WESTERN CAPE, South Africa — A historic South Africa wine farm is turning to a feathered workforce to maintain its vineyards, deploying a massive duck brigade to replace chemical pesticides. At Vergenoegd Löw Wine Estate in the Western Cape, over a thousand Indian runner ducks waddle off to work twice a day as part of a pioneering regenerative farming technique designed to tackle pests and promote soil health naturally.
Estate and farm manager Christiaan Cloete explains that each animal plays a unique, coordinated role in maintaining the vineyard’s ecosystem. The Indian runner ducks serve as the chief pest control officers, specifically targeting insects such as snails, aphids, and worms. Once the initial clearing is done, cattle are brought in to graze on the longer cover crops, trimming them down to about half their size. Following the cattle, sheep enter the vineyards to graze on the shortened grasses, focusing heavily on consuming weeds, particularly during the winter months.
While Vergenoegd Löw has utilized this avian pest control method since the 1980s, the practice is now part of a wider movement toward sustainable agriculture in the region. Cloete notes that the eco-friendly approach is gaining traction, with approximately ten other wine farms in the area now employing runner ducks for winter pest control, and many more integrating cattle into their vineyard grazing routines.
Beyond pest and weed management, the roaming animals naturally fertilize the soil as they make their way through the vines. Estate ecology ranger Milan Germishuizen emphasizes that avoiding chemical intervention is crucial for the long-term viability of the land.
“The more pesticides and artificial fertilizers you put onto your soil, eventually your soil will degenerate,” Germishuizen states. “By using natural methods like we use our larger animals and the ducks, we like to think that we are really looking after our soils, which eventually does give us a much better quality product at the end of the day.”
The daily “duck run” has also become a huge tourist drawcard for the historic estate, which stands as one of the oldest in the Cape and produces award-winning wines. This commitment to ecological balance is especially vital given that most of South Africa’s wine originates from the Cape Winelands, an area that hosts two global biodiversity hotspots. Recognizing these ongoing environmental efforts, Vergenoegd Löw is one of more than 60 wine farms in the region officially working with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as Conservation Champions.
