Reduced spraying & integrated protection for soil health & structure
The impact, measured
Time horizon: 3–7 seasons
Why it works
Less copper and fewer contact fungicides reduce metal accumulation and pressure on soil microbiology.
What to measure for this pairing
Why this goal matters
Soil health is the foundation of regenerative viticulture. A soil with good structure, biological activity and organic matter infiltrates and holds more water, releases nutrients gradually and supports a vine that leans less on external inputs.
It is measured by organic matter, aggregate stability, infiltration and soil life (earthworms, microbial respiration). Every one of these responds to how you manage cover, tillage and added organic matter — and all are recordable season over season.
Goal indicators
Market & certification: Increasingly required by sustainability schemes and buyers auditing soil practices.
How to implement the practice
- 1Monitor disease risk and pest catches per plot.
- 2Apply action thresholds before deciding to treat.
- 3Log each application with product, rate and active substance.
- 4Track the 7-year rolling copper mean.
Frequently asked
Doesn’t cutting sprays raise the risk of losing the crop?
No, if decisions are risk- and monitoring-based. The goal is to remove the unnecessary treatments, not the necessary ones.
How do I stay within the copper limit?
By logging every application and summing the active substance on the 7-year rolling mean — exactly what the phytosanitary register does automatically.
Same practice, other goals
Same goal, other practices — Soil
How GrapeFlow helps
The proof certification and buyers ask for — logged by plot and date.
Phytosanitary register & copper balance
Every treatment is logged with product, rate and active substance, and copper is summed on the 7-year rolling mean — direct proof of input reduction.
Field observations & pest monitoring
Beneficial counts, trap catches and disease observations logged in the field, so you decide to treat (or not) on data.
Electronic field notebook
Log every operation — cover sowing, grazing, composting, mowing — by plot and date, with an audit-ready history that proves the practice over the years.