The front page of today’s Australian Financial Review (AFR) included the headline ‘Grape glut crushes winemakers profits’.
A record harvest of 1.92 million tonnes!
It seems amazing given the recent drought.
When I started working on Murray River issues in mid-2003, Prof Peter Cullen and other environmental scientists were telling farmers they should move from growing rice to growing grapes because water should go to higher-value crops.
I think there is something in the argument that the annual crop rice suits a land of ‘drought and flooding rains’ better than the perennial crop grapes because grapes need water every year.
According to the AFR “tax-driven vineyard schemes have helped double Australia’s vineyard areas in the past seven years, distorting the economics of the industry and leading to overproduction across the country.”
According to ABC Television’s landline program in April, some grape growers weren’t going to bother picking their fruit at all.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.