Why this website exists

One might ask: why another website about biodynamic agriculture and, even more so, about biodynamic viticulture and wine?

Today, the world seems to have fallen in love with biodynamics and even more with biodynamic wine, turning it into a fashionable phenomenon. The word “biodynamics' is now commonly used, but understanding its true meaning, comprehending how its principles—seemingly philosophical assumptions—translate into practical actions, is quite another matter. Today, there are those who fear biodynamic agriculture because it highlights the farmer’s unnecessary dependence on synthetic chemicals (both in the vineyard and in the cellar); but there are also those who jump on the bandwagon without even knowing what it really entails.

Apparently, it is the moment of biodynamics; precisely for this reason, those of us who have practiced and implemented it for many decades feel compelled to defend its integrity and expression, both against narrow-minded detractors and against opportunistic charlatans. This is why we are here on this website—to speak out rather than remain silent. For many of us, it is no longer possible to continue working quietly: it is not possible for me, an agronomist who has made biodynamics my profession for a quarter of a century; it is not possible for many farmers who have practiced biodynamic agriculture, often biodynamic viticulture, confronting both the arrogance of mechanistic “scientific” experts and the poor interpreters of anthroposophical culture, who deemed the human application to winemaking reprehensible.

We have been considered, at the same time, witches by the scientific world and heretics by the anthroposophical world; today, thanks to us and to the wine, people talk about biodynamics. We were right. We could no longer remain silent, because sometimes we hear of companies that use chemical herbicides in the field, fertilize, treat vines with synthetic chemicals, yet in the cellar may follow the lunar calendar to rack the wine, use original containers, and with great skill claim to be biodynamic.

We could no longer remain silent because sometimes we hear of companies “practicing biodynamics” supported by clever consultants, perhaps working the soil, sowing cover crops, applying preparations, while at the same time protecting vines with synthetic chemicals, candidly claiming that they use little chemical input and will gradually reduce it. We could not remain silent because it is often asserted that biodynamic agriculture is primarily “rational agronomy,” omitting, either from ignorance or convenience, that biodynamics involves a different agronomy, a different botany, a different plant physiology—a different science with its own language.

We could not remain silent because, in a market apparently “thirsty” for biodynamic wine, experts and technicians appear who believe they can apply memorized protocols, while, perhaps, alternating between chemical agriculture consultancy and organic farming, they find the time to offer biodynamic advice. We could not remain silent and not ask ourselves: how can one truly know and apply biodynamics while continuing to work and consult in chemical agriculture?

We could not remain silent because being a farmer is not a priestly activity; one is not called to perform divine duties or become wise. We will not idolize the farmer simply for being biodynamic, knowing full well that today the transmission of knowledge across generations is lacking; only through the knowledge of biodynamics and the laws governing natural elements is it possible to regain the perception of the living and use it to cultivate. But knowledge cannot be acquired from ignorant teachers. It requires little speculative philosophical preparation and a great deal of understanding—both of mechanistic agricultural science, to appreciate it as well as to question it, and of the agronomy and practical application of the holistic agricultural principles of biodynamics in order to teach it.

A bridge is needed with institutional scientific research, represented by researchers who, beyond thinking about how to secure funding using the word “biodynamics,” remain true to their vocation: to be curious, to always maintain doubt about their knowledge. One is not a scientist by title; one becomes a scientist and remains one every time a truth is confirmed—or refuted—perhaps a certainty until the day before. A useful doubt might be to verify the validity of the scientific method used so far to represent biological, naturalistic, and thus agricultural phenomena.

We could not remain silent because biodynamics is an immeasurable heritage of humanity, which cannot be dismissed as an esoteric phenomenon. The foundation of current mechanistic science is rooted in the esoteric culture of the Pythagorean school, and it cannot be denied that its scientific claims have served humanity (from Galileo onward, numerical methods validate scientific results).

Surely, there are more convenient ways to justify creating a website about biodynamics, but we decided to do it because we are convinced that practicing biodynamic agriculture properly is an opportunity for humanity. To present it honestly means separating wheat from chaff; it means transmitting only what has practical validity, often verified over decades, and refuting what, though hypothesized by Rudolf Steiner, has not been shown to be applicable.

As professionals, we want to engage with those who have the true nature of a curious researcher, free from preconceptions and dogmas that would compromise their essence; we aim to act as a barrier against the impostors of the new biodynamic Wild West, who promote elixirs without demonstrable, applicable effects in agriculture. We want to share our studies, including analytical research, and the practical results we have achieved over many years, which allow us to practice biodynamic agriculture.

This website was created as a showcase of our work: we will explain how modern biodynamics is applied in its fundamental principles, freeing those who follow us from the pitfalls of uncertainty; we will provide practical guidance only on what we have directly and repeatedly tested and applied in our professional activity over the years; we will expose any false claims of “miraculous” effects of biodynamics not indisputably demonstrated, but we will also be ready to defend the agriculture of the future from paid detractors disguised as scientists. We will be vigilant custodians of the history and future of biodynamics, because we have embraced its greatness and made it our profession, in times when no one expected it, and beyond any strategic marketing prediction.