A highlight of the 2026 Renewables in Agriculture Conference was a presentation and site visit showcasing the holistic approach to production at See Saw Wine.

See Saw Wine is a family-run, certified organic vineyard, winery and sheep property on the outskirts of Orange in central-west NSW and hosted the site visit on National Prosecco Day!

Business Development and Brand Manager Maggie Jarrett, a 2025 Nuffield Scholar researching how sustainability reporting can create value for producers, describes the property’s approach as starting underground before moving to above-ground systems.

For a decade, See Saw applied around ten tonnes of compost per hectare each year, combined with multi-species mid-row planting and, more recently, cell grazing with sheep between the vine rows. Soil organic carbon rose from 1.2% to 5.4% by 2019 before drought years reduced that figure to around 2%, still above the levels recorded when the vineyard was conventionally managed.   

Soil organic carbon affects a soil's capacity to hold water. When the drought broke, the carbon-rich soil absorbed more of the rainfall with less run-off and the vineyards recovered. See Saw treats this water-holding capacity as the basis of its drought resilience.

And of efficiency, Jarret says: “Using less reduces exposure to things sitting outside our control.”

Energy efficiency measures have been introduced alongside the soil and water program. Presses are run during daylight hours where possible to align with solar generation. An older press has been retrofitted with a variable speed drive, tanks are insulated, and a mobile refrigeration unit allows the winery to cool individual tanks rather than run fixed systems year-round. 

Three 10 kW solar systems are installed across See Saw's sites along with a 50kWh battery.  See Saw Wine are keen to expand their on-site renewables as they have a 200-kilowatt peak demand during wine-making season but grid connection costs currently limit further expansion as the winery would need to be able to export and sell the excess power during the off-season for a larger solar system to be economic.

Agrivoltaics has been considered over the vines, and while there are a number of benefits such as shade, hail protection and reduced evaporation, the logistical challenges of getting machinery through the vineyard?

To reduce evaporation. The property has trialled shade balls and is now testing floating solar panels and early modelling indicates that 30 per cent surface coverage will reduce evaporation by around 50 per cent, rising to roughly 75 per cent at 42 per cent coverage.

Jarrett describes the efficiency measures as sequential to the soil and water work: energy and infrastructure changes are applied to land whose underlying condition has already been addressed. Through her Nuffield research, she is examining renewable energy generation as a potential additional output for farm businesses, alongside existing production.

For more information about the sustainability initiatives at See Saw Wine, see their website.

https://www.seesawwine.com/about-us/sustainability/

Queensland Farmers’ Federation is a member of the organising committee for the annual National Renewables in Agriculture Conference.

For Queensland winery case studies, see the Ag Energy Hub case studies page here:  https://www.qldagenergyhub.com.au/case-studies

Energy Information Service for Landholders 

Farmers who are unsure where to start can contact The Energy Information Service for Landholders to discuss bills, tariffs, energy data, load shifting opportunities and questions to ask installers. This is a free phone service for farmers and landholders in Queensland. 

The service is available Monday – Friday from 8:30am – 5pm and can assist by providing information and guidance on a range of energy matters. 

Call 07 3329 7500 to access the service today.