A huge number of ducks are being consistently set loose on a South African wine farm as part of a newly popular and environmentally-friendly method of pest control.
Wine grapes are vulnerable to many different types of insects and other pests. In Stellenbosch, South Africa, a big wine-producing area, this includes mealybugs, beetles, moths, leafhoppers, and other mites.
However, where prior generations of wine farmers might have used pesticides, the industry is now turning to more regenerative and environmentally friendly ways of farming.
They start the working day with a duck run
For 40 years now, the Vergenoegd Löw Wine Estate has been using a daily dose of ducks to counteract the problem. At 9am each day, 1,000 Indian Runner ducks are released from their pens, foraging for pests.
The upright, flightless birds were originally bred in Indonesia to protect rice paddles, but work just as well on farms. They begin their day near the homestead and onsite restaurant before venturing out into the vineyard.
“Using the ducks instead of pesticides is obviously better for the ecology,” said the estate and farm manager, Christiaan Cloete. “When you use chemicals, you sometimes kill a lot of beneficial insects. We are trying to create a more biodiverse ecology in the vineyards.”
The farm now breeds the ducks themselves and sells them to other surrounding farms. They have 890 ducks on the property, with 400 hatchlings expected over breeding season.
They are also used to break down the manure produced by the vineyard’s grazing sheep and cattle, another practice that leaves the soil nutrient-rich. However, during the season in which grapes appear on the plants, the ducks are diverted to the nearby irrigation dams, so that they do not eat the produce.
A spokesperson for the estate said that they hope it will set a precedent for regenerative farming and the promotion of environmentally-friendly practices.
For more on farmers, check out our coverage of the farmer who killed 25 acres of his own crops at the advice of AI, or the farmer who traveled 12 hours a day to see his sick wife.
I’m Abhishek Sharma, an author at TigerJek.com. I enjoy exploring games, testing different strategies, and turning what I learn into clear, useful guides. My goal is to help players understand the game better and improve without the usual confusion.
