© Gary Hubbell, Ranch Real Estate Broker, 2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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ORGANIC ORCHARDS AND VINEYARDS
 One of the most successful organic ventures that I know about is run by my friend Lance Hanson, owner of the Jackrabbit Hill vineyard west of Hotchkiss, Colorado. Lance moved out to Colorado after growing up and working in southern California. He’s a thoughtful, innovative person, and he believes deeply in holistic farming. His vineyard is 17 acres of various types of grapes, and he is seeking to expand to encompass about 30 acres of grapes. His wines were just accepted onto the wine list at Wolfgang Puck’s various restaurants, including Spago, so he must be doing something right.
Vineyards are a very intense form of agriculture. In our part of the world, grapevines are in great danger of being eaten by deer, so the first thing you have to do is surround your vineyard with an 8-foot-tall deer fence, which is very expensive. Then there are the trellises, made of stout H-brace fence posts at each end of the row, with a row of taut wires between them. Trellises are certainly not cheap, and the irrigation systems, which are mandatory in arid Western Colorado, are expensive as well. Given a good system of game fence, trellises, and drip irrigation system, as well as planting the vines, it can cost up to $20,000 an acre to build a vineyard. And then it will take up to 5 years before it begins to produce. However, the yields are relatively large. A 35-acre vineyard is really a big one, and a vineyard that size can produce up to 6,500 cases of wine. That’s a lot of wine!
Basically, all crops benefit from fertilization, and vineyards and orchards are no exception. How does a person fertilize an organic vineyard?
 According to Lance Hanson, commercial fertilizers such as ammonium nitrate are all water-soluble. A grapevine has two kinds of roots—a deep taproot that taps into the moisture several feet underground, and feeder roots near the surface. The feeder roots collect nutrients from above-ground natural fertilizers such as sheep manure or compost and supply the plant with nutrition. The taproot supplies the grapevine with water. However, when the water that is fed to the plants has been saturated with nitrates, the plant has no choice but to take in a big shot of artificial nutrients every time it takes in water through the taproot. That results in fruit that is big and juicy, but not necessarily flavorful. “There’s a definite loss in the intensity and concentration of flavor,” Lance maintains.
Lance is a passionate adherent of biodynamic farming, a technique pioneered by the visionary philosopher Rudolf Steiner, the educator who founded Waldorf Schools in the 1920’s. Biodynamic farming presaged organic farming. It’s basically a holistic farming method that goes beyond the basic principles of not using artificial fertilizers, pesticides, and fungicides in food production to a whole new set of principles, such as concocting herbal “teas” as an organic insect killer and nutrient all in one application.
Jackrabbit Hill winery uses a combination of carefully prepared compost—using fruit mash from the Peak Spirits distillery, combined with cattle and sheep manure—and the organic herbal “tea” that helps control pests and nourish the vines. The goal is to produce flavorful, intense grapes that produce beautiful wines.
Yep, you got it, it sounds complicated. It is. There is a great deal of research, discovery, and trial and error to operating a successful organic vineyard, but there is also a great deal of reward. Organic orchards can also be rewarding. There is a higher demand for organic fruit than there is for “regular” produce. Unfortunately, however, prices are still depressingly low. The fruit packing company for apple growers in the Delta, Colorado area just closed this fall, and the wholesale price for juice apples fell to 3 cents a pound. Imagine that. You can’t begin to pick apples and bring them to market for 3 cents a pound. In contrast, organic apples are bringing 12-16 cents a pound. It’s still not enough, but it’s a lot more than 3 cents. Table apples are bringing more money, of course, but the influx of cheap fruit from China has lowered wholesale prices to an unacceptable level, while the grocery stores still seem to be charging the same high prices.
In the North Fork Valley, there must be another fruit grower’s cooperative to bring produce to market. I believe that organization will arise, particularly for organic fruit. It’s frustrating—maddening, even—to know that City Market in Hotchkiss is surrounded by hundreds of acres of beautiful orchards, whose growers are being paid pennies per pound for their produce, and to see fruit in their produce section from California and Washington State at $2 a pound or more.
Growers who find their own markets for their fruit can be rewarded with better earnings, however. Farmer’s markets, fruit stands, and direct marketing to restaurants and organic grocery stores can result in good yields.
Click here to keep reading—Organic Dairy Farming
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