Regenerative vineyards can pay their way, new Sonoma County study finds

"A study published this month in the American Journal of Enology and Viticulture tracked costs and revenues at four vineyards in Russian River Valley and Alexander Valley, comparing conventional management against regenerative approaches like no-till farming, composting, and integrating sheep for grazing. The verdict: over a 30-year vineyard lifespan, the two approaches come out roughly even financially-with regenerative running just 2 to 8 percent lower in net present value."

""The economic viability of RA depends largely on keeping stable yields or achieving price premiums to counterbalance any potential yield decline," the researchers write.The study was a collaboration between UC Davis, UC Berkeley, and the USDA's Agricultural Research Service, with data provided by Jackson Family Wines, which operates the four vineyards. Alexandra Everson, a JFW employee based at the company's Santa Rosa headquarters, is a co-author."

"The conventional vineyards in the study aren't industrial operations spraying with abandon-they follow California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance certification protocols. So the comparison is really between "sustainable-conventional" and regenerative. The regenerative approach eliminated tillage in the alleys, swapped synthetic fertilizers for compost, ditched herbicides for mechanical weed control, and brought in sheep to graze cover crops. That meant buying different equipment upfront (a compost spreader instead of a mower and disk), paying for compost and grazing services, and"

Costs and revenues at four vineyards in Russian River Valley and Alexander Valley were tracked, comparing sustainable-conventional management with regenerative practices such as no-till alleys, compost instead of synthetic fertilizers, mechanical weed control, and sheep grazing cover crops. Yield data from 2022–2023 across Pinot noir, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon informed financial models projecting 30-year costs and revenues. Regenerative systems required different upfront equipment and ongoing compost and grazing services. Over three decades, net present value for regenerative systems was roughly 2–8 percent lower, conditional on maintaining stable yields or achieving price premiums.

Read at The Mercury News