Here at Hafner Vineyard, we are always looking for ways we can reduce our carbon footprint. Last year, we received our Climate Adaptation Certification from the California Land Stewardship Institute. The result is a comprehensive plan (aka “Climate Farm Plan”) specific to Hafner Vineyard that demonstrates how to look at various ways we can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, sequester carbon and promote climate resilience.

The CA Land Stewardship Institute analyzed our entire vineyard and property (including the soil composition, vegetation and forest types) and our farming practices (specifically energy usage and tillage frequency) in order to determine our current GHG emissions and carbon sequestration. We worked closely with Connor from the CA Land Stewardship Institute. He did an amazing job, visiting us, speaking frequently with Winemaker Parke Hafner and Vineyard Manager David Huebel to learn all aspects of our farming practice and the intricacies of the ranch.

Here's a map of the ranch: 

Here’s a soil map of the vineyard:

Connor created three scenarios to help us mitigate our carbon footprint.

Scenario 1: remain as we are. (Our current practice is: Tillage on every other row, legume-based cover crop planted in tilled rows, and natural oak woodland and riparian areas left untouched.)
Scenario 2: move to no tillage (Tilling disrupts the soil and releases stored GHGs.), not planting a cover crop and allowing whatever plants to grow (It is challenging to plant a cover crop without tilling.) and planting a hedgerow.
Scenario 3: remain as we are plus switch diesel tractors to electric and plant a hedgerow.

The results were delivered in the measurement of CO₂e, which is the carbon dioxide equivalent. In addition to carbon dioxide (CO₂) that includes methane and nitrous oxide, all GHG.

We were surprised with what we learned. We found that we are already carbon negative!  We sequester more CO2e than we emit… 182.78 metric tons CO2e annually. (To put that in perspective, if you drove a gas car 450,000 miles [or 18 times around earth], you would emit 182 metric tons of CO2e.)

Scenario 1:

The main reasons we are carbon negative are:

1. We only till every other row; so half of the vineyard soil is undisturbed. The other half is tilled in order to seed a cover crop. The cover crop fixes nitrogen into the soil (a benefit for the vines, which is our core business!) and absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, just like any plant. (See “Vineyard Soils” on the graph above.)
2. We leave over 50% of our land as undisturbed wild oak woodlands (131 acres). This area acts as a carbon sink since the plants and trees absorb and store carbon dioxide (see “Natural Areas”).

We examined what would happen if we did not till at all and did not plant a cover crop. “No till” has many benefits but has proved challenging for us during a trial we held to plant the cover crop.

We were also surprised that by moving to no till and not planting a cover crop, we would  capture less GHG than what we are currently doing. While we would decrease our nitrous oxide emission from 28.70 to 12.92, the carbon sequestration would increase from -63.95 to -14.11. (Remember a negative means sequestering which is a good thing. So the higher the negative number, the more carbon you sequester.)

Scenario 2:
You can see the difference between this graph and the prior graph.

We also looked at what the impact would be if we moved to electric tractors, planted a hedgerow, added more solar and maintained our current farming practices.

Scenario 3:

You can see that we would not have any GHG emissions in relation to tractor fuel and electricity use.

The Climate Farm Plan has been very helpful in providing strategies for us. We were very happy to learn that how we are farming is already sequestering a significant amount of GHGs.

We learned from Scenario 3 the benefits of moving to electric tractors. Since this report, we have received our first all-electric Monarch tractor. We have yet to expand our solar array, although we are looking into the cost/benefit analysis of more panels. While our current solar array provides about 33% of our electricity use, the remaining we purchase is 100% renewable and 100% local energy.

We always knew that preserving the oak woodlands was the right thing to do. This report confirms as much and solidifies the importance of leaving undeveloped land untouched. This is an important reminder. Forests act as a huge carbon sink and our ranch demonstrates its significant contribution to carbon sequestration.

We are grateful to Connor and the CA Land Stewardship Institute for helping us work towards reducing our carbon footprint and bettering the planet for future generations. 

Learn more about our sustainability efforts.

If you are a winery and interested in being of the Climate Adaptation Certification, please reach out to Connor Bennett: connorb@fishfriendlyfarming.org, 707.363.1639