As part of my ongoing coverage of Regenerative Agriculture, I have reported on a number of ongoing deployments to include Tablas Creek Vineyards, Troon Vineyard, Solminer, and Familia Torres. I continue on that path with a look at the Can Font (Emporda, Spain) experience. The material covered herein was drawn from a Francesc Font presentation titled Regenerating vineyards to take care of the planet which was delivered at the recent Regenerative Viticulture Symposium.
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| Francesc Font, Can Font Farm Manager |
According to Francesc, he comes from a long line of farmers, his family having been thus employed for over 300 years. The farm has always had strong ties to winegrowing with one of his grandfathers serving as the President of a regional wine cooperative for over 40 years.
Both Francesc and his wife are trained Agricultural Engineers and they came to the realization that their farming practices were releasing significant amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and, therefore, contributing to global climate change. They were also contributing to desertification as their tilled topsoil is washed away when it rains and blown away when it is windy. Can Font studies showed that they lost about 20 tons of soil/ha/year. If the study area is extended to Penedes as a whole, that number rises to 25,000 tons/ha/year. This amounts to a loss of 1 centimeter of soil per year; it takes nature 40 years to create 1 centimeter of soil. This was not a sustainable operational model and it led them to ask the question: What can we do?
Broadly speaking, they did three things: Investigate. Learn. Apply. They began by investigating what was being done in the world beyond the borders of the farm to address the issues they had identified. They then dug deeper, seeking to truly learn about the new approaches/technologies they were discovering. And, finally, upon their return from an investigatory trip to Australia, they decided to become regenerative farmers and winegrowers.
While in Australia they had seen how regenerative agriculture: (i) helps to sequester carbon and, in so doing, contributes to mitigation of the climate crisis; helps bring soils and the environment back to life, which, in turn, aids biodiversity; and allows the production of healthy foods without the use of toxic chemical inputs.
Even though they had committed to regenerative, they still had a question as to whether the approach was economically viable. They only way to find out, they realized, was to implement it.
For Francesc, implementing regenerative agriculture required action on three fronts:
- Stop degrading the soil (cease tilling and the use of chemical inputs)
- Understand the soil in a way that they had not understood it previously. They had to look at: the way the minerals in the soil interact; how the roots work (how they move, how they descend, and whether they run into obstacles); soil compaction; and soil microbiology.
- Begin putting regenerative techniques into practice.
Today Can Font is a no-till farm which operates without chemical inputs. The regenerative practices which have been implemented to date are indicated in the table below.
Table 1. Regenerative practices implemented at Can Font.
Regenerative Practice | Tool/Technique | Description |
Cover Crops | Legumes |
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Grasses |
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Flower-bearing crops | Feed the bees and animals that prey on the main pests that affect our almond trees | |
Soils Management | Nourish the soils |
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Work with soil microbiology |
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Water Management | Keyline System | Encourages the natural flow of water through the cropland |
Biodiversity | Boost biodiversity | Use Franco-era bunkers to harbor bats which help in the fight against loberia botrana |
Animal Management | Introduce Pigs |
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Francesc spent time explaining the importance of managing cover crops; "unmanaged or poorly managed cover crops can become a problem" At some times, they will cut the cover crop down (all the way or to vine level, depending) while at other times they will flatten the crop with a roller crimper. Using the roller crimper in the summer time, according to Francesc, allows them to spread the flattened plant cover over the soil, creating a protective layer through a mulching effect. This protective layer makes it harder for soil water to evaporate, allowing maintenance of soil humidity and providing a favorable climate for the microbial communities. This environment also prevents erosion by mitigating the force of the impact of falling rain.
Cover crops are a powerful tool but they also have some downsides:
- Can Fron sustained more frost damage than neighbors whose vineyards were covered with glyphosate
- There is more competition when there are more plants. The farmer must build more robust soils that are able to feed both the cash and cover crops.
Mirroring some of the work being done by Regenerative Organic Certified, Can Fron has created indicators and is measuring against them (one of their mantras is "improvement through measurement"). The results indicate:
- The soils contain a lot more life than when we were farming conventionally. Soils now have 80% more fungi, 80% more bacteria, and 1000% more protozoans, the latter of which plays a leading role in the natural nitrogen cycle.
- The soils are more stable
- Water stability of soil aggregates up by 64.69%
- Water-holding capacity up 19.97%
- Mainly because of the organic matter they have gained over the years
- They have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 20%
- They are capturing 15 tons of CO₂/ha/year
- That is equal to the emissions of 10 cars.
These were great results; and they were happy with them. But what was the impact on the bottom line. Francesc exhibited a chart which showed a period of declining profitability during the transition but increasing profitability after regenerative was fully implemented. Regenerative says Francesc, has a cost. If you know the cost, you can plan accordingly and choose the pace of implementation. They chose to go all in (as opposed to Familia Torres which is proceeding with a phased approach).
Can Font's experience shows that regenerative agriculture can be applied in Emporda, said Francesc, and when you apply the technique, you will produce healthier foods, you will make a better living while caring for the planet, and you will feel "super happy." That's how he feels.
Francesc closed by exhorting attendees to embark, or continue, on the path to regenerative agriculture.
