Minimal Farming Policy

The LIVE Joint Technical Committee has prepared the policy linked below for those members that are minimally farming (ie. mothballing) part or all of their vineyard(s) to save costs during the industry downturn. Please contact your regional Technical Committee Chair if you have questions about this policy. Contact Isabelle Tobe at isabelle@livecertified.org if you do not know who your regional chair is.

The policy can be summarized as follows (please read full policy in PDF linked below):

For the period of one growing season, in addition to the remainder of 2026:

• Growers can use active ingredients not listed on the LIVE Yellow List on those blocks not in production for wine (except copper or LIVE Red List materials)
• Growers will still need to abide by total active ingredient limits listed on the LIVE Yellow List for ingredients such as sulfur
• Growers will still need to practice mode of action (MOA) rotations for resistance management purposes and maintain buffers between areas sprayed and sensitive off-crop areas
• Growers will still need to abide by pesticide label restrictions
• We ask that you provide a short description of your mothballing practices at the end of the year, so we can learn what has worked and what has not

Please review the policy below for further details. We hope that this policy eases some of the pressures of farming for a short time while the industry recalibrates and recovers.