detected for the first time in Australian waters. Since then, the pest has reached mainland Australia and is on the move. And it has been determined by our governments that it is not feasible to eradicate.

Read more

Meet Ross Meffin

Vinehealth Australia Board member Ross Meffin plays a vital role in South Australia’s biosecurity system.
Ross is the Chief Inspector for Plant Health in South Australia and the Minister’s delegate under the Plant Health Act. The statutory position of Chief Inspector is responsible for decision making and exercising high level powers under the Plant Health Act relating to prevention, control and eradication of plant pests and pathogens, as well as interstate accreditation and certification of interstate trade in horticultural produce.

Read more

National biosecurity winners shine

Congratulations to the two winners of the national 2020 Farm Biosecurity Producer of the Year Award announced in March, Seafarms Group Ltd and Templeton Farming Enterprises.
The awards are a category of the Australian Biosecurity Awards, which were presented at the ABARES Conference dinner on 3 March.

Read more

Preparing for African Swine Fever

With news focused on COVID-19, it’s easy to forget about other biosecurity threats, including African Swine Fever (ASF). According to ABC reports, ASF has killed 800 million pigs, which is more than a quarter of the world’s pigs. Australian authorities and our pork industry are on high alert to protect our ASF free status.

Read more

SA AgTech survey
closing soon

There's still time to participate in the State Government's AgTech survey, which is informing the creation of an AgTech strategy for South Australia, to encourage greater uptake of technology on-farm to increase productivity and profitability in SA.
The survey closes at 5pm on Friday 24 April.

Click here to take the survey

Did you know?

The comfort of old vines in uncertain times

South Australia has some incredibly old vineyards. Of the total 185,329 acres (75,000 ha) of vines planted in SA, there are:
  • 163,089 acres (66,000 ha) of vines aged 0-34 years;
  • 14,826 acres (6,000 ha) of vines aged 35-69 years;
  • 1,482 acres (600 ha) of vines aged 70-99 years;
  • 365 acres (148 ha) of vines aged 100 years to 124 years; and
  • 250 acres (100 ha) of vines aged 125 years plus.
The oldest vineyards can be found in the Barossa Valley, Eden Valley, McLaren Vale, Clare Valley, Coonawarra, Langhorne Creek and the Riverland. They include 144 acres of 125 year old plus Shiraz vines in the Barossa, McLaren Vale, Clare, Coonawarra and Langhorne Creek.

There is also very old Cabernet Sauvignon in the Barossa and Langhorne Creek, and 125 year old plus Grenache can be found in the Barossa Valley, Clare and McLaren Vale. The Barossa is also home to 125 year old plus Mataro, Semillon, Petro Ximenez and Trebbiano. This rich tapestry of old vine material underpins our viticultural ambitions and traditions.

Wine writer Max Allen recently penned a beautiful article about the ‘comfort’ that old vines provide, in Australian Financial Review

“Ever since I first became interested in wine, I’ve been in awe of how the humble grapevine can keep producing fruit, vintage after relentless vintage, for 100, 200, 300 years or more. I have always found it a special experience to drink wine made from one of these old vines and to think about its history,” Max writes.

“In the dry cool of a late summer dusk, the Barossa Valley takes on an enchanted air. Walking back from the pub past an ancient vineyard of Shiraz, the fluid purple light plays tricks with my eyes: the stubby old vines look for all the world like they’re trying to claw their way out of the stony soil. Thick stumps of wood, weathered, twisted, arthritic, their spindly black arms punctuated by tufts of foliage, half disguising jewel-like clusters of dark blue grapes.

“These vines have been producing fruit since the turn of the century. While war raged in Europe (twice) they soaked up the warm Barossa sun and converted the energy to sugar. Presidents and prime ministers came and went, and these vines sucked water from deep below the Barossa soil and bled it out again in the form of juice. Before my grandfather was born, these vines were making wine.”

Read the full article here.

Biosecurity tips

  • #V20 Tip#11: Looking to move machinery or equipment out of SA, or in and out of the Limestone Coast in SA? Consider the Naracoorte Heat Shed for machinery and equipment disinfestation. #Vinehealth
  • #V20 Tip#12: Does your business host weddings? Do you allow wedding parties down your vine rows? Have you considered the risk that photographers pose as they may move from vineyard to vineyard wearing the same footwear which can pick up and spread pests? #Vinehealth
  • #V20 Tip#13: Are you considering top-working later this year? If using your own scion material, ensure you undertake virus testing to establish health status. #Vinehealth
  • #V20 Tip#14: Planning a vintage debrief? Include a review of your biosecurity practices to note where you can improve. #Vinehealth

What is biosecurity?

Biosecurity is a system to reduce the risk of entry, establishment and spread of pests, diseases and weeds that threaten the economy and environment. It’s also a system for managing and recovering from an incursion of a pest and disease by minimising its impact through eradication, containment and ongoing asset protection. Biosecurity is a shared responsibility – we need to work collaboratively.

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Copyright © Phylloxera and Grape Industry Board of South Australia,
trading as Vinehealth Australia and governed by 
The Phylloxera and Grape Industry Act 1995


www.vinehealth.com.au

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