Counting the work in Taylor’s organic-grape trial

In 1989, Taylor Wine Company asked Roger Pearson about growing grapes organically. A Cornell-led study followed. Gerald B. White’s 1995 report locates the trial at Taylor’s Dresden vineyard—not simply at the company’s Hammondsport address. The Economics of Converting Conventionally Managed Eastern Vineyards to Organic Management Practices.

The experiment divided blocks of Concord, Elvira and Seyval Blanc between two management systems. Taylor recorded growing and harvest costs; the Geneva researchers counted sprays and measured yields. The Economics of Converting Conventionally Managed Eastern Vineyards to Organic Management Practices.

Its 1990–1994 labor table gives one comparison plainly: Concord averaged 25.7 hours per acre per year under conventional management and 39.3 under organic management. These are trial averages, not a rule for every vineyard. The Economics of Converting Conventionally Managed Eastern Vineyards to Organic Management Practices.

The wage figures need a different reading. White used regional rates to protect proprietary data. The report can help us count recorded work, but it cannot tell us what a particular Taylor worker was paid. Original project records and workers’ own accounts would take that history further. The Economics of Converting Conventionally Managed Eastern Vineyards to Organic Management Practices.