Rain!!

It’s been almost 2 years since we’ve seen water flowing into our irrigation dams! Last night, we welcomed 34mm of much needed rainfall. A happy day here!

Winter rain is critical for our vineyards. It is needed to fill the soil profile with moisture, down to a depth of 1 – 1.2m so that when the vines begin to come out of dormancy in early spring, they can grow new shoots vigorously. Insufficient winter rain can mean the vines may sense dry conditions in early spring, which can have a negative effect on crop levels. If we have average winter rainfall, the vines will generally crop well, and will continue to utilise the stored moisture in the soil throughout spring, minimising the necessity to irrigate until summer. Early winter rain is also important to saturate the soil profile, so that further rainfall in July and August will flow to our irrigation dams. This provides us with the irrigation water, required for the vineyards through summer. Good winter rain is also great for our broad acre farmers. No rain = no food!