Where It All Began

Fattoria La Vialla is a 2,459-hectare farm nestled in the Tuscan hills near Arezzo, led by Gianni Lo Franco alongside his two brothers, Bandino and Antonio. What began nearly 50 years ago as a family experiment by the Lo Franco parents became a generational calling that demonstrates what is truly possible through determination and persistence. They transformed a dilapidated farmhouse and degraded land into Italy’s largest biodynamic farm.

Fattoria La Vialla began in 1978, when Gianni’s parents, textile entrepreneur Piero Lo Franco and his wife Giuliana, purchased a dilapidated farmhouse. The land had been eroded following the collapse of the mezzadria, Italy’s sharecropping system.

While Gianni’s parents were not farmers, they were dreamers. They were inspired by their grandmothers, who held deep respect for the soil. “Growing up, we often heard the phrase, ‘The earth which feeds you must never be poisoned,’” Gianni says. “Our parents didn’t want to exploit the land to make wine, olive oil, or money. They wanted to restore a way of being.”

“Our parents were first movers,” Gianni recalls. “They envisioned a circular system in harmony with nature.”

With this goal in mind, they began restoring terraces, planting vines and olive trees, creating vegetable patches, introducing sheep herds, and rebuilding soil that had long been neglected. From the start, no synthetic chemicals or pesticides were used. “With love and care,” Gianni says, “the land slowly came back.”

Italy’s Largest Biodynamic Farm

Today, Fattoria La Vialla is Italy’s largest biodynamic farm and a thriving ecosystem. It is one of the few examples of a fully integrated vertical farm. Situated in the rolling hills between Florence and Rome, the farm integrates productive agricultural land, rewilded forest, livestock, vegetables, bees, and renewable energy into one living organism. Everything is managed without pesticides or synthetic fertilisers, combining vines, grains, olives, livestock, and vegetables in a regenerative system.

Biodynamic farming goes further than organic farming. Guided by the Maria Thun calendar and the rhythms of the seasons, it treats the farm as a self-sustaining living system, nurturing the relationship between soil, plants, animals, and the wider cosmos. “Meeting biodynamic pioneers like François Bouchet taught us how to listen to the soil, to sense its breath and rhythm,” Gianni recalls.

At every step of production, the environment is respected and everything grown is transformed on-site. Grapes become wine, olives become oil, and olive wastewater, which was traditionally discarded as waste, is transformed into Demeter-certified health shots and cosmetics. Tomatoes become sugo, milk becomes pecorino, basil is harvested by hand, and honey comes from more than 300 hives.

Even with the accolades, labels are not the goal. What matters is coherence: a living balance between soil, plants, animals, and people. “For us, agriculture is not just production. It is the transformation of land, community, and consciousness,” says Gianni.

The Community and Beyond

When Fattoria La Vialla hosted its first visitors, everything changed.

“The first truly defining moment came when our very first guests arrived at the very first house,” recalls Gianni. “Almost immediately, something magical happened. Visitors fell in love with organic farming and with this enchanting place.”

He continues, “The energy when walking the trails in and around La Vialla is incredibly beautiful and unique worth experiencing.”

From that moment on, La Vialla recognised the opportunity to build a direct-distribution model. They began selling their products through their online store, giving people all over Europe a taste of regeneration in their homes.

Over the years, La Vialla has helped more than 91 farming families in Italy convert to organic agriculture, covering more than 1,177 hectares of land. They also offer the farm as a gathering space for organisations such as the World Future Council, and Climate Farmers.

The agriturismo opens each summer. The long table under the giant fig tree fills with people eating together at golden hour, welcoming visitors from all over the world.

The La Vialla Family

Taking care of Fattoria La Vialla is a massive undertaking, and none of it would be possible without the 202 employees, many of whom have been there for decades.

“Nothing leaves La Vialla without the agreement of all three of us, and often with the whole ‘La Vialla family’ having tasted, tested, or discussed it,” Gianni explains. “That unity is not a rule; it’s a way of being that grew from decades of working side by side, trusting one another, and sharing the same purpose.”

“Our staff, many of whom have been with us for decades, are our greatest treasure. We could not do it without them.”

La Vialla has measured its full carbon footprint every year since 2007. Thanks to its rewilded forests and biodynamic crops sequestering carbon in the soil, the farm has been climate-positive for several years running, even when accounting for transport, packaging, and bottling.

Climate change remains a growing concern, with changing rainfall patterns and rising temperatures disrupting the seasons. The brothers continuously adapt, exploring new methods and technologies to strengthen resilience while keeping cultivation as natural as possible.

“We’ve been expanding our agroforestry and syntropic systems, reintroducing trees and diversity to rebuild resilience,” Gianni says.

The Future

Fattoria La Vialla has been here for decades, and the Lo Franco brothers intend for it to thrive for many more generations to come.

Their vision for the next 10 to 20 years is to evolve the farm into a fully closed-loop ecosystem with zero waste and zero emissions, a living benchmark for what agriculture can become.

They envision an R&D department, apprenticeships for students, workshops for farmers, and immersive visits for families who want to experience regeneration not as a concept, but as a lived reality.

They want to demonstrate that ecology and economy can reinforce one another, and that true abundance comes from alignment with nature rather than overriding it.

Becoming part of Top 50 Farmers amplifies opportunities to share models of regenerative farming that can support communities, restore ecosystems, and inspire future generations, showing that resilience, patience, and long-term thinking can create tremendous impact.

As Gianni reminds, “We do not own this land; we safeguard it. We farm for the future generations, guided by the belief that every decision must honour those yet to come. Regeneration, for us, is not a trend. It is a pact with life.”

Written by Top 50 Farmers and Juliana Bonnattos