Husch Vineyards
48 Years of No-Till Grape Growing
by Zac Robinson
You can always learn something from your neighbors. At Husch, we learned that we could grow Chardonnay and Gewürztraminer by learning from our next door neighbor, Edmeades, who had planted those varietals in 1964. Sometimes, however, the lesson is to avoid a neighbor’s mistakes. In 1976, Vineyard Manager Al White witnessed another neighbor’s devastating hillside erosion which essentially shut down that vineyard. The loss of topsoil exposed irrigation lines, and those lines were then destroyed by the tractors. Hoping to avoid a similar experience, White decided to make a big change at Husch.
For grapes and most other crops, the standard farming practice involves plowing or discing the soil several times each year. Every pass with the disc destroys the top layer of the soil and leaves it vulnerable to erosion. For White, the alternative seemed easy—simply stop discing at Husch. With that simple decision in 1976, the discing tractor was parked for good, and Husch began a nearly 50-year journey to rebuild soils and explore a no-till vision of agriculture before the concept was widely known, let alone adopted. There were no neighbors to guide us, nor was there a regenerative farming community to turn to for support—the term “regenerative” wasn’t even invented until the 1980s. We believe Husch was the first vineyard to take this step in California.
Even though the neighbors advised otherwise, claiming “you have to disc the soil,” we soon saw benefits from our experiment. Most importantly, we stabilized hillside soils. When the big El Niño storms of the early 1980s pummeled Anderson Valley, the hillsides at Husch held firm. Other benefits emerged as well. We realized we could farm with fewer insecticides. In 2008, we parked our “spray rig” and haven’t used it since. Our theory is that our no-till grasses harbor a wide variety of insect species, maintaining a better balance of insect populations in the vineyard. (We do use the 2000-year-old technique of applying sulfur dust to control mildew in the vineyard.)
In the past decade, regenerative agriculture has started to build a formal methodology. The core tenet is the promotion of practices that rebuild the soil to its historic fertility. No-till methods are strongly endorsed. Animal grazing is encouraged. Chemical inputs are discouraged. The techniques apply to all kinds of crops, and the movement has an international following. This year even Hollywood is involved, with the release of the documentary Common Ground, which advocates for a radical transformation of agriculture.
Locally, winegrape farmers have always understood some of the basics of regenerative farming. Nearly 100% of vineyards will rest their fields for a year—a process known as fallowing—to allow soils to rest before replanting with winegrapes. Similarly, many local vineyards are experimenting with reduced tillage, a half-way solution that opens the door to a full no-till transition.
In 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture visited Husch to help calibrate a “healthy soils” checklist they were developing. We measured soil compaction (low), organic content (high), and the number of earthworms in a shovel scoop of soil. The draft survey has options for 0, 2, 4, or 6 earthworms. We laughed as we counted into the teens and added our own checkbox to the form: 20+. Worms love the dirt at Husch.
We have found other unexpected dividends from our farming practices. The vines at Husch have an unusual longevity, perhaps due to the improved mycorrhizal diversity that comes with our regenerative approach. Whatever the reason, Husch continues to make sought-after wine from our Knoll block of Pinot Noir. At 53 years old, this block is an anomaly in modern viticulture.
The question of fertilizer is most interesting to us right now. We never adopted the imported compost approach that is so common with organic or younger regenerative farms. The vineyard doesn’t seem to need it, and some science might explain why. As the grasses in our vineyard grow and die, they build the carbon content of the soil. This carbon has its own biological cycles including mineralization— when the organic compounds release nitrogen compounds into the soil. The grapevines use this natural fertilizer during their growth cycle in the spring. Every year that we don’t till results in more carbon added into the soils, leading to more nitrogen. We still supplement our vines with soluble nitrogen pushed through our drip system (a process known as fertigation), but our needs are decreasing over time. Of course, the sheep in the vineyard help boost soil nitrogen with their own “contributions.”
Another benefit, and perhaps the most important, is starting to come into view. Climate scientists are speculating that regenerative agriculture can sequester meaningful amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The science on this point is tentative and complicated, but we are excited to know that this amazing benefit is being studied.
Part of the fun of our regenerative experiment is that we’ve redefined our thinking. At first we thought no-till was simply letting the weeds grow. Then we dropped the word “weeds” and called our vineyard floor a “permanent cover crop.” The next evolution came when friends knowledgeable about California native grasses visited and pointed out some exciting finds: native coastal grasses are growing in the rows at Husch. So we no longer have “weeds” at Husch—we have “native grasses.”
Farming is a voyage in life-long learning, and we realize that the regenerative techniques at Husch have room for improvement. Can we use less water? Can we nudge the fertilizer equation to zero inputs? Can we grow better fruit for winemaking with less intensive agriculture? Regenerative techniques help us push the envelope of these fundamental farming questions. It’s gratifying to know we can continue to produce outstanding wines while improving soil health, reducing erosion, and increasing the property’s carbon storage capacity. With benefits like those, the discing tractor will continue to remain in retirement for a very long time.
Husch Vineyards
4400 Hwy 128, Philo
(800) 554-8724 | huschvineyards.com
Tasting room open daily 10am - 5pm
Zac Robinson, along with his sister Amanda and family, is the third generation to grow grapes and craft wine at Anderson Valley’s Husch Vineyards.
Photos courtesy of Husch Vineyards