Sustainable Ag Lecture Series - Spring 2019
Cal Poly Healthy Soils Project
No-till and Cover Crop Management with Grazing
Thursday, June 13, 2019
Tablas Creek Vineyard
9339 Adelaida Rd, Paso Robles
To view presentations from the event, please CLICK HERE
No-till is increasingly being recognized as a useful form of management that can result in multiple benefits, and a practice that can be part of an integrated approach to soil health. Tablas Creek Vineyard is unique among North County vineyards for their use of grazing animals as part of their organic and biodynamic program. As a participating vineyard in the Cal Poly Healthy Soils Project, Tablas Creek is serving as a demonstration site to investigate the links between soil building practices such as no-till and grazing of cover crops, and measures of soil carbon, water holding capacity, and greenhouse gas emissions.
During this demonstration field day, Tablas Creek vineyard managers discussed their unique soil management strategy, Cal Poly researchers discussed the preliminary findings of their field trials, and additional guest speakers discussed approaches to soil management, as well as its implications for grape quality.
Confirmed speakers:
Cristina Lazcano, Soil Ecology, Cal Poly SLO
Bwalya Malama, Soil Biophysics & Groundwater Hydrology, Cal Poly SLO
Jordan Lomberg, Viticulturist, Tablas Creek Vineyard
Steve Vierra, Vineyard Manager & Certified Soil Scientist, Derby Wine Estates
Jenna Merrilees and Connie Wong, Masters Student Researchers, Cal Poly SLO
About the CDFA Healthy Soils Program (HSP):
Funded through California Climate Investments, the Healthy Soils Program (HSP) has funded the implementation of soil health practices on 8,610 acres of farm and ranchland throughout California. These projects are estimated to collectively sequester 18,683 metric tons of CO2e annually, or the equivalent of removing 4,000 cars from the road each year.
Learn more at the CDFA Healthy Soils Program page
For questions, please contact us at cfs@calpoly.edu or call 805-756-5086.
