Cover Crops in the Vineyard
Many growers are in the throes of harvest, especially with some of the early varieties of juice grapes and wine grapes for sparkling wine production. As fall approaches, it’s time to start thinking about putting in a cover crop. A number of vineyards seed cereal rye in the fall, but what about other types of cover crops?
A new publication is out through WSU Extension, “Cover Crops as a Floor Management Strategy for Pacific Northwest Vineyards,” which details cover crop choices, floor management strategies, benefits and some cautions about using cover crops. It also includes a chart that details seeding rates and characteristics of common cover crops being used in Western U.S. vineyards. It offers choices that perhaps are common to juice grape vineyards, but that may offer benefits that are not offered with a resident vegetation crop.
Cover crop choice – whether it is resident vegetation or something perennial – can make a major difference when harvesting. Although irrigation methods are different for juice and wine grape vineyards, covers can preserve the soil structure with the onslaught of machinery at this particular time of the season. In addition, covers provide traction that can be an issue with the constant watering that often occurs in juice grape vineyards up until harvest.
It is a choice though – seeding a cover crop this fall may mean that the amount of water that is applied will increase. To minimize the additional water requirement, seed the cover crop in the center of the alleyway, and keep the area under the vines weed and cover crop free. Sprinkler-irrigated vineyards may be better suited to perennial covers than furrow-irrigated vineyards, depending upon the location of the furrows. Furrows that are dug close to the vine instead of in the middle of the row will be more efficient at delivering water to the vine root system, instead of being captured by the cover crop.
Regardless of your floor management system, cover crops offer a number of benefits for both juice and wine grape vineyards. There will be more information on the use of cover crops for nutritional amendments in the future from WSU – keep an eye out for it in future issues.
For more information, download EB 2010 - “Cover Crops as a Floor Management Strategy for Pacific Northwest Vineyards,” at http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb2010/eb2010.pdf.
