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Growing vines in sloping terrain is an integral part of the European viticultural heritage. In recent decades, however, a significant decrease in vineyard acreage on steep slopes has occurred, particularly in Germany. The elevated labour demand at these sites together with stronger international competition and the overall diminished profitability of the sites for wine estates have been implicated as drivers behind this decrease. However, a sound cost assessment of different vineyard setups in terms of general growing conditions and corresponding mechanisation options has thus far not been performed.
This doctoral thesis contributes to explaining the abandonment of steep slope vineyard sites from an economic perspective using the example of Germany. To compare production costs for different growing conditions, working time records based on a transpaent framework of vineyard site types were collected at five management-led wine estates in Germany over three years for 30 reference sites, resulting in 82 observations and over 3,400 single records for labour and machine hours. After valuing the working time records with appropriate cost rates, the cost dataset was analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) with fixed and random effects to estimate the influence of different external factors on the structure of viticultural costs.
The analysis revealed that the cost differences between the vineyard site types are attributable to differences in mechanisation intensity and the types of machines used. Flat terrain allows the mechanisation of most viticultural processes with very efficient machinery. Sites with limited mechanisation require specialised machinery to overcome the gradient. The more mechanisation is limited, the higher the demand for manual labour will be. The sites with the most difficult conditions inhibit the mechanisation of single or all processes. In addition to this, specialised steep slope machinery usually entails higher capital costs and operates more slowly, mostly due to additional securing by rope, necessitating the double passing of every row.
The results of the research discussed in this thesis indicate that there are substantial cost disadvantages at vineyard sites that are impeding full mechanisation with standard machinery. Viticultural costs at the most disadvantaged manual sites are more than 1.6 times those at fully mechanised flat terrain sites. In addition to these per hectare disadvantages, vineyards planted on slopes are more often affected by water scarcity, which has intensified in recent years and is expected to further intensify due to the impacts of climate change. Water scarcity causes drought issues that lead, among other negative effects, to below-average yield levels, thereby exacerbating the cost disadvantage of steep slope sites on a per litre level. These cost disadvantages usually cannot be covered by price premiums, thus leaving a gap between elevated costs and stable prices.
These findings raise serious concerns about the future of steep slope viticulture, especially given the prospects of adverse environmental impacts driven by climate change. Worse, most consumers are not willing to pay higher prices for steep slope wines. As such, additional costs cannot be expected to be offset by price premiums. The only possibility for the sustained cultivation of steep slope sites lies in financial support by the public sector. To justify public support, the overall value of steep slope viticulture created by the additional ecosystem services (ES) they provide under certain conditions and with respect to potential social costs must be assessed.