Vinetur reports that a peer-reviewed study of 313 non-organic Swiss winegrowing farms found a striking divide in approaches to pesticide reduction, with 52% classified as relatively low users of integrated pest-management measures and 48% adopting a much broader range of alternatives. Researchers examined 21 practices, including disease forecasting, mechanical weed control, pheromones, beneficial insects, resistant grape varieties and precision spraying technology. Growers with higher adoption rates tended to operate larger farms, market wine themselves and make greater use of agricultural advice and information, leading the researchers to argue that policies encouraging combinations of measures, rather than individual techniques in isolation, may be more effective.
Switzerland
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Swiss Wine Harvest Rebounds, 2025 Vintage Rated Excellent
SWI swissinfo.ch reports that Swiss winegrowers are calling the 2025 vintage “excellent” thanks to favourable weather, with total harvest volume rising to 82 million litres, up 9.3% year on year, though still below the 10 year average of 90 million litres, according to Switzerland’s Federal Office for Agriculture. The report says the season began dry and mild with good flowering, then an earlier harvest was affected at times by rain in late August and September. Output varied by region, German speaking Switzerland saw the biggest jump to 13.7 million litres, western Switzerland rose to 64.4 million litres, while Italian speaking Switzerland fell to 3.4 million litres, partly linked to tough conditions and Japanese beetle impacts.