Consider biodynamics

Viticulture and dairy are two of the best areas of agriculture for revealing the virtues of biodynamics - viticulture because quality is what wine excellence is all about and dairy because every tank of milk is tested for quality. Biodynamics is about quality and self-sufficiency. Both depend on life force to attract nitrogen from the atmosphere rather than using fertilisers.

Chemical agriculture is largely a 20th century phenomenon based on the great 19th century chemist, Justus von Liebig’s premise that plants only take up nutrition as soluble salts - an assumption he repudiated toward the end of his life. However, by then the fertiliser industry was making great strides by capitalizing on his error.

The shortcomings of this ‘chemical’ agriculture became the starting point for Biodynamic Agriculture, which is why Rudolf Steiner introduced his Agriculture Course in 1924.

But, by then the chemical approach had received a strong head boost from the discovery in 1909 of the Haber Process which produced ammonia from natural gas and air.

Meanwhile, biodynamic agriculture was pigeonholed and marginalized as a cult of true believers rather than a scientific method born ahead of its time.

Chemical agriculture approaches things with massive doses of soluble salts, while ignoring biology and generally being unaware of life forces.

On the other hand, the biodynamic approach is described by its name. Bio means life, and dynamics means forces or processes.

With biodynamics the first priority is imparting life processes. Supporting biological life with mineral inputs follows from there.

Biodynamics differs from other methods in that it sows life processes as a way to achieve a self-sufficient farm organism. Though it requires a big change in thinking, this low cost approach guarantees growers’ pocket profits rather than merely supporting monolithic industries.

Nowadays, in any given region of the world, there generally are farmers practicing biodynamics successfully.

There is no better or more efficient way of producing quality wine, milk or any other sort of farm produce. If one masters the biodynamic method, all the products will be of the highest quality.

Each soil and location is unique, and some might think the steep, rocky, shales of Germany’s Moselle Valley vineyards, or thin, almost inaccessible Swiss Alpine pastures were not suitable for agriculture - but both are renowned for quality production.

The challenge with biodynamics is to bring out the unique ‘terroir’ of a vineyard or the cohesive organisation of a fine dairy rather than to aim for