Perhaps one of the main problems presented by the sector is the workforce that has become increasingly scarce
The next harvest, which corresponds to 2019, is a great challenge for Chilean wine producers. Although the climate has been a determining factor, producers are optimistic and do not see the impact of rains in production. The vineyards are already anticipating that they will have a positive performance in the 2019 harvest and affirm that December is key to preventing the appearance of diseases, such as powdery mildew.

The beginning of the next harvest season is projected for the last week of January and the first fortnight of February 2019 in the valleys of the north of the country. The beginning of this activity -which even gives rise to celebrations in different zones- extends until May in the case of the later varieties.

Although 2018 has been a quiet year, the month of December is key to preventing the appearance of diseases, such as powdery mildew. In production -although it is still difficult to overtake- there are a good number of bunches, some have some runoff (bad fertilization or ‘fruit set’) and apparently with less grains (…), but everything indicates that it will be a normal year and , perhaps, in some varieties more susceptible to runoff and sprouting earlier, a slight decrease may occur.

Most of the Chilean wine producers agree that “the harvest is quite normal, with a good load, which is good because we have less grapes for 16 or 17 years.” The important thing is that the last rains in November have not affected the fruit, since it is in the flowering and fruit set stage – moments when these climatic episodes do not have a real impact on quality – and there is still no maturity in the grape.Another important factor is that spring was cold at first, which predicted some delay in some valleys, but the high temperatures of the last weeks normalized the times.
Careful with…

The important thing is this stage of production is the management against powdery mildew. So far it has been positive and there have been no major frosts in the south central area. This situation indicates that next year, that is, the 2019 harvest will already provide a very good yield of the fruit.

The experts say that a good potential is shown in the cluster weight and, therefore, a good crop is projected. It is probably not as good in productive terms as last year, but better than in 2016 and 2017. However, it is still too early to estimate results, since any climatic event can affect the harvest. Although, there is a quite normal situation in climatic conditions and, apparently, it can bring us an advance rather than a delay.
Workforce
Undoubtedly, the subject of labor has become a critical issue for all sectors of society. In areas such as Casablanca, Alhué, Itahue and Cauquenes, there is a shortage of manpower where it has become very difficult to find people for post-curd jobs. The cost of labor continues to rise, as did the last season and because of the migration towards fruit production.

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