Organic wineries combat pests and weeds using animals, from chickens, sheep and pigs to snakes and armadillos
- The growth in organic and biodynamic wine production has seen an explosion in the use of animals that prey on vineyard pests to replace toxic pesticides
- Meanwhile, sheep and pigs make the perfect eco-lawnmowers, making herbicides redundant, and horses and mules work the soil without compacting it
At Tablas Creek winery in Paso Robles, California, 200 black-faced Dorper sheep munch weeds among rows of vines. Along the way, they fertilise the soil, while donkeys and 200-pound (90kg) Spanish mastiffs ward off coyotes and mountain lions.
Pairs of owls zoom from vineyard boxes to eliminate more than 500 vine-root-eating gophers a year. Chickens scratch the earth, scarfing up unwelcome bugs.
A couple of decades ago, this vineyard menagerie would have been highly unusual. Now the commitment to organic and biodynamic viticulture has pushed top wineries across the globe to look to nature for alternatives to chemicals.
Furry, feathered, scaly, and four-legged animals (even bats) have become essential winery employees, contributing to vineyards’ overall health by replacing toxic pesticides and herbicides.
Tablas Creek goes even further. It’s the first winery in the world to obtain regenerative organic certification, a new international farming standard intended to combat climate change.
Not every vineyard animal experiment works out. New Zealand’s Yealands estate trialled giant guinea pigs as weed eaters. Alas, they became a favourite food for falcons and hawks. But many of the creatures prized in vineyards right now might surprise you. Here are nine of them.