[NAFEX] organic grapes
road's end farm
organic101 at linkny.com
Sun Nov 24 12:54:45 EST 2002
Hi Dee --
There are organic wineries. I don't know what part of the country you're
in. I know of two in the Finger Lakes area of New York. I don't know if
they're buying. You should investigate the market in terms of what
varieties are desired (and hope they're the same varieties wanted in
three or four years when the vines come into full production) and also
in terms of which of those varieties will do well on your specific site,
and which of them will do well under organic management. Some grapes are
much easier to raise organically than others.
You would have to be certified, with an agency accredited under the new
Federal rule. (presuming you're in the USA.) If you can get a notarized
affidavit from the sellers listing everything applied to the property
within the last three years (or more), or stating that nothing has been,
it should speed things up; but it's going to take several years to get
the vineyards established anyway. You should get ahold of a set of
standards immediately, so you don't accidentally apply something you
thought was acceptable that isn't any more (and the federal rules just
changed some things there, too). In most parts of the country there are
several certifiers operating. NOFA is good for fruits and vegetables in
much of the northeast; but you should investigate all the certifiers
operating in your area. While the Federal rule has standardized most of
what's permissible and forbidden, different certifiers may still be
using different formats for the paperwork etc, and you want to try to
find one that will be relatively easiest for your operation to deal
with. (I do stress "relatively", there is a lot of paperwork.)
--Rivka
On Sunday, November 24, 2002, at 12:57 AM, Dee wrote:
>
> So if someone wanted to raise and sell organic grapes what can be
> expected of the market? A
> friend of mine sold 7 tons of non-organic grapes to a winery this last
> summer and I am wondering
> if there are "organic" wineries and would I have to be certified
> organic to be labeled? I
> imagine I would. Anyone know of a good site for getting certified? We
> sign the purchase
> agreement Wednesday on 20 acres and I am pretty sure nothing has been
> done to it regarding
> fertilizing and pest and weed control for the last 7 years and
> wondering what all would be
> expected to get certified.
>
> Dee
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