Good intentions are no match for bad habits

Only appellation exclusion will bring about real change in Champagne.

Grass cover dossier in the Champagne Viticole

Yesterday, la Champagne Viticole, the magazine printed by the SGV (Syndicat Général des Vignerons),  published an article in which it  spoke about the benefits of different grass covers in between the rows.  The last part of the article stated that the SGV had voted on April 2^nd (hence 2.5 months ago) to ban herbicides in between the rows, bar the use of bio-control products. In other words, the SGV voted on imposing the legal glyphosate requirements, which prohibit usage in between the rows in vineyards that can be worked mechanically – in the cahier des charge.  This implies, the SGV acknowledges that growers are either not to be aware of the regulation, or they do not care about the rules, and in order to avoid further scandals, they have realized, something needs to be done.

However, up till yesterday, very little changed to the communication of the glyphosate rules or even the intention to force the Champenois to abide by the rules. After all, the glyphosate regulations, which have been enacted since 2020,  have never been clearly communicated by the SGV to their membership, though they were spelled out somewhere on the Comité Champagne (CIVC) extranet for those who were willing to search for the information. This clearly shows that glyphosate breaches were not a priority, even after the SGV voted the cahier des charges change. In fact, nine days after the vote to impose a herbicide ban of all non-bio-control products in between the rows in the cahier des charges, it was the AGM of the SGV, and Maxime Toubart, the SGV president and co-president of the CIVC, did not use the opportunity of this unique large gathering of SGV members to mention the recently voted ban of glyphosate in between the rows, which in my opinion was a big mistake, especially considering the breeches this spring.

Round two of blank spraying - Hautvillers

Moreover, in the complicated 2024 growing season, many growers are in the midst of round two of blank spraying glyphosate,  once again breaching the glyphosate