Sheep on the Vine

Sheep as vineyard mowers are becoming popular out in Napa Valley and now our own Aries Crossing Sheep are giving it a go as well.  Some friends approached us about trying out our sheep in their vineyard.    We brought part of our flock up to their beautiful hilltop vineyard and fenced them into a small area to see how they would do.

flock's first evening in the vineyard

grapes on the vine

Sheep have been used successfully in Australia and California as vineyard trimmers.   They can be used in place of tractors, human laborers, and herbicides to control the undergrowth beneath the vines. They also provide fertilizer and even irrigation as they go.   It's a very sustainable method of growing grapes.  It reduces the need for irrigation and saves fuel that would be used on multiple tractor passes.  Sheep are self propelled and run on solar in the form of grass.  Even the electric fencing runs on a solar charger.

We were thrilled with the opportunity to participate in such a symbiotic relationship with another local farmer.  

Of course we have to be careful to make sure the sheep don't eat the grape leaves that are needed to protect the grapes on the upper vines.  They will eat anything they can reach so as long as the grapes are up high enough, they should leave them alone and go for the easier pickings lower down.   They will have to be moved often so they don't start to eye those tasty leaves.

We shall see how our experiment goes.   There may be some other tricks required to get this to work really well but we love the idea and hope we can make it work.

Perhaps in the future we will be able to offer a nice pairing of our sheep cheese and the local wine they helped make.

For more about the use of sheep in vineyards, here are some interesting articles:

Sheep Trained to Weed Vinyards

sheep grazing the vines

Wines and Vines

Grass Farmer