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To: the longhorn who wrote (171626)	4/17/2022 1:17:29 AM
From: Drygulch Dan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 220466

Sounds like you have been there and done that. Really, I never wanted to own that farm. The wife wanted to make wine from our own grapes and it was listed at what looked like a bargain price when we bought it, probably due to the effects of the RE down turn from 2008. So I bought a tractor and learned how to farm grapes, to a mediocre degree. I should have spotted the infestation earlier and I should have involved my PCA earlier in dealing with remediation. The two diseases from his sampling - Red Blotch and Leaf Curl are viruses transmitted by little flying bugs that drill into the softer grape tendrils for nourishment. Once the plant is infected, nothing kills the viruses other than fire. Had to rip out the vines, roots an all then burn. These diseases are rampant in grape growing areas. Look for big rounded hay stack looking piles of vines and you will see evidence of the infestation. We were located in the Lodi Appelation in Caifornia. We were a very small grower. Typically around here are 100 to 1000 acre fields. Our cooperative backyard field was a total of about 11 to 12 acres. Our five and half acre portion contained about 4300 plants they were about 20 years old. Cabernet can remain productive for about 30 to 40 years. So there was still a lot of life left in those vines when we bought them back in 2013. The original owner lost the property in about 2010 due to foreclosure by Wells Fargo. A flipper bought it and sold it to us a couple years later. It came with a usable house and a troubled well. I fixed the well issues, that was easy but costly. Removing the grapes involved removing all the metal in the field - end posts, grape stakes, and tons of wire which we coiled back up all hand labor plus drip line removal. I left all the underground plumbing. Then with machines the grape vines could be pulled out. To avoid costs I did most of the work myself. Cost me time, mainly during Covid, but I didn't get the disease until afterwards when I went to a wedding. Sold the farm last July, paid a huge tax bill the other day.to Fed and State.