In South Africa, there’s an antique vineyard that has chosen to stop using toxic pesticides, and rather, use tons of hungry ducks in their attempts to make their produce, meaning their wines, more sustainable.
The vineyard, named Vergenoegd Löw, is a beautiful wine estate located outside of Cape Town in South Africa. Since the 1970s, they have been allowing ducks to run through their grape vines for pest control. Although recently, they’ve also tried to introduce this method of pest control to their allies in the industry.
This idea originated in east Asia, where ducks are normally used to help clear harmful invertebrates from rice paddies. And since adopting the same idea, the estate has had the same success, now with a duck population of up to 1,600 adorable waddling omnivores.
Managing director of the vineyard, Corius Visser, told CNN in a report, “I call our ducks the soldiers of our vineyards. They will eat aphids, they will eat snails, they will eat small worms; they keep (it) completely pest-free.”
On Vergenoegd Löw, the species of ducks that are on their grounds is called Indian runner ducks. They happen to be a flightless variety that have a peculiar straight-backed walking gait, as well as a very strong sense of smell, and apparently, a very voracious appetite for pests, which seems to be their best feature yet.
Visser wants to sell at least 750 of his ducks to other vineyards so that they can create a more sustainable reputation for South African vineyards within the wine industry.
The ducks are herded through the 140 acres of grape vines, five days a week, eating whatever creatures they encounter as they go. Once they are done, they actually go on “an annual leave” during the harvest season, where they are allowed to enjoy the open farm pasture and nearby lake, where they swim. That’s because if they were stay all throughout the year, they would end up eating all the grapes as well.
Visser goes on to say, “The world is moving away from more conventional farming to (being) a bit more organic. For Vergenoegd, it’s a big goal… to have less influence on the Earth, the soil and the environment.”
The hope is that they can increase their wine price points due to the work that goes into taking care of the ducks. In fact, the estate even sells a line of wines, which they call “Runner Duck.”
With the earnings from the increased price points, they also plan to put the money back into even more sustainable options for the vineyard. At the moment, Vergenoegd Löw incorporates the eggs from the ducks into their restaurant menu, they manage a 34-acre wetland as a carbon sink, while also using solar panels to generate electricity.
Meanwhile in California, vineyards implement owl boxes, in order to encourage barn owls to make their homes in the middle of the grapes as a way to reduce and control their rodent populations. These owls can eat quite a large amount of individual vermin every day, making it yet another great example of a nature-based solution, allowing these farms to fit into a more natural environment.
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