By 2 p.m. Tuesday, it was 115 degrees in Mark Neal's Rutherford vineyard, and the day before, it was even hotter at 118. Neal has seen a lot in his 56 years of farming.
Neal began helping his dad grow grapes when he was only eight, bought his first tractor at age nine, and along the way he became something of a maverick in the valley. In 1984, he was the first grower to be"certified organic." He also invented a system for lighting up his vineyard, pioneering the idea of harvesting grapes in the cool of the midnight hour.
"This vine is catching all the sun rays, 100 percent of the sun rays," he said."And down here, you can see where we have shade going over the fruit." "We have to look, as farmers, what can we do to continue our businesses here?" he said."Will it be change of root stock, change of varietals, change of trellis systems, change of irrigation management? What are our resources going to be?"
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