Spier Wine Farm, Stellenbosch. Photo: Spier
In this Anthropocene, soil as the foundation needs to be nurtured so that the cycle of life continues. With a push for higher yields in production to cater to the growing population, the WWF Conservation Champions programme gathered like-minded farmers from the Elgin Valley in August for a soil workshop to discuss the importance of soil health and venturing into carbon farming and credits space.
Climate change and carbon farming
Gray Maguire from Climate Neutral Group kickstarted the workshop with why it was beneficial for the wine industry to consider carbon farming. “Implementing sustainable farming practices is the best way to reduce gas emissions and increase soil organic carbon. In this way, a farmer is able to generate high carbon credits which global companies are looking at buying to off-set their carbon footprint,” he continued.
The Climate Neutral Group has been able to setup the AgriCarbon Progamme which helps farmers implement farming systems that help them get verified carbon units. One such system is the Improved Land Management Practices which readily provides data on the activities on the farm while guiding the farmer on how they can generate income from carbon credits.
Anel Blignaut of Blue North echoed Gray's sentiments on the need for the wine industry to start implementing practical measures to reduce their carbon footprint. She highlighted the global shift to carbon tax especially with the implementation on the EU Green deal, which will lead to a 55% decrease in carbon emissions by 2030, with a complete farm-to-fork Strategy by 2050.
“Agriculture is one of the actions listed in the EU green deal, with a focus on growing economies whilst producing food in a sustainable way. It also highlights the production of long-lasting products that can be repaired, recycled and re-used. This will lead to globally competitive and resilient industries,” she continued.
Some producers in the room acknowledged that the global market was steadily creating new product standards which will have to be linked to carbon tax and sustainable farming systems.
Long term cover crop benefits
“Cover crops contribute to soil health and have financial-benefits over a period of time,” says Ivan Jansen van Rensburg of Barenbrug. As an annual viticultural practice, he feels that farmers are need to spot the benefits of what cover crop to plant and where to plant it. With a variety of seeds varying from perennial to annual plantings, he remarked that with a detailed cover crop schedule, farmers can develop a seed pool in the soil that would eventually lead to a year of not buying seeds.
“Medics provides a perfect mulch when dry and would be perfect to plant either on the work row or the bankies as it has a good seeding potential and perfect mulch benefits,” he continued. He further highlighted that with the increase in fertiliser prices, planting leguminous cover crops has become more beneficial as they fix atmospheric nitrogen into the soil.
In conjunction with the myriad of organisms in the soil, Dr Charlene Janion-Scheepers, an ecologist and invertebrate physiologist at the University of Cape Town (UCT), says the interactions of these organisms contribute to the global cycles that make all life possible.” Soil-biota plays a crucial role in preventing soil degradation, they influence soil structure, aeration and decomposition. She further encouraged the need to study soil-biota especially since soil is an integral part of agricultural productivity, biodiversity and the maintenance of ecosystem services.
On the field trip, Oak Valley general manager Neville van Buuren showed the group of attendees the practical benefits of a detailed cover crop programme. “If you sample the top soil next to our orchards, it is buzzing with insects and a hardy seed bank of the Medics that we planted a few seasons, the mulch layer is also a huge benefit to the organic matter content of the soil. This will bring financial benefit, as the cover crop seeds per hectare will be reduced annually.”
Dr. Charlene sampled a few patches in the orchard and proved that the benefits of mulching was yielding good results with a range of organisms and seeds clearly visible.
Value added to alien clearing
The WWF has partnered with Luke Bosher, operations and research and development manager at Senfore, to convert alien and invader cuttings to fertilizer which restores carbon in the soil. “This is a proper value-adding initiative that will not only help clean our river beds but also help farmers replace much needed carbon back to the soil,” says Shelly Fuller, sustainable programme manager for fruit and wine at WWF South Africa.
Their partnership will also ensure that farmers who have for many years struggled with aliens and invaders can have the option of benefiting from the partnership by restoring carbon levels in the soil with cuttings from their farms. Luke presented samples of soils that through their project have seen great improvements with the introduction of Biochar. “The benefits are endless and it is important for the farmer to align the cost to the benefit in the implementation of the project as it contributes to healthy soils on their farm,” he concluded.
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