Building Soil Fertility

Here is a photo taken back in February when soil ecologist Dr Christine conducted a Soil Health masterclass at our place. It was a dry summer, but you can see deep rooted, summer active chicory and plantain that are feeding the soil food web liquid carbon. These are two plants that we included in our cool season cover crop that we planted back in March when there was moisture and warmth. Both have germinated and we we are looking forward to greener inter rows this summer. If the microbes in the soil food web have a food source then they can help the vines out with pest, disease and nutrition services.

You can find out more about our organic and regenerative approach to create soil fertility here.

Minister for Ag drops in

Minister for Agriculture, the Hon Alannah MacTiernan, and local member Rebecca Stevens booked our Organic and Regenerative Small Farm Tour last Saturday to find out about our Net Zero achievement.

By implementing a range of organic and regenerative agricultural practices, our sequesters six times more CO2, and CO2 equivalents, than the vineyard emits.

Over a typical year, our 8-hectare farm sequesters 8.5 tonnes of CO2, whilst the 2.6 hectare vineyard emits just 1.4 tonnes.

Last year we participated in a Landcare Australia Carbon Accounting process which identified emissions from the vineyard, purchased inputs and the amount of carbon that is sequestered by vegetation on the farm.

We don’t need to purchase offsets because are better than net zero now. This is because we implement a range of organic and regenerative practices that allows natural ecosystems to flourish. If you let it, nature will increase soil fertility, water retention, produce healthy plants that are more resilient against pests and diseases, weeds are sent packing and you can keep your input costs down and remain viable.

We are carbon positive because we don’t purchase synthetic fungicides, pesticides and water-soluble fertiliser. We are here to regenerate our small patch of the planet, not strip mine it for a quick buck.

There are a lot of things we don’t use because they are damaging. Ammonium nitrate is a common fertiliser that blows things up. It is the explosive charge in bombs. It can blow up in storage as it tragically did in Beirut last year. Today it is a common fertiliser that blows up soil bilogy.  

Soil dependent on synthetic ammonium nitrate fertilizer becomes lifeless and unable to support healthy plant growth. The billions of microorganisms in soil that naturally convert organic matter to usable nitrogen for plant growth are harmed by synthetic ammonium nitrate fertilizers.

 As a micro business we couldn’t afford the $5 000-$8 000 to validate and accredit the carbon accounting process. Instead, we asked Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University to visit and he duly signed off our Net Zero Now status.

 Peter and his research group are now writing up the story for an international journal as he says “the world needs to know about this”, said Professor Newman. 

We achieved organic certification in 2006 and have introduced a range of regenerative practices in recent years. These practices include planting cover crops in between vine rows to increase the diversity of our underground livestock. We now leave canes in the vineyard to breakdown and release nutrients rather than removing and burning them. Sheep are strip grazed in the vineyard to keep the grass down to a height that maximises the amount of liquid carbon they feed to the soil food web.

Our soil biology tests have revealed we have soil teeming with an enormous diversity and quantity of fungi and bacteria which are the engine room of the soil food web.

 We don’t own a working tractor (just the old orange one that serves as the entry statement) and rarely is one used in the vineyard because we don’t want to compact the soil, squeezing air and water out. No air, no water, no life.

Investing in the free services that nature provides rather than paying big dollars for horror rides on the industrial treadmill hasn’t affected the quality of our wine. We have bounced between a 4.5 star and 5 star (the maximum) Halliday rating since we started. 

Oranje Tractor Wine Is Net Zero Now

By practising a range of organic and regenerative agricultural practices the Oranje

Tractor Farm, near Albany, sequesters six times more CO2 , and CO2 equivalents,

than the vineyard emits.

In 2021 Oranje Tractor Farm participated in a Landcare Australia Carbon

Accounting process which identified emissions from the vineyard, purchased

inputs and the amount of carbon that is sequestered by vegetation on the farm.

In a typical year, the 8-hectare Oranje Tractor Farm sequesters 8.5 tonnes of CO 2 , whilst the 2.6

hectare vineyard emits just 1.4 tonnes.

 “We don’t need to purchase offsets because we are better than net zero now. This

is because we implement a range of organic and regenerative practices that allows

natural ecosystems to flourish. If you let it, nature will increase soil fertility, water

retention, produce healthy plants that are more resilient against pests and diseases,

weeds are sent packing and you can keep your input costs down and remain

viable”, said owner Murray Gomm.

  “We are carbon positive because we don’t purchase synthetic fungicides, pesticides

and water-soluble fertiliser. We are here to regenerate our small patch of the

planet, not strip mine it for a quick buck”

  “There are a lot of things we don’t use because they are damaging. Ammonium

nitrate is a common fertiliser that blows things up. It is the explosive charge in

bombs. It can blow up in storage as it tragically did in Beirut last year. Today it is a

common fertiliser that some say blows up the soil”.   

 Soil dependent on synthetic ammonium nitrate fertilizer becomes lifeless and

unable to support healthy plant growth. The billions of microorganisms in soil that

naturally convert organic matter to usable nitrogen for plant growth are harmed by

synthetic ammonium nitrate fertilizers.

 “As a micro business we couldn’t afford the $5 000-$8 000 to validate and accredit

the carbon accounting process. Instead, we asked Peter Newman, Professor of

Sustainability at Curtin University to visit and he duly signed off our Net Zero

Now status”

Peter and his research group are now writing up the story for an international journal.

“The world need to now about this’’ said Professor Newman.

“We achieved organic certification in 2006 (after transitioning from 2002) and have

introduced a range of regenerative practices in recent years. These practices include

planting cover crops in between vine rows to increase the diversity of our

underground livestock. We now leave canes in the vineyard to breakdown and

release nutrients rather than removing and burning them. Sheep are strip grazed in

the vineyard to keep the grass down to a height that maximises the amount of

liquid carbon they feed to the soil food web”.

“Our soil biology tests have revealed we have soil teeming with an enormous

diversity and quantity of fungi and bacteria which are the engine room of the soil

food web”.

 “We don’t own a working tractor (just the old orange one that serves as the entry

statement) and rarely is one used in the vineyard because we don’t want to

compact the soil, squeezing air and water out. No air, no water, no life”.

 “Investing in the free services that nature provides rather than paying big dollars

for horror rides on the industrial treadmill hasn’t affected the quality of our wine.

We have oscillated0 between a 4.5 star and 5 star (the maximum) Halliday rating

since we started”.

 “If we take our Riesling for example it has won numerous state and national

awards including;

Gold medal and trophy 2021 WA Wine Show

Gold medal at the 2018 International Riesling Challenge

Gold medal and trophy at the 2008 National Wine Show of Australia”.

 Oranje Tractor Farm was visited by HRH Prince Charles in 2015, due to his keen

interest in organic and regenerative production.

For further information contact Murray Gomm on 0431 846 412 or Professor Peter Newman on 0407 935 133.

Lest we forget

Poppies

Now serving at Juanita's in Subiaco

The delightfully eclectic Juanita’s in Subiaco is now exclusively serving our 2018 Riesling. No-one else locally or in Perth has this gracefully ageing Riesling for sale over the bar…or in any liquor store for that matter. In fact, the only other place you can buy it is here on the farm, and there ain’t much of it left (plenty of 2021, though!!!).

Cellar door

Sorry, the cellar door is not open today Sunday 28 April 2019

Hot off the press

Well, not off the wine press but from the printer. Our brand new wine has a label. What’s it called, this slightly sparkling, fortified, botrytized Riesling? Not “bot-rot-pet-nat-fort” as one of us suggested!!!

Mistelle Riesling

Available at the cellar door now!

The book is back!

Hot off the press…we’ve finally reprinted the book “This Tractor Life” after selling out last year. You can order your copy here

If you’re not familiar with the details about the book, read up on this page