On the pristine south coast of Western Australia, near Albany, you'll find Oranje Tractor Wines - a small organic and regenerative vineyard that has been Net Zero since 2021. Our vineyard is small, a mere 8 acres, and was planted in 1998. We switched to organic farming methods in 2001 and achieved organic certification in 2005. Our orchard has been organic since establishment in 1996. Growing orga
nically is all about working with nature, not against it. By integrating farming practices to create circular ecosystems, long term soil fertility is created. We are keen advocates of Regenerative Agriculture as it combines farming practices into circular ecosystems. By integrating diverse cover crops, which are holistically grazed by livestock, nature pumps liquid carbon underground to energise the soil-food-web that in turn recycles and supplies nutrients to plants. Plants and the soil-food-web also team up to join the fight against pests and diseases. Healthy soil, healthy food, healthy people and a healthy planet are what nature turns every day to create. Nature is intricate, complex and clever but is unfortunately often poorly understood and overlooked. Conventional farming is all about placing your faith in monocultures, heavy machinery and synthetic chemicals - fungicides, pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers. It's called the Industrial Treadmill. Soil turns into lifeless, compacted, sand that wind and rain erodes, valuable topsoil is gone and polluted waterways appear. Plants become increasingly reliant on external inputs as they don’t have a fully functioning soil-food-web to help. So the cycle continues, more synthetic chemicals, less carbon in the soil, less water infiltration and storage, and thus the soil-food-web takes another hit, less nutrient recycling, loss of natural predators, more pests and diseases……
With the industrial treadmill there is CO2 from tractors pulling machinery, and ploughing soil releases CO2. In addition, fertiliser use can release other greenhouse gases and liming soil to reduce acidity caused by synthetic fertilisers releases CO2 too. Nitrous oxide, 298 times more potent than CO2, is released when ammonium nitrate fertiliser is spread. Large amounts of fossil fuels are used in the manufacture of synthetic fertiliser also. The tickets to get on the Industrial Treadmill are costly, it’s a horror ride, and it can be hard to get off. In 2021 we participated in a Landcare Australia funded carbon accounting exercise which revealed our 8H vineyard absorbs 6 times the amount of CO2 (and CO2 equivalents) that our 3H vineyard emits. We are are actually carbon negative now! Professor of Sustainability, Peter Newman from Curtin University confirmed our Net Zero status in early 2022. How did we do it? In short, practicing Organic and Regenerative Agriculture and avoiding the Industrial Treadmill. Our soil carbon levels have increased 48% from 2016 to 2022. Soil biology tests have confirmed we have an incredibly diverse soil-food-web with funghi and bacteria performing services such nutrient recycling, nutrient accessibility and disease resistance to mention a few. Planting a stack of trees over the past 20 years that absorb carbon was a big part of our Net Zero (actually carbon negative) status. In 2019 we were won the Albany Chamber of Commerce and Industry Great Southern Business Environment and Sustainability Award. In 2022 we were a case study for Circular Economy WA.
