When we first took over this abandoned dairy farm there was a national concern developing about the environment. The use of DDT and the effect it was having on wildlife. The pollution of the water, the loss of topsoil across the country at a rate of 3 ton per acre per year. Although we were only involved in growing a small garden we decided that doing it organically would be the best thing to do. According to Sally Jean Cunningham of Cornell Cooperative Extension, commercial farming may use a higher total volume of agricultural chemicals a year than a home gardener, but the home gardener uses 10 time the amount per acre. We began to experiment with different methods described in publications of the time, books by Elliot Coleman and others. We began to build our gardens. That meant more than plowing the soil and dropping in a few seeds. We began to build our soil, by the addition of organic matter into our gardens. By improving the soil structure we had healthier plants, better drainage and easier cultivation. Not only were the plants stronger, the food tasted much better. After getting the garden down, we moved out into the farm fields. We laid 8,000 feet of drainage pipe to remove excess water. We contracted with a hauler to deliver the animal waste and bedding from the New York State fair grounds, state police horse barns and vegetable waste from grocery stores. We acquired a total of 600 tractor trailer loads of this material. We composted all of it and worked it into the soils of our farm. In these fields we now grow our grapes.

Organic agriculture means a lot of things to a lot of different people. For myself it is a matter of keeping it simple. I have been farming organically for 35 years. I am certified by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY). During this time there are things I have learned. When we got this farm back in the 70's, things were a whole lot simpler. The regional certifying organizations were a loose knit group of people and organizations, all with their own ideas of what constitutes organic agriculture. In 1990 the federal government got involved in the development of a national standard. In the year 2000 the USDA published the standards for the National Organic Program (NOP). The regional certifying organizations then became the recognized agents for the USDA NOP. All farms producing, handling, processing or selling food products labeled as organic, fell under the guidelines of the NOP. Some organizations believe they are too strict while others believe they are far too lax.

To become a certified organic farm, strict record keeping is required. For example each field needs either a name or a number to designate that particular field. A field history must be kept for each field. A field history is a record of all activities in that field for 3 years prior to having that field certified. Maps of the farm must be produced to show what borders each field. For example, are there woods on the north edge of the field or a road? If the north border is woods, there is no problem. If the north border is a road, you need to document the distance from the road and what kind of buffer area you have, hedge row, etc. and its depth. You also have to document other agricultural activities bordering your farm. If your neighbor grows genetically modified corn, you cannot have certified organic corn in a bordering field due to cross pollination. If your neighbor uses an air blast sprayer with non-approved materials, that field cannot be certified due to the possibility of drift contamination.

All certified farms must contact the power company, telephone company, highway department and health department to inform them of the certification of your farm as organic and request that no roadside spraying of herbicides or pesticides be used bordering your farm. Copies of these letters must be kept on file for later inspection. If trace materials are found within 5% above the USDA standard, you lose your certification. All materials used on a certified organic farm must be approved and listed on at least one of several approved materials lists. Certified farms are inspected each year for compliance with the national standard. Soil tests look for the salt residue form commercial fertilizers and machinery is inspected for any oil leaks. Now you are ready to start the easy part, farming.

Before we planted our grapes, a clover and alfalfa mix was planted as a nitrogen fixer for the soil. We then planted corn. The corn was mechanically cultivated to get a handle on the unwanted grasses and weeds in the field. Once we were ready to start planting the grapes, 10 foot parallel rows needed to be laid out. Thousands of 9 inch diameter holes were bored into the ground and the plants were set. Grapes require a trellis to grow on to keep them up off the ground and support their weight. Over a thousand posts were driven into the rows and miles of wire were hung. Every plant needed to be trained to grow up to the trellis. Each plant had a one-inch diameter bamboo stick 4 feet long placed next to the plant and twist ties were used to train the young vines up to the trellis wires. Since pressure-treated wooden posts, which can leach unwanted materials into the soil are not allowed in organic farming, you have to use either cedar, locust or steel posts. We chose to use steel.

Some specialized equipment is required to successfully grow grapes organically. Since no herbicide can be used, weeds must be removed mechanically. The weeds between the rows are removed with an old set of front and rear corn cultivators mounted on an old 1951 Farmall 300 tractor. This does a very good job of ripping out the unwanted weeds. The weeds between the plants and posts are removed with the use of a rotary hoe. A rotary hoe is a machine which is mounted on the rear of a 3 point hitch tractor. The cultivating head is at the end of a long arm that wraps around the right rear wheel of the tractor and is attached to the mid section of the tractor. The cultivating head is powered by a hydraulic motor which runs off the PTO (power take off) of the tractor. The cultivating head has heavy spring teeth which turn at a high rpm in a counter clockwise motion. The head has hydraulic rams attached and controls mounted next to the operator. The operator then swing the head in and out of the row to remove weeds between the plants and posts.

There are two insect pests we need to deal with: one damages the cane the other damages the fruit. The first is the grape cane gallmaker, also called the grape cane borer. The adults lay their eggs in the plant by boring a small hole in the plant laying a single egg and then filling the hole with a material called frass. The adult female is about 1/8 inch long and lays her eggs when the new shoots are about 20 inches long. The eggs are generally laid well above the fruit. When the eggs hatch, the larvae consume a small amount of the cane and emerge in September. The adults overwinter in plant debris under the grape plants or piles of debris on the edge of the vineyard. They do not kill the cane but they can cause it to break if stressed. The best way to manage the cane borer organically is to remove all cuttings from the field after pruning. These canes need to be piled up and burned. Late fall cultivation and the planting of a winter cover crop will also help to destroy their overwintering sites in the vineyard.

The other insect pest is the grape berry moth. The adult moth lays her eggs on the stems and flower clusters. They hatch in about 8 days, larvae then eats the leaves, stems and later the young berries. There can be two generations of grape berry moths in a single season. The later larvae only consume the berries. They bore into a berry and consume the inside of the fruit; they then bore out of the berry where it is in contact with another berry and consume that berry. A single larvae can destroy a dozen berries before dropping to the ground to pupate. Berry moths pupate in the soil below the plant and overwinter as larvae in the soil below the plant. Mechanical cultivation of the vineyard between the rows and the use of the rotary hoe between the plants and posts does a good job at controlling the grape berry moth. We have an unknown variety of grape growing here, it was here when we got the place. It is located in the side yard and the grass is mowed around it. We have always had problems with this pest until we clone propagated it and moved it into the vineyards. With the practice of clean cultivation and the planting of a winter cover, we have not seen the pest in these grapes.

Next is disease control. There are four major diseases we need to deal with here in the cold northeast; all four are fungal diseases. We use three approved materials to control all fungal diseases; Stylet-Oil, sulfur and Serenade. Stylet-Oil is a highly refined mineral oil. It is biodegradable and used to control powdery mildew, downy mildew, botrytis and bunch rot. Stylet-Oil will kill powdery mildew on contact and will control infestation for up to 10 days. It will help control downy mildew, botrytis and bunch rot by blocking respiration of the fungi's ability to attach to the plant or berries. Since it is a dormant oil it also blocks the fungi's ability to release spores. It also will kill aphids, white flies and mites that carry other viral diseases. Stylet-Oil can not be applied for two weeks after applying sulfur due to phytotoxicity and vice versa. Sulfur is another controller of fungal diseases. When sulfur is sprayed it absorbs oxygen and turns into sulfuric acid. The low Ph of the material will burn the tip of any emerging mycelium from a spore that lands on the plant for up to 10 days after application. The Geneva Experimental Station has recently discovered sulfur to be a somewhat effective fungicide on powdery mildew after infection. The mechanism for this is not well understood. Serenade is a biocontrol agent. Serenade is a selected strain of Bacillus subtilis bacteria. It attacks and eats powdery mildew, downy mildew, Cercospora, leaf spot, early blight, late blight, brown rot and fire blight. Serenade cannot be used for two weeks after using sulfur. In times of heavy disease pressure Serenade should not be your choice for control, use Stylet-Oil or sulfur depending on your previously applied material.

There are other means of controlling fungal disease, proper amount of sunshine and air flow. When we first planted our vineyards, we noticed that the morning sun was blocked by the tall timber on the east side of the vineyard. It was nice to be able to work in the shade on a hot July morning but the soil and clusters were not drying after the rains. The sun was blocked until noon on the east side. The timber had to be clear cut back about 100 feet into the woods and 1,300 feet down the side of the field. By thinning shoots and removing the leaf above the grape cluster we had sunshine on the fruit and passing through the plant by 8:00 am. Our farm is on the west face of a mountain, the east face of the next mountain is several miles away. The vineyards are on an 8 % grade which prevents air from pooling in the vineyard. In the morning when the sun hits the east face of the mountain across the valley, the air is heated and thermal air currents begin to rise. As the air rises up on the other side of the valley it is replaced by the cooler air from this side of the valley and it then happens in the opposite direction in the afternoon. On a still day when there is no wind there is always slow moving air currents in the vineyard. There is nothing to block the prevailing west wind and we get plenty of it.

All viticulturist have problems with animals of all types coming into the vineyard and eating the fruit and vines; it can be a huge problem. We first planted grapes in 1980. There was five varieties planted about 100 feet from the house. In the fall of every year when the fruit was ripening we would plan to make jam or juice on the upcoming week-end. When we went out to harvest the fruit, there would be nothing left, not a single berry. Bird, racoons and other animals were getting to it first You can not fault the animal; anything it finds to eat, it will eat. With winter on the way they need to store up a generous fat reserve to survive the winter. A high sugar fruit like grapes are a very good choice. When we began to plant the vineyards on a large scale we had problems with deer and rabbits eating the young vines. Later deer would walk down the rows taking large bites out of each cluster of fruit. The migrating birds would then come in and finish them off. Like I said, you can not fault the animal, but you can deter them.

The solution to animals in the vineyard was to add other animals. This process is approved by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and supercedes any local leash laws. We installed a carrier current electronic fence around the vineyards. There are two dogs now living inside the parameter of the buried boundary wire. The current loop power supply and amplifier is located in the house and is powerful enough to cover a 100 acre boundary. It works by an electrical current traveling through the wire which creates a magnetic field. The dogs have a receiver attached to their collar. If the dog enters the magnetic field, it will receive a shock that deters the dog from continuing on in that direction. The dogs need to be trained as to where the boundary line is located. When you consider the price comparison of this type of fence at pennies a foot to traditional deer fencing at several dollars a foot, it is not a hard fought decision. Once they are trained, they are free to run. The dogs have their own deluxe dog house, on demand feeders and a constant water supply. The dogs can not leave the vineyard, the vet even makes house calls. Their job is to chase out any animal that enters the vineyard, and they do a very good job. Although there are many breeds of dogs they all operate in one of two ways, scent or sight. I have one of each, one always has its nose to the ground following scent trails, the other always has its head up looking for anything that moves. Together they are a very effective team in protecting the fruit and vines from deer, skunks, racoons, rabbits, fox, turkeys and opossums.

The other problem is birds. When flocks numbering in the thousands come into the vineyard, they can destroy a crop in a matter of a few hours. The solution was to wire the vineyards for sound. We purchased a system that emits the warning calls of 6 different species of birds stored on a digital chip. The calls are warning calls not distress calls. Distress calls are the calls of the young to bring in the adults if there is danger near the nest. You certainly do not want to bring in birds. The 12 volt dc system is powered by a 12 volt deep cycle battery. The system is basically a random number generator with an audio amplifier. There are 4 mono mini jack speaker ports and 8 speakers. The computer and power source are located in the center of the vineyard. Four long wires then are run out into the vineyards. There are 2 speakers for each wire. The speakers are located around the 4 corners of the vineyard. The random number generator will send the warning call of one of the bird species out on any one of the 4 speaker ports. It then repeats the process until all species calls have been played. When you listen to the system at work it sounds like multiple birds have been captured by a cat or something all around the vineyard. You can program how often you want the cycle to repeat, every 15 minutes seems to work good. We also use a kite that is the shape and markings of a bird of prey, mine is an osprey. The kite is attached to a tapered telescoping fiberglass pole with an outrigger and swivel at the top. The bird kite is suspended from the swivel and “flies” in the slightest breeze. The combination of the warning calls and the visual of a bird of prey, does a very good job on deterring migrating birds.