April 2021 – Ask the question

The difference between a good and a bad arable farmer is 24 hours.

I was once told that early in my consultancy career and it’s a comment that’s stuck with me for the 25 years since.

The farmer who gets up at 5am to go spraying because conditions are perfect and is determined not to miss a moment of the window won’t have same disease problems or weed burden that someone who acts 24 hours later will.

It’s precisely the sort of approach that’s vital in viticulture – and I’m sure everyone in the sector will identify with the sentiment.

An attention to detail – sometimes bordering on obsessiveness – is one of the personal traits that grape growers and winemakers need to be successful. They might well recognise it in themselves. They might also recognise many of the other attributes they possess. There is one question, however, that takes a lot of self-awareness and can be very tough to answer honestly. That question is: Why am I doing this?

 

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