Will regenerative farming solve our climate crisis?

As climate change intensifies, regenerative organic farming (ROC) offers a promising, science-backed solution by restoring soil health, increasing biodiversity and improving resilience to extreme weather. Kathleen Willcox reports. The post Will regenerative farming solve our climate crisis? appeared first on The Drinks Business.

May 13, 2025 - 10:42

Will regenerative farming solve our climate crisis?

As climate change intensifies, regenerative organic farming (ROC) offers a promising, science-backed solution by restoring soil health, increasing biodiversity and improving resilience to extreme weather. Kathleen Willcox reports. vineyard in the process of making wine via regenerative viticulture

The economic, health and human impacts of climate change have the planet hurtling toward disaster. Can ROC turn things around? Last year in the U.S. alone, there were 27 weather and climate disasters causing $1 billion worth of damage and leading to 568 deaths, according to NOAA’s National Centres for Environmental Information. Globally, natural catastrophes associated with the impacts of climate change cost the economy an estimated US$417 billion. That’s the economic fallout from climate change. The Earth itself is reeling, too. Soil, and its ability to produce healthy, nourishing products, has been disfigured by many of the same tools that scientists believe have caused the extreme weather we’re witnessing. The result is human beings who are overfed but undernourished, even in industrialised countries. In addition to an overreliance on processed food, even a diet rich in fresh produce presents problems. Fruits and vegetables have lost up to and often more than 50% of their nutritional density due to soil depletion, chemical farming and the use of high-yielding GMO varieties, according to a study published in the Analysis of Nutrients and Contaminants in Foods. Climate change is linked to an over-reliance on industrial assets like fuel and chemicals in agriculture. Overuse of chemicals, intensive tillage, monocropping and a lack of organic life in soil are all contributing to the depletion of soil’s health and fertility, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. Currently, about one-third of the soils on the planet are degraded. But for a long time, the alternative was a tough sell to a certain cohort of growers and winemakers. The farming systems that most definitely denounce this approach often get dismissed for some of their, at first glance, admittedly offbeat requirements. In biodynamic farming, for example, growers are required to bury manure from lactating cows in horns underground in the winter, then extract them in the spring and mix the contents with water in a highly specific way. The resulting “tea” is then spritzed around their vineyards … and the memes write themselves. The climactic, economic and nutritional consequences of mass industrialisation are the most obvious, but human rights have also been infringed upon, with people suffering from everything over recent decades, from harsh working conditions to pollution and displacement. A new, science-based approach to sustainable farming is being embraced by growers of all stripes, including winemakers. The nonprofit Regenerative Organic Alliance created a Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) program in 2017 to transform the world’s approach to farming. Beyond just eliminating chemicals, it is focusing on rebuilding soil health, prioritising animal welfare and reinforcing social equity. Unlike many other established environmental initiatives, its practitioners institute practices based on extensive scientific research and study, and consider the bearing of their work on the health of their soil and crops. “Regenerative organic farming is about more than just removing chemicals, it’s about building resilient, living systems that benefit the land, our wines and our greater community,” says Joseph Brinkley, senior director of regenerative organic development at Mendocino, CA’s Bonterra Organic Estates. “Eliminating synthetic inputs is important, but it’s only one part of the equation. Measuring impact—whether it’s soil health, carbon sequestration, or wine quality—helps ensure that our farming practices are truly making a difference.” An increasing number of wineries are newly certified or on their way. The ROC journey, vintners have found, has led to healthier vineyards and better soil.

Elevating Soil Health

Everything starts with the soil for growers who follow the ROC model. “Practices in our vineyards are designed to enhance soil life, water retention, flavour complexity, acid retention and sugar accumulation,” Brinkley explains. “We build healthy soil through composting, cover cropping, reduced tillage and integrating biodiversity, which in our case, is having sheep in the vineyard.” They rely on field data and real-world results to track their progress and connect farming practices to outcomes. Last year, Bonterra installed an Agrology meter to monitor soil and environmental conditions, including moisture and soil carbon levels. Bonterra also conducts an annual soil health test as part of the ROC audit, which measures soil compaction and other indications of soil vitality. At the ROC-certified Donum Estate in Napa, senior director of winegrowing Tony Chapman and his team also closely monitor progress through Agrology’s technology, weather stations, soil analysis, overhead imaging and more. “In the vineyard, we’ve observed an incredible rebalancing of the fungi to bacteria ratio, and many of our vineyard blocks are now fungal-dominated,” Chapman explains. Donum compared three ROC-farmed blocks between 2023 and 2025, and found that two years' worth of ROC farming resulted in a 1,047% increase in the total fungi present in the soil, a 189% increase in total fungi, and a 655% increase in the fungi to bacteria ratio.

Withstanding Climate Change

The changes in soil life are measurable. But what does that mean? At the 140-acre Robert Hall Winery in Paso Robles, they set up an ROC transition trial to compare regenerative farming to conventional growing, says Caine Thompson, managing director and head of sustainability at O’Neill Vintners and Distillers, which owns and manages a host of vertically integrated wineries and vineyards, including Robert Hall. The team farmed five acres of each, and has found that organic matter and soil carbon increased 70% and 74% respectively in the ROC vineyards. “We have seen that under climate extremes, our soil moisture holding capacity has increased and our ROC canopies are in better shape and more resilient, which is leading to wine grapes that are in better condition for winemaking,” Thompson says. “ At Booker Wines, where there are 87 acres planted on a 160-acre estate in Paso Robles, they became ROC-certified in 2023 after farming organically since 2014. The practices vineyard manager and winemaker Hilary Graves explains have been transformational. “It’s difficult to even focus on one place to start,” Graves says. “There’s increased biodiversity, soil health, rainwater absorption and vines that are more resilient to weather events. In the glass, the wines have a more precise sense of place.”

Upgrading Wine Quality

Other vintners are also noting differences in the glass following the implementation of regenerative organic practices. (Once the certification is granted, growers have already been actively farming this way for three years.) “I think of the finished wines as the ultimate data set,” says Dan Fishman, Donum’s vice president of winemaking and vineyards. “We see both quantitative and qualitative effects from regenerative farming, in the sugar levels at phenolic ripeness, as well as better natural acids and healthier native yeasts for fermentation. All of these factors, as well as others, result in wines that we believe have better energy, vitality, and more complexity than is possible with conventionally farmed vineyards.” The Donum team is consistently harvesting grapes that are ripe but lower in sugar. That allows them to make wines with lower alcohol levels, even in hotter vintages, Fishman explains. Chapman chimes in, linking their viticultural practices to increased biodiversity and microbial activity. “These microbes can translocate to the vine and end up inside the vine and the berries,” he says. “During fermentation, these microbes can play a key role, producing precursors for thiols and terpenes, elevating levels of glycerol and organic acids, and act as natural biocontrol agents.”

Improving the Broader Environment

A better vineyard and ultimately better wine are huge wins. But practitioners of ROC say there’s more to it. The social aspect and ROC’s focus on worker fairness are unique for a farmworking certification. “The requirement to pay a living wage and to embrace a less hierarchical, more collaborative approach has the potential to be transformative on lives and communities, and we’ve felt that it has given us a competitive advantage in times when labor is scarce, and there’s competition for available crew,” says Jason Haas, second-generation proprietor at Tablas Creek Vineyard. The difference between the legally minimum wage and one that is actually deemed livable can be stark. In California, the minimum wage is $16.50 an hour. In Paso Robles, where Tablas Creek is located, it’s close to US$27. The social equity aspect also appeals to Thompson. He recognises that, as an early adopter of ROC at Robert Hall, he has the opportunity to serve as an ambassador for interested but dubious wineries. He joined the Regenerative Viticulture Foundation (RVC), a nonprofit designed to advance regenerative viticulture globally, as a trustee and chair of the technical committee. As chair, Thompson is helping to spearhead the One Block Challenge (1BC), which asks growers to take one block—from one vine to one row to 10 acres—and adopt regenerative practices, compare it to another similar block, and share the results with the community after farming it that way for one year. (O’Neill Vintners is one of the principal donors to the RVC, alongside Moet Hennessy, Famille Perrin and Maison Mirabeau). In Paso Robles, Thompson has signed on 50 vintners and growers to implement the practice. Industrial agriculture, of which Roundup is its poster child, is on its way out amid evidence of its toxicity. A jury in Georgia recently ordered Monsanto’s parent Bayer, to pay $2.1 billion to one man alone for the cancer he says the weed killer caused. Bayer has already shelled out a reported $10 billion to settle other cases. The brand and its top ingredient, glyphosate, are already banned in some European countries, some U.S. cities and states, and multiple South American, Asian, African and Middle Eastern countries. As of last year, 18.4 million ROC acres were growing 474 different kinds of crops across 44 countries, totalling $50 million in sales. That’s a drop in the bucket—sales of agricultural commodities in the U.S. alone this year are projected to be $515 billion—but in a challenging market, consumers are responding. Sales of ROC products grew an average of 25% year-over-year. Can ROC make a scalable impact while also propping up a flagging wine industry? Evidence points to yes, but adoption needs to be more widespread. Perhaps winemakers who have been considering converting should start with the 1 BC.