Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

Demeter Newsletter -- July 2026

Greetings from Demeter!

In this issue:

+ Economic Working Group Update
+ Certification News - 2026 Certification Cycle Updates

+ Biodynamic Directory Spotlight - Cooking Oils

+ Standards Feature - Manure

+ Biodynamic - Digging Deeper

+ Staff Corner: Andy Bennett, Children's Book Author

+ Demeter Calendar

Please send newsletter content suggestions or

questions to: [email protected]

We’re Growing Our Capacity for

Education & Market Development

Last year, Demeter funded and organized a volunteer group to revisit with fresh eyes a question that has challenged our movement for decades:

How do we grow consumer awareness and demand for Biodynamics in the marketplace?

After significant discussion and exploration - including critical feedback from our licensees - it became clear that Demeter needs to hold and cultivate this endeavor to stay true to its mission. To truly enable people to farm successfully, we need to cultivate a healthy marketplace - in other words, we need a public who recognizes the value of what our producers offer, and actively chooses to support them. Certification by itself is not enough; we need compelling education and marketing.

This path has been tried before, and today we have many lessons and elders to inform the thoughtful evolution of market development and education of the public. We are mindful of sustaining a healthy organization while we strive to grow our capacity - including protecting the integrity in the certification program, and fostering strong relationships with each other, with our licensees, and with our allies in the movement.

As a first step in growing Demeter’s capacity for marketplace development, we have invited our volunteer group to join the organization as a standing committee within Demeter; they are now formally serving on the Economic Development Committee. They will support Demeter’s small staff with strategic development, planning, and fundraising. In addition, Zen Nishimura, from ZenBunni coffee, is supporting Demeter as a Creative Consultant to strengthen the brand visuals and brand story. We are grateful to have new perspectives and talents being put to the task, and we are excited to share more as our vision starts to take shape!

In the meantime, please know that we are committed to serving you, our licensees, with marketing and communications support. Although we currently have limited capacity, we still welcome your questions, concerns, and feedback - and we’d love to collaborate with you! Please feel free to reach out to us:

Rebecca Briggs - [email protected]

Chelsea Nolan - [email protected]

Nell Hanssen - [email protected]

Thank you for your patience and support as we grow our capacity for this crucial endeavor. And thank you for believing in Demeter Certified Biodynamic^Ⓡ; we are honored to have you with us!

Certification News

Keep an Eye on Your Inbox—Your Findings Report May Be on Its Way!

We're making great progress reviewing inspection reports, and Findings Reports are beginning to make their way to our certified operations.

When you receive yours, you'll find a summary of any items that may have come up during your inspection. If we need any additional information or documentation to complete your certification, your report will include details about what's needed and the date we'd appreciate receiving it.

Submitting any requested information by the deadline will help us keep your certification process moving along smoothly.

Thank you for your prompt attention and for all you do to support the Demeter standards. We truly appreciate working with you!

If you have any questions along the way, please don't hesitate to reach out to

Sarah Rhynalds at [email protected]. She's always happy to help.

Thank you again, and we look forward to completing your certification!

We’re excited to share a new section in our newsletter dedicated to highlighting the farmers and processors who bring Biodynamic® products to life. Demeter's online Biodynamic Directory is a tool for both producers and consumers. We hope this newsletter feature will serve to deepen the connection between consumers and the Biodynamic products they love and trust.

Biodynamic Directory

Spotlight

~ Cooking Oils ~

--------

Ambyth

Estate

AmByth is the Welsh word meaning 'forever'. Ambyth Estate utilizes the Biodynamic method of farming to enhance our observations of nature and use these intimate insights as tools that allow our 17 acres of vineyards to express their true character through the fruit it produces. Located right between Los Angeles and San Francisco, the vineyard, orchard, and olive groves cover steep hillsides that allow the plants to extend their dry-farmed roots into ancient substrate of sedimentary rock deposits known as Linne Calado.

Every season our soil is rejuvenated with our own aged compost inoculated with biodynamic preps. Chickens, cows, and sheep enliven the land with their valuable manure, aerate the soil with their hooves, and are an excellent source of weed control. We let them loose in the vineyard during the winter months to mow the cover crop and wild grasses.

We have 600 Spanish varietal olive trees, and we produce dry-farmed, estate Biodynamic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, that is for sale at our winery. We always have oil cured olives on hand in the tasting room. Ambyth Extra Virgin Olive Oil is rich and pure, with no added enzymes.

Online Shop: ambythestate.com

Contact:

[email protected]

510 Sequoia Lane
Templeton, CA 93465
805-423-1904

Apricot

Lane Farms

Since 2011, Apricot Lane Farms has cultivated great-tasting, nutrient-dense food through farming practices that enhance the health and beauty of its entire farm ecosystem. Across 234 acres in Moorpark, California, the farm cultivates 100+ varieties of fruits and vegetables, while raising animals such as cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, and ducks within a regenerative system. Apricot Lane Farms has been certified Biodynamic for over a decade, using practices such as prep-making, animal grazing, cover cropping, and composting to build biodiversity above and below the soil.

The farm cultivates 15+ varieties of avocados across 40+ acres of Biodynamic avocado orchards. These avocados are shipped nationwide, offering consumers a way to source just-picked, Biodynamic avocados directly from the farm.

From these avocados, Apricot Lane Farms produces the world's only Biodynamic Extra Virgin Avocado Oil. Hass avocados are ripened to perfection and then gently pressed to extract the emerald green oil, while preserving nutrients and flavor.

Online Shop: apricotlanefarms.com

Contact:

[email protected]

Benziger

Family Winery

Benziger Family Winery is located in Glen Ellen, California. Our ranch has been home to olive trees since it was first settled in 1860. Then, in the late 1990s, as we transitioned the estate to Biodynamic® farming, we added hundreds more trees to contribute to the biodiversity of our vineyards. As pioneers of Biodynamic® farming practices, we view our estate as a single living ecosystem, by inviting nature into the estate and honoring the connection of all living things. The land thrives on biodiversity, so we cultivate diverse plants, attract beneficial birds and insects, use natural preparations to nurture the soil, and raise sheep and cows among our vines. Through Biodynamic® farming, the best of what the land possesses is reflected in everything we produce from our ranch.

Today, we’re growing over 1,200 trees at our flourishing estate, including some that are over 200 years old. It was only natural that we create a Biodynamic Estate Olive Oil from the bounty that we hand harvest every fall.

Our distinctive blend of Leccino and Maurino olives makes a mild, fruity, and slightly peppery flavor profile. The result is an ideal finishing oil that’s perfect for dipping fresh-baked bread, dressing farmers’ market salads, or drizzling over grilled veggies.

Our oils are available to purchase in the Benziger tasting room or by calling the winery.

Website: benziger.com

Contact:

[email protected]

1883 London Ranch Road

Glen Ellen, CA 95442

707-935-3000

Culinary

Collective

Culinary Collective is a Demeter-certified importer of Spanish foods, in particular Biodynamic olive oils from Castillo de Canena. We are committed to sustainable and responsible sourcing. We work with small suppliers who support traditional local economies. We believe great food should nourish people, communities, and the planet. That’s why we take a holistic approach to sustainability across all of our products.

A family-owned gem from Andalucía, Spain, Castillo de Canena has crafted award-winning extra virgin olive oils since 1780. With a rich heritage and commitment to sustainability, their oils, revered worldwide, blend artisanal tradition with modern innovation. “As farmers and harvesters, we feel the need to take care of our trees and the ecosystem in which they grow. Committed to our countryside, we practice regenerative agriculture to take care of the health of our soils and thus guarantee their future…. Biodynamic agriculture seeks the integral balance between the soil, the trees, the animals and Man.”

These award-winning olive oils can be purchased online.

Online Shop: culinarycollective.com

Contact:

[email protected]

4620 Campus Place, Suite 240

Mukilteo, Washington 98275

(425) 398-9761

DAMYA

At DAMYA, we believe exceptional olive oil begins with healthy, living soil. Rooted in our family groves in Tunisia, we farm in harmony with nature, embracing Biodynamic® principles that restore biodiversity and strengthen the land season after season. Our Demeter Certified Biodynamic Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the purest expression of that philosophy — single origin, harvest dated, and cold extracted within hours of picking.

What makes DAMYA unique is our belief that people shouldn't need a different olive oil for every recipe. Rather than dictating which oil belongs in the frying pan and which belongs on the table, we crafted four distinct oils — Biodynamic, Robust, Delicate, and Unfiltered — all held to the same uncompromising quality standard. We call it four expressions, one quality standard. Whether you're finishing a salad, roasting vegetables, baking a cake, or simply enjoying fresh bread, the choice should be guided by flavor, not by a rulebook.

Our approach is rooted in Tunisia's agricultural heritage and centuries of Amazigh wisdom about working with nature rather than against it. As stewards of the land, our goal is simple: produce exceptional olive oil while leaving our groves healthier for the generations that follow.

Our oils are available online and in-store nation-wide at Whole Foods Markets.

Online Shop: damya.com

Contact:

[email protected]

Follow us on instagram at: @tastedamya

Fattoria

La Vialla

Fattoria La Vialla: In 1978, when Giuliana and Piero Lo Franco bought the Fattoria’s first farmstead they had a dream: seeing the abandoned countryside come back to life. Immediately from the start the organic cultivation method was adopted. The next step was taken in 1997 with the introduction of biodynamic agriculture. Now, almost 50 years later, the farm-winery is in the hands of their three sons, Gianni, Antonia and Bandino.

The Fattoria has some 1400 hectares of vineyards, olive groves, vegetable and fruit patches and woodland. The organic-biodynamic products include several kinds of red, white and sparkling wines, extra virgin olive oil, several kinds of pasta and pasta sauces, typical aperitives, marmalades, honey and biscuits. The products combined guarantee a 360-degree Mediterranean culinary experience.

What makes Fattoria La Vialla’s extra virgin Olive Oil so special? The olives are stone-ground by natural millstones that are enclosed in a transparent, hermetically sealed dome (patented by La Vialla!) which makes it possible to continue stone grinding while fully protecting the extra virgin olive oil from oxidation and avoiding stripping it off its nutritional content.

Online Shop: lavialla.com

Contact:

[email protected]

Filigreen

Farm

Situated between hills of mixed coniferous redwood forest to the west and oak woodlands to the east, Filigreen Farm is located on 97 acres in the Anderson Valley of Mendocino County, California. It is a Demeter-certified Biodynamic® and CCOF certified organic diversified farm, producing an array of orchard fruits, blueberries, olives, wine and table grapes, vegetables, cut-flowers, and herbs. Year-round offerings of value-added products include olive oil, everlasting flowers, dried fruit, and tea. The farm also houses an apiary and an ongoing inquiry into water revitalization through the use of flowforms and other vortices by design.

Experimentation and research are central to Filigreen’s mission. New cultivars, rootstocks, training methods and nursery techniques are continually developed, applied, and adapted, which give the farm the independence it needs for intensive production. The successful riparian restoration of Anderson Creek, a major tributary of the Navarro River that bisects the farm, serves as an example and training ground for other riparian restoration efforts in the valley. Large portions of the farm are dedicated to natural spaces of forest and river habitat for native species. A conservation easement held by the Anderson Valley Land Trust ensures protection of the land to be used for organic and Biodynamic agriculture in perpetuity.

Filigreen’s olives, planted in the high-density technique used throughout the farm, include Spanish Arbequina and Arbosana, as well as frost-hearty Tuscan varieties. The olives are milled at Olivino’s certified organic facility in Hopland to produce Biodynamic olive oil, which is sold in the online store and at several local locations.

Online Shop: Filigreen Farm.com

Contact:

[email protected]

Follow on Instagram: @filigreenfarm

Golden

Vineyards

Golden Vineyards is located in Mendocino County, California, and has been certified Biodynamic since 1994. Joe and Julie Golden own the land, which comprises about 2,000 acres of oak woodlands and conifer forests, with less than 60 acres in production.

Golden Vineyards includes about 35 acres of winegrapes and 7.5 acres of Italian, Greek and Spanish olives for oil. Their high-quality olive oil can be sampled as part of the food selection at their restaurant, the Golden Pig, which features products from numerous local farms.

They write, “Our restaurant is FARM DRIVEN, and was founded on the belief that food produced on healthy soil, with clean water, lots of sunshine and minimal intervention will keep you healthy. By investing in the land and the farmer, we’re creating a culture that strengthens goodwill among local businesses and not only delivers fine food to each of our customers but serves as an educational source that inspires dialogue about the sustainable food movement, seasonality, and stewardship.”

Website: www.thegoldenpig.com

Contact:

[email protected]

13380 S. Hwy 101
Hopland 95449

SunHawk

Farms

SunHawk Farms is a small family-owned biodynamic farm and homestead overlooking the lush Hopland valley in Mendocino County, California.

John Schaeffer and Nantzy Hensley purchased the 320 acres for SunHawk Farms in 1998 and did so with a commitment to steward and care for the land in the most sustainable and regenerative way possible. John and Nantzy founded Real Goods and the Solar Living Institute which they ran for over 40 years out of the Solar Living Center in Hopland.

At SunHawk Farms, our extra virgin olive oil, high in health-giving antioxidants, is an expression of place, patience, and purpose. The 2025 harvest tested with a polyphenol count of 475 mg/kg (nearly double the 250 mg/kg minimum required for the European Union cardiovascular health claim).

Through thoughtful cultivation, gentle milling, and an unwavering focus on quality, our oils capture both the terroir of Northern California and the rich tradition of artisanal olive growing. For over five thousand years, people have been harvesting this wellspring of good health. Our olives are grown along the hills in Mendocino County, California – home of the greatest number of organic farms in the U.S. Here, we grow over 4,000 olive trees of the Tuscan varieties. Using strict Biodynamic techniques, our olives are harvested by hand and pressed just down the hill at Olivino. Each year, our harvest grows.

SunHawk Farms’ extra virgin olive oil can be purchased online and can also be found at retail locations in Northern California and in many high-end holistic body care products.

Online Shop: sunhawkfarms.com

Contact:

2001 Duncan Springs Rd,
Hopland, CA 95449

(t) 1-707-272-3128

Get ready for our upcoming

Biodynamic Directory Features!

August Newsletter -- livestock products

Does your business produce any products in these categories? Please email us at [email protected] for details on how to be included.

Demeter Standards Feature

Links to the Demeter Farm and Processing Standards can be found on our website's home page: Demeter USA Farm and Processing Standards

Focus on Input Review:

Manure-based materials and compost:

There are similarities between what the National Organic Program (NOP) and Demeter allow for input use on farms, but Demeter is different in some significant ways.

The NOP and Demeter both:

> Prohibit sewage sludge/biosolids and human waste products as manure sources

For crops intended for human consumption:

> Require observation of the 90/120 day preharvest interval to reduce pathogen risk

> Rely on time-and-temperature thresholds to mitigate pathogen risk in processed manure/compost:

NOP: >131°F and <170°F for 3 days for in-vessel or static aerated pile system

NOP: >131°F and <170°F for 15 days and turned at least 5 times for a windrow system

In addition, Demeter:

> Suggests compost temperatures not exceed 150°F

> Requires Application of Biodynamic Preparations 502-507 at compost pile-building and first turning

> Considers off-farm manure sources:
                     Livestock Stocking rate (non-CAFO sources)*
                     Animal feed (non-GMO) and medications*
                     Distance from the farm (250 miles)*
                     Risk of persistent herbicides present in livestock feed and manure

*An exemption is available after a search proves lack of availability with additional composting and Biodynamic Preparation use requirements.

Biodynamic ~ Digging Deeper

Podcasts and other interviews with Biodynamic practitioners can be a great way to learn about farmers experiences with Biodynamic methods. Here are a few to check out:

🌱 Mark Doudlah - speaking on the Real Organic Project podcast.

Listen to Mark of Doudlah Farms discuss the links between glyphosate use and cancer and his reasons for changing the way he farmed.

🌱 Jim Fullmer - interviewed on the Serves You Right podcast.

Jim Fullmer, former Executive Director of Demeter, discusses Biodynamic wine-making, terroir, and the differences between organic and Biodynamic methods.

🌱 Biodynamics Q&A with Thijs Verschuuren

Thijs Verschuuren is the Director of Vineyard Biology and Biodynamic Specialist at Hermann J. Weimer Vineyard in Dundee, NY.

- Staff Corner -

Andy Bennett

Certification Specialist

and Inspector

Visiting Churchtown Dairy with Jennie and Jean-David.

Writing a children's book ...

One of my activities in life outside Demeter is I am a Children's Book author.

My first published children's book The Peace Plant Prophecy is currently available through Amazon in English and in Spanish for the 2025 edition: La Profecía de la Planta de Paz.

As with Biodynamics, The Peace Plant Prophecy shares a unique story of connection and experience with the reader. The story revolves around a mystical peace plant seed gifted with miraculous properties meant to heal the world. By blending history, beautiful artwork, and imaginative storytelling, the book teaches young readers how fostering love in their hearts and kindness in their souls can create a ripple effect that benefits humanity and the greater universe.

During the winter of 2021 all the different phases of having my children's book published came together! Alignment happened!! My amazing illustrator Efren Gonzalez committed to the project; the story had already been copyrighted with the Library of Congress; I met my self-publishing guide, Amanda Miller, who knew all the requirements including setting up my own publishing company to retain all rights of my book and future publications, YDNA Books LLC; and an amazing book layout facilitator Victoria Wolf, who was so incredibly skillful in the way she assembled the book for its final published versions both the English and Spanish editions!!!

The English and Spanish editions are available in Hardcover, Paperback, and Kindle. A perk of working with Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing that does print-on-demand) as one of my printers is that the books can be ordered from any country where Amazon is available.

I cannot say enough about my illustrator Efren Gonzalez! Efren was able to bring the story to Life!! I have known Efren for over 20 years from my travels to Melaque, Mexico. Efren represents Mexico in world watercolor painting events!

There was lots to learn and to navigate in the completion of my children's book publication project .... For all the help, from all involved, I am SO THANKFUL!!

I hope you will enjoy the story and read the book to others!

Andy

Biodynamic Study Group and

Networking Opportunity

through the Goetheanum Section for Agriculture

Farmers and other members of the biodynamic movement are invited to join an online learning group to discuss practical and relevant topics around biodynamic agriculture.

Read more and register here: Experimental Spaces to Deepen Biodynamics

Join the new Biodynamic Network for exchange and collaboration with the worldwide movement: Biodynamic Network

Notes from the Field...

We are reserving a spot in each of our newsletters to feature a farmer or other certified business owner. If you'd like to write a brief article about your experience with Biodynamic Production, Processing, or Marketing, or answer some interview questions about your operation, we'd love to share it with our readers!

Please contact Nell at [email protected] for more details.