Sustainable Olive Oil

We know that an olive oil is sustainable when the resources used for its production will also be available to future generations (water, energy, raw materials).

We also believe that an olive oil is sustainable if the necessary parts of production do not affect natural resources that are difficult to renew (flora, fauna, soil, groundwater)

As we are owners, administrators and enjoyers of our olive groves, we are the main stakeholders in the production of sustainable olive oils with future family generations in mind.

We present here some specific aspects that we carry out to improve sustainability:

• Drip irrigation. In irrigated olive groves we optimize the water we use thanks to drip irrigation. Part of the drip irrigation system is underground, which prevents evaporation of water, forms a salt crust and an increase in the salinity of the soil.
• Electricity production with solar panels. Approximately 2/3 of the electricity used on the farm comes from our own solar panels. We have installed 100 kW that are used to power the mill and irrigation. In the months in which our production exceeds our consumption, it is added to the electricity distribution network as green energy.
• Composting of olive pomace. The main residue of our produced is the olive pomace, once the oil is extracted, called alperujo. To make use of it, we make a compost by mixing it with olive leaves. After composting, the alperujo increases its nitrogen concentration and can be applied to the olive grove as an organic fertilizer and soil improver.
• Bird-friendly olive harvesting. Modern technologies for olive harvesting in the super-intensive olive groves have put an end to many species of migratory birds that use olive groves as temporary shelter. The reason is that in modern harvests you also work at night, and the birds are of course not aware of this. At Las Valdesas we have traditional and intensive olive groves (not super-intensive) and our harvest takes place during the day.
• Organic fertilizers and/or foliar fertilizers. In the organic olive groves of Las Valdesas we use the alperujo compost as an organic fertilizer. In the rest of the olive groves we use foliar fertilizer, that is, the olive tree absorbs it through the leaf. Previously, the fertilizer was applied to the soil or in irrigation with the risk that rain or excess water would cause the fertilizer to be absorbed into the groundwater, which pollutes the groundwater veins.
• Maintenance and conservation of the soil. At Las Valdesas we practice a minimum tillage agriculture, that is, we plow the land as little as possible. We promote a vegetation cover on the paths in the olive grove that helps maintain soil moisture and allows a large insect community that reduces the risk of pests.
• Olive groves as CO2-drain. The growth of olive trees contributes to removing the CO2 from the atmosphere. The annual pruning is shredded, rather than burned. We aim to calculate the carbon footprint.
• Pest monitoring to minimize treatments. The main pests of the olive grove are monitored with traps distributed throughout the olive grove to know their biological phase and apply accurate and specific treatments to minimize them.
• Maintenance of the rural population. More than half of the workers of Las Valdesas live in villages close to the farm (Puente Genil, Badolatosa and Casariche). Crushing, storage, bottling and preparation of orders are carried out on the farm itself, as well as part of the customer service is.

The Las Valdesas olive grove is part of an Integrated Production Group (Agrupación de Producción Integrada, A.P.I.), which proposes an agricultural model situated between conventional agriculture and organic farming, with the aim of producing agricultural products of high organoleptic quality, and ensuring agricultural practices sustainable in the long term from an environmental and economic point of view.