With current market shifts, vineyard mothballing can buy growers time—but it requires strategy, not abandonment. Chris Chen, Integrated Vineyard Systems Advisor with UC Cooperative Extension, draws on research in Australia and field experience in California to outline what minimal management really looks like. From pruning approaches and livestock integration to pest and disease management, irrigation by rootstock and soil type, and long-term yield risks, he explains how to reduce costs now without compromising a vineyard's future—or risking fines.

Resources:

• 4/8/2026 REGISTER: Tailgate | Mothballing Roundtable
• Chris Chen - Twitter
• Out of Sync: vineyard responses to changing conditions
• Partial Solar Radiation Exclusion with Color Shade Nets Reduces the Degradation of Organic Acids and Flavonoids of Grape Berry (Vitis vinifera L.)
• UCCE North Coast Viticulture
• UC Cooperative Extension Sonoma County
• UCCE Viticulture Publications Online - North Coast

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