P 10 Manson - Making a Real Difference

8/9/2019 P 10 Manson - Making a Real Difference

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MAKING A REAL DIFFERENCE: IMPLEMENTATION OF

SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS ON A NATIONAL BASIS

Philip J Manson Sally van der Zijpp

New Zealand Winegrowers Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand

PO Box 902756 PO Box 845

Victoria Street West Blenheim 7240

Auckland, 1142 New Zealand

New Zealand

[email protected]

SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION - THE ORIGINS

The New Zealand wine industry has a strong commitment to sustainable production in both

vineyards and wineries, and sustainability forms a significant part of New Zealands message inthe market at both industry-wide and individual business levels. New Zealand is a truly new

world country, being amongst the last in the world to be discovered, it has a relatively small

population and a predominantly unpolluted environment. As a country New Zealand has a high

level of commitment to sustainable production, as is evidenced by the fact that the greatest

proportion of our electricity is produced from renewable resources.

In the early 1990s wine industry leaders recognised that the natural resources of the country, and

the industry, were of significant value and needed to be protected and where possible enhanced.

The industry was undergoing rapid vineyard expansion and this growth was projected to

continue for some time. Along with this expansion there was new pressure on land and water

resources, accompanied with issues related to changing use of land. In many cases not only was

the use of land for viticulture new, but the land managers were also new to the production of

grapes and wine. It was felt that developing guidelines for sustainable viticulture would help

establish and retain good practice, and would also provide a valuable education tool by which

results from industry research could be transferred to producers.

The growth of the industry was primarily driven by significant increases in exports particularly

to the United Kingdom, which was showing a developing interest in purchase of goods with well

established environmental credentials. Industry leaders felt that taking a proactive approachtowards sustainable production would meet this growing demand and assist individual

companies to enhance their marketing opportunities.

In the mid -1990s after considerable testing the industry launched a holistic vineyard

programme, which has since become known as Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand

(SWNZ). In 2002, a new module was launched to provide guidance on sustainable management

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of wineries. Following wide industry consultation, in 2007 New Zealand Winegrowers (the

industry body) announced a bold Sustainability Policy aimed at having all New Zealand wines

being produced under independently audited environmental programmes by 2012. The Policy

was intended in part to promote participation in SWNZ, but also recognised other environmental-

based programmes including ISO 14001, certified organic and biodynamic production. To

support voluntary adoption of this Policy, New Zealand Winegrowers has made compliance a

prerequisite for participation in events they organise.

Since the Policy was announced there has been significant increase in participation in both

SWNZ and organic programmes albeit starting from a smaller base. It is estimated that currently

91% of the producing vineyard area is participating in SWNZ, and a further 3% is producing

under certified organic programmes. Although it was developed more recently, the SWNZ

winery programme has been adopted relatively quickly and 85% of the winery productive

capacity is included in the programme.

TECHNICALLY ROBUST - EASILY APPLIED

The widespread voluntary adoption of SWNZ and its practices has been the result a combination

of important factors. Clearly, the strong support of the national industry body has been important

providing leadership, administration and financial support. Being an industry-derived

programme SWNZ has endeavoured to maintain a balance between having a strong technical

focus and having practical commercial application.

The New Zealand industry funds a comprehensive research programme, much of which has

direct application to sustainable production; they also collaborate in a range of Governmentfunded initiatives. This research feeds directly into the ongoing development of SWNZ and

ensures that the programme has a sound technical base, and is able to quickly adopt new

practices as they are developed through the research programme. The focus of SWNZ is to

develop practical tools and processes to interpret research results thus facilitating application by

producers.

All SWNZ members (vineyard and winery) complete and file an annual Scorecard, or self audit,

and provide various other production information e.g. spray diaries and pest monitoring records,

to the programme administrators. This Scorecard has changed considerably over time and

performs the dual function of providing guidance to producers while recording their sustainable

practices. The database of industry practices now held by SWNZ allows the industry to monitor

industry trends and provides valuable information back to members and continues to inform the

ongoing research programme.

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The vineyard and winery Scorecards cover a comprehensive range of topics (Table 1) and are

presented to the members in an electronic format with drop down menus. The member is

presented with a range of alternate practices (with guidance notes) and they are encouraged to

record all of their relevant practices. Where the member records practices that do not meet

baseline sustainable criteria, they must also record intended corrective actions; these are

automatically added into the SWNZ database for future audit purposes.

Vineyard Scorecard Winery Scorecard

Resource management Resource management

Soils and nutrient management Water management

Ground cover management Process Aids

Frost protection Spills and emergency procedures

Water management By-product (waste) management

Plant protection Packaging

Spills and emergency procedures Energy resources

By-product (waste) management RefrigerationEnergy resources Subcontractors

Subcontractors

Conservation (biodiversity)

Table 1. Scope of the Vineyard and Winery Scorecards for Sustainable Winegrowing New

Zealand.

The Scorecards are very flexible and allow for the introduction of information only fields for

collection of base data that can inform ongoing development of the programme. The information

can provide insight on issues that do not fall in to required sustainable production criteria.

At present, the Scorecards record basic energy use data, including fossil fuel use and electricity,

but they do not generate a carbon footprint for either the enterprise or the product. It is

anticipated that in the future SWNZ may include tools for these calculations to be undertaken.

During its development the primary focus of SWNZ has been on vineyard (including nursery)

and winery production. As the programme moves forward it is anticipated that there will be a

greater inclusion of activities further along the value chain, for example including aspects of

distribution that are under the control of the member.

New Zealand has comprehensive legislation on the issues of labour including health and safety,

seasonal labour and workers rights. SWNZ has integrated the core elements of these often quite

complex requirements into the programme.

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SWNZ CHANGES INDUSTRY-WIDE BEHAVIOUR

Through the data collected by SWNZ it is possible to monitor the behaviour of individual

members and to assist them in improving their performance. By comparing individual spraydiaries with regional or national averages it is possible for members with outlying behaviours to

be identified. In the case of pesticide use (Figure 1) a small numbers of growers were identified

who were undertaking significantly more applications than typical for the industry. Tracking this

information allows SWNZ to target specific growers for education on alternative management

strategies. This type of data also allows for identification of growers demonstrating best

management practices. Understanding the management practices resulting in reduced

applications by some growers can provide valuable insight for improving overall practices in the

industry.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

number of insecticide applications per block

%o

fblocks

Figure 1. Average numbers of insecticide applications applied by SWNZ members in the

2007-08 season (source SWNZ members 2008 vintage report).

Through SWNZ the industry has demonstrated the ability to set and implement new standards for

industry practices. Through their database it is possible to monitor adoption of these changed

practices. Research investigating integrated pest management control of leafroller caterpillars

determined that in-season applications of broad spectrum organophosphate pesticides were

interrupting the control of this pest by various naturally occurring parasitoids and predators. This

information, coupled with a general wish to see a reduction in use of this chemical group, ledSWNZ to implement a policy banning in-season use of this chemical group. This policy was

introduced gradually allowing growers time to gain experience in alternative management

practices.

The SWNZ database was able to track the reduced use of these broad spectrum sprays (Figure 2),

which are now restricted to late winter applications for control of mealybug by a small number of

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growers. The data also showed an increase in the number of applications of insect growth

regulating sprays. These sprays specifically target the pest species supplementing rather than

interrupting the biological controls, and are less toxic to humans and the environment.

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

insecticide use organophosphate use insect growth regulator

(IGR) use

averagenumberof

applicationsperblock

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Figure 2. Trends in pesticide use demonstrating the transition from use of broad spectrum

to targeted species-specific pesticides (source SWNZ members 2008 vintage report).

BENEFITS OF SUSTAINABILITY CREDENTIALS

The benefits of participation in sustainability programmes are many and varied, and to some

extent they depend on the concerns of various stakeholder groups that a producer wishes to

address. The first individual benefit experienced by many participants in SWNZ has been

improvement to their internal monitoring and management processes. Implementation ofstandardized recording and reporting practices has provided a means for members to improve

access to their own production data, and good record keeping is often the first step towards

improved practice. Effectively they have been able to benchmark their own practices and

outcomes between sites in the same season, and the same sites between seasons. Often this alone

has led to improved practices simply through good self evaluation. Such benchmarking is

enhanced considerably when members have been able to compare their practices with those of

others in their region, or national averages.

In some regions, individuals or regional associations have been able to use accreditation under

SWNZ as a means of demonstrating compliance with local resource management regulations.

This has the benefit of reducing compliance costs to the producer, while providing a greater level

of security to the local population that the land and water resources are being well managed.

Participation in SWNZ also assists in meeting national regulatory requirements, and it can

provide an important aid in assisting members manage requirements around product traceability.

At a national level the data provided through SWNZ assists industry leaders in their negotiations

with regulators on the many land and water resource management matters. The data helps

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industry leaders understand industry practices, and identify issues of national importance, and

allows them to provide informed comment to developing government policy.

As a country New Zealand has positioned itself as a world leader in sustainable production of

high quality agricultural and horticultural products. The wine industry works hard to participate

in this unofficial national goal. It is a fundamental belief of the industry that what is good for the

environment is also good for business. Through SWNZ the industry has implemented

demonstrable reductions in, and good management of, a range of inputs that may be potentially

harmful to the environment. In some cases altered management practices have resulted in direct

savings in input costs to individual producers.

In a world that is under ever increasing environmental pressure, many wine buyers and

consumers are becoming more demanding with respect to the environmental credentials of the

products they buy. They desire the food they eat and the wine they drink to be safe in its widest

sense. Obviously they require products to be doing them no harm, they must be safe to eat anddrink. They are also becoming more demanding that its production is not harming the

environment in which it was produced. The environmental integrity of a wine has rapidly

become an important quality attribute alongside the physical or sensual properties of the wine.

Sustainability programmes such as SWNZ provide a useful means for individual producers to

independently verify their environmental credentials to wine buyers. Many New Zealand wine

producers both large and small have integrated elements of their sustainable production activities

into their primary marketing messages. In their eyes their story is simple; they are producing

some of the worlds high quality wines with distinctive characteristics using excellent sustainable

land management practices.

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P 10 Manson - Making a Real Difference

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