When it’s your first foray into viticulture, the last thing you want is to discover that disease is rampant in your vineyard. Peter Law found himself in this very situation when he arrived at his freshly acquired vineyard back in 2012. The vineyard had been run on a very tight budget and left in a poor state with significant work needed to bring it right.
When farming a smaller vineyard, every berry counts.
Peter Law was determined to get the most out of his 14 hectares.
Peter understood how important a quality sprayer and carefully executed spray program is for disease control and prevention. After investigation and consideration, Peter purchased his first FMR VLM Vine Sprayer.
Being new to the vineyard industry, Peter was guided by recommendations from other growers and industry contacts and also by common sense. Seeing how effectively the tangential fan system delivered an even curtain of spray from top to bottom of the canopy gave Peter the confidence that this was what he needed to combat disease in his vineyard.
“You can see from the way the airflow from the fans hits the canopy that the spray is really getting in and onto all surfaces and there so little drift, it’s remarkable.” Peter loved the fact that he could quickly select the nozzles and activate them with a single twist. The auto rate control was simple and intuitive with present row space and application rates, all he needed to do was to select the appropriate rate and drive, the controller did the rest.
“It’s the simplicity,” says Peter, “I was new to growing grapes and had no experience with the intricacies of continuously adjusting and re-adjusting the sprayer to achieve a good result, I wanted a point & shoot system and that’s what the FMR offered.”
Over the following years, Peter’s vineyard went from strength to strength, delivering better and better crops, exceeding Peter and his advisors’ expectations as to the quality of fruit and the lack of disease.
“There were times when others around me were really struggling and the consultant would come around and be amazed that our fruit was so clean when others close nearby were battling to control disease.”
After eight successful seasons with his first FMR VLM sprayer, it’s no surprise that when Peter decided to update his tractor in 2020, he also upgraded to the latest FMR VLM model. With his new tractor offering improved hydraulic capacity, Peter could opt for the fully hydraulic option which did away with the PTO shaft entirely and meant connecting the sprayer was a matter of a few hydraulic hoses, dead simple.
Peter has done extremely well to transform his vineyard. Today, his vineyard is a shining example of what’s possible when you invest in the right equipment and use it correctly.
When every berry counts…FMR is the right choice.