Today we began our week of activities hosted by the Department of Agronomy and Land Management at the University of Florence. Thanks to my colleague, Professor Marco Bindi, and his staff (Sandra and Giacomo) for organising this week for us.
Our first stop was the University research farm, a 300 ha property in the famous Chianti region of Tuscany. A very beautiful place. The manager of the farm talked about some of their research activities, for example work they are doing on erosion control and water conservation through land contouring, and showed us around their facilities. I asked him about changes in climate that they are experiencing. His response was that nothing is reliable with the weather any more. Annual rainfall here is around 400 mm. Historically most of this came in the winter months. Now the distribution is unpredictable. Temperatures are increasing, and rapid temperature changes are being experienced at times. Crops are being affected, for example when they pruned the grapes in the dormant winter period last winter they found that there was still sap flowing at a time when there would normally be no such activity in the plant. It is becoming very hard to manage farm activities with such changes.
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A typical scene from Chianti, Tuscany.
Gavin with Giacomo and the manager of the University research farm who talked about the challenges of more chaotic weather that they are already experiencing.
After lunch in the nearby village we drove to a place called Camporbiano (see www.poggiodicamporbiano.it) where we met Piero Alberti, a biodynamic farmer. Piero has been farming this 200+ ha property biodynamically since 1986.
Piero Alberti, one of the smartest farmers I've met.
The farm is organised as a cooperative community with about 14 people living and working there. Piero was the first one there and is responsible for most of the farming activities. He is a very very smart farmer, one of the smartest I have met in all of our travels and even compared to some very good New Zealand farmers that I have worked with. The focus is to farm this property as a living organism, with a focus on sound ecology, a strong social environment and a very robust farm economy. To achieve this there are a diversity of production activities, processing of farm products for sale, biodynamic production techniques, recycling of farm waste back into the farm, management of a very limited water situation extremely smartly, and implementation of a self-sufficient energy programme. The importance and value of this ecologically balanced approach is reflected in the ability of the farm to sustain economic viability through a severe drought period several years ago. They managed the farm through this drought without needing the external economic support that other farmers in the area needed. In relation to climate change Piero made a very profound statement, that farmers in Italy can no longer rely on the proverbs of the past. Everything has changed and is changing very rapidly. The modern farmer, in his view, needs to both be smart in using available technology and develop a greater sensibility to nature. Their success is reflected in the fact that neighbouring farmers are beginning to follow some of their practices.
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Scenes from Poggio di Camporbiano, a farm that is about 50:50 forest and productive land, and which is both ecologically and economically very sound.
Our time with Piero was quite limited, but I was so impressed by this story that I arranged a return visit for the following Sunday (3 June). When we returned Piero and his wife Patricia took us on a tour around some of their facilities and the farm. We then joined the whole of their small farm community for a delicious shared lunch. It was only at this time that I fully learnt about the full extent of the cooperative nature of this farm.
Here is a small community of people who are deeply committed to an approach to farming and working with nature that is both very relevant now and increasingly relevant for the future.
A delicious shared lunch at Poggio di Camporbiano.
Here is a small community of people who are deeply committed to a very holistic approach to farming and working with nature, drawing on traditional knowledge and wisdom but working in a very smart and technologically advanced manner.
5 June
Today is our last day in Florence. It has been an excellent time and I'm very grateful to my host Marco Bindi and his staff. We have managed to mix a few farm visits and interviews, a presentation to people at the University and some local farm leaders, a visit to a research lab in Florence, and taking time to see some of Florence. It has been a great privilege to do the latter with Alice, whose class in New Zealand has just this week begun a study of the Renaissance. Here we are at the heart of the Renaissance, inspired by the work of Leondardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo and others. This experience has reinforced in me a need for a modern Renaissance ... perhaps a reunification of the arts and sciences as we see in the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci, and a rethinking of how we work and interact with our natural world.
Our first stop was the University research farm, a 300 ha property in the famous Chianti region of Tuscany. A very beautiful place. The manager of the farm talked about some of their research activities, for example work they are doing on erosion control and water conservation through land contouring, and showed us around their facilities. I asked him about changes in climate that they are experiencing. His response was that nothing is reliable with the weather any more. Annual rainfall here is around 400 mm. Historically most of this came in the winter months. Now the distribution is unpredictable. Temperatures are increasing, and rapid temperature changes are being experienced at times. Crops are being affected, for example when they pruned the grapes in the dormant winter period last winter they found that there was still sap flowing at a time when there would normally be no such activity in the plant. It is becoming very hard to manage farm activities with such changes.
.jpg)
A typical scene from Chianti, Tuscany.
Gavin with Giacomo and the manager of the University research farm who talked about the challenges of more chaotic weather that they are already experiencing.
After lunch in the nearby village we drove to a place called Camporbiano (see www.poggiodicamporbiano.it) where we met Piero Alberti, a biodynamic farmer. Piero has been farming this 200+ ha property biodynamically since 1986.
Piero Alberti, one of the smartest farmers I've met.
The farm is organised as a cooperative community with about 14 people living and working there. Piero was the first one there and is responsible for most of the farming activities. He is a very very smart farmer, one of the smartest I have met in all of our travels and even compared to some very good New Zealand farmers that I have worked with. The focus is to farm this property as a living organism, with a focus on sound ecology, a strong social environment and a very robust farm economy. To achieve this there are a diversity of production activities, processing of farm products for sale, biodynamic production techniques, recycling of farm waste back into the farm, management of a very limited water situation extremely smartly, and implementation of a self-sufficient energy programme. The importance and value of this ecologically balanced approach is reflected in the ability of the farm to sustain economic viability through a severe drought period several years ago. They managed the farm through this drought without needing the external economic support that other farmers in the area needed. In relation to climate change Piero made a very profound statement, that farmers in Italy can no longer rely on the proverbs of the past. Everything has changed and is changing very rapidly. The modern farmer, in his view, needs to both be smart in using available technology and develop a greater sensibility to nature. Their success is reflected in the fact that neighbouring farmers are beginning to follow some of their practices.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Scenes from Poggio di Camporbiano, a farm that is about 50:50 forest and productive land, and which is both ecologically and economically very sound.
Our time with Piero was quite limited, but I was so impressed by this story that I arranged a return visit for the following Sunday (3 June). When we returned Piero and his wife Patricia took us on a tour around some of their facilities and the farm. We then joined the whole of their small farm community for a delicious shared lunch. It was only at this time that I fully learnt about the full extent of the cooperative nature of this farm.
Here is a small community of people who are deeply committed to an approach to farming and working with nature that is both very relevant now and increasingly relevant for the future.
A delicious shared lunch at Poggio di Camporbiano.
Here is a small community of people who are deeply committed to a very holistic approach to farming and working with nature, drawing on traditional knowledge and wisdom but working in a very smart and technologically advanced manner.
5 June
Today is our last day in Florence. It has been an excellent time and I'm very grateful to my host Marco Bindi and his staff. We have managed to mix a few farm visits and interviews, a presentation to people at the University and some local farm leaders, a visit to a research lab in Florence, and taking time to see some of Florence. It has been a great privilege to do the latter with Alice, whose class in New Zealand has just this week begun a study of the Renaissance. Here we are at the heart of the Renaissance, inspired by the work of Leondardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo and others. This experience has reinforced in me a need for a modern Renaissance ... perhaps a reunification of the arts and sciences as we see in the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci, and a rethinking of how we work and interact with our natural world.
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