For the third consecutive year, the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture has activated the green harvest intervention in vineyards designated for winemaking.
This mechanism permits the destruction or total removal of immature grape bunches, effectively reducing vineyard yield to zero. The Spanish Government has allocated 19.2 million euros for the initiative, aiming to promote market stability amid persistent stock surpluses in certain regions.
Green harvesting has become a recurring tool for balancing the wine market across key producing nations. Italy, following Spain’s lead, has introduced a smaller-scale program, allocating 4.8 million euros for green harvesting in its National Wine Support Program for the 2025/2026 campaign. Meanwhile, France has taken a more drastic approach, directly subsidizing vineyard uprooting with a premium of 4,000 euros per hectare, backed by a budget of 120 million euros. These measures reflect a broader trend among top wine-producing nations to manage excess supply and prevent price volatility.
The objective of Spain’s green harvest intervention is to alleviate pressure in overstocked production regions, ensuring that the 2025 harvest aligns with real storage and marketing capacities. By reducing the potential surplus of grapes in the upcoming season, the policy aims to safeguard winemakers' incomes from the economic strain caused by oversupply. Despite being introduced in 2023 and 2024, the measure has yet to restore pre-pandemic market stability, prompting the Spanish Ministry to extend the initiative for another campaign.
The program’s implementation will be coordinated through Spain’s autonomous communities, which must request activation under the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). To access funding, regional authorities must publish their calls for participation by 30 April 2025. Participating regions must also specify payment methods, maximum financial limits, and selection criteria. The execution of green harvesting must be completed by 15 July 2025.
As wine-producing countries continue to navigate economic pressures, the Spanish green harvest program serves as a strategic intervention to balance supply and demand. Whether these efforts will yield long-term stabilization remains to be seen, but they highlight the growing role of governmental intervention in shaping the future of the global wine industry.
Source: WineNews