“We produce organic by supporting biodiversity and integrate all the elements that exist in nature within the farm, we cultivate awareness”

With this quote framed in a mosaic of Cortijo el Puerto Farm’s Ecosystem we start this post, inviting you to know about the real meaning of biodynamic agriculture for us.

Features of biodynamic farming

The aim of biodynamic farming is to restore maintain and enhance the harmony within the ecology that surrounds us.

This is a model able to answer the great challenges that the agricultural sector is already facing: scarcer rainfall, more degraded soils due to abuse and neglect and a demand for higher quality food as well as long-term sustainability.understanding soils and ecosystem interactions, producing food in a healthier way and with higher quality.

Crop diversification is one of the key features of this type of farming. It requires to grow diverse or different crops rather than concentrating on just one crop which could lead to depletion of soil nutrients.

The prevention measures, land care and soil fertility and protection, the way to control pests,  harvest time… are determining factors for the organoleptic features, composition and quality of food.

When we incorporate a robust diversity of plants and animals and create habitat for natural predators (beneficial auxiliary fauna and insect pollinators), pests and diseases have few places to thrive.

It is cost-effective:

 

  by reducing fertility inputs

  helping to produce premium quality products (healthy & delicious food)

  developing consistent production and high net returns

We also use livestock manures to sustain plant growth (recycling of nutrients), maintenance and improvement of soil quality, and the health and well being of crops and animals. We also foster the biodiversity of both flora and fauna , and enhance the biological cycles and the biological activity of the soil.

Biodynamics provides tools to make organics easier by:

 

organising the nutrient cycles

activating the soil food web, which creates humus

creating resilience in plants and animals against stress and extreme weather events

balancing the atmosphere around plants

optimising growth cycles using lunar and cosmic rhythms

Biodynamic agriculture entails a philosophy of life. It is a higher step in organic farming, for instance, it takes into account the cycles of the moon in the harvest or the way to obtain the compost.

Discover the core concepts of biodynamics here

Biodynamic Preparations

Biodynamic farming methods enliven the soil through careful observation of nature’s rhythms. The main difference between organic and biodynamic is that biodynamic farming uses different principles that add vitality to the plant, soil and/or livestock, whereas traditional farming typically deteriorates the soil. Biodynamic standards are also much stricter than organic ones. For example, while organic farms are allowed to import organic feed to the farm from anywhere in the world, a biodynamic certification requires 50% of livestock feed be grown on the farm. Biodynamic farms are also required to set aside 10% of the total farm acreage for biodiversity, and strive for a balanced predator/prey relationship.

Biodynamic agriculture uses specifically prepared preparations made from minerals and herbs – very similar to homeopathy. These preparations are used to enhance the compost applied to the fields and intensify the sunlight permeated into the plant.

 

 

 

There are nine different preparations to aid fertilization. These substances are numbered 500 through 508, where the first two are used for preparing fields, and the other seven are used for making compost.

 

Know more about biodynamic preparations here

In Cortijo el Puerto we know of the importance of  botanical base and herbal pharmacopoeias, the relevance of the medicinal qualities of the plants.

By using these methods and procedures we focus to get a more rigorous organic farming. In this agriculture we seek to integrate plants with people and animals. Biodynamics could also be called an “organic Plus” agriculture.

Benefits of biodynamic farming

Cortijo el Puerto, benchmark in ecology and innovation, is certified by Demeter, the largest certification organization for biodynamic agriculture. A farm with Olive, Almond and Citrus grove, framed in a global biodiversity recovery and regeneration environmental project, with a lot of bio-pros:

The emphasis is on healing the soil and helping to replenish a balance ecosystem results on producing food in a healthier way and with higher quality.

Biodynamic Farming help to preserve the wildlife, natural habitats and support biodiversity.

Improve energy efficiency

Strict quality controls and traceability

Better health and lower ecological impacts.

Natural, Sustainable and Combatants of climate change: Biodynamic farms like ours at Cortijo el Puerto, because of the humus in their soil, are able to store more carbon in their soil than what other conventional farms can. This means that there is less carbon being released into the air. Biodynamic farms are doing more to add less to the effects of climate change by simply respecting the environments and maintaining their organism.  

Approaching the farm as an integrated living organism, and the farmer as a deeply knowledgeable orchestrator, biodynamics is a natural path to regenerative agriculture

Cortijo el Puerto Biodynamic: Cultivating Awareness

Our farm, Cortijo el Puerto,  is conceived as an organism, a self-contained entity with its own individuality, and self-sustaining. Disease and insect control are addressed through botanical species diversity, predator habitat, balanced crop nutrition, and attention to light penetration and airflow.

Biodynamics, a word that will soon sound familiar to all of us.  it was the first of the organic agriculture movements. Its development began in 1924 with a series of eight lectures on agriculture given by philosopher Rudolf Steiner at Schloss Koberwitz in Silesia (between Germany and Poland). It treats soil fertility, plant growth, and livestock care as ecologically interrelated tasks.

We consider that the earlier we learn about the environment, the more we will care about protecting it. Cultivating natural awareness and a deep understanding of ecology will give you a serious edge.

Our dream at Cortijo el Puerto: create an agricultural community where living beings exist in perfect harmony! A sustainable farm where flora and fauna coexist to produce organic food of high nutritional value: oil, almond, etc. Reckoning and considering Biodiversity as a vital element of sustainable agriculture. “A philosophy of life … a unique ecosystem”

 

 

R&D and Certifications

Biodynamic standards are also much stricter than organic ones. Cortijo el Puerto, benchmark in ecology and innovation, is certified by Demeter, the largest certification organization for biodynamic agriculture. A farm with Olive, Almond and Citrus grove, framed in a global biodiversity recovery and regeneration environmental project.

 

We are committed to the ecological breeding of native and endangered sheep, along with chickens from indigenous breeds

Because of all this, our Project has been widely awarded, included “Premios Alimentos de España 2019” ( “Food Awards Spain 2019”) by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in the category of Organic Production The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación).

It awards the work carried out by companies and professionals who have distinguished themselves by producing, offering and disseminating Spanish quality food, as well as their contribution to the development of the Spanish food sector in a sustainable and efficient way.

 

Biodiversity, Ecology and Innovation are characteristic features of Cortijo el Puerto. This 2021 we have started with a sample of it in the recently signed collaboration agreement with the European Showcase Project.

 

So, Innovation is an ally for us. The ecology and innovation binomial, basic feature of Cortijo el Puerto provide an analytical, systematic, research and technology touch to biodynamic techniques and procedures, leading to a logical and measurable development. We work together with several Research Institutions.  We are deeply committed to a goal of continuous improvement and lifelong learning.

Being biodynamic, over time, implies a strong cost savings, noticeable expansion of recycling and much more self-sufficiency (green & circular economy) and, above all, plant health, from the soil to the ripening of the almond and that is a guarantee of quality.

Infographic source: https://designhybrid.artstation.com/projects/lLYva

Organic, Biodynamic, Quality and Innovation certified, Cortijo e Puerto has taken not the easy path, but the one able to answer the great challenges that agricultural sector is already facing: scarcer rainfall, more degraded soils due to abuse and neglect and a demand for higher quality food as well as long-term sustainability. understanding soils and ecosystem interactions, producing food in a healthier way and with higher quality. Ecology and Innovation build sinergies obeying principles of sustainability and regeneration of nature as well as a background of innovation and cutting-edge technology in production.

Of course, it entails a great effort, given the limitations that this implies. Nevertheless, working hard and deeply convinced of this way, we pulled it off.

We invite you to think green and to know more about us