2012 Organic Vintage Report

By Sam Statham

The dust, or rather the mud, has finally settled after a marathon 2012 vintage of Rosnay organic wines and figs, and so we have time to post a brief rundown:

The season was very mild, in fact we could hardly call it a summer as there was only 5 days over 35 degrees maximum, and only 22 days that got over 30 degrees. Meanwhile we had regular rain and we hardly needed to irrigate at all. The biggest issue early in the season was keeping the grass down and managing the rampant canopy growth in the Shiraz. The new Fischer mower did a fantastic job, as long as you dont push it too hard and chop through the occasional vine trunk with it. It has a sensor that tiggers the hydraulic mower heads to move around the vines and mow the weeds under them. For controlling the canopy of the Shiraz, which by December was nearly touching between the rows, we began with hedge shears, and then upgraded to a petrol hedge trimmer mounted on the front of the suzuki ute, which did a fantsastic job as long as you drove very carefully.

Like last vintage we had serious mildew pressure, but this time we kept on top of it with sulfur and vegetable oil, and we got through to Christmas without powdery mildew. It was not until after the Chardonnay was harvested that we found mildew on some on the foliage, but that no longer mattered much. Meanwhile the floods came and put a real dampener on our expectations, but the reds actually held up amazingly well, again reinforcing in our minds that organic and biodynamic methods are the best especially late in the season, as many non-organic vineyards in the region had to abandon their reds. Due to the late season disease pressure, I again will avoid drinking mass produced conventional reds from 2012, as plenty of spraying was necessary.

Looking back now, as a result of the mild season, the vines actually cropped very well, and the quality in some of the vineyards was the best we have ever had, especially the Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet.

These are my diary notes for the Rosnay 2012 Vintage:

Birds of Rosnay

Bird photos taken in and around Rosnay by French bird watchers Jacky and Miyuki Galloy, December 2011-January 2012.

Winter 2011 Seasonal Notes

The Good Oil
Our last season report was after vintage, looking back on one hell of a difficult summer season. Now, looking back, we can only say, thank god for Canowindra's heavenly mild winters. Since the end of the grape harvest, its just been beautiful here. The olive harvest was the main remaining task, beginnning with the olive oil varieties. Like many growers this year, we had a big crop of water-laden fruit. More tonnes on the truck, but less oil coming back form the press. The unfiltered oil has slightly more acid in it than last year (0.3% FFA) but the flavour is deliciously mild, fruity and with a nice little pungent zing at the end. It has a lovely green colour and a nice cloudy hue of goodness that many of our customers ask for.

We have been bottling the oil for the last few weeks, having a few issues with new bottles and closures, now sorted. We have been labelling this week with our beautiful new labels featuring the Gold "O".  If you are an oil lover, why not order a four litre tin or a 6-pack of bottles for friends?

Is it organic? A healthy reality check...

by Sam Staham
Sometimes you read or view something that challenges your beliefs. Its generally quite a healthy little seed of doubt in the window box of your world view, that grows until you can no longer ignore it, but need to double check your thinking software.

"Is it Organic", by Mischa Popoff, is one such book. A friend of mine and organic farmer lent it to me. Popoff's 600 page book was published last year in the US, and its the most vehement attack on organic farming certification and practices that I have read. Popoff claims to be a believer in organics, and bases his authority on the fact that he was once an organic farm auditor, and is the son of a farmer.
Popoff's main gripe is the fact that organic certification does not require routine and/or random product and paddock testing for chemicals. This main grievance is built up with a host of angry accusations, calling organic farmers luddites and suckers for idealistic urban elites, calling organic food too expensive and no more wholesome, calling certifiers corrupt with vested intersts, and calling the government a fascist conspiracy.

I had to wade though a lot of emotional words to get to the realisation that Popoff, however angry he is at having been marginalised for his views, does raise a fundamental issue.

Rosnay shiraz and merlot escape Powdery Mildew and Botrytis: happy days...

It was a big day last Monday after a huge Flickerfest weekend. We harvested grapes for over 9 hours, Richard and Sam relaying the 6 tonne trailers back and forth to the Windowrie winery, clocking up 40 tonnes of Shiraz and Merlot for the 2011 Rosnay Triple Blend. This is the last pick before the Cab Sauv, the final hurrah whose date depends on how the canopy holds up as autumn washes over us.

It was not without incident... we had three trailer tyres blow out on us towing the grapes to the winery. But after the battle to get a crop of good fruit over the last season a few tyres didnt slow us down.

In our last vintage report we focused on Downy Mildew, and whilst we had passed farly well through the first half of the season and avoided the brunt of the downy mildew, we still faced the hardest months before we could bank on a crop. The greatest challenges to the grape grower after christmas is late season powdery mildew and then botrytis. Well, we didnt worry about "the bot" as organic vineyards dont get it, or not nearly as much, as conventional (with a good example of that in Orange this year). Our bigger concern was

Powdery Mildew.... Arch enemy

It was 9 years ago but it seems like yesterday... We were out selective hand picking chardonnay in February 2002. Tonnes were being dropped to the ground. The winemaker's nostrils were flaring over our shoulders as he made sure we didnt pick any infected fruit. Fruit with the mildew on it has a strong musty or mushroomy smell and flavour.

Spas, B and Bs and Retreats go Organic!

Have you ever wanted to get away from the stress of daily life, in a beautiful location, and immersing yourself in organic and eco-living? Spanning the east coast of Australia, we have friends who run Bed and Breakfasts Spas and Luxury Retreats that offer not only that, but Rosnay wines to boot...

North QLD: Whitsunday Organic Bed and Breakfast
This is probably Australia's first B and B to aim to provide a complete organic experience. Owned and run by the delightful Kepke family, it sits on the heights of Airlie Beach overlooking the famous Whitsunday Islands. The Kepke family have maintained the organic ethos of the B and B, growing their own organic garden and supplying organic food and wine, but adding to that years of European restaurant experience and extra luxuries like organic massage. Check out this video that was just on Queensland Weekender!

Edge of the Tractor Seat: Aussie GM Test Case Brewing in WA

by Sam Statham
Organic farmer Steve Marsh from near Kojonup in WA had an unexpected Christmas present last year. He was informed by the WA Government that his farm, which was certified organic, had Genetically Modified canola growing on it more than 1.5km inside his property boundary.

The response from his organic certifier, NASAA (the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture in Australia) was swift and clear. In a press release on 3 January, NASAA announced that in line with the Australian Standard for Organic and Biodynamic Products, it had no choice but to decertify the affected areas of the property, indefinitely. Steve therefore will suffer a substantial loss of income for his organic produce.

Steve's lawyer Richard Huston was appointed in accordance with the recommendations of the WA Government, which states in their fact sheets on GM Canola that the common law is the appropriate manner to pursue damages claims with regard to contamination. Of course, the voice for the farming establishment, the Western Graingrowers Committee, attacked Steve's claim for damages as "ridiculous".

As I have been involved in the GM and organic debate in the past, I might weigh in on this. Steve's claim is not ridiculous at all. What is ridiculous is the way the Howard government set up the approvals process for GM crops a decade ago.

The Gene Technology Act (2000) openly states that it does not take into account economic impacts of GM crops. Lets not get into what it does actually consider, except that Australia follows the US doctrine of "substantial equivalence" in its view of GM food and its risks to consumers and the environment. Therefore, GM canola oil products do not have to be labelled so consumers cant choose to avoid them. The health and safety review process does not take into account the precautionary principle nor require the GM patenters to prove their products' safety with decent, independent studies. See here  for a submission on this from the Biological Farmers of Australia.

The Gene Technology Act passed the buck onto the State governments. Initially moratoriums were introduced in the mid 2000's, and these have come to an end in what can only be seen as a "soft launch" of GM cropping after the opposition of the organic industry and other opponents had been defeated by industry PR spin and back room lobbying. I recommend an excellent book if you are interested in how our food choices are formed from closed board rooms, by Associate Professor Richard Hindmarsh, Centre for Governance and Public Policy, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith Univeristy, published 2008, called "Edging Towards BioUtopia: A New Politics of Reordering Life". You can buy it online at New South Books and read Richard's blog at http://rhindmarshblogg.blogspot.com/

An example of the crushing defeat of political common sense is the seminar organised by me on behalf of the Biological Farmers of Australia in the NSW Parliament House, before the NSW moratorium was ended in 2008, when not one MP turned up at the seminar. The BFA had Australia's leading scientists and agri-business leaders to present on the risks of ending the moratorium, speaking to an empty auditorium.

Our leaders had already made up their mind that "She'll be right". They also beleived, rightly,  that State governments should never have been passed the buck for managing the economic impacts of GM crops, as this is a national issue anyway. In fact, passing the buck to the States simply meant that sooner or later, Australia would be growing GM canola. And now we are.

Since the end of the NSW moratorium on GM, I have seen gales carry windrows of canola hundreds of metres into neighbouring farms. I have seen crops unharvestable and spilling seed onto the ground due to repeated heavy rains, no doubt to be washed over the well herbicided soil onto neighbouring property. I have attended a local Cowra Shire Council meeting asking that the Council at least identify where the GM canola is growing, so that its spread on Council land could be managed. The GM grower, at the same meeting, successfully agrued for Council to keep its head in the sand. As he is only a few km away from me, I am awaiting intently the results of the Steve Marsh case, because even if we do not grow Canola or wheat any more, we have organic sheep. The NASAA decision was based on the new Australian Standard which despite years of government and industry committee reviews, has not abandoned its zero tolerance policy for GM organisms on organic farms.

I am not optimistic for Steve, as the last test case  of Monsanto v Schmeiser in Canada showed that Goliath cannot be beaten using common law. See www.percyschmeiser.com or listen to this mp3 recording from Percy at a meeting in the UK.


I beleive this is a landmark test case for organic farmers, conventional farmers who oppose GM, and consumers now and in the future.

As far as I know, all we can do is support Steve through a fighting fund established for him.

What do you think? Please throw in your two bob's worth in the comments, and be transparent if you have a barrow to push!

Full moon rise over Shiraz, 18 January

We dont take photos often enough... Too busy working. But this moment was magic!

Downy Mildew: Worst in 20 years

Right now, chemical suppliers can hardly keep up with demand for fungicides to control what is said to be the largest downy mildew outbreak Australia has seen for 2 decades. According to ABC Radio, Riverland branch of chemical producer, Landmark, says it has sold up to 10 times the amount of downy mildew chemicals it usually would at this time of year. Good news for them, but not good news for wine drinkers.

Downy mildew is a fungus that can spread rapidly in vineyards in the wet weather we have had recently. Primary infection is said to occur through rainsplash from the ground, though this is hard to see happening when the ground is densely covered with grass and weeds, as is the case here. The oily spots that develop on the odd vine then spread with subsequent rain and can kill the grape flowers. I took this photo in a neighbouring vineyard a few days ago, and you can see the slimy brown remains of the bunch flowers. In the worst case, ALL the flowers die and you get no fruit. The good news is that once the berries have developed from the flowers they are much more resistant, and it doesnt affect quality at harvest, like other diseases (powdery mildew and botrytis) This photo was taken after the 100mm we received last Thursday 9 December 2010.

We cannot claim to have no mildew at Rosnay now, and would say that any grower claiming not to have some probably hasnt looked hard enough. When we first saw oil spots in our Shiraz we incubated them in a plastic bag overnight with some wet tissue paper in it, and the classic "down" of fluffy white fungus grew overnight. Since then we have been spraying copper and sulfur (both organically approved) every 2 weeks or so, or about 3 times in total. We avoid spraying with the tractor (as in this photo) unless the ground is firm and dry, to avoid pugging and compacting it. However, we have also been spraying with biodynamic silica and equisetum (horsetail) tea with the Suzuki ute which is relatively lightweight and fast (doing 4-5 rows at a time), meaning we can do it when the ground is a bit wet. Silica helps make the vines tissue more tough and turgid.

After looking at the neighbours place I raced to see if it was the same at Rosnay, and looked in the Shiraz, where we have historically had the most downy. To my amazement, I have actually found very little bunch infection, but of course plenty of leaf infection. The vines seemed to be standing up much better, and the canopy, being hand pruned, is much more open to air and light. As you can see from this photo, there is not much mildew, and the grapes are uninfected. Our view, as expained elwhere in this blog, is that organic farming makes the vines tougher and more resistant, whilst systemic chemicals (ie metalaxyl and phosphoric acid) create weakness in the vines tissues, especially for late season infection with botryis. Systemics also suffer from problems of resistance and residues in the finished wine.

The big test will happen when it warms up, and if we get a heat wave some bunches that appear to be fine may not actually be fine. If it dries out enough, the next organic weapon to try will be compost tea, which we have tried int he past without success, but which is said to work against downy. We are in uncharted waters, and will keep you posted. If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to comment!

Arrowleaf Clover - Wonder Legume

As you would know if you've done organic gardening, legumes are the fertility generators of an organic system.

Legumes fix nitrogen from the atmosphere through a symbiotic relationship with rhizobia bacteria that live on their roots and form little "nodules" on them. We love our many legumes, including white clover, sub clover, and this season especially, arrowleaf clover.

Arrowleaf is a late grower, taking advantage of wet springs like the one we are having now (95mm in the last 48hours!). It is upright (up to a metre), with a tough stem, and deep taproot. On a freely drained, deep gravel soil arrowleaf clover roots have extended beyond 1.5 m. Its an amazing soil builder and protector - with a biomass that helps smother  summer weeds like catheads.

Its also quite hard seeded, which means the seeds will survive in the ground for long enough to regrow next year, even if it has been eaten by sheep (hence sheep can help spread it around too).

Arrowleaf is native to Italy, Greece, Turkey, the Balkan Peninsula, the Ukraine, the western Caucases and southern Russia.

We have "Zulu" arrowleaf through out most of our vineyards, and we intend to spread it around more. Our front driveway paddock is full of it, so if it dries out enough, we hope to harvest some seed from it (as its a good old public variety). If you want some, just tell us in the comments box below and we'll make sure you get some.

Biodynamics - Try it before you get skeptical

We began practicing the biodynamic (BD) method of agriculture at Rosnay in 1997, when we started. At the time, it was just part of a "shotgun" approach to organic farming - throwing absolutely everything we could at getting the soil back to life, and growing healthy plants. To this day we do not profess to be BD "gurus" but simply BD "believers", as our own experience as growers has led us to increasingly favour biodynamic methods over the standard organic ones.

Our journey into Biodynamics began when Sam read a book in his late grandfather, Clive Statham's collection, called "Biodynamic Gardening" by John Soper. Clive was a doctor, open minded, and an avid gardener, hence his interest in this, much-derided philosophy of farming and gardening.

Soper's book was full of practical tips, developed from the original lectures of the Austrian philosopher Rudolph Steiner, who was a scientist who looked beyond tangible matter into the etheric and astral forces which influence soil, plant, animal and human health. In the 1920's, long before Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and the mainstream Organic farming movement, Steiner took ancient experience such as lunar planting rhythms and built a radical system of agriculture which is low input and self reliant. Put simply, the unseen "life forces" of the farm are manipulated or used with strategic application of various "preparations", all of which may be produced on the farm using herbs, manures and minerals. In our experience, Biodynamic methods help produce improved qualities such as shelf life, flavour and cell structure.

After reading Soper's book, Sam learnt more about the biodynamic way of thinking by working on BD farms in New Zealand, this continuing with Richard, Florence and Sam's visits to BD farms and vineyards in Australia in 1997. The practical and first hand study of BD farms made us into committed practitioners, as the BD farms simply looked healthier.

For the last 13 years, we simply followed the presciptions of the Biodyamic Farming and Gardening Association (now "Biodynamics Australia") of spraying the BD preparations at least once per year, usually 3 times. Over that time, we slowly developed our stirring methods from hand stirring in a barrel to the "Vortex" flowforms used today.

We have no doubt that the use of Preparation 500 ("Horn Manure") and the compost preparations (various herbal stimulants) has led to a richer, darker, more porous soil, which is above all notable by its rich smell of the forest floor. We have seen and measured a rapid increase in ripeness promoted by Preparation 501 ("Horn Silica"), even though this was above all a lesson on the need to use this homeopathic "magnifying glass" with great caution in our warm to hot climate. We have employed the technique of "peppering" to control starlings, who decimated the chardonnay in 1999, keeping them out by simply spraying their potentised ash around the perimeter of the vineyard at the correct astrological time. Currently we are experimenting with the use of Valerian (Preparation 507) to prevent frost damage.

These are demonstrated and tangible benefits which have been discounted for far too long by the mainstream of reductionist, materialist science. Our view is that biodynamics cannot hurt - in start contrast with newer technologies such as genetic engineering. Working with nature is not a new concept, and therefore cannot be patented and sold for profit, and therefore is not being supported by mainstream political parties.

Have you tried using biodynamics in your own farm, vineyard or garden? We'd love to get your comments. 

More information:

• To get into biodynamics, start with Biodynamic Agriculture Australia's website
• To download a paper presented by Sam to the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology at Mildura, in August 2009, click here
• For more reading from Max Allen regarding biodynamics and wine, click here
• For another practical view, visit the Castagna vineyard website
• Biodynamic Wine wiki

Organic farming - why are we doing it?

Its harder. We make less money. We have a lot of explaining to do to our neighbours. We are in fragmented and fringe industry. But, we have been growing our grapes, olives and other crops organically for over 13 years. Why?

Is probably because we believe its the best way to grow food, and we are not alone. Albeit from a small base, certified organic agriculture is the fastest growing food sector in the world, and most recently IBISWorld said it had the best growth potential for Australia too this year.

The reason for this post is not only a "reality check" after 13 years of doing it, but also a response to many people in the aussie wine industry who continue to "poo poo" organics, especially from scientific circles. The wine industry has proposed an alternative "eco" label, but nowhere in the scheme is organics recognised as good enough to be automatically compliant. It didnt even get a mention in a recent presentation we went to. Well as an organic grower, it would seem that there are a lot of conventional growers in this country who want to jump on the eco bandwagon but who still cant make the paradigm shift to drop the use of chemicals. For us, the paradigm shift was based on three main realisations: 1. Weeds are nature's soil builders; 2. Pests and diseases are symptoms of other problems; and 3. Nutrition is about feeding the soil, not the plant. And besides, poisons are bad for our health.

Of course, it is good to document how many trees you have planted to offset your carbon emissions, or how much you have reduced your water and energy use with technology to get a green "tick" on your product, but if you are still using artificial fertilisers, herbicides, fungicides and pesticides, you have not made the shift. We don't pretend to have all the answers, as the answers are different for each grower, but we think we have made the shift. We have done plenty of trial and error, and we have had plenty of researchers look at what we have done. Looking back over the last 13 years we have been growing crops organically, these are some experiences: 

1. Weeds are nature's soil builders
It was a permaculturalist from Cowra who first said to us, "pattersons curse and all other taprooted broadleaf weeds, are nature's crow bars". Its a great concept. Rather than spray out those bloadleaf weeds, why not leave them since they are opening up the soil with their roots, bringing up nutrients from down deep as they grow, and creating channels for worms and water to go down as they decompose? We did, and after a few years we saw the main "offenders", pattersons curse and capeweed, virtually disappear, to be replaced by grasses and clovers. Grasses are slightly different, as their shallower matted root systems decompose they build a lot of organic matter in the topsoil. Meanwhile the clovers are amazing fertiliser factories, working in symbiosis with soil microbes to turn atmospheric nitrogen into plant available nitrogen. By seeing weeds like this we can stop cultivating to loosen our soil, stop importing expensive materials (eg biochar) to build soil organic matter and carbon, and we can stop burning fossil fuels to produce bags or tanks of plant available nitrogen. Just let the weeds do it!

On Rosnay, we found that such a nice idea doesn't always play out in reality, and its hard to find the right balance between the idea and the need to harvest next year's crop. We have tried a lot of things to "manage" our weeds. Mowing rather than cultivating them is ideal as it reduces the competition with the vines without damaging the soil. However, you cant mow under the vines without expensive and/or dangerous equipment. Grazing with sheep does the job beautifully in winter, but its not an option once the vines start to shoot in Spring, and in the olives, you have to watch out they don't ringbark the trees. Spraying with vinegar or pine oil to knock back the most vigorous, competitive weeds like Johnsons grass is costly and not really effective. They just grow back! Chipping weeds by hand works - but would you like to come out and do it?! During all our trial and error, we hoped that eventually the soil will become so fertile that the weeds don't matter. Well, this year we finally bit the bullet and bought an expensive undervine mower, and so far, it looks to be our best decision yet, leaving a nice low mat of weeds under the wines. We'll keep you posted on how it worked for us at the end of this season.

2. Pest and Diseases - Symptoms not Causes

The organic view on pests and diseases is that they are natures "rubbish collectors". One of Australia's seminal little organic gardening books, Natural Control of Garden Pests by Jackie French, says that "Pests help to cull out weak specimens". And here is another quote that is as relevant now as when we first read it 13 years ago: "At best we only understand a few of the complex relationships around us. Attempts to control them may lead to disaster. Instead, we need to learn to work with the processes around us, and to interfere as little as possible". The control to which Jackie refers is the use of "systemic" chemicals which are absorbed into and translocated throughout the plant to kill invading pests or diseases from the inside. This is what stops most grape growers we know from taking the organic plunge - they still want to be able to use their "DMI's" (the most common systemic fungicides) to control powdery mildew. Well, they are not permitted in organic farming, so you have to minimise disease through plant health, or by altering the conditions to reduce the disease, for example, by opening the canopy to air and light. The organic standards do allow plenty of good, safe options, such as sprays of soap or milk, bicarbonate of soda, vegetable oils, diluted elemental sulfur or biodynamic silica to strengthen the leaves against attack. Similarly for insect pests - a recurring seasonal infestation is probably a symptom of unhealthy plants and/or an unbalanced ecosystem due to overuse of pesticides. By not spraying you actually encourage beneficial parasites and predators to keep the pests in natural balance. Failing this you can apply natural or biological products to control them - but only if you see the problem early enough. Weeds also increase the diversity of habitats for beneficial insects. For example, small flowered plants are great for predatory wasps, which lay their eggs inside pest caterpillars!

On Rosnay, there have been seasons where there were so many caterpillars in the grass that the mower seems to be moving when you looked at it due to the sheer number of them that ended up on it after mowing a row of vines. But they never ended up causing damage to the vines, because there were also so many other insects that predated or parasitised them. Since about 2000, we have not controlled pests in any way, and since about 2007, we have not sprayed anything on the vines for powdery mildew except sulfur on the most susceptible variety, chardonnay, and only early in the season.

3. Feed the soil, not the plant
To quote Jackie again, "If you have pest problems in your garden, improve your soil with mulch and compost". That's why organic farmers apply natural forms of fertiliser, such as compost and worm cast, building the soil's organic matter, humus and biological activity. Animals are also essential, transforming cover crops into manure, to return to the soil as humus to feed the plants naturally. Artificial, water-soluble fertilisers actually make the plants unhealthy, because they force their way into the plants when the plants only wants a drink of water. The vigorous but soft, sappy growth is susceptible to pests and disease. However, when humus and the soil ecosystem are well developed, and no artificial fertilisers are applied, the vine can drink clean water, or it can absorb nutrients, as required, and it is therefore healthier and the fruit is more nutritious.

On Rosnay, we have used a mix of these methods, though they have not always worked perfectly. For example, we have applied green waste mulch from the Cowra tip as a mulch to our poorest performing variety, only to find it performed even worse afterwards. We now believe this was due to nitrogen being taken from the soil by the breakdown of the carbon-rich wood chips in the mulch. Of course, we cant just blame the mulch - the vines also needed more water, which we didn't have.

Are you with us?

This post tries to explain why we farm Rosnay organically. Whether or not it has convinced you of the value of organic farming, let me just say how amazingly positive to live on a farm that doesn't smell of Roundup and other common farm chemicals. I used to work on conventional farms, spraying herbicides that would give a headache at the end of each day spraying. Hypochondriac maybe, but there is more and more proof emerging that chemical exposure is bad for us long term - eg leukemia in children. Many believe that farm chemicals go hand in hand with the creation of "mega farms" and corporate land-grabbing - as they allow savings in labour and simplification of management. Likewise with genetic engineering of crops, where chemicals must be used or putting toxins into plants themselves.

No doubt these are controversial statements and hopefully they will lead to a few comments and questions, but they are simply my experience as an organic farmer surrounded by conventional farmers who use chemicals and GM seeds. Thanks for your interest.

Go Organic! Australian organic industry hits $1 Billion mark

According to the Australian Organic Market Report 2010 commissioned by the Biological Farmers of Australia, the Australian organic industry is tipped this year to become an AUS$1 billion industry.

“The results are testament to the resourcefulness and maturity of the organic industry, as well as highlighting the diversity and innovation of this market sector,” said BFA Director and report co-author Dr Andrew Monk.

Independently researched by the University of New England (UNE) in Armidale NSW, the report assists the commercial sector by contributing to business decisions and business planning in farming, value adding or retail and trade operations, while also directing government policy and general investment.

Key Findings:

• More than 60% of Australian households now buy organic on occasion, up from 40% in 2008.

• Organic domestic retail sales have grown over 50% in 2 years (from $623M to $947M)

• In 2010 retail sales are expected to pass the $1B mark

• Some stand out performers include: essential oils production (up 155%) feeding the growing cosmetics sector; Poultry (eggs) (75%); Milk & dairy (36%); and wine (16.5%).

• 91% of Australians say "chemical-free" is important to them, being a stand out feature of organic production.

• The organic industry employs an estimated 25,000 people domestically, while organic farmers tend to be younger on average than non-organic farmers.

Gm crops take us down a scary road

I recently had the privelige of chairing two local public meetings during the recent tour of two North American farmers, Ross Murray and Moe Parr. After feeling somewhat demoralised by the NSW government’s ending of the GM crop moratorium last year, meeting these two farmers gave me new motivation to keep trying to hold back in the “race to the bottom” that is corporate-controlled, genetically modified farming.

Without trying to tell the whole story, there were a few key points which I thought I should share with you.

The first one, was a comment from Canadian canola grower Ross Murray that in the 13 years since the release of GM canola by Bayer and Monsanto, NO NEW VARIETIES have been released. This was interesting because pro-GM farmers I have spoken to say that the poor yield (0.7t/ha) of the GM canola compared to the non-GM canola (0.8t/ha) was because the moratorium stopped the release of newer and better GM varieties. But in Canada, there have been no new releases anyway. Ross beleives that the profits from the technology fees should be ging into new variety breeding, but its just going into corporate pockets. Anywa, Ross was clear on the poor performance of GM canola: “GM canola doesn’t yield more, it costs more to grow and now farmers in Canada don’t have a choice because non GM canola has been eliminated by genetic contamination.”

The second interesting point was from Moe Parr, a United States seed harvester for nearly thirty years. In 2007 he was sued by the bio-tech company Monsanto for “aiding, abetting and encouraging” farmers to break patent laws by collecting seeds from their crops for re-use in the next season. One point he made which was interesting was that in his lifetime, the number of seed companies in Indiana has gone from 60 to ONE! There may appear to be more companies, but he says that they are all now owned by one comany - and guess who? Like Ross, Moe said that “Because of contamination and monopoly control of seeds by bio-tech companies in the United States, it is almost impossible to go back to non-GM crops. “

Both farmers said that Australian farmers still had a choice whether they want to go down the GM path or not.But once there is a critical mass, which is what the companies want, this choice will be gone, due to contamination.

The myth that organic farming cant feed the world

I just read another article on organic food with unquestioning reporting of “findings” that organic farming cant feed the world. This is a myth. It has been professionally propagated by the corporate “agricultural right” as a way of undermining organic farming. Consider this fact: Since 1961 global output has tripled, while the population has doubled. The food is not getting to the people who need it, because of globalisation. Cargill, the world’s biggest grain trader, recorded an 86% profit increase from grain trading in the first quarter of this year, while ADN, the second biggest, posted a 67% profit increase in 2007. Meanwhile, in 2007 farmers globally produced 2.3 billion tonnes of grain, up 4% on 2006. Global supermarket chains are enjoying record profit growth, investment funds have moved from stocks to commodities, further driving up prices, and the biofuels market is diverting yet more food from the needy.

I am organic farmer, and I admit our yield is lower that our neighbours. However, as my neighbours are high-input, largely corporate operations, this is comparing apples with oranges. An organic farm is a low input operation which is inherently more sustainable because it is less reliant on manufactured, energy intensive inputs. It is a self sustaining organism, it is more resilient to climate change, drought and peak oil (for example, Cuba’s organic farming now feeds the whle country). Organic farms are productive on more levels. For example, at “Rosnay” we run sheep in our vineyard to produce free, non-leaching fertility, as well as meat and wool. As for pesticides and herbicides - they are an addiction. Most weeds actually build fertility, and many “pests” are actually needed to feed the beneficials. And nobody can deny the costs of pesticides and fertiliser leachate on health and the environment.

The article rightly pointed out the problem of economies of scale, which is our biggest challenge in running a commercial organic wine and olive business. But the article needed to mention that in the places where food is scarcest, the third world, its the small scale organic farms that are actually feeding people. Their yield per hectare is higher than the colonial style export oriented plantations, but they are more labour intensive, and hence are less “profitable”. The World Bank and the IMF want mechanised, monocultural, export-oriented plantations to generate export commodities, not food for the hungry. They and the “agricultural right” have created the low-productivity myth to support their globalisation agenda, in particular the acceptance of GM foods.

See www.grain.org/articles/?id=39/ for more info.

Organic wine is twice as good for the planet

GOOD news for eco-conscious wine connoisseurs: a little of what you fancy need not cost the Earth, but only if it’s organic.

Valentina Niccolucci and colleagues from the University of Siena, Italy, measured the resources used to grow, package and distribute wine made from Sangiovese grapes at two farms in Tuscany 30 kilometres apart. The organic farm used only natural fertilisers and pesticides, and most operations were done by hand, while the other used conventional methods of production. The team worked out the resources needed to support the making of each wine - its “eco-footprint”.

A bottle from the organic farm had an eco-footprint of 7.17 square metres, half that of the non-organic wine with a footprint of 13.98 square metres. This is because the mechanised production used more land and non-recycled glass (Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2008.05.015).

Though it’s not clear that organic food is always eco-friendly, the team say wine producers could shift to organic systems to reduce their overall ecological impact.

From issue 2671 of New Scientist magazine, 01 September 2008, page 15

How does organic farming affect climate change?

Part two of this pertinent email question - and the topic on everyone's mind - climate change.

I dont have an axe to grind here, but as a farmer, I know that I am part of an industry that will be VERY heavily affected by both climate change and peak oil. And agriculture is also a heavy contributor to it. It is estimated that food production, distribution and preparation contribute 30% of global greenhouse emissions. However numerous studies have shown that CO2 emissions from organic farming are 40-60% lower per hectare than for conventional farming systems.
There's so much debate in this area that I can only point out some of the factors that may contribute to this:
1. The production of artificial chemicals and fertilisers is energy intensive. It takes as much energy to produce a tonne of fertilisers as it does to produce a tone of steel. This fact was brought to my attention by a supplier of a unique alternative to artificial fertilisers - a product called "Twin N" which is a nitrogen fixing bacteria naturally occurring in the Amazon and which has been isolated and "farmed" for use on organic and biological farms - with almost no carbon footrint. The use of compost, recycled waste and non-genetically engineered biological fertilisers is central to organic farming.
2. The killing of soil life is also the burning out of soil carbon. Organic farms by definition depend on soil carbon to remain viable. If they do not conserve organic matter and slowly build the organic carbon of the soil they will not produce crops beyond the conversion period. Our soil organic matter has triple since we have been using organic farming methods ond conserving soil, thus sequestering many tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere. Our annual organic audit takes this into account to make sure we are viable and sustainable. Burning of crop residues is also still practiced in my part of Australia - but it is not permitted in organic systems.
3. The industrialisation of farming is energy intensive. Massive sheds sull of birds under lights, or feedlots where cattle are fed grain rations for up to 500 days until they are too fat and unhealthy to stand up if they fall over... This is the style of agriculture that is both inhumane, wasteful of resources, and unhealthy for animals and consumers. It is not natural for cattle to eat grain rations carted from hundreds of kilometres away - they should be out eating pasture. My own experience with feedlot manure is that it has an aweful smell and does not compost properly - and I bet that feedlotted animals also release more methane. Feedlots are not permitted in organic farming.
4. Organic food is often over-packaged and transported excessive distances by centralised supermarket distribution systems. This is a down side which can be reduce by wise consumer decisions at point of sale. Organic standards stipulate a preference for recylclable or renewable packaging, but this is not heavily enough enforced. In the UK transport is now being considered, with most airfreighted fruit and vegetables now no longer eligible for organic status.

All the above considered, we beleive that the federal governments support of more intensive, chemical dependent and genetically engineered agriculture is a step in the wrong direction for our future climate.

How big is the organic industry today?

Email question I received: Do you have any figures on the organic industry in NSW - how big, how fast it's growing, how much exported, farmer income, climate benefits compared to conventional?
"Starting with the size - I have information from the Biological Farmers of Australia, the largest organic certifying organisation Australia, of which we have been members for 10 years. Global organic food and drink sales are now pushing the US$40 billion mark. In Australia the market was worth A$400 million in 2006, and the area certified was a massive 12.3 million hectares - the largest in the world. There were 2567 certified organic operators in Australia in 2006, of which 1700 were certified by Australian Certified Organic.
Consumption seems to be tied to income and education - those in the know and who can afford to be "progressive consumers" are in the rich world. Over 70% of organic exports from Australia are destined to Europe (Austrade 2003), with the Asian market growing strongly. Rosnay wine is growing steadily in its main export market, Japan.
Climate benefits... that will have to be the subject of a future post... "