More than 1,600 Indian running ducks live on the Vergenoegd Löw wine estate in South Africa and keep the vines there free of pests in a sustainable way.
More than 1,600 Indian running ducks live on the Vergenoegd Löw wine estate on the Eerste River near Cape Town in South Africa, which has existed since 1696. But the feathered housemates are not just cute; they have been fulfilling an essential task in the wine growing there since the 1980s.
“I call our ducks the soldiers of our vineyards,” said managing director Corius Visser, explaining the original concept in an interview with CNN. “They eat aphids, slugs, small worms - they keep the vineyard completely pest-free.” Every two weeks, the "battalion" is released on the property. In the process, they not only remove everything that could be the vine's undoing but also fertilise the soil. Only during the grape harvest do the ducks take a holiday, so the grapes are not eaten for dessert. Speaking of food: fear not, the ducks are never eaten, not even when they retire. “That would be like eating a colleague,” Gavin Moyes, head of the tasting room, told Atlas Obscura. The ducks, he says, are the best employees on the estate.
The animal-friendly and pesticide-free approach allows Visser and Moyes to grow their wine sustainably. “The world is moving away from conventional and towards organic farming,” added Corius, certain that the industry is heading in the right direction on sustainability. But he doesn't just rely on ducks; he also has a solar plant and a 25-hectare marsh conservation area.
The idea of using ducks is not new, by the way - in Thailand, they have been used for centuries to control pests in rice fields. Indian runner ducks, like those kept at the Vergenoegd Löw estate, are particularly suitable for this purpose: although they cannot fly, they have a perfect sense of smell, which enables them to track down food.
Vergenoegd Löw The Wine Estate
1 Faure Village Rd
7131 Cape Town
South Africa
Phone: +27 (0) 21 843 3248
Mail: webmaster@vergenoegd.co.za
