With snowfall and rain at an all
time low, the 2007 grape season has
been challenging for grape-growers.
In optimal conditions with acceptable
water supply, farmers can expect to harvest 2,500 kilos per decare. If not ideal,
yields can drop as low as 100 kilos per
decare. How much is a decare of land?
10 decares = 1 hectare
1 hectare = 2.471 acres
1 decare = .2471 acres
Grape price examples:
Smederevka:
9.5 denars per kg
Kartosije/Vranec: 11-12 denars per kg
Merlot: 16-18 denars per kg
harvesting the grapes
Soon after, I took a knife and bag, slipped on my hair net, and
started down the second row with Toni’s daughter, Kate (two-syllable Kat-e in Macedonian). We worked side-by-side on one side
while Donka worked the other side; all of us were bending at the
waist to cut the grape bunches high on the stems and place them
in our large plastic bags. In this manner, we worked our way up
the rows, socializing and laughing as we went.
At break time, my lower back was already in spasms, and I
thought of those intrepid souls who had larger vineyards, picking like this from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for several days at a time. “I
will get about 11 denars per kilo this year for this Kartosije (or
Vranec) variety,” Toni explained, as we sat resting and hydrating
ourselves. “Last year it was 12 denars per kilo for the same type,
and in Europe, growers get five times that amount for their grapes
- about a euro a kilo.”
Here, private wineries collaborate with one another at the beginning of the harvest to preset a price for the grapes. It is a buyer’s
market; the farmers have no choice but to accept the price offered them. Goran Kimov, resident of Disan and local grower,
says that some buyers take advantage of farmers by putting off
contracts until the last possible moment – the moment when the
grapes must be sold or perish. Under the Yugoslavia of the past,
the situation was much different for grape-growers in the Tikves
region.
Then, grapes carried weight. During those times, grapes were
worth one Deutschmark per kilo and people like Velice Temelkova’s grandfather could build a sprawling house just from the
profits made off his grape harvest. Times have changed drasti-
cally since then, and, in this region, there is still much nostalgia
for those golden days under Tito.
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