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Viticulturists in California’s Central and North Coasts forecast a postponed harvest this year due to the cold, rainy spring. This post ponement postures a possible risk to the grape crop, leaving it susceptible to obstacles from fall rains, cooler temperature levels, and smoke taint from wildfires.
The hold-up does, nevertheless, supply grape growers with more time to get ready for a relentless obstacle to red wine grapes – bird damage. The defining moment seeks bud break and prior to veraison when vineyards end up being prime targets for birds looking for food and a location to roost.
“The time to act is when the sugar content begins to rise and attract the birds,” asserts Dave Crockett of Kenwood’s The Dirt Farmer, vineyard services business. “Once the birds are drawn in, there’s nothing you can do to deter them. The key is to prevent them from noticing the ripening grapes in the fields below. With this year’s harvest delayed by one to four weeks, there’s still time to act.”
“Birds always look for areas where they can roost,” concurs Roger Snow, a popular bird control specialist. “They prefer elevated spots that provide a clear view of their surroundings and where nothing can creep up on them. You’ll often find them perched on power lines, scouting the area. It is crucial to stop the birds before they settle in.”
Natural Solution
Snow, the owner of Falcon Crop Protection, has 45 years of substantial experience in business bird control, serving customers in 22 nations. His portfolio consists of handling the setup of items for such widely known companies as The Vatican, The Dept. of Defence, Meta, and Google. He has actually likewise efficiently cleared annoyance birds from airplane wall mounts, shopping mall and hotels.
After living in Marin for twenty years, Snow purchased a home in Healdsburg. His immersion in the regional red wine market exposed him to the obstacles grape growers confront with birds, which influenced him to establish a service—the Falcon FrightKiteTM.
His natural technique doesn’t present chemicals, make loud sounds or need a great deal of labor to set up, a relief offered existing labor expenses and scarcities. Instead, the Falcon FrightKiteTM lives up to its name by simulating the shape and motions of a falcon, with dignity set down atop a versatile fiberglass pole available in 22, 28, and 36-foot lengths. These poles are 5-foot telescoping rods that broaden to skyrocket the kite as much as 60 feet into the air. Its natural diving motion is developed by connecting it through a ring geared up with a swivel at the pole’s end.
“We’ve been crafting our falcons by hand with premium materials for seven years now,” Snow describes. “I enjoy being part of the wine industry and being able to assure growers, “This will work.” The issue is that growers typically leave resolving the issue up until far too late. It’s more difficult to push back birds once they have eggs in the nests.”
Numerous little information make sure the kites are lasting. Falcon Crop Protection makes its own poles to guarantee they don’t get breakable and shatter, utilizes an exclusive ripstop product that keeps the kites from ripping as the product broadens, and forms the falcon shape with carbon-fiber spars that don’t snap like wood or bamboo.
“Birds can see that from a long way off,” notes Snow. “With just one Falcon, we can reliably protect 1¼ to 1½ acres, and deploying two Falcons expands the coverage to 3-4 acres. With the new 36-foot model, we’ve achieved up to 10 acres per Falcon because they’re flying so high.”
Opportunity for Vineyard Management Companies
Crockett set up Falcon FrightKitesTM throughout the 750-acre vineyard at Kunde Ranch. His evaluation of their efficiency speaks volumes: “The kites work better than anything else I have tried in my 15 years in the business. Although nothing is perfect, the kites are as good a commercially-available solution as it gets. Its ability to move like an actual falcon at the end of the pole makes all the difference.”
Vineyard owners and management business can quickly set up the kites, move them around to accomplish optimal protection, examine them routinely to guarantee they’re running appropriately, and after that take them down after harvest and move them to another area, going after the grapes as they grow.
Falcon FrightKitesTM can be seen flying above many vineyards, consisting of next-door neighbors Comstock Wines and Saini Vineyards in Healdsburg’s Dry Creek Valley and Parum Leo Winery & Vineyards, which you can see from United States Route 101 simply south of Petaluma. There’s even one that flies in between home and 3rd base at the Oakland Coliseum.
Snow advises vineyard owners that the secret to success is to “Get them up early and get them up high!” This year’s window is closing, so connect to Roger at [email protected] or 415-789-5007 today.
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