CALISTOGA — Grazing sheep are becoming a more common sight in Napa Valley vineyards — and advocates say there are good reasons for that.
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Jesse Duarte | Napa Valley Register
CALISTOGA — Grazing sheep are becoming a more common sight in Napa Valley vineyards — and advocates say there are good reasons for that.
The Napa Valley Grapegrowers and Napa Green organized a field day on Tuesday at Castello di Amorosa outside Calistoga to show growers and vineyard managers how sheep produce healthier vineyard soil and more fire-resilient wildlands.
Christian Cain of Perennial Grazing said there are four reasons to let sheep graze in vineyards: soil fertility, labor savings, frost mitigation and cost reduction.
Sheep are also making practical sense as more growers go organic and eliminate pesticides.
“And we hope to do more,” Mochizuki said.
Chris Maschauer, who oversees those grazing programs, explained the science. As sheep graze on cover crops, they excrete “time-releasing fertilizer capsules.” That fertilizer feeds microbes, the microbes feed the soil, and the soil feeds the vines.
“You can cut your costs in half while increasing your tonnage,” Maschauersaid.
The trick is not to overgraze, he said. If the sheep eat the grass down to within a few inches of the ground, the grass will start to regrow, drawing nutrients from the soil that would otherwise nourish the vines. The absence of a cover crop exposes the soil to ultraviolet light, which kills the same microbes that grazing is supposed to support, and can contribute to mildew.
Sheep need to graze year-round but need to be used strategically in the vineyards, so it’s tough for growers to keep their own sheep for grazing purposes. That’s why businesses like Cain’s and Irwin’s are booming. Irwin said his sheep are busy enough that he never solicits new clients — they come to him.
Advocates say grazing promotes a balanced, dynamic ecosystem to support vineyards.
“Embracing these biological systems brings so many benefits,” Cain said.
About Napa Green: The Napa Green 501c3 is a global leader in sustainable winegrowing, setting the highest bar for sustainability and climate action in the wine industry. Napa Green facilitates whole system soil to bottle certification for wineries and vineyards, and provides the expertise, boots-on-the-ground support, and resources to continually improve. Learn more at https://napagreen.org/participating-members/.
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