King Estate Winery brought in more than 500 sheep

King Estate Winery brought in more than 500 sheep in late March. The sheep mow, weed and, well, produce manure.

"They're a browser that will eat pretty much whatever is in front of them," said sheep owner Robert Irwin.

"We're all about being organic out here," said King Estate Director of Wine Making & Viticulture John Albin. "Anything we can do to keep tractors out of the field is a good thing."

Normally it would cost the winery thousands of dollars to buy the sheep, but they're getting them for free -- at least for now.

In exchange, sheep owner Irwin feeds his flock for free.

"I would usually have to pay for grass," said Irwin.

And sheep beat tractors at tender tasks like clearing weeds and grasses from between grape plants.

Sans sheep, clearing weeds can bey a very labor intensive process, with or without tractors.

"These machines have sensors, or we can do it by hand," said Vineyard Manager Meliton Martinez. "They need a really experienced driver."

Not so with the sheep: sheep eat through about 10 acres every two days. Then Irwin and his team have to move them to another vineyard, which isn't easy.

"Moving an electric fence is just a pain in the butt," said Irwin.

The only complaint, said Meliton, is they aren't eating enough. So they're bringing in another 200 sheep. The sheep will stay at King Estate until at least mid may. But if the program continues to work, winery managers said they might make a standing date with the sheep.

"They're doing really good," said Irwin. "They're really healthy."