Responsible Land Use

Dutton Ranch is committed to the preservation of our land and our environment. We work everyday to ensure that we are using the most sustainable farming practices possible to best protect the land for generations to come. We farm to the specific needs of each individual sight and take the time to develop individual protocols in order to eliminate unnecessary intervention.

All of our orchards are certified organic by CCOF and all of our vineyards are certified sustainable as well as Fish Friendly Farming. When possible, we use cover crops for erosion control, water absorption, and as a means of putting nitrogen back into the soil.

For California farmers, nothing is more precious than water. Many of our older, well-established vineyards are dry farmed using little or no irrigation, we constantly monitor the need for irrigation in order to ensure we are only irrigating when necessary and use emitters for efficient water usage. The emitters ensure that when water is needed, it is being applied directly to the vine so there is no loss due to run off or evaporation. We have also invested heavily in irrigation ponds on several of our sites in order to capture rain water during the wet season so we don’t have to rely on groundwater usage during the dry summer months.

We have also developed programs to limit machinery in the vineyards lowering fuel usage and reducing compaction of the earth. We recycle glass, cardboard, paper, tires, batteries, plastic, steel and other scrap metals.

We have also heavily invested in solar electricity. Many of our buildings at our ranches are equipped with solar panels. We use the solar panels to power our main office and the mechanic shop, as well as our employee housing and family housing we provide for our employees.

Dutton Ranch is also participating in an innovative carbon sequestering program through the Sonoma County Winegrowers and California Land Stewardship Institute. This program aims to help remove carbon from the atmosphere with individual farming plans created for each specific site. We are very excited to be a part of the pilot program and play a roll in developing new techniques for carbon sequestration and to help improve the health of our soils and farms.