Category: Vineyard Magazine Articles

Years ago, you knew the land market would get busy as soon as you saw daffodils and lambs, but nowadays it’s a more year-round affair. There’s also far more land bought and sold off-market than in previous times, especially when it come to viticulture ground – but the arrival of spring still represents a busy […]

If you are looking to buy or rent ground, your search will have the best chance of success if you are aware of all the influences on the land market, not solely the agronomic aspects determining land’s desirability. Understanding the mindset of the farmers and landowners who you might be dealing with enables you to […]

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 […]

The phrase ‘the squeezed middle’ – sometimes used to refer to mid-income households – has relevance to the viticulture sector. Thought to have been first used by Ed Miliband or Gordon Brown, the expression came to mind recently when the team and I were doing some number-crunching. We were studying the data for hundreds of […]

The Vineyard Show, due to be held at the Kent Event Centre Near Maidstone on the 24th November 2021, is taking shape.  CLM will be sponsoring this event and Matthew Berryman shares his thoughts.   Read the full article here ……..

The countryside is opening its doors, after the financial and psychological trauma of lockdown. Some vineyards are again offering tours and other events and, while the effects of Covid-19 will be felt for many years, there is still cause for optimism in the medium and long term. The pandemic will speed the trend towards the […]

What is the perfect vineyard site? We all know the prerequisites for vines to thrive – south-facing, less than 300 feet above sea level, high average temperatures, low frost risk and free draining soils. But often less appreciated is the fact that a successful vineyard has other requirements nearly as important as the quality of […]

The Coronavirus outbreak has thrown many vineyards into crisis, but visitor-based revenues will still underpin incomes for many in the longterm, making site-selection ever-more crucial, says Matthew Berryman. A lot of viticulturists can’t think further ahead than the next week – or even the next day – at present, as they fight to keep businesses […]

Extra acres present industry with big processing challenge The acreage of vines planted in recent years is encouraging evidence of the huge optimism in the sector, but it’s creating a challenge which the industry is yet to fully address – where do we find the processing capacity? According to WineGB Chairman Simon Robinson, plantings of […]

From smash-and-grab bushwhacking to an altogether more refined and sophisticated process. Sam Barnes went to the SITEVI show in France two years ago with a very specific aim – to visit every machine harvesting stand and ask about potentially operating such a machine in Britain. “Some people were enthusiastic, some were indifferent – and some […]

What? Where? When? How? Why? These are just some of the questions grape growers and wine makers should be asking themselves to help formulate a ‘route-to-market’ plan at the start of their journey into viticulture.   With figures suggesting vine plantings are set to double between 2019 and 2024 (having already done so between 2011 and […]

In the last seven years the area under vines has doubled to over 3,500 hectares and there is no sign this trend is slowing down. It’s hardly surprising there is a loud buzz; with 500 commercial vineyards and 170 wineries there is a surge of optimism rarely found in traditional farming sectors. What is fuelling […]

Now is a great time to invest in buildings – it can increase efficiency, bring new opportunities and future-proof your business against whatever Brexit might bring. So is now the moment for vineyards to seize the initiative and start building? Favourable permitted development regulations, the availability of cheap fi nance and the contribution that buildings […]

Right now, the only certainty is uncertainty. Whatever your views, 2019 will be a watershed and with only days until the big change few, if any, can reliably predict the winners and losers. As frustrating as it is there is little point worrying about the economic landscape beyond 29 March. Some sectors will thrive in […]

29 March 2019 will be a watershed. Currently, the 33.6 million that voted in the referendum watch with increasing disbelief as UK leaders attempt to negotiate an exit from the European Union while parties fight openly among themselves. And as for the exit process this appears to do no more than stagger from side to […]

Which scheme could help you? For more than three decades farmers and land owners have been able to claim subsidy designed to support agricultural production and also to encourage environmental protection.  Recently these have been worth in excess of £3 billion per annum to the UK land-based sector but their future is less certain as […]

Generating £20 billion in economic activity and £10.9 billion in sales, the UK’s wine market is the sixth largest in the world, the second largest trader by volume (behind Germany) and the second largest trader by value (behind the USA).  With UK sparkling wines sales up by 37% since 2012, there can be no surprise […]