Based in Marlborough, New Zealand, JTC Viticulture offers comprehensive vineyard management services with a commitment to practical, pragmatic, and professional viticulture.
Owners Jason Tripe and his sister Melissa, have vast experience in their respective fields. Together they have built JTC Viticulture to reflect their passion and dedication to professional advice and reliable execution.
Jason has a long-standing connection with the FMR brand, having provided valuable counsel and advice back in 2007 when the first FMR sprayers were on the drawing board. He backed our design by purchasing the very first machines to be built. The ongoing support and feedback from Jason and the JTC team over many years have been a key part of the development and continual progression of the FMR product range.
So why does JTC Viticulture choose to operate FMR sprayers exclusively throughout their entire fleet?
Because they do a great job of spraying grapes? “Well yes, of course,” says Jason Tripe “but to be fair, you would tend to expect any sprayer build specifically for spraying grapes to be able to do that, within reason”
For JTC Viticulture, the strength of their business, and their brand, is their people. With the scarcity of experienced, competent operators at an all-time high, providing his team with the very best operator experience is front and centre for Jason.
“Across our business, we’ve invested heavily in equipment that offers our operators a better, safer, quieter and cleaner environment to work in”.
This means maintaining a fleet of modern tractors that utilise the latest technologies and operator comforts including spacious cabins and great seats.
“This is the number one reason we run FMR sprayers in our business,” says Jason. “The FMR sprayers are easy to set up and operate. No heavy PTO shaft to struggle with, just simple hydraulic connections to plug in. No constant adjustments or complex setups are needed. The FMR is essentially a plug-and-play operation”.
Operator safety is front and centre to Jason. “The tangential fans used by all FMR sprayers provide a low-drift environment and the whole machine is designed to minimise the need for the operator to be in contact with sprays and they’re easy to clean up after use”.
“Another major advantage to the FMR sprayer is the noise output or rather the lack of it. For an operator that’s working a long day of spraying, having a machine that’s quiet is a huge benefit to operator experience over a system that’s screaming at you,” says Jason. With the scale of an operation like JTC Viticulture and the environmental conditions present in Marlborough, spraying in the early hours of the morning is often necessary so a sprayer that operates quietly has a much lower impact for neighbours as well.
“Drift reduction is important to me”. says Jason. “Recovery and recycling of spray is an obvious benefit, and reliability is an important aspect in any contracting business but if my operators are safe, comfortable and enjoying their workplace experience then I’m happy.”