| Biodynamic Farming |
Page 4 of 5 The concept of Biodynamics was introduced to the world in 1924 by Austrian philosopher and educator, Rudolf Steiner, in a series of lectures given to a group of farmers, concerned that years of industrial farming techniques had resulted in dwindling fertility of their land and declining health of their livestock.Steiner was founder of the Anthroposophical Society, a movement dedicated to bridging the gap between the physical and spiritual worlds. He called his lectures ‘Spiritual Foundations for the Renewal of Agriculture’ and the solutions he proposed (including use of the preps and composting) were both practical - to increase microbial life, structure and nutrient availability in the soil - and spiritual: to reconnect the earth to the life forces of the cosmos. See what I mean? While on one hand Biodynamics is eminently sensible, on the other hand it’s pretty challenging - if not downright confronting - for many ‘conventional’ grape growers. So why are so many Australian winemakers - not to mention a growing band of vineyard owners across the globe - busy burying cow horns, consulting their astro calendars and piling up their compost heaps? The answer is simple: because Biodynamics appears to really make a difference. Some producers have come to Biodynamics for reasons of environmental sustainability and health. When Rob and Pauline Bryans, for example, bought their 120-hectare Avonmore Estate farm near Elmore in the hot, flat country north of Bendigo close to twenty years ago, the soil was exhausted, dry and dusty. The Bryans saw Biodynamics as a way of bringing life back into their land, and now have a thriving, healthy farm running sheep and cattle, growing cereals, and vines - and a winery, where son Shaun has joined his father at the fermenting vats. The Bryans took me out to their vineyard and stuck a fork into the soil under the vines. Unlike the light, flyaway structure of the dirt in other farms in the area, this was well-structured, friable, chocolatey, and had worms wriggling contentedly through it. ‘I find a lot of the spiritual side of it a bit frustrating,’ said Rob Bryans. ‘But look at that soil: as a means to an end, all I can say is that the Biodynamic methods work.’ ‘You just have to look at the animals,’ continued Pauline. ‘Because they’re eating healthy grass, the cows don’t get bloat, the sheep are never vaccinated and we never have to drench them. We have a bloke with a mobile abattoir who kills a couple of lambs for us each season, and every time he comes here he says he’s never seen livers in such good condition.’ For renowned South Australian viticulturist Prue Henschke, BD is the logical extension of an ongoing conservation process she had already intitiated in some of the Eden Valley’s most famous old vineyards, Hill of Grace and Mount Edelstone. ‘We’ve been moving towards organics in the vineyards for ages,’ says Henschke. ‘We’ve been mulching under-vine and planting native grasses as a permanent sward between the vine rows. But then I went to a Biodynamic workshop in June last year and realised that it aligns with the way I think about soil management.’ ‘The essence of BD,’ Henschke continues, ‘is soil health and condition. It’s about increasing the fungal life and bacterial activity in the interstitial spaces in that soil, making more nutrients available to the vine’s roots.’ Again, it’s the practical results rather than the spiritual aspects that have convinced Henschke: after initial trials and a bit of fun making her own cow pat pit (which she sensibly calls ‘cow pat peat’) she is in the process of converting all her Keyneton vineyards (including Hill of Grace), plus a few others such as a chardonnay block in the Adelaide Hills - about 40 hectares all up - to Biodynamics. |
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