Hello, Fatigue: Day 3 of Napa RISE
I am exhausted. This feels incredibly messy and hard. Then someone points out that that's because... it *is* messy and hard.
If you’re joining this party here in the middle, I strongly recommend you catch up first on my preface posts, so you know where this cold shower of hodgepodge notes is coming from!!
By Day 3 of Napa RISE, I was wondering if it would be okay to bring my sleeping bag so I could cuddle up in a corner between workshops. How did I forget to bring a coat every single chilly morning? And why did I feel compelled to take such lengthy notes and share them every day with every one of you? Because I am a pleaser and because I care so deeply about the importance of this content and this information getting out to as many people as possible.
I am deeply freaked out about the longevity of our wine industry and my beverage of choice and our planet, and I feel deeply convicted that everyone needs to DO SOMETHING—ANYTHING—NOW to help. But I’m also realizing as I get older that events like this, socializing like this, and taking in information like this is… really exhausting. I am not the chipper young gun I once was, and I suspect my formerly extroverted self is becoming more of an introvert. Six hours on three back-to-back-to-back days is… 🥴.
Nevertheless, here we are. It’s Day 3 of Napa RISE: Proactive Farming, Soil Health & Biodiversity, and I’m starting to think I’ve slipped into a dissociative fugue and time has turned inwards on itself, because we didn’t we talk so much about this yesterday?! I rolled in a little late and a lot overwhelmed, took another 132 pages of notes and wonder if my child’s weird feverish flu symptoms are coming for me.
Here’s some of what I wrote down and you might care about…
THE TLDR: OVERVIEW OF THE DAY (keep reading below, if you wish, for more detail):
First I VERY disappointingly missed the outdoor workshop that included biochar conversations, but again, I was late and jacket-less and it was 8:47am and 47° in the vineyard. So I slumped upstairs to find a packed house (at least 4x as many people as were present the last two days!) and warm fuzzy talk about sheep, songbirds and owls. I learned that “stacking” sustainable/resilient/regenerative practices is what it’s all about. Do something—anything!—now, and then keep stacking additional practices on top of that as you go along. More benefits come with more of these practices. But don’t let having to do all of them now overwhelm you.
Next we heard from Violet Grgich, President and CEO of Grgich Hills, on their conversion to regenerative farming practices and their Regenerative Organic Certification. I want to just point out here how deeply enamored I am with this initiative, with Violet’s progressive stance here, and with Grgich Hills for leading the way with this certification. In my previous life, I sold wine made by small producers who were working to preserve the planet and its people for the next generation. I often caught flack from “bigger” producers for not carrying their wines, as if my not carrying them meant I was “anti” or “too cool” in some way (even though it was simply an initiative as a small mom-n-pop brand to lift up other small mom-n-pop brands). I am not anti, and I am not too cool. I am particularly impressed with larger estates like Grgich Hills for setting a high standard and making an even bigger impact with their farming! Violet is a dream, and Grgich Hills being woman-run and certified ROC is So. Very. FABULOUS.
As if that weren’t enough gooey goodness so far, next we were bathed in the beautiful, encouraging and calming energy of Chris Renfro, our marquee keynote speaker of the day. He inspired us with the story of his creation of The Two Eighty Project, providing pathways for marginalized people into the wine industry, and offering evidence once again that “the solution to pretty much every challenge is more diversity.”
We ended the day with the panel discussion on “Is Regenerative Ag Our Future?” I mean, yes, obviously. All of my slumping and fatigue were lifted right up out of me by now, because these dreamboat humans were so encouraging, and I felt hope like I haven’t felt in a long time listening to them. TALK TO THESE PEOPLE. My notes are below, but when RISE publishes their video of this, watch it.
MORE DETAILED NOTES:
Workshop II: RISE Results: Herbicide-Free Trials at Chimney Rock + Benefits of Woolly & Flying Workers
Note: This is like THREE presentations in one. I hope you’re ready for mad info.
Contacts: Elizabeth Vianna, Head Winemaker at Chimney Rock Winery; Tim Rodgers, Lead Partner & CEO at Walsh Vineyards Management; Dr. Matthew Johnson, Professor Cal Poly Humboldt; Tommy Fenster, PhD Candidate Horticulture and Agronomy at UC Davis and Researcher with the Gaudin Agroecology Lab and the Ecdysis Foundation
Apologies to Elizabeth for my late arrival, but I did catch up with her at lunch later on to learn more about the successes Chimney Rock has had with going herbicide-free. It hasn’t been without challenges, but it’s also—big picture—been a success!
She was also quick to qualify that she only wishes she’d been able to get this initiative in place earlier, so we got the opportunity to discuss the power of “better late than never.” Within this kind of progressive work, it’s so easy to habitually feel behind or inadequate or ashamed. I know this all too well. It shouldn’t be this way. Just do something—anything!—now! It’s inevitably hard, never without challenges, never without naysayers… but start now, start small, and let the momentum build. Take the “win” for progress whenever and wherever you can.
Short term, this solution has been more expensive. But long term, think about the ROI if, for example, you can shift to only having to replant a vineyard every 45 years instead of every 25 years.
Check out the Napa Green Weed Management Toolkit
Tommy gave an impressive presentation (with a very appropriately academic deck!) about his research that asked, “How did grazing affect soil health and biodiversity?”
Measured soil samples and did insect sweeps at bud break, 50% version, and around 23 brix, also looked at vine health and fertility and yields
Compared vineyard management practices with dormant season grazing and with dormant and growing season grazing to find a “regenerative-conversion” score
Major finding was that grazing is helping reduce both synthetic and organic inputs.
Dormant season grazing is good; dormant + growing season (year-round) grazing is better.
KEY TAKEAWAY = STACKING PRACTICES: the more of these positive/progressive practices you can add, the more healthy your soil will be (measured soil carbon accrual within 30 centimeters depth)
Highest impact practices = permanent ground cover (not just seasonal), grazing, organic amendments, no-till tractor mowing
Grazed v. non-grazed plots:
No difference was noticed in soil salinity, pH, or compaction
Grazing delivered a big increase in biological communities, microbial and fungal communities, greater plant species and insect diversity because no-till creates habitats for them
Grazing is associated with a mild increase in legume growth
No difference noted in yield or berry “quality”
Installing higher fruiting wires allows year-round grazing. This reduces water input which does increase berry quality in heat events.
Dr. Matthew Johnson showed us insanely cute photos of baby bluebirds and owls, which made all of us coo.
A mama bluebird delivers around 80 insects per day to each of her baby chicks. What if those babies were in your vineyard, munching on those insects?
Field of Dreams Hypothesis: If you build it, they will come. Yes! As it turns out, if you build bird boxes, the birds will come to them!
Birds prefer the boxes to be in open areas with some trees nearby, and they prefer the boxes to have predator guards (I mean, same here).
They’ve analyzed what the birds eat! It includes: sharpshooters, leafhoppers, alfalfa hoppers, vine mealybugs and more.
Onto owls! Check out those pellets, and you’ll find: gophers, voles, mice, rats!
One family of owls eats 3,466 rodents/year!!! Studies have also shown a 14% decrease of gopher activity in places with owl boxes.
Building boxes is wayyyy cheaper than trapping!
Boxes should be made of wood, 24” tall, 10’ off the ground, with wooded habitat nearby. You’re intrigued and want more information, don’t you?? Right this way: https://linktr.ee/barnowls
Specifically, you’ll find…
Map showing barn owl hunting pressure in Napa (aka where the habitat is conducive to hunting)!!
Map showing the probability of owl nest box occupancy in Napa!!! Cooooool.
Also check out: https://www.wildfarmalliance.org, a fantastic reference in all things related to beneficial habitats and box designs for raptors and songbirds.
Asking the Critical Questions Forum: Is Regenerative Ag Our Future?
Contacts: Ben Mackie, Vineyard Program Manager At Napa Green; Dr. Jonathan Lundgren, Agroecologist, Director Ecdysis Foundation, and CEO For Blue Dasher Farm; Prof. Kimberly Nicholas, Sustainability Scientist at Lund University and author of Under The Sky We Make; Caine Thompson, Head of Sustainability for O’Neill Vintners & Distillers and Managing Director of Robert Hall Winery
Kim started with a simple statement: agriculture needs a transformation. It needs to be beyond sustainable, beyond the status quo, but actually contributing back.
There is no standard definition of “regenerative” (similar to the “natural” wine movement, it can mean different things to different people), but generally, one definition of “regenerative” focuses on outcomes and one focuses on the processes/practices.
I wrote down “contributive, systemic, exponential” which I am not sure what exactly those notes meant now that I look back, but… those words feels powerful and very much linked to the goals of regenerative agriculture.
Kim explained how change happens: destabilize, breakdown and phase-out, alongside emergence, acceleration, stabilization.
This was really powerful and hope-buoying for me! I’ll state it again: Destabilize; breakdown; phase out x Emergence; acceleration'; stabilization. LOOK AT THIS GRAPHIC FOR HOPE!
In order to get to the acceleration phase: 25% of the population = tipping point! Only 25% needed to build that critical momentum!
What if only 25% of us commit to regenerative farming practices (see above recommendations for permanent cover crops and no tilling)??
Quote of the day (or maybe this year) from Kim: “TRANSITION IS MESSY AND HARD, WHICH IS WHY IT FEELS MESSY AND HARD.”
Kim’s brilliant Substack:
Caine pointed us to the Regenerative Viticulture Foundation and the One Block Challenge
The One Block Challenge is a way for a group of neighbor growers to try out regenerative practices for one year in one block of their vineyards. Then test the results and see how it went, evaluate, before hopefully converting more.
Key learning from the One Block Challenge was that “nature responds quickly if you let her.” In just one year, tons of visible and measurable benefits:
70% increase in organic soil matter
increase in organic soil carbon
7% cost increase but 5% yield increase in 4 out of 5 years
THIS JUST IN: NAPA IS GOING TO JOIN THE ONE BLOCK CHALLENGE. Email rise@napagreen.org or info@regenerativeviticulture.org to join.
Finally, we heard from John. HOLY scheiße, JOHN. I am dead. He is the greatest speaker of alllll timmeeee. He started out, “Hi. I’m John, and I’m a farmer.” He stated it plainly, matter-of-factly, in his perfect Midwestern accent, and it was the most amazing intro because in fact, he’s a brilliant and wildly accomplished scientist and doctor and the founder of the ridiculously inspiring Ecdysis Foundation.
John explained how his career as a scientist had been dedicated to trying to answer questions and solve problems farmers faced, but his science wasn’t helping. “So I quit,” he said. “And I bought the farm. Literally.” He bought a farm, and his goal then was to connect with the problems they had been trying to solve. “Scientists weren’t meant to be the experts on farming. Farmers are,” he says.
John asks people to ask the fundamental question: Am I killing or growing life in my operations?
He works with what he’s developed as a Conventional ← → Regenerative Scale. He asks questions to farmers and, based on their answers, he can make predictions about the health of their farm and (AND!!) the health and happiness of the farmers.
He says you don’t lose money going regenerative, and in fact you gain so much more including the health and happiness of those involved, which is invaluable.
Farmers have 3x the national level of depression, 2x the allergies, a 2000% increase in Parkinson’s disease…………………
He’s now working on a platform for growers to share their data on regenerative conversion and to tap into a social support system
Notes that the most powerful way to affect change is to show results to your neighbors; they’re impacted and convinced when they can see/touch your results so close to home
John urges us: don’t sweat the details. Just start! Now! With something/anything to get diversity into your fields and organizations.
This is a **ground up** movement: It’s usually the people at the bottom of the company making the initial initiatives, and slowly the higher-ups begin to realize and take notice and finally take action.
Combine “carrots” and “sticks”: simultaneously address the unfair status quo and make the better option easier/more accessible. Put another way: destabilize the bad stuff while pushing the good stuff forward.
Look at the promise of new forms of education and changes in curriculum (i.e. YouTube widely accessible). Invest in R&D and consider education as a public good that’s treated and financed as such.
Know your customer. Know your farmer. Know each other. Food and wine weren’t ever meant to be commodities. They were meant and always have been a means to bring us together.
EMOTIONS / KEY TAKEAWAYS / OVERARCHING FEELINGS:
Again and again and again: Do something. Anything! Do it now!! I’m sharing these notes to give as many people as possible as many “hooks” to grasp onto so YOU can choose any resilient wine practice that feels right to you so you can DO something, anything, now.
Chris Renfro’s opening, which asked us all to turn to our neighbor and say something we were grateful for, made this little emo literally weep. My family starts every dinner with a list of three things each of us are grateful for, and I’ve recently moved to starting my day by saying three more things I’m grateful for while I brush my teeth. This practice has literally changed my life. When Chris prompted us on Thursday, the energy in the room palpably soared. Following our shared tenderness, I swear I felt a collective infusion: an elevated sense of hope, collaboration and commitment that carried through the remaining conversations of the day. Thank you, Chris, for such a small but mighty gesture. I encourage everyone everywhere to incorporate a gratitude practice into your life. It makes a REAL difference, especially when we’re doing this kind of hard work.
If you want to help welcome in and bring up the next generation of BIPOC or LGBTQ+ wine professionals, reach out to Chris to collaborate or to help mentor. Similarly, if you want to help welcome in and bring up the next generation of women wine professionals, reach out to me or anyone on the Bâtonnage team to help mentor. Chris said if you’re intimidated or don’t know where to start, start small: be kind as community members to those who look different than you. Ask them questions, get to know them, invite them to dinner. If you want to see change, stop doing the same things and inviting only the same people.
I’m just going to paste directly from Kim’s most recent Substack post so you have this yet again:
Fortunately, there’s science on how to accelerate sustainability transformations. According to the Global Sustainable Development Report,
Transformation happens in three phases, on two tracks at once:
Phasing out the harmful (like fossil fuels and industrial agriculture)
Scaling up the sustainable (like renewables and regenerative farming)
These tracks are mirror images. The new can only rise as the old is dismantled. That’s why it feels like chaos— because it is!
PLEASE COMMENT! Did you attend Day 3 of Napa RISE?! What did you think? Do you have notes to add to mine (or more proper clarifications and fleshed out data)?
If you didn’t attend, any thoughts or comments back from my cold shower of notes above??
And what are you committing to as your first (or 15th) “stacked” resilient wine practice? Say it loud and say it proud in the comments below <3
nature abhors monoculture.