Holistic grazing sheep in vineyards
Integrating livestock is a regenerative principle often taken as given in New Zealand. Here, we explore how improved sheep integration can increase vineyard health and reduce inputs, including a large system change underway at Greystone Wines to integrate sheep year-round.
Video description: Greystone Wines are transforming their whole system, lifting the height of the vines to allow year-round grazing.
Video description: The Holdaways have shifted from set-stocking autumn and winter grazed lambs to shifting every 3-4 days (approx. 3-4ha).
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Globally, livestock have been removed from many arable and horticultural systems, which have become increasingly dependent on machines and inputs to do jobs that can be performed by livestock.
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Greystone Wines: Organic pests and disease management
Greystone Wines have been winter grazing the neighbouring farmers sheep since the vineyard was established, typically from May-September.
Since 2020 they have also been bringing sheep back for 4-6 weeks of leaf plucking in November/December, increasing the area from 12ha in 2020 to 42ha in 2021.
Now they are transforming their whole management system, lifting the height of the vines to allow year-round grazing, eliminating mechanical pasture and weed management and gaining the nutrient cycling benefits of the four-legged biodigesters. The main downside of this shift is that leaf plucking will again have to be done by hand.
The system change is predicted to halve tractor passes in the vineyard, with associated fuel and labour savings. The increased vine height should also reduce frost and disease pressure.
Implementation at Greystone:
For leaf plucking, the team work on about 200 ewes in one hectare for 24-36 hours (depending on grass covers) achieves 90-95% leaf pluck.
Care needs to be taken to ensure sheep don’t eat grape bunches. The bitterness of immature fruit means sheep won’t eat them unless they are thirsty, so make sure sheep have access to water (and know where it is). Expect a small amount of damage on the first day or two as the sheep taste test the immature grapes.
Holdaway vineyard: Developing a biological approach
The Holdaways used to set stock 1000-1500 merino lambs across the 182ha vineyard for five months over autumn/winter.
Observing some of the negative impacts of set stocking on soils and lambs, plus learning about the benefits of rotational/holistic grazing, has led to a shift in approach. Lambs are now shifted every 3-4 days (approx. 3-4ha) and depending on autumn growth, will complete one or two rotations of the vineyard.
In addition to improving nutrient distribution and reduce stock camping, lamb survivial and health has also significantly improved. The team also attribute this to the diverse pastures and cover crops that now make up the lambs diet.
Implementation at Holdaway vineyard:
1000-1500 merino lambs are stocked on 3-4ha for 3-4 days (depending on pasture covers and mob size).
If pasture covers are low, the lambs will be rotated faster and may graze the vineyard twice before spring.
“The benefits to management, if done right, completely outweigh any potential negatives of having sheep in the vineyard. If you're interested in soil health, [then] putting sheep in the vineyard is a simple decision to make.”
Richard Holdaway, Holdaway vineyard
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