De Bortoli Green Farm Initiative

De Bortoli Green Farm Initiative When Green Means Money

Green Farm Initiatives • Biological farming • Water management • Waste management

Biological Farming • Biological farming • Compost tea • Create approx. 1300 cu meters of compost, more than enough to cover vineyards • Increased worm number in the soil • Increased suppression and control of disease outbreaks • Reduced vineyard chemical costs by 45% • Maintain soil fungi and nutrients at desired level without adding fertilizer

Biological Farming • Have recorded soil readings of 8% organic matter in some vineyards (almost double desired level) • Improved soil structure: assisted in reducing the need to irrigate in 2011 • Investment in the only ground probe aerator • Increased ability to get organic matter and carbon into the soil • Insect monitoring programs • Averaging 7.41 million worms which produce over 18.5 tons of worm casts per hectare annually • Water and air filtration and better soil environment

Water Management • Water management • Water availability and salinity were two major issues • Moved from sodium-based chemistry to potassium-based chemistry • Sodium-free wastewater can be used for irrigation • Change wastewater pH control from lime to ammonia • Recovery of nitrogen usage by over 80% • Potassium recovery from waste was available for second and third uses

Water Management • Able to move from large aerators to smaller aerators • Reduced energy use resulting in reduction of carbon footprint by 1,400 tons per year • Increased composting resulted in 50% reduction of water use (annual water usage of 680 households) • Usage of film technology on dams resulted in 30% reduction of evaporation of farm water storage • Tree planting along waterways stabilized and improved creek beds

Waste Management • Waste management • To reduce material waste that was going to landfill • Reduced material to landfill by about 3-400 tons resulting in a small profit by reducing landfill costs • Minor redesign now saves $200,000/year in power use

Waste Management • Recycling programs to capture: • Grape marc left after pressing for compost and mulch • Seeds • Stems • Skins • Reduced use of fertilizers and water • Packaging materials • Cardboard • Paper • Tank cleaning now driven by solar cell technology • Recovery of approx. 40 tons of potassium nearly offsets potassium used for cleaning purposes

Waste Management • Odor control reduced odor complaints to zero through • Low-energy aeration • pH control • Bottling • Average bottle weighs about 450-500 grams, Lean & GreenTM bottles weigh in at about 360 grams resulting in savings in: • Transport • Shipment • Carbon savings from glass production

Waste Management • Color coded bins to recycle bottles by segregating them resulting in • 40% reduction of waste to landfill • Reduction of approx. 270 tons of CO2

Lean & GreenTM • Introduction of Lean & GreenTM lightweight bottles resulted in • Carbon savings of 1,800 tons in 2011 • Reduced freight of 40 B double trucks per year (80 x 40 ft. containers)

R&D Making Sense • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlulCkJBQjI

The End

De Bortoli Green Farm Initiative