Nuffield Scholarship 2018 (Richard Leask)

Abstract

Wine grape production faces numerous challenges including the impacts of climate change and rising input costs as well as consumer concern around production practices. Regenerative Agriculture is a paradigm shift in the way vineyards are managed and connected to the broader environment, and could provide the Australian wine industry with a system that increases soil capacity and microbial diversity. This could improve water capture and retention and challenge the reliance on synthetic chemicals and fertilisers and the increasing role of cultivation in organic vineyard systems. This could also be the key to unlocking the individual 'terroir' of vineyards and provide a unique environmentally friendly story to consumers. To give the generations to follow the best opportunity to produce world-class wines the industry must not be content with 'sustaining' vineyard ecosystems as they are now. Regenerative Agriculture shows enormous potential as a farming system to repair damage done to soils and set them on a productive path for generations to come.

This research was undertaken by viticulturist Richard Leask as part of his Wine Australia supported Nuffield Farming Scholarship. Wine Australia invests in the Nuffield program as part of our policy of investing in sector leadership.

Summary

The author believes that increasing the capacity of soils through understanding, building and managing soil carbon levels and the soil microbial network with the use of plants and their diversity, is the key to arresting the decline of soils around the world. Its principles are based on mimicking nature by having a diverse range of plant life storing and cycling carbon and increasing soil microbial diversity and activity through interaction with these plants. This report outlines six Regenerative Agriculture practices that give a blueprint to create a healthy, diverse, living soil microbial ecosystem.

The six practices are:

1. Balancing soil nutrition limitations

2. Keeping the soil covered

3. Minimising soil disturbance (cultivation)

4. Increasing plant and microbial diversity

5. Incorporating living roots into the farming system all year round

6. Integrating and managing Livestock

They give a blueprint to create a healthy, diverse, living soil microbial ecosystem. This over time produces a high functioning soil capable of high productivity and increased quality. Although seemingly straightforward, implementing these practices into a cohesive manageable system will differ from vineyard to vineyard. There is no one size fits all approach and execution will take discipline and patience as meaningful change will take time.

Regenerative Agriculture is a difficult system to replicate scientifically, with many moving parts and local environmental factors hampering meaningful broad-based evaluation. It has relied on 'citizen science' with farmer-driven trial and observation at its core. This does not diminish its potential impact but highlights that no-one understands their farm and landscape better than an observant farmer. With advancements in technology enabling the identification of soil microbes and their role within the soil, this understanding will improve rapidly into the future. Agronomy in the future will increasingly look at biology over chemistry and the role it plays in crop nutrition.