Cut Inputs, Lift Profit | Sheep, Soil & Vineyards

Healthy soil isn’t a buzzword here — it’s driving better grapes and better lambs.
Inside a NSW vineyard/winery system where compost biology and livestock cut inputs and lift profit.

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Today I’m at Bunnamagoo winery (near Mudgee, NSW). It’s a 400-hectare wine and fat lamb enterprise where the team is rebuilding soil biology with diverse mid-row pasture, crash grazing, and a carefully tested compost program made from winery and livestock waste.

You’ll see how they:

Integrate sheep into vineyards (without wrecking production)

Use diverse mid-rows (clovers, chicory, lucerne, grasses) to support soil function

Build compost as a “biological factory” (bacteria:fungi balance, temperature monitoring, repeated lab testing)

Reduce reliance on traditional fertiliser and spraying regimes by improving plant resilience

Make hard profit-first decisions (removing unprofitable vines, reinvesting into quality blocks)

Use canopy work (cane pruning, shoot thinning, bunch thinning) to turn less yield into higher value wine

This is practical, farmer-to-farmer systems thinking: animals + plants + microbes + measurement — and a clear focus on profit over yield.

soil biology in vineyards, compost microbiology, bacteria to fungi ratio, regenerative viticulture, sheep grazing vineyards, diverse species pasture, holistic farm systems, profit vs yield farming, biological inputs, vineyard floor management, canopy management, shoot thinning, bunch thinning, cane pruning, reducing sprays, improving grape quality.

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Featured: Paul Baguley (agronomy) + Rick Stanaford (winemaking)
Location: Bunnamagoo, near Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia

Products/suppliers mentioned:
Crop Biolife https://www.cropbiolife.com/
ALSTA Nutritional testing https://altsa.com.au/
AGVITA Microbial testing https://agvita.com.au/
Paul Baguley (PB Ag Consulting) https://www.facebook.com/pbagconsulting/

#RegenerativeAgriculture #SoilHealth #Viticulture #Grazing #Compost

3) Chapters / Timestamps (00:00 Format)

00:00 Soil biology meets wine + fat lambs (why this matters)
00:51 “Don’t decouple animals and plants” (system overview)
03:10 Vineyard mid-row pasture: diversity, not “weeds”
04:48 Grazing + slashing pressure instead of chasing perfect clean rows
05:09 Biodiversity = predator balance (less pest pressure)
06:13 Composting as a biological factory (made from on-farm waste)
07:34 Testing for bacteria:fungi ratios (data-driven compost)
09:03 Vineyard health changes winemaking inputs (fewer corrections)
10:30 Building compost: lime, temperature monitoring, biology additives
12:53 How long compost takes (18 months) + why patience matters
13:27 Avoiding potassium issues: test, tweak, re-test
14:43 Greener pastures longer: 12-month production goal
15:16 Scale: lamb finishing numbers + pasture resilience
16:16 Profit vs yield: removing unprofitable vineyard blocks
18:50 Reinvesting savings into quality blocks (cane pruning + thinning)
20:06 One bunch per shoot: less yield, higher value wine
21:27 Crash grazing windows + clean mid-rows before budburst
23:10 Future farming: biologicals, testing, adapt and implement
24:35 Sprays changing: softer, targeted, more biologicals