organic vineyard soil management programme

Steve Cuddihy - Woody Pear Wines WA

Woody Pear Wines is a small organic vineyard run as a family business by Steve, Anne and Michael Cuddihy. It is located in Baldivis WA, about a half hour drive south of Perth.

The vines were planted on virgin Tuart soils that were lacking in most of the major nutrients and trace elements. The soil was acidic with a pH of 5.3. We planted cabernet sauvignon, Verdelho and Chardonnay with a customised compost mixed with Guano Gold and applied substantial quantities of mulch for weed control and water retention. Crushed limestone was added to improve the acidity.

We are pleased with the development and the health of our organically certified vines and plan to apply more Guano Gold and compost to the area between the vine rows. This will be utilised for healthy cover crops of clovers and rye grass that will be slashed for green manure. A small batch of Verdelho and Chardonnay has been produced from the recent vintage and we are delighted with the results from such young vines.

We believe our decision to go organic and the subsequent soil management programme has been vindicated.
Steve Cuddihy - Woody Pear Wines

WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY

Being so far away from our markets, durability is critical and the Silica is really good in terms of hardening up the skin and making the melons better to transport.Ord River WA irrigator David Menzel-Barradale

The problem with many organic fertilisers is that they have very low rates of nutrients, meaning you need to put out high rates. A product like Guano Gold has 12pc P, whereas Guano Sulphur Gold has 10.5pc P, obviously with additional sulphur. These figures compare very favourably with something like a single superphosphate product. Agronomically, it’s a good product in any setting, not just for organic producers.Garry Allison, Landmark Agronomist. Mount Gambier, SA

For the broadacre croppers, Guano Gold works really well in paddocks where they have had issues with nutrient tie-up. He said the majority of synthetic P products have large rates of water soluble P. The problem with that is that you can have instances where it ends up tying up zinc in the soil so you run into problems with zinc deficiencies. Not only does the slow release nature of the Guano Gold product work well over the entire season, it also contains zinc for the crop as well as the other nutrients.Moree agronomist Rob Drewitt

We strongly recommend the Guano Gold products to fellow farmers if they are looking at improving their Calcium and Silica levels using various methods of application such as foliar and granular.James and Aimee Thomas Falkirk Macadamia Farm

I have recommended Guano Gold products for 20 years and in all cases had excellent long-term results increasing in pasture productivity.Paul Baguely - PB Ag Consulting

They are high analysis products so you get your nutrients without having to put too much fertiliser out.Anthony Beutel, Googa Farm Organics

We have known since the 1930s that phosphorus is one of the main elements required to grow a successful crop of not just the (flax) plant but the seed. It was one of those products that was first out in a granular type form and it was so much easier to get an even coverage over the ground, rather than a powder form. Later on the product became a little more refined, so we could put it through our air-seeder. We also broadcast some of it, prior to seeding, when we are cultivating ground. The products have great characteristics in relation to phosphate and silica, which is exactly what we need for flax.Waltanna Farms flax-seed farmer & Ambassador for Guano Australia, Michael Nagorcka

organic vineyard soil management programme

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WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY