WHERE BIODYNAMICS BEGAN

Rudolf Steiner, c. 1905

A brief look at the history of a farming method that redefined how we see the land.

In 1924, on an estate in Silesia, a group of European farmers gathered in response to a growing concern: declining soil fertility, weakening crops, and a general sense that something was being lost in the rush toward modern agriculture. Their host, the Austrian philosopher and scientist Rudolf Steiner, offered something unexpected. Not just advice, but a shift in worldview.

What Steiner proposed was that the farm be treated as a living organism - self-sustaining, diversified, and balanced. Soil, plants, animals and humans each had a role to play in maintaining the whole. This wasn’t a nostalgic return to old traditions, but the birth of a new approach that saw agriculture as part of a greater ecological and even spiritual context.

This was the beginning of what we now call biodynamic farming.

At the time, Steiner was best known for founding anthroposophy, a school of thought that drew from theosophy while developing its own synthesis of science, art, and spirituality. His agricultural lectures — later known as the “Agriculture Course” — marked a turning point. They framed agriculture not just as a technical practice but as a moral and cultural one, bound to the cycles of nature, the cosmos, and the inner life of the farmer.

The method that emerged combined hands-on soil regeneration, lunar and cosmic calendars, herbal preparations, and the pursuit of vitality in both plant and human life. It wasn’t prescriptive — more an invitation to observe, to think, and to farm with intent. From this emerged the early biodynamic farms, and eventually the Demeter certification body, which helped formalise and spread the standards globally.

By using chestnut instead of metal as supporting rods we avoid disturbing the electromagnetic field of the groves.

From young samplings to mature trees, each plant is shown the same dedication and attention.

In Italy, the biodynamic movement developed along quieter lines. Less institutional than in Germany or Switzerland, it took root through networks of winemakers, farmers and agricultural thinkers who valued resilience, craftsmanship and long-term vision. The principles took shape slowly - adapted to the landscape, to Mediterranean conditions, and to a long-standing tradition of working with the land rather than against it.

At Trebbio, we see ourselves as part of this lineage. Our certification by AgriBioDinamica is both a technical and a philosophical choice. The Italian association has developed its own approach over the decades, rooted in Steiner’s original vision but attentive to the realities of contemporary farming. Their guidance has helped us implement practices that regenerate soil, strengthen tree vitality, and restore balance to the groves.

By considering our groves as an integrated eco-system, we are aiming to set new standards in terms of both quality of produce and farming as a whole.

This is not about ticking boxes. It’s about farming with clarity and intention, and recognising the land as more than a production site. The methods evolve, but the principle remains: observation over prescription, presence over productivity.

A century on, the relevance of biodynamics has only grown. Soil health, carbon cycles, biodiversity, resilience - all are now common themes in agriculture. But the original impulse behind biodynamic farming wasn’t trend-driven. It came from asking deeper questions: What kind of food are we growing? What kind of future are we preparing for?

This is the first of several explorations we’ll be sharing - looking at the foundations of biodynamics and how we apply them today, in our olive groves in Mugello.

In the next article, we’ll take a closer look at what it really means to treat the farm as an organism - and why this metaphor still holds weight, a hundred years on.