Getting sheep shape at Pyramid Farm

So it’s hardly surprising that viticulturist Richard Hunter parked the mower this summer and drove 360 young sheep into five hectares of vineyard instead, in the second year of a trial to reduce carbon emissions and herbicide, while maintaining green cover through the growing season. “It’s not a silver bullet. But it’s one option we have that’s not mechanical.”

The sheep intensively grazed two lots of 2.5ha blocks in mid-January, with three days in one and two in the next, before being let loose into the whole 44ha of vines for two weeks. Next year they plan to run 500 sheep through the full 44ha, with intensive grazing of the 2.5ha blocks through January and early February. Richard says the flock’s preferred feed was the flowerheads and stalks of weeds, with the grass nibbled down after that. While they nipped at some vine leaf there was no damage to the fruit, he says.

The integration of sheep is just one of the myriad initiatives devised by Richard and Pyramid Farm’s owners, Chris and Julia Dawkins, who developed these vineyards with big plans for a smaller impact. The farm, which won Supreme Award at the 2019 Cawthron Marlborough Environment Awards, has a mix of vineyard, pasture, regenerated native bush and riparian plantings, as well as mixed species forestry. The first vines were planted in late 2016, rolling down hills and over terraces above the Avon river. The blocks have subsurface irrigation, to reduce water use and weeds, and were subdivided into “intensive grazing zones” using an Eco Trellis Post they designed alongside New Zealand Tube Mills, enabling the ovine-vine management.

The farm’s vineyard is certified through Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand and was one of the features of Climate Action Week Marlborough in late February. It is a case study in looking outside the box, for the sustainability of the land and environment, as well as the industry. “We can’t carry on doing the same things, because people’s attitudes are changing,” Richard says. “If we don’t change with them, then we lose our market to somebody who does. It’s as simple as that.”