On Noisy Viticulture

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If you drive in Geneva there are hundreds of vineyards. If you drive from Luins all the way to Leukerbad you have vineyards. In effect Switzerland has a landscape filled with wine making vineyards.

Whilst they are beautiful to look at, especially as the seasons change some of them, especially near Nyon have a critical flaw. They use very loud air canons to frighten birds. If you make the mistake of walking by one as it goes off, then it is deafening. Every few minutes all day long from dawn until dusk the canons are fired.

As if this wasn’t enough noise pollution they also have recordings of bird distress calls and these are played every few minutes all day long for weeks at a time. This noise pollution means that if you want to open your windows you need to deal with the noise pollution. If you go for a local walk, by the vineyards, then you also need to deal with that noise pollution. The result is that a beautiful, pleasant walk, stops being one.

It does get worse. They’re guilty of noise pollution with canons and speakers to scare away birds but later they bring in tractors and spray the grapes with pesticides to kill the insects. At this point you have air and water pollution that also has a negative impact on pollinators. It might also not be healthy for humans.

The paradox is that every single year there are articles saying “We can’t sell all of our grapes, we are overproducing wine grapes. My two reactions are “Then grow the international market” as well as “Then stop with the noise, air and water pollution. If you’re overproducing wine grapes then stop damaging the environment through endless noise pollution, air pollution and water pollution.

It seems ironic that in a country that bans noise from 22:00-07:00, that bans ULM, that bans lawnmowers on Sunday, that encourages people to be considerate of others, that, at the same time, they allow viticulture to be so disruptive. There are several walking routes that I avoid these days, because of the noise pollution.

On the one hand they complain that they can’t sell what they produce, but on the other hand, if they stopped wasting money on air canons, noise pollution, air pollution, and water pollution, then the cost of production would be reduced.

The paradox is that it’s around here that viticulture seems to enjoy making noise. I haven’t heard or seen the same thing in lavaux, around Luins and Mont Sur Rolle. or in Valais. This noisy vineyard problem seems to be a Nyon problem.

And finally, I’d like to open the windows, especially in the mornings, when people are quiet, and the air is cooled to get fresh air into a mynergie building. The noise pollution is never-ending so I have to decide between noise stress and heat stress, and heat stress wins. In the end the solution is to go for a bike ride, away from the noisy vineyards. I miss living in a quiet village. In a quiet village you open the windows in the morning, and close them in the evening.

It’s worth commenting that on Facebook, in the Nyon group, I noticed people complaining about the noise made by crows. If people can complain about the sounds of nature, then I can comment on the voluntary human made noises by viticulturists. I’d rather have the sound of cowbells, chirping birds, a murder of crows, than artificial noise pollution. I’m a villager, rural ‘noise’ is normal, to me.