Introducing automated 3D-scanning robots to vineyards could be the secret to unlocking the “Holy Grail” of the wine industry. 

A project using Lincoln University viticulturalists and led by the University of Canterbury (UC) aims to develop the robots and use them to get far more accurate yield estimations, which would tell growers exactly how much fruit their vines will bear.

The five-year $6.1 million project is supported by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment Endeavour Fund.

Lincoln University Department of Wine Food & Molecular Biosciences Associate Professor Dr Amber Parker said being able to accurately predict yields could be a huge shift for the industry.

Having accurate yield estimation meant growers and winemakers could better prepare for harvest in every step of production. It affects everything, including how much fruit would be harvested, the labour and equipment needed, and what the winery would receive.

“Every step along that chain there’s a financial cost benefit.

“How many tractors do you need? How many drivers? How many people in the winery? How many tanks? Do you need to make changes?”

At present, being within 5-10% in a yield estimation is considered very good, but still leaves a huge amount of room for variation.

Part of the problem with determining yield estimates is that growers are working on averages from other years, but the climate fluctuates annually.

Using the autonomous robot, the actual number of fruit on every vine can be measured without supervision, putting growers in a much better position to deal with those fluctuations, Parker said.

The robot estimates yield by creating a 3D scan with the exact number of flower structures on the vines, called inflorescences.

The current method of estimating yield is to count these in person, whether it be in the vineyard or by removing samples from the vine.

It is more accurate to remove them, but that means a loss in potential fruit.

These are expensive, time-consuming processes and can only be used to work out a rough average, as it is impossible to do every vine, she said.

The robots are being designed by a team at UC, led by Professor Richard Green.

The one metre by one metre device zips down the rows at “a fast walking pace” capturing thousands of images, Green said.

It is loaded with cameras with wide-angle lenses, each taking about 10 pictures per second. The current arrangement features 12 cameras, collecting images on both sides as it moves through the vineyard.

Those images are then fed into an artificial intelligence program that pieces them together into a highly accurate 3D model of the plant, including everything behind the leaves.

Developing the AI to reconstruct the images was the most difficult part of the process, but now that it works the result could be revolutionary for the industry, he said.

“We have access to way more information than ever before.”

The technology is groundbreaking, but it is up to Lincoln’s viticulturalists to make sure it can meet the industry’s needs.

Every few weeks the robot goes through Lincoln’s vineyard scanning the vines. Lincoln’s viticulturalists then collect data manually to compare.

That data was used to determine the practical value the technology had, Parker said.

They were also looking at the bigger picture, as the 3D images collected provided a lot of data that was previously lacking in the field.

“How we go from flowers to fruits is not really well modelled. Part of the work is can we look at that better and understand that in a predictable power better.”

There is potential for it to be used for other purposes, such as determining vine balance, which estimates how the vegetation is growing in comparison to the fruit.

That information is useful for understanding how the vineyard set-up is working and for finding vines that are struggling.

The current method of measuring balance is by weighing the pruned material from the vines, but the robot has the potential to provide far more accurate measurements as part of its automated yield scans.

“We have these balance metrics, but they don’t necessarily work well. They’re also quite time-consuming to measure.”

A second robot will soon be deployed in Marlborough in commercial vineyards and this year will be the first full season of testing.

With August to November being peak export time for organic wine exporters, New Zealand Food Safety deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle says the Ministry for Primary Industries wants to remind exporters of market requirements to the United States and the European Union.

From September 19, US importers of New Zealand organic wine must be certified organic.

In March the MPI published revised market access requirements for the US, requiring all consignments exported to the US to be associated with a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Organic Program (NOP) import certificate.

The rules for import certificates require that the US importer named in the certificate is certified organic.

To allow time for US importers to catch up on their certification, the US temporarily allowed import certificates to be generated without an importer being certified, but this temporary measure ends on September 19.

“The USDA has also advised that this will likely impact consignments that are ‘on the water’ on September 19 2024”.

The MPI said exporters should engage with importers to confirm they are on track to complete certification.

Organic wine exporters sending wine to European markets under the MPI’s Official Organic Assurance Programme must obtain a Certificate of Inspection (COI) prior to the departure of the consignment from New Zealand.

Obtaining official organic assurance applies to organic exports to the EU, Great Britain, Switzerland, Northern Ireland and Norway.

Deadlines for COIs are set in the laws and regulations by the respective European market.

The process to obtain an organic export certification is separate from the process to obtain export eligibility statements for wine.

Goods cannot leave New Zealand without the necessary documentation. 

The Marlborough Industry Wellness Week, which ran from May 27-31, aims to strengthen a culture of wellness and wellbeing in the industry. It is championed by the industry-led Wine Industry Resilience Committee. It’s a fun and supportive week, during which businesses across the sector are encouraged to share their wellness activities in a spirit of “friendly competition”. Twenty-four wineries were involved this year.

Hunter’s Wines and Forrest Wines were both winners.

Hunter’s Wines won the Most Impactful Initiative Award and Forrest Wines took out the Leadership Award for ongoing commitment to wellness.

Karen McKeown, who is responsible for health and wellness at Hunter’s Wines, said that finding ways to promote the wellness of staff mentally and physically is an essential part of running a successful business. 

“You spend a lot of time at work so the wellness of staff is really important. A big part of it is creating connections with each other which makes everybody work better and relate better. 

“If you feel that people care about you and that you’ve got a work family, it makes all the difference. You know there is someone there you can talk to or share something with or just have a laugh.”

Hunter’s Wines has worked on providing more opportunities for people to build relationships and have fun in the process, McKeown said.

On Friday afternoons staff gather for Wine Options, a blind tasting of a range of wines, which provides a chance for staff from all areas of the company to get together and wind down at the end of the week.

For Mental Health Week the company organised activities linked to the Five Ways to Wellbeing. It shared techniques with staff for managing stress, such as breathing techniques and stretching exercises that can be done within people’s roles throughout the day.

“We had a Guess the Baby photo competition to get everyone involved and have a bit of fun,” said McKeown. “We also brought in items to donate to the animal welfare organisation Four Paws and entered a quiz team for the Four Paws fundraiser as a way of giving back to the community.

“We have get-togethers for interns coming on board to help with vintage and we celebrate together when vintage is done. We give our interns some Kiwiana too which goes down well. We also provide staff with fruit so there is always a healthy snack available.”  

A lot of interaction within the company happens on an IT communication board, called Slack, said McKeown.

“It’s a really good way to share information, get people involved and get feedback. People share quirky and funny stuff as well. It’s a great way to keep in touch if you’re not seeing everyone in person every day.”

Initiatives to promote wellness across a business do not require a big budget, said McKeown. Wineries come in different sizes and the amount of resource available is going to vary greatly. “What matters is how impactful and relevant it is.”

McKeown is a believer that a wellness programme within a business goes two ways.

“It’s not just your employer giving back to you, it’s also about you giving back to your work and community as well. One of the things we have planned is helping with the care of our wetland area at our Delta Vineyard.  Staff are going to go out one afternoon and have a session to help maintain it, as well as learn about the development of the area and the environmental impact it is having.  We’ll have a coffee cart there to give us a hot drink and a scone afterwards.”

For McKeown, the core of an effective wellness programme is building stronger relationships, having some fun doing it, and gaining information that might help your mental or physical health.

Forrest Wines, the other award-winner at the Marlborough Wellness Week, “is committed to nurturing both our vines and our people”, said Beth Forrest.

“During Wellness Week, we celebrated two key initiatives that promote our team’s wellbeing. Our 38-hour work week allows full-time employees to finish at 3pm on Fridays, giving them extra time for self-care and relaxation. 

“Additionally, our ‘Never Miss a Monday’ boot camp is in full swing, with a personal trainer leading us through energising workouts in our beautiful vineyard. These initiatives aim to boost physical health, foster team spirit, and provide a balanced and fun work environment.”

Companies involved in Wellness Week were asked to show how they make Farmstrong’s Five Ways to Wellbeing a part of the working week. Farmstrong is a rural wellness programme that provides tools and resources to help people manage the ups and downs of farming and growing.

Farmstrong ambassador Sam Whitelock said wellness starts with getting the basics right. 

“Research shows people who thrive in spite of life’s challenges tend to have five things in common: they stay connected with their mates, they enjoy the simple things in life, they stay active and move the body, they keep learning new things and they give back by helping out friends, neighbours or their community. 

“These are called the Five Ways to Wellbeing. My experience is that over time, their benefits really add up and a make huge difference to your life.”

Every year more 14,000 farmers and growers increase their wellbeing thanks to Farmstrong. For free tools and resources on managing the ups and downs of farming and growing, visit farmstrong.co.nz

Nick McArthur from Tiki Wines has been named 2024 North Canterbury Young Viticulturist of the Year.

The 25-year-old operations manager at Tiki Wines claimed the title at the regional competition held at Waiata Vineyards in Waipara on July 18. 

Georgia Mehlhopt from Greystone took second place. The other contestants, Louis Szigetvary and Piper Eder, also from Tiki Wines, walked away with section prizes as well. 

“What a talented young bunch,” the judges said. “It’s great to see the passion and expertise in these young people as they embark on their careers in viticulture.”
The young vits were tested on a wide range of topics including pruning, irrigation, machinery, trellising, pest and disease, wine tasting and undertaking an interview.
There were cash prizes for the winners, as well as other section prizes.

In addition to taking out the overall title, McArthur also won the Ecotrellis trellising section and the BioStart Hortisports race. Mehlhopt won the best speech as well as an NZSVO educational trip for coming second. Szigetvary won the best pruning prize and Eder was awarded the Ormond Professional Reputation Award.
McArthur will head to Escarpment for the 2024 National Final on August 28 when regional winners from around the country will compete for the overall title of 2024 Young Viticulturist of the Year. 

Nina Downer from Felton Road Wines Bannockburn is the 2024 Central Otago Young Viticulturist of the Year – for the third year running.

She headed off eight contestants to win the event held in bitterly cold conditions at the Otago Polytechnic Central Campus in Bannockburn.

Judges commented that all contestants demonstrated a high level of knowledge and skills. 

They were tested on a range of topics including trellising, budgeting, pruning, irrigation and machinery as well as being interviewed and facing a leadership challenge.
A BioStart Hortisports race included a mix of fun and technical activities followed by the final challenge of delivering a speech about artificial intelligence and future technology at the awards dinner at Carrick Estate. 

Callum Scarborough, also from Felton Road, came second and Finn Horsfield from Terra Sancta was third.

Downer will head to Escarpment Winery for the National Final in August to compete for the title of 2024 Young Viticulturist of the Year. 

Craigmore Sustainables has added to its viticulture portfolio with the purchase of a development site in Marlborough.

The 418 hectare property, which will have nearly 200ha of grapes when fully developed, is on the north bank in the Wairau Valley.

It is the first viticulture venture in the South Island for Craigmore, a food and fibre investment company with existing vineyard holdings in Gisborne and Central Hawke’s Bay.

Known as Cat Creek, the vineyard will be planted in sauvignon blanc grapes, a variety synonymous with the Marlborough region and New Zealand’s leading export variety.

Craigmore’s general manager horticulture, Con Williams, said the move to Marlborough provides diversification for the business and an initial footprint in the region that can be expanded in coming years.

“Marlborough is globally recognised as having regional attributes well suited for viticulture and the Marlborough sauvignon blanc story continues to provide strong long-term fundamentals that make further expansion attractive.”

Craigmore has partnered with Babich Wines, one of the oldest family-owned wineries in New Zealand with a history of producing premium wines that spans over 100 years and three generations. 

The Babich Marlborough team will be responsible for the management and development of the vineyard, with the grapes produced by the vineyard helping Babich Wines meet the growing demand for its portfolio of premium New Zealand wines across domestic and international markets.

Babich Wines chief executive David Babich said they are excited about the partnership and embarking on the next phase of Babich Wines’ growth.

“It’s rare to have access to such a sizeable vineyard development, and we couldn’t ask for a better partner. There is a lot of common ground between our two businesses, most prominently our shared view that environmental stewardship and long-term, sustainable business success go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other.”

To support this new initiative, Babich Wines will also be investing additional capital into its Marlborough winery to increase processing capacity to cater for additional grape supply, while continuing to deliver the product quality and consistency the winery is known for.

Craigmore will invest $40 million in the development over the next two years. Approximately 3000 tonnes will be harvested from the vineyard at maturity, which will be processed into premium quality wines with an export value of more than $20m.

The property was purchased in two separate transactions – the first property was granted approval by the Overseas Investment Office in October 2022 and the second in December 2022. 

While the capital largely comes from Europe, investments such as Cat Creek are made through a partnership that is governed and managed by the New Zealand-owned Craigmore Sustainables.

Winegrowers in Marlborough are about to run their second Wine Industry Wellness Week. Industry representative Kathrin Jankowiec talks to Farmstrong about what’s in store. 

Tell us a little about your background in the industry. 
I got into the industry 17 years ago, almost by accident. Started working in the cellar, then cellar management, worked in the lab, then as assistant winemaker and for the last eight or nine years, as a winemaker. Now I work in a support role for the industry.

When you drive past a vineyard it always looks such an idyllic work setting. Tell us about some of the pressures and challenges.  
There are plenty of challenges [laughs]. For a start it’s a seasonal industry with huge peaks in terms of working hours. Harvest is such an intense period where everyone just has to knuckle down and get on with it. It’s busy in the vineyards with the grapes, then it’s busy in the winery getting the wine out of the tank and into bottles. 

When I started, we used to work seven days a week, 12 hours or more a day until it was done. People were crawling to the finish line, but back then, when you came out of harvest, there was downtime to recover. 

What changed?
Well, over time the wine industry expanded and became so successful that the work no longer tapered off. There was less and less time to get away from the vineyard or the operational or sales side. It became all-consuming. For a lot of people, the only break they got was at Christmas. It was like that for me too. It was so easy to just carry on working.

What impact did it have?
You can tough it out, but eventually it takes a toll. That’s why there’s been a growing voice for change. As an industry, we need to look after people better so they don’t burn out. 

These are the problems of success, aren’t they? 
I couldn’t agree more. The wine industry has succeeded thanks to really passionate and dedicated people. That’s what makes our industry so great. But it’s also what puts people at risk. 

Is that the thinking behind Wellness Week?
Exactly. It’s an opportunity to focus on what keeps people well. There are a lot of good initiatives already underway in local wineries so we’re keen for people to share their ideas so that everyone can benefit.

Can you give an example?
Well, some businesses have moved to a six-day week to give people a proper break, which is good. This gives us an opportunity to highlight that sort of thinking. One of the last year’s winners organised a staff catch-up each week over tacos so people could get together, socialise and de-stress. 

Do you think people are becoming more open to these ideas?
Absolutely. Ten years ago people might have mentioned them quietly, but now they’re actually happening. Our wellness week gives everyone in the industry a chance to explore these ideas, get feedback and try new things. 

What does the competition involve?
We’ve asked people to come up with ideas that make Farmstrong’s Five Ways to Wellbeing (connect with others, stay active, keep learning, notice and enjoy the small things in life, give back to friends and community) part of a working week. The idea is that people dedicate some time to look after themselves and their teams in whatever way works best for them. 

What would be a good result for you?
It’s hard to measure, but over time we want to make the industry as attractive as possible to work in, especially for families and people who might have struggled with the long working hours. 

How did last year’s competition go?
It was really well received. There were quite a few entries and some wineries definitely adopted ideas that they had seen. So, there’s been that cross-pollination. When you see something working elsewhere, you are much more likely to adopt it. 

What’s the potential here?
The Marlborough wine industry is a huge employer. We’ve got thousands of people in the industry. We’re reaching out to everyone who’s involved to participate. 

How have you managed the pressures of the industry yourself? Any advice?
I think harvest time is when you feel most under pressure. If the pressure gets to you, you’ve just got to take a breather, go for a walk, take five minutes to reset mentally and then get back into it. Getting enough sleep and eating healthily are also super important for managing fatigue. But the main thing is being aware of your own physical and mental limits. 

When people are so invested in what they do, they often just want to keep working. However, eventually you get so tired that you’re not doing yourself or your business justice. It’s better to take some time for yourself, do something that really recharges you, whatever that might be, so you can keep doing the job you love. 

• Every year more 14,000 farmers and growers increase their wellbeing thanks to Farmstrong. For free tools and resources on managing the ups and downs of farming and growing, visit farmstrong.co.nz

Karen McLeod, of Ngāi Te Rangi, was raised on a dairy farm, and it was to dairy that she returned sixteen years ago. But viticulture has always been her passion and, with the help of Rabobank, she and her husband have bought a vineyard in the Hawke’s Bay Bridge Pā Triangle – more than 300 kilometres from their Whakatāne farm. But with a bit of balance, the family makes both ventures work.

She shared her story with Shepherdess.

BOTH myself and my husband, Troy, grew up in Whakatāne but moved away to study and work in the cities. After we had our daughter, Ani, we moved back. She’s sixteen now. She was premature – I had her at twenty-eight weeks – so we knew we needed support and that I wasn’t going to be rushing back to work. That was why we came back and moved on to my parents’ dairy farm. We thought that lifestyle was a bit better for us.

We started by doing one year working on the farm – just to check that Troy was okay with the lifestyle. We went to sharemilking in our second season, and we’ve been milking ever since. We bought our own little dairy farm that joins onto the farm that we sharemilk on, which is my parents’ farm. We wanted to have a little bit of separation between our banking and their banking, so when we bought our herd, we banked with Rabobank. Cameron Peat was our agri manager back then. He’s now a dairy farmer himself!

Viticulture was always an interest of mine, and I did soil sciences for my undergrad at university. When I did my OE, that sort of piqued my interest in New Zealand wine because I saw New Zealand wines on the international stage in these amazing restaurants. So when I came back from London – I lived over there for nearly three years – I went and studied at Lincoln and did my postgrad in winemaking and viticulture. My long-term goal was always to get into the wine industry, but I knew that you had to have a bit of money behind you to do that.

The vineyard came about because – although I’m really busy at calving time on the farm – I’m not so busy in the off-season. I had the time to start looking at another venture. We’re interested in growing premium grapes – that’s where New Zealand excels. We wanted a high-quality grape-growing area, so it had to be in Hawke’s Bay. About the time we started looking, TK Vineyard popped up on the market. It was the perfect size for us and the perfect varieties, and it was in the Bridge Pā Triangle, which is one of New Zealand’s top premium wine-growing areas. It ticked all the boxes, apart from the location. It’s not close to where we live. But, if you want to grow premium, you have to be down there. That’s just the way it has to be.

They actually work quite well together, dairy and viticulture. Dairy is hugely busy through winter. July, August and September are our busiest months, when both Troy and I are seven days on farm. I just focus on doing the calves now – I’ve got myself out of the shed – and doing the admin side of the business. Once the calves are weaned, then I have a lot of time on my hands. The grape growing season starts in October, and you get really busy through the summer months. That works well for us because, by summer, both of us can be off farm.

We’re definitely based in Whakatāne. My daughter goes to high school here so we can’t go down to Hawke’s Bay too much – it’s a three- and three-quarter-hour drive. But once things start kicking off in the vineyard, we’ll go down every few weeks for a block of three or four days. Before Christmas, we go down and get a lot of the vine work done. My parents come down, my mother-in-law has been down and my nieces and nephews come down. It’s become a bit of a family tradition. We take a group down for harvest as well – that’s always a nice job.

Our goal is to buy the rest of the dairy land we farm but don’t currently own. We are constantly discussing these plans with our agri manager at Rabobank and they are helping us work towards this goal. It helps that Rabobank has a nationwide network of specialists and experts in agribusiness that are available to call on.

On a personal level, I am planning to step away from on-farm work and focus full time on the wine. During calf-rearing, from July to October, I still run the wine business as well as coaching netball and volleyball, and Troy runs a junior golf programme, so you could say we are juggling a lot of balls! My goal for the future is to focus more of my energy on growing premium grapes and producing the best wine possible.

More: Rabobank is a specialist agribusiness bank. Their team of agri managers supports hardworking clients like Karen with strong local knowledge and the latest food and agri insights from across the globe. Talk to a Rabobank agri manager today: rabobank.co.nz/banking

Story written as told to Sionainn Mentor-King  and photographed by Vivian Gehrmann for Shepherdess magazine. Shepherdess magazine was started around a kitchen table on a dairy and beef farm in the Horowhenua. We continue to come to you from this kitchen table, and from many other farms, home offices and lounges across provincial Aotearoa. The magazine is here to connect, empower and inspire women across rural New Zealand, by offering a place to tell stories of our rural communities. Find out more about Shepherdess here shepherdess.co.nz

In Focus Podcast: Full Show | 10 May

This week we chat with with Katrina Roberts, who is the new Dairy Woman of the Year. She’s a Waikato vet, working with dairy farmers to not only maintain cow health but also improve the efficiency of their farm systems. Katrina also has a background in research and is keen to show aspiring veterinarians that cattle beat cats hands down when it comes to job satisfaction.

Federated Farmers arable chair David Birkett joins us to talk about the arable industry awards, which are open to nominations now. As well as grower of the year awards for maize, cereal and seed there are also special awards recognising teams, environmental endeavours and agronomy.

And, senior reporter Hugh Stringleman wraps up the dairy commodity season for us, following this week’s GDT auction.

Field trials of new disease sensing technology will see a robot deployed on some wineries in Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough this vintage.

Over the past three years scientists at Plant & Food Research have been working with New Zealand agri-tech company Integrape on a disease detection tool known as VinEye. 

Plant & Food Research developed the VinEye algorithm, which has learnt through machine learning how to instantly analyse photographs of grapevines and identify vines infected with the costly disease grapevine leafroll disease (GLD).

Having proven the model, the focus has now shifted to deploying the system at scale using autonomous robotic technology and further integrating the VinEye algorithm with the Integrape platform for both reporting and data collection via its Vure scouting app.

During this vintage, the first surveys using robotics are planned on 60 hectares of vineyards in Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough. 

Integrape has partnered with agricultural robotics supplier Agri Automation, which will provide a self-driving Burro robot that will be equipped with cameras. 

The Burro robot will use high-precision RTK GPS and Vision to move up and down vine rows paths created by Integrape’s vineyard mapping tools, capturing images without human intervention.

The footage collected will then be processed and analysed by another partner on the project, agtech company Bitwise Agronomy. 

Bitwise Agronomy will use the VinEye algorithm to process large amounts of raw data. Analysed data will be fed back to Integrape – whose online monitoring tools and reports are used by more than a third of the local wine industry – for interactive visualisation.

GLD is a significant problem for the wine industry worldwide and is estimated to cost tens of millions of dollars in lost productivity in New Zealand alone. GLD is only visually apparent on vines for a short window around harvest time and detection of the disease can be difficult, requiring trained staff to walk rows undertaking assessments.

“GLD causes vines to produce smaller bunches and prolongs the time it takes for grapes to ripen, thus reducing yield and productivity. Detection is challenging as infected vines have distinctive red leaves, which can be confused with other conditions that may not affect the quality of wine or yield,” said Plant & Food Research project leader, plant pathologist Dr Karmun Chooi.

Chooi said the aim of the VinEye technology is to provide a faster, more accurate and more cost- effective alternative to manual detection by skilled professionals.

“We know climate change is anticipated to increase the prevalence of plant health issues, including GLD, so early detection of diseases is expected to become even more critical for industries in the future.”

Integrape founder Joris Besamusca said this year’s survey work, which involves four wineries, will be the most extensive testing that’s been undertaken to date and an important step in bringing the technology to market.

“Partnering with winegrowers, other leading agri-tech companies and Plant & Food Research is providing the opportunity to develop a tool which could be a game-changer for the industry going forward,” Besamusca said.

Bitwise Agronomy’s chief executive and co-founder, Fiona Turner, is excited by the field trials.

“I’m a vineyard owner myself, and lead an agtech company, so I’m always looking for ways to make life easier and more profitable for growers. Bitwise Agronomy specialises in AI and we’re excited to bring our machine learning expertise to process this data. 

“Collaborations like this between research and agtech offer high-value to the industry and help find solutions to real-world farming problems.”

Agri Automation managing director Chris Clifford said the project showcases the versatility of the Burro autonomous mobile robot, adding yet another use-case to its established functions such as carrying harvested fruit and produce, towing trailers, mowing and pest deterrence.

When Federated Farmers Marlborough president Evan White first moved to the Wairau Valley, he never imagined his farm would one day be nestled between vineyards. 

For the last 16 years his family partnership has run up to 800 cows on their 480ha property, pumping water directly from the Wairau River for irrigation and relying on a combination of crops, growing maize on farm and brought in feed when water restrictions kick in.

But times are changing in Marlborough, and so too are the region’s landscapes, as poor meat and wool returns coincide with international demand for New Zealand wine. 

Grapes, rather than cattle, now cover much of the region’s ranges and valleys. 

In recent years Delegat wines purchased 500ha on the White’s boundary for conversion and have invested millions in water storage and frost fans. 

Now the Whites have sold their land to a viticultural company themselves and are seeing out the dairy season before shifting back to the original family farm at Spring Creek near Blenheim.

“Fifty years ago, Daniel le Brun, the pioneer of Méthode Traditionelle in New Zealand, said that one day all of the Wairau Valley will be in grapes; everyone laughed at him,” White says. 

“Well, they’re not laughing now. There’s very little prime land suitable for grapes left along the Wairau valley – in fact, some of the bigger players are now pushing out to quite wet land in Koromiko and Okaramio towards Havelock .

“The rise of Marlborough viticulture has surprised a lot of people who were sceptical about where grapes could successfully be grown in New Zealand, and I’ve got to put my hand up and say I’m one of them. 

“I’ve been proven wrong with grapes time and time again. I just thought ‘here’s another fad’. We’ve seen the rise of kiwifruit, then olives, alpacas, even angora goats for a while – but it looks like the vineyards are here to stay.”

The numbers don’t lie, and Marlborough’s land use trends are clear: In 1996 about 5,000ha of the province was in viticulture.  By 2018 grape vines had spread to 30,000ha.

In the decade to 2018, pastoral land use dropped by more than 100,000ha to 335,000ha. 

Of course, not all of that has been put into grapes. Some has been retired or planted in natives.  Pine nuts are doing well and quite large areas of hill are now in pine trees. 

Despite the rapid changes to the landscape and community, White doesn’t believe pastoral farmers resent the spread of vineyards in the region. 

“Sheep, beef, and dairy all remain a very important part of the Marlborough economy,” he says. 

“Some farmers have converted their entire properties, but others have diversified their businesses and put blocks in vines, either developing it themselves, or leasing their land to others.

“There’s no denying the grapes have shielded us from some of the economic storms. Even in the dry years, as long as the grapes go well, Marlborough seems to keep going okay. 

“On marginal sheep, beef and cropping land, I have to admit green vines in a dry Marlborough summer don’t look too bad at all.”

Dry conditions are a significant challenge for the Marlborough region with NIWA’s soil moisture maps for mid-January showing the region to have some of the most significant moisture deficits in the country.

“That climate is great for growing grapes, but water storage has been an essential ingredient in the region’s success,” White says.

“Access to regular and reliable water is going to be the key to Marlborough’s future prosperity – and that’s for farmers too.”

With warnings that climate change will make the east coast of both islands even dryer, White believes capturing excess water while its plentiful in winter to use productively in dry summers is the way of the future. 

He believes plenty of other Marlborough landowners want better water security but consider the current planning hurdles and cost prohibitive.  

“There have been some great irrigation schemes in the past – yes, some were Government funded and we’re unlikely to see that again – that changed some dry areas to green productive farmland,” he says.

“Surely, for resilience and production options, the future is in water storage. Even better if water storage and hydro-generation could work together where possible.”

Those landowners will surely be encouraged that the new Government has signalled a renewed interest in water storage.

National’s coalition agreement with New Zealand First coalition includes a commitment to cut red tape and regulatory blocks on irrigation, water storage, managed aquifer recharge and flood protection schemes.

Federated Farmers, New Zealand’s leading independent rural advocacy organisation, has established a news and insights partnership with AgriHQ, the country’s leading rural publisher, to give the farmers of New Zealand a more informed, united and stronger voice. Feds news and commentary appears each week in its own section of the Farmers Weekly print edition and online.