Water delivers Gala future

Cessnock, Mudgee, Rutherglen, Clare, Coonawarra and Tanunda. Six centres of renown in Australia's eastern wine states. Hot, dry, grape-growing country. Spot the odd one out?

Tanunda. Only Tanunda in the heart of South Australia's Barossa Valley received less rainfall in 2019 than Cranbrook on Tasmania's East Coast. By a margin of just 0.8mm, according to data collected by the Australian Government's Bureau of Meteorology (BoM).

"Cranbrook is certainly a place of extremes," says Gala Estate farmer Adam Greenhill.

"We had data-loggers record 48°C in our carrot paddock back in January. And in other years, we've had overnight temperatures get as low as -6°C during early spring."

It's been four weeks since Adam Greenhill and his wife Grainne brought in the last bunches from this year's vintage. It was a welcome return to form for their 11ha vineyard at Cranbrook, 20 kilometres north of Swansea. Between early March and mid-April, their picking crew harvested almost twice the volume of wine grapes they harvested in 2019. Even so, that was still less than the site produced in 2018.

Custodians of a 4,000ha landholding with a rich history dating back to 1821, the Greenhills have been witnesses to a litany of abnormal farming conditions during the past 12 months. Foremost among them were the long-lasting effects of the drought that has gripped the East Coast during the past three years.

Official BoM rainfall totals for 2017, 2018 and 2019 all fell a long way short of Cranbrook's official 115-year average of 629mm. In fact, the local weather station recorded just 335.6mm in 2019, a total much more typical of towns in the Barossa Valley or in north-east Victoria.

Greenhill reckons it was the driest year his farm has ever seen.

"Water is the life blood of our industry," he adds.

"People find it hard to believe that since we first planted vines back in 2009, our vineyard has spent much of the past decade struggling with drought. We've gone from not using drip irrigation at all to putting on between 10 and 20 litres of water per vine per week during our growing seasons, just to maintain vine health. We even watered through the winter last year."

Like many farmers of his generation, Greenhill has acquired a talent for keeping abreast of weather events on the East Coast. He and his Amos family forebears have devoted almost 200 years to cultivating food crops in the district's parched and bony soils. They began with grain crops in the early 19th century and diversified into fat lambs, fine merino wool and vegetable seeds during the last century.

Gala Estate's vineyard plays an important role in maintaining sustainability on the farm Greenhill has known since he was a kid. Indeed, his employment CV lists 'water and viticulture development' as key experiences during his many years of working there.

"When we decided to put in a vineyard, it was based on the idea that we needed to get away from simply being primary producers," Greenhill explains.

"The true potential of our vineyard is not in the production of wine grapes. It's in the value-adding. The real profit margins are to be found in the premium wine sector.

"We're not in this business to cut corners. Everything we've done since 2009 has been pitched at developing the quality of our wine business – of growing premium quality wine grapes for premium quality wines, and then engaging in quality wine marketing where our pricing reflects those same premium qualities."

Greenhill credits his property's participation in the district's three-year-old Swan Valley Irrigation Scheme with rescuing his family's business enterprises.

"More than 120mm in April this year - and 60mm in March - came too late in the season to be of any benefit," he says.

"It was water from the Swan that really saved us this year.

"We bought about a quarter of the water that was available and it was absolutely essential to our on-farm production. We live by the supply of water. We've come through the drought wounded, but without that Tasmanian Irrigation water we'd have been in all sorts of strife."

With his mind now fully occupied with sustaining his family's business activities well into the future, Greenhill says he would like to see the Swan Valley Irrigation Scheme extend further south, beyond its current boundaries. That would enable his family's new 17ha vineyard development outside Swansea to be able to take advantage of a larger and more reliable supply of irrigation water.

Planting went ahead on the frost-free Tasman Highway site at the end of 2019.

"We had young vines for six months before we finally had enough water in our dam to plant them," Greenhill muses.

"We ran out of water again in January this year after helicopters emptied our storage dam for fighting bushfires."

A quality player in a challenging region, Gala Estate's wine business is already brimming with success. No doubt about it. Its future success will be defined by ready access to a brimming water supply.

First published 15 May, 2020: tasmaniantimes.com