16 July 10am
Vineyard under-vine floor management is a controversial topic. Whether via herbicide or tillage, the common approach for many years has been to maintain bare earth under-vine to minimise competition with grapevines. Our research into under-vine cover cropping is showing that with the right choice of species, under-vine cover crops can have a neutral or positive effect on yields while saving the effort and costs associated with herbicide application. Our work is also exploring the impacts of cover crops on water usage and vine temperatures, with intriguing results. New insights have also been gained into the impacts of vineyard floor management on the soil microbiome.