Travis Air Force Base - Contacts and Links
Travis Air Force Base - Contacts and Links:
Family Support (707) 424-2486
Freedom of Information Act Queries (707) 424-5668
Housing (On-Base) (707) 424-2726
Housing (Off-Base Referral) (707) 424-2726
NRCS Soils - Sandy Loam best for winegrape root systems
NRCS Soils: “Welcome to the NRCS Soils web site.
‘Helping People Understand Soils’
Soils is part of the National Cooperative Soil Survey, an effort of Federal and State agencies, universities, and professional societies to deliver scientifically based soil information.”
Establishing A Commercial Vineyard - U of Nebraska
Great information such as:
Planning:
Planning at least one year ahead of establishment of the planting should facilitate accomplishment of site preparation requirements. Plowing or rototilling the entire site, followed by fertilization, liming (if needed) and weed management practices can be done in the year before planting.
A cover crop can be seeded in late summer/early fall, then planting can take place the following spring.
If planting in sod, such as an old pasture, it may be desirable to only plow the location of the rows to be planted. The sod left between the rows will reduce erosion and aid in use of equipment following a rain.
- Planting:
It is a good idea to survey the vineyard prior to development of a planting plan. - Make a scale drawing or map of your planting plan – it will prove to be a valuable record as your vineyard develops.
- Grapevine rows are normally planted in a north-south orientation, with straight rows preferred where possible. Occasionally it may be necessary to plant rows on a contour or across a slope. However, curved rows will usually lead to problems with stability of the trellis.
- Differences in light interception between North/South and East/West row orientation lead to different ripening times.
- Spacing of plants varies with cultivars and equipment. A common spacing is ten feet between rows with plants eight feet apart in the row. Wider row spacing may be dictated by equipment available or trellis style. Greater spacing between plants in the row may be appropriate for cultivars of exceptional vigor (e.g. ‘Edelweiss’, ‘St. Vincent’, ‘Frontenac’) or on sites that stimulate strong vine growth.
- Wide row spacings intercept less sunlight with more hitting the ground and thus reduce yield per acre; narrow row spacings may impede equipment and reduce air flow through the vineyard, which will lead to greater disease problems.
- Close row and plant spacings will increase costs of establishment, since more plants and trellising will need to be purchased.
For example, 8 x 10 foot spacing = 545 plants per acre, while 8 x 12 foot
spacing = 454 plants per acre.
See Establishing A Commercial Vineyard for the full information.
CDFA > California Agricultural Resource Directory 2002
CDFA > California Agricultural Resource Directory 2002
This location has given me some very good information such as:
- 2003 Grape crop reports
- 2003 and historical cattle grazing fees
- 2003 and historical Yield per acre reports on all California crops
I recommend using this research for basing our forward agricultural outlook. Based on this, the best case scenario for grape crop: 6 tons / acre (outyielding my 1 to 2 ton/ac. original estimate) at $520/ton = $5120/ac. With a 25 acre usage this could gross $78k/yr, with 35ac. it’s $109k. This is before cost per ac. is figured in.
If we look at a long-term lease potential partnership with a vinyard it would cut our capital investment cost and learning curve considerably. We would potentially make $20 - $30k a year from that lease agreement plus have natural beautification.
