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Resources to maximize soil health on farms in Sonoma, Napa, and Mendocino Counties
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IN THIS EDITION
- Grower Profile: Roy Oneto, Cakebread Cellars
- Scientist Profile: Glenn McGourty, UC Cooperative Extension
- From the Field: Soil Sampling Update in the Time of COVID-19
- What's New at the Hub: Soil Health Symposium: A Focus on Tillage
- Upcoming Events
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Roy Oneto, Viticulturalist at Cakebread Cellars:
An Interview with Miguel Garcia, Napa RCD
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What motivated you to create a Carbon Farm Plan?
Sustainability and stewardship have always been core values of the Cakebread family. Determining our carbon footprint baseline of current practices on our ranches helps us understand the next steps we need to take towards overall carbon reduction.
How did Napa RCD help you create your Carbon Farm Plan?
After providing site specific information and completing a vineyard tour, Miguel Garcia and his team at the RCD drove the carbon farm planning process. Through our discussions, the Napa RCD was able to create individual farm plans for our properties that focused on understanding our current carbon impact and provided a tailored recommendation on how we could continue to strengthen our practices.
Why is Cakebread interested in Carbon Farm Planning? Why invest in the process?
An investment in sustainability is an investment in the future. Carbon farm planning allows you to see your vineyard through a different lens and then make educated decisions to improve your farming practices. For our vineyards and winery to be successful in the future, we need to have good data and sound research. This will aid our long-term decisions that will have a direct impact on carbon emissions and sequestration.
What are the greatest challenges you see in implementing a Carbon Farm Plan?
The greatest challenge will be reducing tillage on sites that have been historically farmed under full-till practices. While the move to a no-till system may not be possible for all vineyards, we must do our best to reduce the release of greenhouse gasses from our soil into the atmosphere.
As a grower, what do you see as the greatest challenge in reducing your impacts on our climate?
The greatest challenge we face is being limited by technological advance. Agriculture is reliant on fossil fuel-based inputs. While there are currently no viable options to replace fossil fuels, innovation within the next decade should lead to reduced reliance.
How has your relationship with soil changed since beginning this process?
The carbon farm planning process has challenged me to rethink what I believe to be a healthy soil. I scrutinize each tillage pass, whether in row or under vine, and evaluate the necessity of the operation by weighing the benefit against the potential impact. All inputs are evaluated on their ability to improve soil health and biodiversity in the vineyard and surrounding areas.
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Glenn McGourty, UC Cooperative Extension County Director and Viticulture and Plant Science Advisor for Mendocino and Lake Counties:
An Interview with Linda MacElwee and Katy Brantley, Mendocino County RCD
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Glenn McGourty
has spent over 32 years of his career in Mendocino County serving the region and will be retiring this July
. Glenn took some time to share about his experiences and his perspective on the future of wine grape growing and soil health in Mendocino County.
When asked what he sees as the biggest challenges for North Coast Growers in terms of climate change, Glenn responded
“Simple answer, water, water, water!”
Based on studies in the Upper Russian River watershed and the Navarro River watershed, “it turns out that wine grapes are pretty stingy with water, they don’t need a lot compared to other crops. They use about a quarter of what a walnut orchard or a pear orchard would use. But, unfortunately, the time we need to irrigate is also when the flow in our rivers and creeks is about at its lowest, so that means we are probably going to need to build some more water storage in the future.”
“
There are so many benefits to working on healthy soils, and there is so much more that we need to learn
. The first and foremost thing is we want to protect our soils from erosion, we want the soils to be able to absorb water well when it does rain. So part of the resiliency that I see for keeping a vineyard, an agricultural property, in healthy condition is that the less tillage we do, the more organic matter we can keep in the soil, the more resilient the soil is for holding water.” Additionally, “when we have organic matter, we see increases in microbial activity, which usually means that you have a more diverse root zone, and consequently healthier plants, nutrients are cycled better.”
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Soil Sampling Update in the Time of COVID-19
By Isis Howard, Gold Ridge RCD
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Due to COVID-19, the Hub has decided to postpone all further soil assessment work until Spring 2021.
As you may remember from last winter's edition, the North Coast Soil Hub has been conducting soil health assessments to contribute to a
comprehensive North Coast soils database.
The goal of these efforts is to further our understanding of impacts related to
soil health practices
in vineyards across Sonoma, Napa, and Mendocino counties.
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Despite our work being deemed
“essential” in times of COVID
, the Hub collectively agreed to put a pause on this season’s sampling efforts to best protect everyone’s health and safety. Initially, our staff continued with sampling efforts while following the state’s social-distancing protocol: the use of masks and gloves, minimum 6-foot distancing, sanitation of all tools, and separate transportation to field sites. However, it quickly became apparent that further sampling was not practical, especially due to the limited functions at our soils laboratory.
Soil samples must be
fresh
and
alive
when they reach the lab for assessment, so a timely processing is crucial for an accurate reading on soil health.
Unfortunately, the normal timeline was not feasible under current circumstances.
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Soil Health Symposium: A Focus on Tillage
By Christine Kuehn, Sonoma RCD
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This spring, the Sonoma and Gold Ridge RCDs and the Sonoma County Winegrowers held the third annual Soil Health Symposium.
Traditionally a large gathering of vineyard industry professionals, we had to quickly adapt to a virtual format due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
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Our focus this year was on vineyard tillage management
, and we were excited to host
Dr. Patty Skinkis
,
Professor & Viticulture Extension Specialist at Oregon State University
,
as our featured speaker. Her presentation covered the results from a long-term vineyard floor management research trial conducted in a commercial vineyard.
No till
,
alternate row tilling
,
and
clean cultivated alleys
were compared over a 9-year period and monitored for soil moisture, plant water stress, vine growth, and yield.
The Sonoma RCD
also shared its findings from a
3-year vineyard tillage trial
in Kenwood. Thank you to the over 100 participants who logged on to view and engage with the third annual Soil Health Symposium live on Friday, March 13, 2020!
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- Irrigation Workshops, June 24 and June 26 More info will be announced soon at NapaRCD.org
- Soil Health Event (July TBD) More info will be announced soon at NapaRCD.org
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Discover More at SoilHub.org
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