VITICULTURE RESEARCH Grazers and Trailblazers

The Agroecology Lab at UC Davis Monitored Soil Health, Soil Carbon and Ecosystem Outcomes of Sheep Integration in a Regional Comparative Study

Bryan Avila

Bryan Avila is a formally trained enologist, seasoned commercial winemaker, ACUE-credentialed educator and co-founder of the Vintners Institute. The Vintners Institute brings wine industry producers and allies together, online and in-person, to innovate with nature, educate the workforce and inspire good leaders. A freelance writer for WBM’s Winemaker Trials, Avila would love to hear what you are doing in your vineyard and winery to overcome challenges, grow better grapes and make better wine. Contact: bryan@vintnersinstitute.com

Principal investigator for UC Davis Agroecology: Dr. Amélie Gaudin, associate professor and endowed chair in agroecology, University of California, Davis

Dr. Amélie Gaudin is an agronomist by training and agroecologist at heart, with expertise in cropping system diversification and root and rhizosphere ecology. The team research goals are to investigate how cropping system management affects the crop and soil mechanisms involved in maintaining or recovering ecosystem services and beneficial synergies along stress and fertility gradients.

Project Lead: Clay Shannon, CEO, proprietor, owner and shepherd, Shannon Ranch, Lake County

Clay Shannon is CEO, proprietor and owner of Shannon Family of Wines and Shannon Ranch in Lake County, California. He is an industry leader in sustainability and in organic and regenerative farming and winemaking with an Earth-first mindset. For almost 40 years, forging a better way has been Clay’s approach to business. Shannon Family of Wines produces more than 300,000 cases of wine and is 100 percent committed to regenerative farming practices. All operations are 100 percent Certified Sustainable, and the Home Ranch is 100 percent Organic Certified CCOF, one of the largest certified organic mountain vineyards in the United States.

The aim of this article is to highlight an important example of collaboration between industry and academia that will shorten our collective learning curves as we explore new ways to create harmony between natural ecosystems and agricultural systems, including putting carbon back into the soil. Scientists are keenly aware that basic research can take decades to refine its science into a commercially viable technology so that mass adoption can begin to move the needle to rebuild soil health and sequester carbon. This is an all hands on deck situation. Innovation and collaboration are key to compress this timeline.

While the sheep/viticulture collaboration is not new, Shannon had faith that “sheeping the vineyards” was the best direction to invest time and money into

Researcher: Tommy Fenster, graduate student researcher with UC Davis and the Ecdysis Foundation his farming operation. Now, with almost 1,000 acres planted and grazed, and income beginning to pay off on a new range of livestock products, Shannon is seeing the results of his farming and ranching decisions pay off. He is, however, one of the few people willing to buck convention and take this leap. It is hard work, and the business risk of going first is quite high, but investing in soil health is a long-view business strategy that puts its money on nature’s biodiversity over formulated products.

Fenster is a Ph.D. student in the Horticulture and Agronomy program at UC Davis. Since 2017, he has been a project lead for the Ecdysis Foundation with his Ph.D. research as a collaboration between the Ecdysis Foundation and the Gaudin Agroecology Lab. His research uses systems-level approaches to understand how regenerative practices in rangelands, almond orchards and vineyards affect yields, biodiversity and ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, water conservation and pest suppression. He is also investing his time as a committee advisor for Contra Costa County’s Integrated Pest Management Advisory Committee.

The adage, “You can tell who the trailblazers are because they have the most arrows in their back,” says a lot about the difficulty of being the first. While Shannon is busy walking the financial versus sustainability tightrope, UC Davis researcher Dr. Amélie Gaudin and her team of agroecologists are documenting these outcomes in collaboration with growers so that the next person does not have to bear the brunt of uncertainties when transitioning.

Using these types of studies, researchers are working to collect data to define new best management practices and disseminate them so that the next venture may navigate this new direction with less risk. One recent example of this communication is “Carbon Sequestration and Soil Health Outcomes in California Integrated Sheep-Vineyard Systems” led by Dr. Kelsey Brewer. This work puts the weight of science behind the faith of the entrepreneur. It is important to note that while livestock and crops have been integrated for more than 10,000 years, these systems supported families and tribes, not BevMo!s and Targets. The integration of livestock and vines on this scale is a new pathway and science is providing the solution.