#131 In Practice MAY/JUN 2010

healthy land. sustainable future.

MAY / JUNE 2010

NUMBER 131

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Holistic Management—

ANIMAL PERFORMANCE

It’s Not Just a Grazing Thing

by Sandra M. Matheson

I

n the beginning there was hopelessness, fear, and vulnerability. The year was 1995. It was despairing, dark, and bleak. I felt like the lowest of all life forms wearing not just one, but three dreaded labels. I was a veterinarian, dog breeder, and worst of all…a rancher.

During this time, there was a great deal of bad press against the veterinary profession. There were attacks on veterinary and research labs and protests against using animals destined for euthanasia in veterinary surgery teaching facilities. Some animal rights extremists were allegedly turning dogs loose or poisoning them at dog shows. They were sending the message that animals should be allowed to roam free and no one should keep a pet. Breeders of purebred dogs were considered “the enemy.”

Environmental activists and government agencies were coming down hard on ranchers and farmers. The enviro-police were leveraging huge fines and creating new policies to control farmers and/or shut them down.

As a veterinarian, I found the protests and violence particularly disturbing. Many animals suffered and died when turned loose in the elements or became victims of arson fires during the attacks on research facilities. When I was in veterinary school, the animals were treated with great love and respect and helped students prepare for what we would encounter in the real world. Many of the research animals found a new life with a veterinary student when the research was over. My beloved cat, Wildfire, was born at the veterinary school and brought much joy to my life for seventeen years. She died peacefully on a sunny day in front of her favorite pond.

Of course, there were “bad” dog breeders and pet owners, just as there are bad examples of people in any walk of life. However, my

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colleagues and I treated our dogs well, gave them a great deal of love and attention, and put much time and money into testing the dogs for genetic defects. We did not breed them if they had any genetic, temperament, or soundness issues. I still have two of my old labs from those dog days.

With regard to farming, there were people who abused the system and deserved what they got.

However, I was doing my best with the limited knowledge I had to do a good job in protecting the environment. In addition, I worked long hours on the farm with little to show for it. I figured that if I didn’t get the results I desired, I must not have worked hard enough. So I just worked even harder.

I was all three of the above labels. Frequently I heard “Why I hate ___” stories when I introduced myself. As a result, I never told people what I did.

That was a dark and difficult time in my life.

There were other issues to deal with as well.

Someone had illegally dumped a very large amount of contaminated soil from a building site in town next to my neighbors’ house. The fumes were sickening them. I remember the afternoon of the hearing where the “dumpers” were requesting permission to leave the soil there instead of hauling it away at great expense to be decontaminated. The hearing went in favor of removing the soil, but the County Council overturned the decision and the putrid soil stayed.

For the first time in living there all my life, I questioned whether I wanted to live there anymore. I felt hopeless, scared, and vulnerable.

Something had to change.

And There Was Light I received an email in early 1995 from Donald D. Nelson of Washington State University. He CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Animal performance requires that you look at and manage for the health of the whole—grazing (plants), animals, and soil. As you can see, this herd of cows from Ian Mitchell-Innes’ ranch in South Africa at the end of winter looks very healthy despite no supplements.

To learn more, turn to page 8.

FEATURE STORIES Quality of Life—Helping to Articulate Needs WIEBKE VOLKMANN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Holism, Systems Thinking, and Ranch Sustainability JEN JOHNSON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

HMI Q&A

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

LAND and LIVESTOCK Improving Animal Performance— Feeding the Whole IAN MITCHELL-INNES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Holistic Vineyard Design— Maximizing Solar Energy & Income KELLY MULVILLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Holistic Vineyard Design Prototype Trial

BY KELLY MULVILLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

NEWS and NETWORK Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Development Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 From the Board Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Grapevine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 CE Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Affiliates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

healthy land. sustainable future.

Holistic Management International works to reverse the degradation of private and communal land used for agriculture and conservation, restore its health and productivity, and help create sustainable and viable livelihoods for the people who depend on it.

STAFF Peter Holter . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chief Executive Officer Tracy Favre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Senior Director /

Contract Services Jutta von Gontard . . . . . Senior Director /

Philanthropy Kelly King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chief Financial Officer Ann Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Managing Editor, IN PRACTICE and Senior Director of Education Donna Torrez . . . . . . . . . . . Manager: Administration & Executive Support Mary Girsch-Bock . . . . . Communications Associate Valerie Grubbs . . . . . . . . . Accounting Associate Carrie Nelson . . . . . . . . . . . Education Associate

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Ben Bartlett, Chair Ron Chapman, Past Chair Roby Wallace, Vice-Chair John Hackley, Secretary Christopher Peck, Treasurer Sallie Calhoun Lee Dueringer Gail Hammack Ian Mitchell Innes Dennis Wobeser

Mark Gardner Clint Josey Jim McMullan Jim Parker Maryann West

It’s Not Just a Grazing Thing announced the creation of the four-year Washington State University (WSU) Holistic Management Project. It sounded intriguing. I had heard a little about Holistic Management from Dr. Nelson in a ranch management course I took a couple years prior. It seemed to make sense, but I still wasn’t sure if I should participate. All the circumstances of early 1995 indicated I needed to do something different. When my friend, Mike Hackett, a WSU Extension Agent, gave his overwhelming endorsement of the program, I signed up. That was one of the most significant decisions I ever made.

After two hours into the first Holistic Management workshop with Roland Kroos and Donald Nelson, I knew I would never look at things the same way again. The next few years were filled with much learning, many insights, wonderful new friends, and the practice of Holistic Management. In addition to the Holistic Management Framework, we were introduced to the consensus process, Stephen Covey’s principles, and many other processes which I continue to use. I was one of the fortunate few from our WSU project group who was trained to become a Certified Educator in Holistic Management. What a life-changing experience that was!

Mind you, my practice of Holistic Management wasn’t perfect. I made my share of mistakes.

However, those few mistakes were miniscule compared the positive changes that came into my life. Our family worked less, made more money, and shared a greater quality of life. Allan Savory’s insights and resulting holistic framework for making decisions changed my life forever.

continued from page one

The Broader Application Although the management and condition of the ranch has changed significantly for the better using the Holistic Management decision-making framework, the improvement it brought to my everyday life was just as important. When we developed and used a family holisticgoal, that made a world of difference. Testing both large and small decisions saved us time, grief, and money.

Planning and monitoring were also critical to the process. I wish to share some examples and insights in using the Holistic Management process in everyday and family life.

To Do or Not to Do? Testing decisions occurred at many different levels. It seems obvious to test large, important, and financial decisions. Some of the decisions we tested included vacations, acquisition of vehicles, driving the children to acting classes, dropping out of old activities, serving in new activities, and many substantial purchases. For us, one key to using Holistic Management effectively was to hold regular meetings. Each week we talked about what was happening, what needed to happen, and tested decisions. It greatly improved communication within the family.

One decision I struggled with was whether to quit my veterinary career when I became ill from chemicals in the workplace. It was no fun being sick all the time, but it also wasn’t easy to throw away something I’d spent my whole life preparing for and working in. Once I tested it, the decision was made in a few minutes and I have never

The David West Station for Holistic Management Tel: 325/392-2292 • Cel: 325/226-3042 westgift@hughes.net Joe & Peggy Maddox, Ranch Managers

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE (ISSN: 1098-8157) is published six times a year by: Holistic Management International 1010 Tijeras NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102, 505/842-5252, fax: 505/843-7900; email: hmi@holisticmanagement.org.; website: www.holisticmanagement.org Copyright © 2010

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IN PRACTICE

Yearlings restoring an old pasture on the farm.

Cattle are an important piece of Sandra’s quality of life.

May / June 2010

looked back.

Another work decision occurred again when I was in a job that I enjoyed, but the management headed in a direction that I was uncomfortable with. It also negatively impacted my family and ranch since I was working long hours. I agonized over it and then realized, “Hey, why don’t I test it?” Case closed. On an interesting note, I put in our 1997 holisticgoal that I wished to retire from outside employment in ten years. What year did I leave my job? Two thousand and seven!

Holistic decision-making also works well for smaller and everyday decisions. After testing a few large decisions on paper, the process became naturally engrained in my mind. When I pass by a store window or hover over the donut display in the grocery store, the appropriate testing questions race through my head and I ask the ultimate question, “Will buying/eating this lead me closer to my holisticgoal?” Often the answer is no and I pass it by. Believe me when I say I’m not perfect.

Occasionally I eat that donut as a reward or out of necessity! However, I frequently stop myself from spending money or indulging by simply and often subconsciously testing the decision.

Going Where You Fear to Tread On a more serious note came the decision of divorce. Remember, I came from the old school that taught if something didn’t work, it was because I didn’t work hard enough at it. But there is only so much work one can do and a limit to how hard one can work at it. I purposely avoided testing that decision, because I suspected what the result might be. Being a good Catholic woman, divorce was not high on my list of options. When I finally had the courage to test it and learn the result, I soon developed the courage to trust the process and divorce after nearly 25 years of marriage. It was stressful, and financially, it hurt.

But now I feel that I can finally move toward to my holisticgoal and the future I desire. I am no longer stuck in a bad place. I feel like I have my life back again. Please understand that I’m not recommending divorce, but having the courage to test that serious decision led to a much better place for all of us involved.

Challenges and Opportunities Holistic Management is not just about managing livestock and healing land. It had its “roots” there and it’s clearly the best process to save our planet from self-destruction. However, the framework also has great value and potential to guide people in making any personal (and business) decisions—both day to day decisions and major ones. We just need to let people know that Holistic Management exists.

When learning to use anything new, there can be setbacks and mistakes. I certainly made my share of them. But as a good student, I learned from my mistakes. I am now a much better person living a richer and more rewarding life.

In addition, I am making a positive difference in my part of the world.

My days of vet practice are over and the dog

activities failed the testing when my children became toddlers. I still have the ranch and I am proud to tell others what I do there. Those dark days of 1995 have been replaced with hope, courage, and strength. This is because of a simple approach to making everyday decisions— using Holistic Management.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

Tips for a More “Whole” Life

H

ere are some insights I have gained during my holistic journey and from working with others: • All decision-makers must have input in the holisticgoal. You can’t tell someone else what they want and expect them to take ownership.

• When compiling the holisticgoal, do not paraphrase to make it flow or sound pretty.

Use people’s own words. They chose them carefully and have ownership in their own words, not yours.

• Write down the holisticgoal instead of leaving it in your head. It’s hard for the other stakeholders to see it in there.

• Post it, love it, live it, and revisit it.

• If you want Holistic Management to work, you have to actually practice it. That means creating a holisticgoal, testing decisions, implementing those decisions, monitoring, and re-planning as needed.

• Trust the process. If you actually do it, it works.

• Holistic Management works on all levels: individuals, families, businesses, organizations, communities, and beyond. It works for large, small, and everyday decisions. I believe the greatest roadblocks to the practice of Holistic Management are the unwillingness to share power, thinking that you know what is best for other people, not being inclusive, not committing to practice it on a regular basis, and failure to understand the process.

• Testing is quite simple after you’ve done it a few times.

• When you purposely exclude people from the process who need to and want to be included, you are decreasing your chances of success.

• If you expect other people to practice Holistic Management, they must be taught how first.

• It takes two to tango. If someone doesn’t want to do the Holistic Management dance, then graciously move on without them and do the best you can. They often ask to rejoin the dance when they are ready, especially when they see your positive results.

• Sometimes you have to move slower than you would like, but everyone has a different speed. Respect the fact that they want to move forward.

• Meet people where they are at. It may not be where you wish them to be. Start there and move forward with them.

• You don’t have control over someone else’s behavior. You do have control over how you respond to it.

• Monitor. I may be good at making decisions, but I’m not always right. Sometimes things just happen to get us off course.

• Those who are unwilling to share power or who suffer from fear or greed often feel threatened by Holistic Management and the consensus process. The consensus process is helpful in dealing with the people challenges that arise. Sadly, sometimes people are just plain unwilling to try and make excuses as to why it won’t work.

• When won’t Holistic Management work? It can’t work if you don’t practice it.

Number 131

IN PRACTICE

3

Quality of Life – Helping to Articulate Needs

by Wiebke Volkmann

H

aving helped many people when they formulated their first holisticgoal and having reviewed mine over 14 times and using it to guide my choices, I have had ample opportunity to observe the process and to reflect on what is working for me and what is not.

I found that when we get to the quality of life statement many of us seem to hit our cultural predicaments. For some the question “What must life be like, based on what is most important to you?” or “How do you want to feel most of the time?” becomes ominously mixed with “how life should be.” The stories in our head and the measures of “success” or “a well balanced life,” even when expressed in terms of emotions or state of being rather than “material things,” often seem to lead to disappointment.

When I started to learn the basics of Compassionate Communication (authored by Marshall B. Rosenberg) I realized there was an opportunity to clarify some difficulties I have been having with the Holistic Management decision making process and share those learnings with others.

What’s Right?

Some clients whom I work with find it strange to be focusing on “what they want.” They consider it an indulgence that clashes with their culture of first caring for the good of others or the complex whole of which they are part. Their interpretation of the idea to “accept one’s lot and make the best of it” or to “give what you want for yourselves to others” often prevents them for years (sometimes a lifetime) to reflect on what they as individuals need to be healthy, happy, and contributing citizens.

I started to use the principles of compassionate communication (sometimes also referred to as nonviolent communication) some years ago as a way to “speak my truth” in difficult situations or to prevent and to transform conflicts. However in 2009 I had the opportunity to further study and practice the four steps of: • Observe without judgment • Become clear about what you feel • Recognize the need(s) that are or are not fulfilled • Make a request (when needed) My intimate relationship had deteriorated to a point where I “moved out,” and in June my mother was brutally murdered. I found myself administering her estate in a way that dissatisfied some of my siblings intensely, while with other siblings I found a new connection. In these 4

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situations I experienced grounding from giving the previously mentioned four steps a chance—by practicing them again and again.

While struggling with the relationship issue, I was wondering if I “wanted the wrong thing,” even though most of my peers would regard it “normal” or even “natural” what I wanted. My holisticgoal had guided me to “achieve” so much, to transform habits and to explore so many professional possibilities. Why did “it” not work for this aspect of my life? I believe it was my confusion around needs that was the culprit.

When I observed the difficulty that so many people have when formulating their first “quality of life” statement, I realized that very often we lack the vocabulary. We have not learned the words and the grammar for voicing our needs, nor our feelings.

Observing Without Judgment I learned that accepting what is, “observing without judgment or diagnosis” has freed me— and others—from being “responsible for it all.”

I had to accept that I sometimes confused “taking responsibility for my experience” with imagining that I (or others) can and should “control what happens to me.”

However, the only thing I can change is how I feel and think—and listen and talk—about something. Learning to describe what I see or “what happened” without labeling the situation as either a failure or a success or without giving it a general value is an art that requires some practice. It requires the practice of being present without words even, of sensing, of perceiving without “making a story of it,” a story that often propels us to declare what “is there” or what we have and have not.

It is challenging to be very specific when describing a behavior or situation and to refrain

from personality generalizations. For example, at first I didn’t see how saying to a friend “You are very generous” or “You are a star” can be so bad.

But then I considered the difference between those statements and saying “When you brought me those carrots from the market yesterday, I enjoyed the abundance and felt inspired to make carrot juice to celebrate the weekend.” It’s a lot more words, for sure! But, they also communicate so much more about what is alive in me and gives my friend more information about which of her actions and behaviors contribute to my wellbeing and my life and why.

Likewise, in Holistic Management, we state what is important to us (as we describe it in the quality of life statement of a holisticgoal) and we give feedback about strategies we ourselves and others choose (the “how to’s”) without evaluating a personality or assessing the “inherent value” of an action.

With this attitude and language in mind I can much more easily digest my own and other’s “performance” when monitoring “progress” (in a project or towards a holisticgoal) and it usually leads to less defensiveness or denial and to more willingness to maintain or improve the quality of our interactions.

What You Feel Really sensing and specifying what we feel in a certain situation is often regarded as a weakness, a “giving in to” when our rational powers should be in charge especially in professional or “work related” situations. Through my studies I found confirmation how this tendency has thwarted our capacity to hear the early warning bells or the gut feeling of “go for it …” that are part of our information gathering when using the Holistic Management testing questions or any other decision making filter.

I now recognize the power of listening to and specifying these feelings because of their connection to the basic and universal human needs. Initially when I was challenged to consider what I need, I was overwhelmed by all those almost non-negotiable needs I feel—I was afraid of my own neediness. Then I found great insight from the German term for need, namely Bedürfnis. The root of that word means “dürfen” or permission. I started to permit myself to have basic needs to lead a life in peace and mutual contribution.

Recognize Needs I have often witnessed the discomfort displayed by many of my colleagues when listening to Allan Savory state something to the effect that “basically everyone wants the same things.” I now realize that this discomfort usually comes from the need

for autonomy—we all want to and do choose different strategies to meet those needs.

Marshall Rosenberg repeatedly states that every human being does anything they do (or not do) to satisfy one or more of their needs—whether they can name that need or not. Very often we may choose a strategy that does not adequately or even remotely meet our felt need, but we are urged on by our needs for physical nurturing, integrity, autonomy, interdependence, celebration, play, integrity and spiritual communion, however we define these.

Rosenberg in his over 40 years of practice in conflict transformation and peace work observed that all humans in their natural (as distinguished from their normal) state of being have a need to contribute to the enrichment of life, life as experienced beyond the personal ego boundaries.

This need often gets “blunted” by life experiences and cultural influences, but remains a motivational force and can be re-activated. The holisticgoal is such a place to articulate these needs.

Meet Needs “Me meeting my needs” has become a great adventure! An important distinction for me was that I interpret the word “meeting” not as “fulfilling,” but rather as “encountering,” like one meets a new or old acquaintance. Adopting an attitude of “Hallo, so there you are” instead of scrambling to find a “quick way to quieten a desparately crying baby” allowed me to calm down and consider various approaches and winwin strategies.

The Holisticgoal and Communication When I observed the difficulty that so many people have when formulating their first “quality of life” statement, I realized that very often we lack the vocabulary. We have not learned the words and the grammar for voicing our needs, nor our feelings. We often give our needs names that already contain some “strategic form,” such as “I want a faithful marriage.” I imagine that some of the underlying needs that may be served by a faithful marriage are closeness, emotional safety, love, touch, sexual expression, order, peace, consideration, etc. Humans have, however, found ways of meeting all those needs while in different constellations with another.

The other challenge is that behind that word “marriage” is sometimes hidden assumptions of “what else it may bring,” based on what we have observed in our cultural context. So we ignore that we are often demanding from one strategy or person(s) the fulfillment of needs that we didn’t express. Therefore, those needs are often not known until a conflict brings them to the surface.

How can we help each other to become more

proficient at recognizing and communicating our needs without misunderstandings and without meeting our needs in ways and forms that endanger ourselves or others lives?

One of the most important lessons for me as a facilitator (and as a partner and friend) was to not ask “What do you need and feel?” because so often the other person cannot adequately name those needs or regard them as inappropriate.

Instead, I learned to guess the underlying needs while the friend or client is telling me “their

Trusting . . . has become easier since I am reminded that what connects and serves us all are those universal needs. story.” For example, I may respond by asking, “Are you feeling disappointed and angry when you realize that Joe and Evelyn are not paying their fees while the others in the group do because you need considerateness, support and order?” My friend/client will quickly tell me if that is indeed what they are feeling and needing or not.

My guess can “spark light” their own capacity to specify what they observe, what they feel and need. It is this process of how we communicate that can spread the attitude and technique of compassionate communication even if only one person has “learned it formally.” In this way our actions are like a stone being thrown into a pool of water and creating ring waves.

Trusting Universal Needs The best way to start experiencing the benefits of compassionate communication is attending to our self-talk. Am I judging myself for not achieving an objective or am I asking myself what need of mine was not fulfilled by the strategy (and

objective) I chose, and how I can change the strategy to better meet the needs that are important to me? When I am faced with an irritation or hurt stimulated by someone else’s behavior, I ask myself what feelings are triggered in me, without calling the person or the actions names. Then I think of a strategy to meet this need of mine. Often I request from myself a change in attitude or practice, or to listen to the needs of the other person so that I can better understand why they act as they do.

This allows me to “not take other people’s behavior personally,” not to see it as a deliberate attack on my being, but as their attempt to meet their needs. At the same time I make an effort to take personal responsibility for my experience of the incident and for changing my experience. As with Holistic Management, I determine where I (or we, in a group) can affect and influence decision making and “management” effectively.

Recognizing the neighboring and inter-connected and “overarching” constellations where other human beings are trying their best to meet their needs helps in that process.

Trusting that huge field of “other managers meeting their needs” has become easier since I am reminded that what connects and serves us all are those universal needs. Becoming more and more aware of, being honest about and voicing those needs may build the capacity to design policies and strategies that are understandable, do-able, sustainable, and mutually beneficial, rather than being “good ideas only.” Such plans or policies and strategies come from each stakeholder’s “personal interest” (i.e. their desire to meet their felt needs) rather than being motivated or pressured by an idealized agenda and the fear of punishment or bad outcomes if one does not adhere to it.

Wiebke Volkmann is a Certified Educator and lives in Windhoek, Namibia. She can be reached at wiebke@mweb.co.na.

Wiebke’s family has been a source of learning as she explores the process of compassionate communication.

Number 131

IN PRACTICE

5

Holism, Systems Thinking, and Ranch Sustainability

by Jen Johnson

T

he great conservationist Aldo Leopold wrote, “There are two things that interest me: the relations of people to each other, and the relations of people to land.” As a fifth generation rancher whose family has spent over a century raising grass, cattle, and kids on the prairies of Colorado, my concept of sustainability has been deeply molded by Leopold’s two interests. I, along with my three younger brothers, grew up very actively involved on our cow-calf ranch. After graduating from high school in a class of nine people, I ventured to Princeton for college. I am forever grateful for the amazing education I received, but believe that the most valuable thing I gained was a much deeper appreciation for where I come from. The fulfillment of this appreciation was my senior thesis on multigenerational ranch women on the Great Plains.

My grandma, Polly Johnson, was a central character in my thesis and continues to be my inspiration. Grandma grew up as a true cowgirl, paving the way for the women in my family, all of whom play integral roles in the day to day operation of our ranches. Grandma was the only child of Don Collins and only granddaughter of Charlie Collins, who after trailing cattle from Mexico to Montana in the late 1800’s brought his grit and our futures to our ranch near Kit Carson, Colorado. Today, 18 of 22 family members are directly involved in ranching, which, given that only 3% of family businesses survive into the fourth generation and beyond, is a true testament to Grandma, Don, and Charlie. Sustainability of a family ranch is a rare occurrence; so why my family?

Respect for the Land In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell explains that people don’t just happen, they happen for a reason, or rather the combination of many reasons. I believe the same is true for our ranch. Every member of the family has a deep love and respect for the land and our traditions. But we also greatly value open mindedness, which is manifested in two immensely beneficial ways. The first factor is through the embrace of new people who, like my mom and aunt, have no background in ranching, add their valuable outside perspectives, good attitudes, grace, and optimism.

Optimism was the defining characteristic of my grandpa, Rogers Johnson. He grew up outside of Boston and knew nothing about ranching before meeting Grandma, but because of his sharp business mind and an incredible love of life and adventure was named the national Cattle Businessman of the Year before he died. His legacy of treating ranching as a business, in addition to a legacy, has and will benefit the family always. The second benefit of being open minded is an idea: that of holism—that everything is connected and that any decision we make on the land impacts both the land and other decisions. My parents and 6

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several relatives have attended what was known as HRM courses (Holistic Management) and have implemented those ideas on the ranch, particularly in our grazing planning. The concept that any decision on a ranch impacts a web of other decisions is a powerful tool that helps us better manage not only our land, but also the complex relationships between our land, business, and people.

This holistic foundation is currently serving me well at the King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management, where I am working towards my Masters in Ranch Management. The basis of my master’s program is a process called System Thinking, which comes out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is a decisionmaking process for dealing with complexity used by elite companies and organizations the world over. The father of System Thinking, Jay Forrester, cites his childhood on his family’s ranch in Nebraska as the origin of his ideas. He said “ranch life…provided the continuous challenge of making things work” and that ranchers become naturally attuned to systems if only because their livelihood depends on the interrelationships among weather, soil, and plant and animal growth.

The summation of system thinking, holism, and my background and family define sustainability for me. This shape, a tetrahedron, is the strongest shape in nature. Only by balancing the three legs can you have sustainability. In my life, the principles of each leg can be summarized simply. For land, nature is smart as hell. Work with it, not against it, and try your best to do no harm. For people: Family, family, family, and community. For business, maintain a ruthless, clear-eyed respect for ranching as a business— profit solves problems. A strain on any one leg puts pressure on the others, increasing the probability of collapse. There is always a reverberating cost to mistreating land, people, or the integrity of the business structure. The health of anyone depends upon the others.

Being Responsive to Change Charles Darwin said “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” This directly relates to sustainability, because what it takes to be sustainable is constantly changing; the tetrahedron does not sit on a flat plane, but a fluid surface moving through time. The dynamic nature of sustainability means, practically, that our ranch is not managed exactly like it was 100, 50, or even 10 years ago.

This does not mean that previous generations were doing it wrong; they were simply making the best decisions they could given the information and circumstances they had. But information and circumstances are constantly changing. This is why wishing to preserve our ranch, or any complex system, exactly “as is” is a naïve and frustrating goal. Weather, markets, human relationships, and animals do not lend themselves to constancy, and ranching and the beef industry will undoubtedly undergo change, some dramatic, in my lifetime.

Jen (second from left) and her brothers are the fifth generation on the Johnson’s ranch— a great success in an industry where only 3% of ranches survive beyond the 4th generation.

Holistic Management Q&A

Q:

How long does it take the land to recover when you stop irrigating it? Also, what measures can we take to help speed the process up? The irrigation district over here hasn't been able to provide enough water to the farmers for several years, with several years of no water. The outlook for this year is not promising at all. Conchas Dam will have to rise 10 feet before the farmers will get any water and at that only an inch or so, so things are looking pretty desperate for them.

—Kelly Boney, San Jon, New Mexico

Polly Johnson, Jen’s grandmother, was a major influence in Jen’s life and on the success of the ranch, paving the way for other women becoming an integral part of the ranch.

However, in the face of these oncoming changes, I do want our land to be healthy, and I want my family to be there for five more generations. To make this possible, I and my parents, brothers, and other family members will need to respect and understand our roots and hone our abilities, but also be adaptable and subscribe to my father’s strongest words of wisdom to “Be a problem solver.” The future will be challenging, as it always has been, but I truly believe there is a bright future for bright minds in ranching.

I think the keys to my family’s sustainability are being open minded, being business minded, and embracing holism. These three keys exist against the backdrop of the land. The following quote is a fitting tribute to the respect we as ranchers, and as humans, must maintain for the land: "Man— despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication, and his many accomplishments— owes his existence to a six inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains."

–Author Unknown In a high tech, interconnected world of air travel, cell phones, and iPods, it is easy to forget that no part of modern life as we know it is possible if there are not good people managing land well. For this reason sustainability should matter, a lot, to everyone.

In the movie Out of Africa, Karen Blixen asks a question that resonates deeply for me: “If I know a song of Africa, of the giraffe and the African new moon lying on her back, of the plows in the fields and the sweaty faces of the coffee pickers, does Africa know a song of me?” I would like to think that I know the song of my ranch and that I will continue to learn it for the rest of my life. I know that our land has given my family and me so much. My song, and that of my family’s past and future, is woven into the song of the land. I am giving myself some time, but I know I will return and be actively involved on the ranch, as well as in ranching, land management, and conservation on a bigger scale. Nothing will bring me greater joy or purpose than working to sustain healthy relationships between people and land.

Jen Johnson is earning her Masters in Ranch Management at the King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management. She can be reached at: jen.jjohnso@gmail.com. This article came from Jen’s presentation for the Quivira Coalition Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Good question. I'm currently working with a few thousand acres of formerly irrigated land in Southeast New Mexico. It depends on how you define "recover," but if you want to see mostly native perennials and few annual weeds, we are talking about 5-10 years depending on management and rainfall. You can reach a pretty stable condition in 3-5 years.

Grazing and mowing tend to push the community forward, while disking or any other mechanical disturbance keeps it at weeds. You can take a gamble and no till seed to help, but better have your crystal ball to predict when and if it will rain. Broadcast seed and grazing/trampling in works pretty good, but again it depends on moisture. If you do want to seed, use grasses such as sand dropseed and sideoats grama that establish relatively easy.

—Kirk Gadzia, Bernalillo, New Mexico

A:

Q:

I was wondering if anyone has worked with organic dairy farmers that have a problem with high cell count. I am working with a very successful organic dairy family that have adopted planned grazing and have moved to much longer recovery periods and once a day milking (known to initially increase cell count). Cow wellbeing and health are excellent but they are receiving penalties from the processor.

—Graeme Hand, Branxholme, Victoria, Australia The only way to rectify this is for the animal to be able to self medicate! This can only be done with cafeteria-style free choice minerals. If you give a mixed mineral mix, it will most probably make the situation worse.

—Ian Mitchell-Innes, Elandslaagte, South Africa I think Ian is quite right; the land is not producing all the mineral the animals need at this time. They cannot overeat enough to get the ration required to meet the desired performance. Feeding sodium bicarbonate could help, but this begs more questions, such as: Are they being fed a ration as well? Is the grass they are now eating short and green? The cattle are likely a bit short of energy. It might help to feed a double handful of corn at the parlor, if possible. Cafeteria-style free choice minerals will help. Mark Bader is the best person to ask this question, as he has been working with this sort of situation for 20 years or more. The land will “grow through this period,” you might say, as succession moves forward. When the diversity gets high enough, the livestock will be able to select the best ration for themselves.

—Guy Glosson, Snyder, Texas

A: A:

Have a question? Email hmi@holisticmanagement.org with the Subject heading: HMI Q&A. Number 131

IN PRACTICE

7

& Improving Animal Performance—

Feeding the Whole

by Ian Mitchell-Innes

T

his is not the first time, nor is it the last, that animal performance has been written about. We all look for the silver bullet to achieve it, but unfortunately there is no such thing. Animal performance requires us to look at the whole and mange the complexity of relationships within it. We are taught in Holistic Management how Nature operates as wholes within wholes, but this is difficult to grasp because of our educational system. Having spent 12 years learning all the different parts of what it takes to improve animal performance, then discarding them one by one, I am now recalling all that I have learned. As I have integrated these different parts, I have found “voila,” the animals are performing! This article will paint a picture of some of the parts which have worked for me.

Animal Performance Conventional ration balancing has not worked for me as it relies on the assumption that we know better than the cow as to her needs. This is totally wrong and a considerable paradigm shift is required to accept this. The best way of getting one’s head around this is to pose the question: “What did animals do before humans started interfering?” The answer is a) a lot better than they are doing now and b) with no inputs. Mark Bader of Free Choice Minerals has an unusual approach which has worked well for me. All animal feed has oxygen, hydrogen (true energy), and protein, and these need to be balanced in certain ratios to get varying degrees of animal performance.

We have destroyed the mineral cycle on our land because of the way we have managed. By giving animals a cafeteriastyle choice of minerals, we can nudge Nature and help her to move in a positive direction. The animal will only take the minerals she requires, so she is acting as a mobile laboratory, for which she does not charge. She will distribute the mineral once she has used it, on top of the highest hill and not charge.

The availability of all the minerals boosts the animal’s immune system, and many of the diseases we currently experience will disappear at relatively little cost. With Holistic Management planned grazing, the animal should get enough selection for a balanced diet, with a pH of seven. This will 8

Land & Livestock

May / June 2010

enable the uptake of minerals into her body, improving her health and immune system. I test the animal’s pH level through its urine; this test is an indicator and can help to determine paddock moves. Two to three animals need to be tested in each herd, and over time you will build an understanding of how to use this information.

Increase the stock density and keep the stocking rate the same.

The planned grazing will result in more carbon in/on the soil, which will improve the water and mineral cycles, energy flow and community dynamics. This will result in the forage being less stressed, and so it will stay in a vegetative stage longer. The implications of this are huge as longer recovery periods can be planned, resulting in a bigger volume of grass. More grass can be trampled instead of being grazed. This trampled grass will give a better return on investment than any other investment you can think of.

Midsummer droughts, making hay, etc can become a thing of the past.

To reduce the cost of maintaining an animal for a year, you need to match the energy cycle of Nature (when plants are providing the greatest nutrition) in your particular environment with the energy requirements of the animal (when it has greatest need for nutrition). When I plotted the weights of various wild animals in my area, against the time of calving/lambing, I got a straight line graph. In other words, when the wild

breeding are directly related to the condition at calving. This period, until the time the bulls come out, is critical and the animal’s energy needs must be met with an abundance of healthy forage. The calving must take place at the time of year when that forage is available.

The Soil The key to healthy soil and improved animal performance is to cover the soils with either living plants or trodden litter.

This will improve the water and mineral cycles. The covered soils are protected from sun and wind and the temperature remains at a level which promotes soil life. Litter on the soil feeds earthworms and a host of other life and makes the soil like a sponge. I believe, to a large degree, that droughts and floods are a human made phenomena because we have an ineffective water cycle.

In the biological calendar worksheet you see the top dates are for the Northern Hemisphere and the bottom are for the Southern Hemisphere.

The blocked out area beginning the middle of April (Northern Hemisphere) is when you need to concentrate on animal performance. It continues on through the middle of October (or middle of April for Southern Hemisphere). animals are healthy and fat, the land is providing a lot of nutrition. This is the time to calve/lamb.

When plotting the weight of my cows on this graph, it indicated a calving date which differed by five days from that suggested by Dr. Dick Diven, a beef nutrition scientist who has a low cost cow/calf program. His method of calculating the best time was worked on the latitude where the ranch is situated. This correlation between his suggested date based on his method and my calculations based on the weight of my cattle indicate to me that animals can tell us how to manage them more successfully if we observe them and their needs. Moreover, all the other issues which normally are of concern with livestock, such as scours and ticks, can be taken care of with fine tuning of the grazing planning to address these nutritional needs.

The Grazing As with the ecosystem processes, each component of the whole (plants, animals, soil) is really inextricably linked. I have written them down separately to help with the learning. The biggest mistake made when starting to use Holistic Management planned grazing is that ranchers increase stocking rate when they should be keeping this the same and just increasing stock density. This happens because people keep looking at the soil instead of the animals. Without animal performance (which drives financial sustainability for most producers) there will be no ranchers. And with no ranchers, we cannot save the world.

If you are making a living from the land, you are in the energy business.

The energy captured by the grass needs to be optimized with management, and all the requirements to make animals perform will come from the land with no inputs.

Ian Mitchell-Innes is a rancher and Certified Educator from Elandslaagte, South Africa. He can be reached at: blanerne@mweb.co.za.

The Animal Besides being a laboratory and a fertilizer spreader, the animal is a microbe incubator and can be used to move soil from fungal (tree encroachment) to bacterial (grass land) or anything in between. This can be manipulated using grazing planning and temporary electric fencing.

The animal will be busy chipping and breaking the capping to allow water infiltration and trampling carbon onto the soil. Getting energy through the soil surface by the action of grazing and animal impact will improve soil life and make more natural fertility available to the plants. The increased carbon on and in the soil enhances the life, water holding potential, reduces fluctuation in temperature, and ultimately captures more energy.

Animal energy requirements must be in sync with Nature. 80% of fetus growth takes place in the last two months of pregnancy. This is when animal energy requirements are high for the cow. Likewise, conception rates at next

With free choice minerals, animals can choose for their nutritional needs and aid in improving land health by distributing those processed minerals through dung and urine.

Number 131

Land & Livestock

9

Holistic Vineyard Design—

Maximizing Solar Energy & Income

by Kelly Mulville

M

y previous article on grazing sheep in vineyards concluded with the observation that many of the problems being encountered were design issues. Using the term “design” was perhaps overly generous. Most vineyards were never designed for sustainable practices, including grazing, and consequently implementation is often tedious, awkward, costly and time consuming—as is management. Tools are generally given: technology in the form of tractors and implements which dictates how vineyards and farms are laid out. Farms, therefore, tend to be a reflection of the requirements of machinery rather than the vision of a farmer attempting to mimic healthy ecosystems. “Form follows machinery” is too often the norm.

Transitioning from conventional to organic or even biodynamic practices often merely entails a change of inputs. Adapting these sites to grazing can feel like trying to modify a Hummer into something more ecologically intelligent. Putting solar panels on the roof and a hedgerow in the back doesn’t change the fact that you are still working with an inappropriate design. Too often though, we manage as though the tool is the goal.

The majority of vineyards I have come across in over ten years of viticulture are great examples of underutilization of sunlight energy. The wasted potential of this energy is manifested in unnecessary fertility, labor, fuel and equipment costs. The imbalances are primarily due to a reliance on fossil fuel to perform these tasks.

If the basic design of most vineyards is dysfunctional in terms of sustainability, how do we create designs that are holistically sound? As with many of my experiences in practicing Holistic Management a key in my progress has been to keep things simple.

Holistic Design Developing a holistic design is simply the process of using the Holistic Management® Framework to direct the creation of a design. In other words a holisticgoal shapes and directs the design. This process has proven to be

helpful in testing and creating designs as well as evaluating existing designs for potential problems.

In the early stages a design can simply be a rough sketch for working out ideas and comparing options on paper—for instance how to lay out and trellis a vineyard to achieve elements of a holisticgoal that call for fertility to be developed on site through biological means, high species diversity (including animals) and maximizing of solar energy through plants (in addition to the numerous viticultural requirements). At a broader scale layers can be developed to show best layout for vine blocks, options for paddock locations (in and outside the cropping area), soil types, water availability, etc.

Bringing an idea to paper enables one to experiment and manipulate elements before committing them to reality.

Any design being considered should address both what is being managed and how you want to manage. This last issue is especially important in helping to realize your desired quality of life. Of particular importance to me is a preference of working with small livestock rather than equipment.

Therefore, when designing for myself (or others with similar values) this objective is constantly in mind in order to create the environment, structures and the practices that will address the holisticgoal.

As with all decisions made when practicing Holistic Management, one should assume that any design, while done to the best of our ability, may not necessarily prove to be correct and monitoring should be in place to provide early warning. With this in mind, I try not to design out possibilities. For instance, even though a design may be conducive to easy management of grazing animals I generally don’t create a scenario that eliminates the possibility of ever using any equipment. I believe our farming practices should be rewarding, inspirational and even fun. If we can imagine such a scenario, we can create designs to make that possible.

While working on a design project I find myself continuously referring back to my holisticgoal, utilizing testing questions, assessing how the ecosystem needs function, and testing for the most holistically sound tools and options. One element that seems to consistently come into play in my work is the idea of stacking or layering.

Grazing vineyards and orchards is a great example of this concept. To do this effectively it helps to think of your farm as an area of land available for harvesting solar energy through living plants rather than simply a vineyard, orchard, etc. Broadening your perspective beyond your current crop opens up numerous possibilities for diversification, profit and management. Using this idea, a skillfully designed and managed vineyard can become productive and profitable at a number of levels. In addition to the fruit crop, income and ecological services could be provided by grazing animals and their products (wool, meat, milk, nutrient cycling, etc.)

Fertility then becomes a byproduct of your diversity rather than an expense (see sidebar on next page)

Model Stage My dad was an architect, so as a kid I watched as he would scribble design ideas on a napkin later to become plans, models, and then completed buildings. The process seemed a natural progression of taking an idea from imagination to possibility to reality. In my design work I’ve found that the model or prototype stage is a great way to test out ideas on a This is a conventionally managed vineyard with high canopy (54 inches). This vineyard could easily be grazed as the vines are trained high enough to avoid browse damage to the canopy. This would eliminate the need for herbicides, tillage, suckering, mowing, etc.

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Land & Livestock

May / June 2010

small scale and refine them before implementing. The model or trial stage can take a number of forms from trying out simple ideas or modifications to small scale experimentation of management practices in order to work out the kinks before moving to full implementation. The beauty of this stage of the design process is that it transforms elements or ideas into three dimensions which can greatly aid in the process of refining your work and verifying concepts.

Design Principles When working on a holistic design there are a number of basic principles I keep in mind. Following is a list of some of the most common principles I use in vineyard and orchard projects: • Mimic healthy ecosystems • Keep soil covered at all times • Build/maintain soil health on site rather than importing fertility • Design for process as well as purpose • Layering of complimentary enterprises to increase ecological and economic benefits • Design to maximize solar energy—current solar income • Design for ease of management—especially for daily elements like water, livestock moves • Design for diversity of plant and animal species • Design for effective use of biological tools—i.e. grazing animals • Eliminate tillage • Design for all aspects of holisticgoal (especially keeping in mind quality of life) • Design for flexibility (increased rather than reduced possibilities) • Keep management needs and possible opportunities (or conflicts) in mind especially when stacking enterprises • Design for simplicity, elegance, and flow • Design for the specific locality: climate, hydrology, geography, topography, soils, ecology, etc.

• Design for beauty and abundance • Design for whole ecosystem/farm rather than solely for specific crops Currently this list functions as an adjunct to the Management Guidelines row of the framework when I work on design (or design evaluation) projects.

Although, (this probably won’t come as a surprise) I am in the process of restructuring the framework to include a Design Guideline row to more accurately reflect my own pattern of use for these particular projects.

As each holisticgoal or holistically managed entity is unique and specific to the whole being managed the same is implicitly true of a holistic design of a vineyard, farm, etc. A holistically designed vineyard could look quite similar or dramatically different from the norm but would likely function much more effectively in terms of converting solar energy to healthy soils, provide increased economic stability and profitability, and function with more biological elegance.

In an ironic twist, one of the keys in designing vineyards holistically is to abandon the limiting view of considering a property as strictly a vineyard— moving beyond the idea of just farming a crop to creating a fecund, healthy, productive, and profitable landscape.

It is long past time to get out of the rut of trying to modify fossil fuel based agriculture to be more efficient and start designing and creating farms that are highly effective at maximizing current solar income, that are ecologically diverse and that are profitable. If there is to be any hope for future generations our agriculture endeavors need to be places of irresistible hope, inspiration, and intrigue to those of us on the land and especially to the young. If we design and manage for these values we are more likely to achieve them.

Ultimately I see Holistic Management as a creative process that utilizes

the “instrument” of the framework in order to create or manage anything from a landscape to a business to a life. Dovetailing the framework to the design process addresses what can often be a narrow focus in designs, from simple to complex. Taking a holistic approach to design illuminates a myriad of possibilities to make dramatic changes in the way we view and practice farming.

Kelly Mulville does holistic design, management and consulting for farms, vineyards and ranches. He can be reached at kmulville@gmail.com or 707/431-8060.

Holistic Vineyard Design Prototype Trial

by Kelly Mulville

I

n my ongoing work designing and managing vineyards holistically it’s become obvious that the easiest way to go about this is to start with a clean slate. Designing and building a vineyard at a new site avoids the constraints of trying to remodel or adapt existing infrastructure. The reality, though, is that most good vineyard land is currently developed and sometimes just needs some tweaking to allow for grazing.

Opportunities for enhancing these sites are great given a little creativity and clarity of intention.

As mentioned previously, one of the major obstacles encountered in working with existing vineyards is that they were never designed to be grazed throughout the growing season. Consequently grazing animals need to be removed just when they are most needed. This was an obvious design flaw from a holistic perspective as it reduced biological options for managing cover crops, soil health, and vines.

The potential options – aversion training of sheep and using the shorter Southdown variety didn’t pass the testing questions at a number of levels. Aversion conditioning utilizes lithium chloride to CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

Trial site in May shows the cover crop is still green and providing some forage for sheep. Offset wires can be seen just below vine canopy.

Number 131

Land & Livestock

11

Holistic Vineyard Design

continued from page eleven

Here sheep eat lateral growth that Kelly wanted removed for canopy management. In spite of having abundant and desirable browse in the grape foliage, the sheep have avoided eating any of the canopy growth. induce stomach pain and when combined with grape leaves “trains” sheep not to eat these. This approach sent up a bunch of red flags (i.e. sustainability—unknown effects on animal health and soil biology) and would eliminate the option of using sheep to do my suckering. Southdowns (Baby Dolls) appeared a better choice for many vineyards due to their small size, but I’d heard accounts of them standing on each other to overcome this handicap and they were priced unreasonably. Mainly though, I wanted a design that could function effectively with various breeds and sizes of sheep.

Looking through the tool row on the model I kept coming back to technology and human creativity. For several years I’d had a rough idea on using strategically placed electrified wires to deter grazing animals from eating the grape leaves. Following my dad’s inspiration, I pulled out a scrap of paper and penciled out my idea. This led to a materials list, an order, and a few weeks later a prototype.

I’d been managing a small vineyard in which I grazed sheep each year from January to the end of March, when the vines began to leaf out. This was an ideal place to try out the concept on a small scale and refine if necessary. My primary aim was to create an inexpensive and effective way to keep sheep (of all sizes) from browsing grapevines. This would then open up the possibility of grazing throughout the year. The system couldn’t interfere with viticultural practices, needed to be low maintenance, and simple to install.

With a little more design and installation work I set up the vineyard and tested the system. After working out a few kinks, the vineyard was stocked two months before bud break to give the sheep plenty of time to learn the off limits zone. The system was then monitored for five months, three during which the grapes were leafed out. The system turned out to be 100% effective and virtually problem free. One of the big surprises was the dramatic reduction in irrigation needs combined with an increase in fruit yield. Following is a list of the benefits realized from this trial: • Reduced irrigation use: from 24 gallons per vine in 2008 to 5 gallons in 2009 (both were drought years). Conventional neighboring vineyard water use averages 45 gallons per vine (same soils, rootstock and clone varieties).

• Increased yield: 461 pounds more fruit than the previous year which would equate to 1,245 pounds per acre increase • Sheep did all suckering and converted it to fertilizer • Provided enough meat to fill a large freezer at the end of the season • Completely eliminated the need to mow between rows and cultivate under the vines while simultaneously converting this plant matter into fertility • Converted all lateral removal, leaf removal and shoot thinning directly into onsite fertility Converting figures at a per acre basis allows some interesting comparisons between conventional farming, organic practices and grazing trial: Conventional (UC Cooperative Extension–2004)

Conventional (UC Cooperative Extension–2004)

Organic (UC Cooperative Extension–2005)

TIME

TIME

COST

TIME

COST

TIME

COST

2 1.77

$102 $57

8 11.77

$124 $283

2 2 3.87 8 15.87

$68 $62 $116 $124 $370

* * * * 4

* * * * $231

Fertilizing Mow / Disc Weeding Suckering TOTAL

COST

Trial (2009)

Time and cost were not broken out between the various tasks due to the fact that the sheep tend to perform these tasks simultaneously.

*

(Photo left) Neighboring vineyard shows sucker growth on vines. These suckers will soon be removed by hand labor. Sheep effectively kept all sucker growth browsed and converted it to manure on the trial plot as can be seen from photos.

(Photo right) This photo (of trial site) was taken the same day as photo above. See how well the sheep kept the vines suckered.

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May / June 2010

By the middle of June, the cover crop is completely grazed, dead or dormant. There has been no browsing of vine leafs which the sheep relish.

As shown by the chart on the previous page, potential savings in both time and expense is considerable in the trial compared to both conventional and organic management. Had the sheep used in this trial been sold for their purchase price (rather than being harvested for meat for my own use) the total cost would have been $61/acre for the year. With direct marketing or value adding, the livestock “layer” of this holistic design could become

W

hy a book on induced

by Ann Adams meandering? So Let the Water Do Let the Water Do the Work: the Work begins. The simple Induced Meandering, an answer is, because it works.

Evolving Method for Specifically, it is a practical, Restoring Incised Channels affordable, and simple

By Bill Zeedyk and Van Clothier method that allows the creek, Quivira Coalition, Santa Fe, N.M. stream, or arroyo to do the 2009 • 239 pages work for you. In other words, www.quiviracoalition.org you partner with Nature. By “thinking like a creek,” you can harness the regenerative power of floods to reshape stream banks and rebuild floodplains along gullied stream channels.

This approach runs counter to the conventional approach to stream restoration because it looks at intentionally eroding selected banks while encouraging the deposit of sediment on evolving floodplains.

The authors of this book, Bill Zeedyk and Van Clothier, bring years of experience in this art of riparian restoration. They have worked on projects and taught many workshops and prepared training materials for professionals, laypersons, and volunteers. Moreover, these techniques have now been adopted by federal, state, and tribal agencies, as well as landowners and conservation organizations.

How is this information helpful to Holistic Management practitioners? It’s a valuable tool to consider for your toolbox if you own land on which water runs (which includes everyone from Sidney

Book Review

profitable rather than an expense.

Creating the option of a vineyard as a productive grazing area opens a number of opportunities for utilizing livestock including: collaboration with neighbors, leasing the vineyard as pasture, renting sheep, or developing an onsite livestock enterprise. Holistic financial planning can help guide in the process of determining the most appropriate choice.

It is important to keep in mind that this trial tested out just one element (tool) of a concept to determine its effectiveness in leading towards a holisticgoal. Designing for process as well as practice within the context of a holisticgoal is simultaneously much broader and more focused than a conventional approach. Tools don’t become the goal and determiner of management practices but rather the appropriate means for achieving a well articulated vision.

Initial results of this trial indicate that removing the logjam of an extremely limited grazing window in vineyards opens up numerous creative options for holistically sound management practices.

Working through the testing and evaluation of this trial reinforced my belief that designing and managing vineyards holistically offers enormous potential for increasing profitability, by both reducing costs and providing additional income sources. In addition, significant improvements in ecosystem processes including healthier soils, increased diversity, better energy conversion, decreased reliance on equipment and fossil fuels, etc. can be expected—not to mention the continuous progress towards a higher quality of life.

to Seattle). I was lucky enough to attend an Induced Meandering workshop nearby a couple of years and can still remember the light bulb that went off for me when Bill Zeedyk talked about looking at the land around the stream or creek to see what the water was doing underneath the land, and how the water channel influenced the water table. As a stream bed continues to dig deeper into the land, the lower the water table drops. If you can induce meandering and let sediment build that streambed up, you actually raise the water table and restore floodplains.

Induced meandering reminds me of planned grazing (a technique often used in conjunction) because you are working with Nature to improve the function of the land and water. Planned grazing can really address ineffective water cycle “uphill” of the riparian area. Likewise, it can improve riparian function. But, if you’ve got a severely incised channel with years of damage, induced meandering will create amazing results in a relatively short amount of time—some of the examples in the book show a dramatic difference of restored floodplains in six years.

This book is chockfull of photos of various induced meandering projects with clear delineation of before and after and what was done to create the change. The design, layout, and illustrations are courtesy of Tamara Gadzia, making this book very user friendly. Whether you want to know how to trim pickets or build a one rock dam, there are lots of photos to help you as well as clear instruction. Moreover, there are plenty of forms to help with design, implementation, and monitoring.

Anyone interested in natural resource management will find this book helpful and thought-provoking. To order, go to the ad on page 23.

Number 131

Land & Livestock

13

Development Corner Seth Wilner teaching goalsetting to the New Hampshire Beginning Women Farmer group.

A Heartfelt Thank You to All!

M

any of you responded generously to our year-end appeal, which benefited several of our key initiatives for 2010. The Beginning Women Farmers project in the Northeast attracted attention and generous gifts, and Kids on the Land got a boost for its second program site in Texas; quite a few donations came in for our outreach with the documentary “The First Millimeter: Healing the Earth,” while the majority of donations were designated for core support of our mission. Look for periodic updates on these program initiatives— and others. On behalf of all of us at HMI, many thanks for your wonderful support!

Phil Metzger teaching decision testing to the Massachusetts group.

Beginning Women Farmers

T

he USDA-funded Beginning Women Farmer program has been going full tilt this winter.

When funds were released for this $817,000 grant at the beginning of 2010 there was a lot of work to be done. With 90 women in 6 states to be trained in 10 different sessions for each state, Regional Coordinators Phil Metzger and Seth Wilner have been busy coordinating instructors as well as teaching some of the classes. Senior Director of Education, Ann Adams has been working with the Regional Coordinators as well as Local Coordinators in each state which includes University of Vermont, Community in Support of Agriculture in Massachusetts, Northeastern Organic Farming Association in Connecticut, Women’s Agricultural Network in Maine, Small and Beginner Farmers of New Hampshire, and Central New York Resource Conservation & Development. Other instructors include educators John Thurgood and Erica Frenay as well as educators who have been trained under a previous Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education grant, including Dean Bascom, Crystal Stewart, and Gabe Clark.

By press date, most of the six states will have completed the first six courses which will take place in a classroom. The remaining four courses for each state will be on farm visits which will include biological monitoring and grazing planning. As more women decide to farm, particularly on small farms, the need for whole farm planning that is value-based continues to grow. Moreover, many of these women are 14

IN PRACTICE

Maine women farmers learning about holistic financial planning.

integrating livestock into their vegetable, fruit, and flower production so there is a greater need for improved grazing planning skills. The interest by participants in this program has been high with lots of great learning. The next step is to train some of the women involved in the program to be Certified Educators so they can also help support this program in future years.

Gen Next— Colorado College Education Series

I

t all began with Laura Parker, Colorado College alumni and sustainable agriculture aficionado, who coordinated a screening of the PBS documentary “The First Millimeter: Healing the Earth” at Colorado College in early December of 2009 which generated a lot of interest in Holistic Management, especially

May / June 2010

among the members of the Colorado College Student Farm Committee. Subsequently, due to the hard work of Juna Rosales Muller, Jess Arnsteen, and Zora Cobb, Colorado College provided a grant through their “Life of the Mind” grant program to fund a Holistic Management Education Series at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado. On February 21-22, 28 students participated in an Introduction to Holistic Management and a Holistic Financial Planning courses taught by educators Ann Adams and Katie Rosing.

Katie is an alumni of Colorado College and has her own farm, Heritage Belle Farms, outside Colorado Springs. One of the courses was held on her farm and she provided a farm tour.

As the students noted in their grant application: “Current global ecology shows the need to focus on spreading both knowledge of and interest in sustainability and HMI’s work to the younger generation. The Colorado College’s Student Farm Committee would like to address this issue by Twenty-eight Colorado College students participated in an Introduction to Holistic Management course hosted at educator Katie Rosing’s farm.

hosting a series of HMI-based workshops available to all students. We believe that Holistic Management has the means to provide the practical and conceptual framework needed for creative problem solving today.”

The Colorado College Farm Club committee envisions a long-term Holistic Management Education Series that will create a culture of land stewardship at Colorado College from an academic perspective—providing students with the encouragement, education and resources to implement fundamental land management changes on campus, in their community, and around the world.

In April, the courses will cover grazing planning and biological monitoring. This May several of the students will be graduating and serving as interns or as producers for farming operations in New Mexico and Colorado. These courses begin to address the need of many liberal arts students to combine sustainable agriculture with a liberal arts course of study.

Kids on the Land—A Second Pilot Site!

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oard Member John Hackley has offered Richards Ranch in Jacksboro, Texas, as the second Kids on the Land pilot site. Over the last few months, Peggy Maddox, Director of Educational Programs at West Ranch, met with

Educator Katie Rosing explained management practices and how they influenced her land base as part of this on-farm educational opportunity. retired teachers, NRCS staff, and others interested in kids programs in Jacksboro to involve them in adjusting program content to the ecology of the region (Western Cross Timber), and in the planning and co-teaching of the program in midMay. Eight volunteers and Peggy will kick off the Jacksboro Kid on the Land season with 186 kids from 4th and 5th grade on May 12th and 13th. We’re almost there in terms of funding, with only about $2,000 to go! Any help with reaching our goal is most welcome!

PBS Documentary Update

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ince “The First Millimeter: Healing the Earth” first aired on Earth Day 2009, it has shown in over twenty-five PBS markets and five film festivals across the country and is rebroadcasting again for Earth Day in key areas not counting the dozens of private screenings that carried the message of healthy lands, sustainable future to additional audiences.

Just recently, Board member Sallie Calhoun showed the documentary-length version to members of the Peninsula Open Space Trust in Palo Alto, California and facilitated the ensuing discussion about soil carbon and other land stewardship issues. Subsequently, Sallie was asked by the Slow Food Chapter of Los Altos to show the film to their members in early April. If you’d like to participate in spreading the word about the many benefits of Holistic Management, please contact Mary Girsch-Bock at HMI (marygb@ holisticmanagement.org) or 505/842-5252 and she’ll set you up with materials and other support.

From the Board Chair

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t HMI’s March board meeting the Board and senior staff took some time to review some really basic questions that included: What is Holistic Management? Why is Holistic Management special? What are the goals of the HMI organization? How will HMI know if it’s achieving its goals?

These are obviously questions that could be discussed for days, but what we need for our clients is short and quick answers, often 1-3 words. It’s also important to realize that while there is not one correct answer, we do need to be in general agreement.

In response to the question, “What is Holistic Management?” some of the Board/staff team replies were: It’s a sustainability, decision making tool; learned skill; lifestyle; and historically land based. To the question, “Why is Holistic Management special?” some of the answers were: It includes your future resource base and everyone in setting the holisticgoal; making balanced decisions with multiple objectives; and it works particularly well with land based enterprises.

The goals of asking these questions to start a Board meeting were to make sure we are all on the same “bus”, to deepen our thinking about how we articulate the value of Holistic Management, and to appreciate the unique strengths and opportunities of Holistic Management. Allan, Jody, and others have provided us with a very special and powerful way to empower people to influence the future,

and we wanted to make sure we didn’t lose sight of that vision.

As we talked about how to integrate HMI’s holisticgoal with its policies, strategies, and tactics, we were focused on measurable outcomes for the coming year and for the next 3-5 years. In many cases, change starts with learning, then people take some action, and finally, we see comprehensive change. Much of our discussion was based on the logic model for change from the University of Wisconsin.

Our clients, funders, and anyone who invests time or money wants to have a clear understanding of the outcome. I call it the “so what” question. It also became obvious that with clear and measurable goals/milestones, we had a great way to monitor progress—another key component of Holistic Management.

It is always amazing to see that practicing Holistic Management can be such a powerful way to achieve one’s goals. At our July meeting, we plan to take some extra time to clearly identify some milestones to monitor our progress toward out holisticgoal. I’ll keep you posted and encourage you to make practicing Holistic Management part of your every day activities.

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Pam Iwanchysko was the primary organizer for the conference and the first keynote.

T he news from holistic management international

people, programs & projects

Canadian Holistic Management Conference

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he second Western Canadian Holistic Management Conference was held on February 9-10, 2010 in Russell, Manitoba, Canada with over 225 delegates in attendance.

The event was organized by Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives (MAFRI) and the Manitoba Forage Council. Don Campbell and Len Piggott shared the roll of chairing the event – both well know Certified Educators in Canada.

The event was opened by Pam Iwanchysko of MAFRI who addressed how Holistic Management can make a significant difference from a personal standpoint.

Keynote presentations were also made by many speakers including John Ikerd of Missouri, a well acclaimed Agricultural Economist who spoke about purpose in peril and a sustainable agricultural system, Terry Gompert from the University of Nebraska who described practical farm management

techniques from the livestock and forage perspective, and Ann Adams from HMI who spoke about how to create a life of meaning with Holistic Management.

Many break-out presentations were made on the practical side of Holistic Management from producers across Western Canada who are practicing Holistic Management. Open bear-pit sessions also took place at the beginning of the second day about the personal, financial, and cropping and land management side of Holistic Management. These break-out sessions were delivered by the Canadian Holistic Management Certified Educators. In addition there were keynote presentations made by motivational speakers Rolande Kirouac of Winnipeg and Darci Lang of Regina.

The conference focus was Healthy People, Healthy Land and Healthy Profits and was certainly a highlight for many delegates who attended.

Certified Educator Leonard Pigott presided over the second day of the conference.

Certified Educator Don Campbell opened the conference.

New Certified Educators Blain Hjertaas and Ralph and Linda Corcoran visiting.

Data Mine

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by Frank Aragona

MI has a new website! We are using Joomla! which as an open source content management system has opened a world of possibilities for HMI’s home on the web. The organization now has available to it a galaxy of extensions, both free and commercial, to enhance ongoing interactivity with the broader Holistic Management community The new website also adds levels of interactivity and intercommunication that are not possible on older platforms. With a new Holistic Management Blog and a Holistic Management Community Forum, people will be able to share ideas, suggestions, and disagreements quickly and globally.

The Date Mine also has a home on the web in the form of a blog providing readers with ongoing commentary on the nature of monitoring and research activities currently

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underway at HMI. In the coming weeks and months we will be directing a significant effort to improve our ability to effectively monitor changes on the land. Part of this effort will involve a literature review, the results of which will be continuously and regularly published via the Data Mine Blog with an online searchable database of many scientific and case study writings, with commentary on the relevance of this research to Holistic Management.

Additionally, HMI will leverage the new website as an important resource in order to extend our network of researchers and practitioners, all with the hope of closing the gap between research and practice.

Please visit the Data Mine Blog via the Holistic Management website at your earliest convenience. You can participate by leaving a comment or creating a relevant thread in the HM Community Forum.

May / June 2010

Fran McQuail visiting with new Certified Educators Allison Guichon and Brian Luce.

(Left) John Ikerd, an agricultural economist from the University of Missouri roused the crowd with his speech on building sustainable food systems. (Right) New Certified Educator Tony McQuail was one of the presenters in the sustainable cropping workshop.

HMI-Texas Annual Conference a Success

H

MI Texas pulled off their 23rd Annual Spring Conference, “A Wealth of Wildlife,” on March 5th and 6th in Braunfel, Texas. The conference was kicked off with an excellent presentation by Gregg Simonds of Deseret Ranch. He spoke in depth about what it took to turn around the failing ranch and transform it into the healthy, productive wildlife and livestock operation that it is today. Gregg spoke to the fact that we all have options when it comes to management.

The challenge is to realize those options and discern which ones are best for your land and circumstances. “Create choice and the ability to choose,” was his mantra. He also emphasized the importance of monitoring your land in order to see if your decisions are making the impact you intended. Other speakers included Dr. Jerry Cooke, Greg Simons, David Griffith, and John Martin. Special thanks to HMI-Texas staff, Amy Normand, Peggy Cole, and Liz Goulding for all their hard work!

A panel of ranchers who operate wildlife enterprises spoke about their experiences. From left to right: Forrest Armke, Brett Addison, Pam Mitchell, and Dale Prochaska.

HMI-Texas President Peggy Maddox visiting with Kathy Dickson.

Peggy Sechrist enjoying a visit with Jerry Cooke.

Keynote Gregg Simonds talked about his experience of helping the Deseret Ranch to develop into a premier wildlife ranch.

HMIA Update HMI CEO Peter Holter (right) visiting HMI Texas Board member Paul Martin.

Dirk Weisiger provided entertainment by telling cowboy stories and performing rope tricks.

HMI Board member Clint Josey enjoying the proceedings.

H

MI Australia serves as the foreign agent for HMI in Australia and is a separate affiliate with its own Board led by Managing Director Judi Earl, Holistic Management Certified Educator. In fiscal year 2008/2009, Certified Educators Judi Earl, Brian Marshall, and George Gundry participated in five training programs that were initiated under the auspices of HMIA, educating nearly 50 businesses. HMIA also presented at 11 workshops and conferences throughout Australia, covering a range of subjects relating to land regeneration and grazing management. Continued support is provided to recent ‘graduates,’ as well as attendance at many practitioners’ field days.

Because education is the main focus of HMIA, they were very pleased that the Technical and Further Education (New South Wale’s technical-vocational college) now has accredited a Holistic Management

course. Furthermore, the full Holistic Management training course offered by HMIA is now registered with Farmready, the new Australian government education and training subsidy program that was launched at the end of 2008. Short course offerings from HMIA are soon to come.

Constantly spreading the word, HMIA has been promoting Holistic Management in newspaper, radio, and other targeted advertising material produced to promote training opportunities and workshops.

In addition, HMIA has been issuing a regular local newsletter which is sent to subscribers and is available for download from the website.

We are very excited about the activity in Australia and New Zealand. Check out the Affiliates page on our website, www.holisticmanagment.org, for information about what’s going on there and around the world!

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Northeast SARE Grant Awarded

In Memoriam

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Northeast Sustainable Agriculture, Research, and Education (SARE) grant was awarded to the Central New York Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) due to the efforts of educator Phil Metzger. “Utilizing Holistic Planned Grazing as a Regenerative Engine for Sustainable Agriculture” is the title of this $158,000 Professional Development grant.

As Phil noted in his grant, “With increased pressure from the current dairy crisis, rising energy, equipment, feed and fertilizer costs, coupled with consumer interest in grass-based products, and environmental concerns (e.g.

Chesapeake Bay water quality issues), a record number of requests from farmers for grazing planning assistance have been experienced by cooperative extension, conservation districts/NRCS and farmer-educators. This at a time when there are few whole farm grazing planning specialists in the Northeast SARE Region. Another significant trend is the shortage of trained educational and field staff to deliver programming and on-farm strategies to help farmers meet farm goals in the areas of profitability, ecological improvement and social well-being. Additionally farmers are struggling to meet obligations for conservation programming (e.g. Environmental Quality Initiative Program, State Environmental Protection Fund.)”

This project will focus on whole farm planning and teaching the practical and technical side of grazing management, economics, marketing concepts of planned grazing, ecological health, animal behavior, infrastructure design and ancillary topics (e.g. wildlife habitat and idle land regeneration.)

The performance targets for this grant are to train 30 extension educators, conservation

I

t is with great sadness that HMI reports the passing of Cynthia O. Harris, M.D. at home in Albuquerque, New Mexico on January 9, 2010. She was born on June 6, 1923 in San Francisco and is survived by her devoted husband of 33 years Leo O. Harris. Cynthia graduated from Radcliffe College in 1945 and from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in 1963. She practiced psychiatry in Cleveland, joining the Gestalt Institute in 1964. She was a published author, a trustee on many boards and a member of the American Psychiatric Association and other Cynthia O. Harris, M.D. professional associations. Cynthia received the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award in 2000 for her significant accomplishments. She was an ardent feminist, a committed environmentalist and a philanthropist. Cynthia and Leo have been part of the HMI community since 2003 as significant supporters—they were the firs step forward to provide a most generous seed grant to jump start the production of “The First Millimeter: Healing the Earth”—and have served on HMI’s Advisory Council since 2004. We all feel fortunate to have known Cynthia, and Leo continues to be a valued member of the HMI family. She will be greatly missed.

professionals, grassland advocates and/or farmer mentors from the Northeast SARE region. These people will then support 120 farms, representing 24,000 acres. Estimated results are a 15% increase in profitability, 25% increase in ground cover, biological activity and improved soil & forage health, and measurable improvement in quality of life. Congratulations Phil and Central New York RC&D.

Western SARE Grant Awarded Congratulations to Kelly Boney for securing one of the much coveted Farmer/Rancher Research and Education grants from Western Sustainable Agriculture, Research, and Education

It’s Not Just a Grazing Thing continued from page three Sandra Matheson is a rancher, Certified Educator in Holistic Management, and a retired veterinarian in Washington state, USA. She is the mother of two grown daughters and currently does screenwriting, as well as TV and video production. She and her Washington state certified educator team, Managing Change Northwest, work together to spread Holistic Management and facilitate groups using the consensus process. She can be reached at: mathesonsm@verizon.net.

Sandra’s sister, Diane, and her daughter, Molly, with Sandra (right) in front of Mount Shuksan, near Bellingham, Washington.

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May / June 2010

(SARE). Kelly will be implementing mixed-herd planned grazing on 288 acres of retiring Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land to document changes in land health and productivity due to Holistic Management practices.

As a recently Certified Educator, Kelly is excited about sharing her results with her neighbors and other ranchers in the area and has enlisted HMI to provide technical support and monitoring services for the two-year project. She will also be collaborating with Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Farm Service Agency (FSA), and New Mexico Extension Services, all of which bring important expertise to the success of the project.

UNITED STATES

Certified Educators

TEXAS

To our knowledge, Certified Educators are the best qualified individuals to help others learn to practice Holistic Management and to provide them with technical assistance when necessary. On a yearly basis, Certified Educators renew their agreement to be affiliated with HMI. This agreement requires their commitment to practice Holistic Management in their own lives, to seek out opportunities for staying current ◆ These educators provide with the latest developments in Holistic Management and to Holistic Management maintain a high standard of ethical conduct in their work. instruction on behalf of the institutions they represent.

For more information about or application forms for the HMI’s Certified Educator Training Programs, contact Ann Adams or visit our website at: www.holisticmanagement.org.

associate educators * These provide educational services to their communities and peer groups.

WASHINGTON

Guy Glosson 6717 Hwy. 380, Snyder, TX 79549 806/237-2554 glosson@caprock-spur.com Peggy Maddox P.O. Box 694, Ozona, TX 76943-0694 325/392-2292 • westgift@hughes.net ◆ R. H. (Dick) Richardson University of Texas at Austin Section of Integrative Biology School of Biological Sciences Austin, TX 78712 • 512/471-4128 d.richardson@mail.utexas.edu VIRGINIA

UNITED STATES CALIFORNIA Richard King 1675 Adobe Rd., Petaluma, CA 94954 707/769-1490 • 707/794-8692(w) richard.king@ca.usda.gov * Christopher Peck 1330 Gumview Road, Windsor, CA 95492 707/758-0171 Christopher@naturalinvesting.com ◆ Rob Rutherford CA Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 805/756-1475 rrutherf@calpoly.edu COLORADO Cindy Dvergsten 17702 County Rd. 23, Dolores, CO 81323 970/882-4222 hminfo@wholenewconcepts.com GEORGIA Constance Neely 1421 Rockinwood Dr., Athens, GA 30606 706/540-2878 • clneely@earthlink.net MAINE Vivianne Holmes 239 E Buckfield Road Buckfield, ME 04220-4209 207/336-2484 • vholmes@umext.maine.edu MICHIGAN

* Ben Bartlett N4632 ET Road, Traunik, MI 49891 906/439-5210 (h) • 906/439-5880 (w) bartle18@msu.edu * Larry Dyer 1113 Klondike Ave, Petoskey, MI 49770-3233 231/439-8982 (w) • 231/347-7162 (h) dyerlawr@msu.edu MONTANA Roland Kroos 4926 Itana Circle, Bozeman, MT 59715 406/522-3862 • kroosing@msn.com * Cliff Montagne P.O. Box 173120, Montana State University Department of Land Resources & Environmental Science, Bozeman, MT 59717 406/994-5079 • montagne@montana.edu

NEBRASKA Terry Gompert P.O. Box 45, Center, NE 68724-0045 402/288-5611 (w) tgompert1@unl.edu Paul Swanson 5155 West 12th St., Hastings, NE 68901 402/463-8507 • swanson@inebraska.com Ralph Tate 1109 Timber Dr., Papillion, NE 68046 402/932-3405 • Tater2d2@cox.net NEW HAMPSHIRE ◆ Seth Wilner

24 Main Street, Newport, NH 03773 603/863-4497 (h) • 603/863-9200 (w) seth.wilner@unh.edu NEW MEXICO ◆ Ann Adams

Holistic Management International 1010 Tijeras NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102 505/842-5252 anna@holisticmanagement.org Kelly Boney 4865 Quay Road L, San Jon, NM 88434 575/760-7636 kboney@plateautel.net Kirk Gadzia P.O. Box 1100, Bernalillo, NM 87004 505/867-4685, (f) 505/867-9952 kgadzia@msn.com NORTH DAKOTA Wayne Berry 1611 11th Ave. West Williston, ND 58801 701/572-9183 wberry@wil.midco.net OREGON Jeff Goebel 52 NW Mcleay Blvd.

Portland, OR 97210 541/610-7084 goebel@aboutlistening.com PENNSYLVANIA Jim Weaver 428 Copp Hollow Rd. Wellsboro, PA 16901-8976 570/724-7788 • jaweaver@epix.net

Byron Shelton PO Box 558, Upperville, VA 20185 719/221-3259 (c) landmark@my.amigo.net

Sandra Matheson 228 E. Smith Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226 360/398-7866 • mathesonsm@verizon.net Doug Warnock 1880 SE Larch Ave., College Place, WA 99324 509/540-5771 • 509/856-7101 (c) dwarnock@charter.net WISCONSIN Andy Hager, 715/678-2465 W. 3597 Pine Ave., Stetsonville, WI 54480-9559 Larry Johnson, 608/455-1685 W886 State Rd. 92, Brooklyn, WI 53521 LarryStillPointFarm@gmail.com * Laura Paine Wisconsin DATCP N893 Kranz Rd., Columbus, WI 53925 608/224-5120 (w) • 920/623-4407 (h) laura.paine@datcp.state.wi.us

INTERNATIONAL CANADA

AUSTRALIA Judi Earl 73 Harding E., Guyra, NSW 2365 61-2-6779-2286 judi@holisticmanagement.org.au Mark Gardner P.O. Box 1395, Dubbo, NSW 2830 61-2-6884-4401 mark.gardner@vbs.net.au * Paul Griffiths P.O. Box 3045, North Turramura, NSW 2074, Sydney, NSW 61-2-9144-3975 • pgpres@geko.net.au George Gundry Willeroo, Tarago, NSW 2580 61-2-4844-6223 • ggundry@bigpond.net.au Graeme Hand 150 Caroona Lane, Branxholme, VIC 3302 61-3-5578-6272 (h) • 61-4-1853-2130 (c) graeme.hand@bigpond.com * Helen Lewis P.O. Box 1263, Warwick, QLD 4370 61-7-46617393 • 61-7-46670835 helen@insideoutsidemgt.com.au Brian Marshall P.O. Box 300, Guyra NSW 2365 61-2-6779-1927 • fax: 61-2-6779-1947 bkmrshl@bigpond.com Dick Richardson Bonnie Doone 1497 Little Plains Road, Boorowa NSW 2586 61 0 263853217 (w) • 61 0 263855284 (h) 61 0 429069001 (c) • dick@bdynamic.org Bruce Ward P.O. Box 103, Milsons Pt., NSW 1565 61-2-9929-5568 • fax: 61-2-9929-5569 blward@the-farm-business-gym.com Brian Wehlburg Pine Scrub Creek, Kindee, NSW, 2446 61-2-6587-4353 brian@insideoutsidemgt.com.au Jason Virtue PO Box 1406, Gymbie, QLD 4570 61-2- 07 5485 1997 jason@spiderweb.com.au

Don Campbell Box 817 Meadow Lake, SK S9X 1Y6 306/236-6088 doncampbell@sasktel.net Linda & Ralph Corcoran Box 36, Langbank, SK S0G 2X0 306/532-4778 rlcorcoran@sasktel.net

* Allison Guichon

Box 10, Quilchena, BC V0E 2R0 250/378-4535 allison@guichonranch.ca Blain Hjertaas Box 760, Redvers, Saskatchewan SOC 2HO 306/452-3882 bhjer@sasktel.net Brian Luce RR #4, Ponoka, AB T4J 1R4 403/783-6518 lucends@xplornet.com Tony McQuail 86016 Creek Line, RR#1, Lucknow, ON N0G 2H0 519/528-2493 mcqufarm@hurontel.on.ca Len Pigott Box 222, Dysart, SK, SOH 1HO 306/432-4583 JLPigott@sasktel.net Kelly Sidoryk P.O. Box 374, Lloydminster, AB S9V 0Y4 780/875-9806 (h) 780/875-4418 (c) sidorykk@yahoo.ca

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INTERNATIONAL KENYA Richard Hatfield P.O. Box 10091-00100, Nairobi 254-0723-506-331; rhatfield@obufield.com Christine C. Jost International Livestock Research Institute Box 30709, Nairobi 00100 254-20-422-3000; 254-736-715-417 (c) c.jost@cgiar.org * Belinda Low P.O. Box 15109, Langata, Nairobi 254-727-288-039; belinda@grevyszebratrust.org

MEXICO Ivan A. Aguirre Ibarra P.O. Box 304, Hermosillo, Sonora 83000 52-1-662-281-0990 (from U.S.) 51-1-662-281-0901 Rancho_inmaculada@yahoo.com.mx

AFFILIATES NEW ZEALAND King John * P.O. Box 12011 Beckenham, Christchurch 8242 64-276-737-885 succession@clear.net.nz

* Philip Bubb

32 Dart Close, St. Ives, Cambridge, PE27 3JB 44-1480-496-2925 (h) +44 7837 405483 (w) philipbubb@onetel.com

Managing Wholes Peter Donovan PO Box 393 Enterprise, OR 97828 541/426-5783 www.managingwholes.com

By Jody Butterfield, Sam Bingham, and Allan Savory, HMI

The Holistic Management Handbook gives you step-by-step guidance for managing a ranch or farm holistically. It is essential reading for anyone involved with land management ORDER and stewardship.

TODAY!

29

Learn how to create healthy land and healthy profits.

Call 505/842-5252 or order online at www.holisticmanagement.org!

20

IN PRACTICE

Central NY RC&D Phil Metzger 99 North Broad Street Norwich, NY 13815 607/334-3231 ext 4 phil.metzger@ny.usda.gov

NORTHWEST

Healthy Land, Healthy Profits

May / June 2010

OKLAHOMA Oklahoma Land Stewardship Alliance Charles Griffith, contact person Route 5, Box E44 Ardmore, OK 73401 580/223-7471 cagriffith@brightok.net

COLORADO Colorado Branch For Holistic Management® P.O. Box 218 Lewis, CO 81327 www.coloradoholisticmanagement.org Cindy Dvergsten, webmaster 970/882-4222

NEW YORK

Holistic Management Handbook

$

HRM of Arizona Norm Lowe 2660 E. Hemberg Flagstaff, AZ 86004 928/214-0040 loweflag@aol.com

SOUTH AFRICA Jozua Lambrechts P.O. Box 5070 Helderberg, Somerset West Western Cape 7135 27-21-851-5669; 27-21-851-2430 (w) jozua@websurf.co.za Ian Mitchell-Innes P.O. Box 52 Elandslaagte 2900 27-36-421-1747 blanerne@mweb.co.za

UNITED KINGDOM NAMIBIA Usiel Kandjii P.O. Box 23319, Windhoek 264-61-205-2324 • kandjiiu@gmail.com Colin Nott P.O. Box 11977, Windhoek 264/61-225085 (h) 264/81-2418778 canott@iafrica.com.na Wiebke Volkmann P.O. Box 9285, Windhoek 264-61-225183 or 264-81-127-0081 wiebke@mweb.com.na

ARIZONA

Seth Wilner SETH HAS OVER 10 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH FARMERS AND FARM FAMILIES As a Certified Educator and a New Hampshire Cooperative Extension Educator, Seth offers effective, hands-on, practical consulting and training in: • PROGRAM EVALUATION • VISION AND VALUES CLARIFICATION • FINANCIAL PLANNING • BUSINESS PLANNING • WHOLE FARM PLANNING • BUDGETING • GOALSETTING • CONFLICT RESOLUTION

To learn more about these consulting and training opportunities, contact Seth at: seth.wilner@unh.edu • 603/863-4497

PENNSYLVANIA Northern Penn Network Jim Weaver, contact person RD #6, Box 205 Wellsboro, PA 16901 717/724-7788 jaweaver@epix.net

TEXAS HMI Texas Peggy Cole 5 Limestone Trail, Wimberley, TX 78676 512-847-3822 peggy@hmitexas.org www.hmitexas.org West Station for Holistic Management Peggy Maddox PO Box 694, Ozona, TX 76943 325-392-2292 westgift@hughes.net

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CORRAL DESIGNS

Kirk L. Gadzia, Certified Educator PO Box 1100 Bernalillo, NM 87004 Pasture Scene 505-263-8677 Investigation kgadzia@msn.com www.rmsgadzia.com

The Business of Ranching

• On-Site, Custom Courses • Holistic Business Planning • Ranchers Business Forum • Creating Change thru Grazing Planning and Land Monitoring

Roland R.H. Kroos (406) 522.3862 • Cell: 581.3038 Email: kroosing@msn.com

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Offered By Whole New Concepts, LLC P.O. Box 218 Lewis CO 81327 22

IN PRACTICE

May / June 2010

HMI GRAZING PLANNING SOFTWARE • Save Time!

Low • Does all the Introductofr y grazing planning Price o calculations for you $ • Easy SAU feature • Keep track of rainfall • Easy forage assessment tool • Works on Macs or PC’s that run Excel • Comes with User’s Manual

100

TO SEE A DEMO OF THE SOFTWARE GO TO: http://holisticmanagement.org/store//page8.html

Call 505/842-5252 or order online at www.holisticmanagement.org

T H E

M A R K E T P L A C E

Let the Water Do the Work:

WANTED: More Grass

Induced Meandering, an Evolving Method for Restoring Incised Channels This “how to� manual for restoring health and sinuosity to incised channels, written by BILL ZEEDYK and VAN CLOTHIER and published BY THE QUIVIRA COALITION, contains eight chapters, 258 pages, and is lushly illustrated with 300 color photos, drawings, diagrams and graphics. Examples of successful treatments are described in detail.

The book contains annotated references, a glossary, and an appendix that includes ÂżHOG IRUPV ZRUNVKHHWV DQG other tools for collecting and interpreting information pertinent to river and wetland restoration issues.

Purchase online for $50 (plus shipping and handling) www.quiviracoalition.org 505-820-2544

REWARD: Heavier Livestock and Greater Profit Kelly Boney, Certified Educator 4 8 6 5 Q U AY R O A D L SAN JON, NM 88434 575/760-7636 K B O N E Y @ P L AT E A U T E L . N E T

HMI Wear Unique gifts for everyone on your shopping list!

• HATS • JACKETS • VESTS • SHIRTS Visit our online store at www.holisticmanagement.org TODAY! Phone orders call 505/842-5252

Number 131

IN PRACTICE

23

healthy land. sustainable future.

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID ALBUQUERQUE, NM PERMIT NO 880

a publication of Holistic Management International 1010 Tijeras NW Albuquerque, NM 87102 USA return service requested

please send address corrections before moving so that we do not incur unnecessary postal fees

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT MAIL ORDER EMPORIUM Subscribe to IN PRACTICE

Software

_ A bimonthly journal for Holistic Management practitioners

Holistic Management® Financial Planning (single-user license) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $149 Grazing Planning software (single-user license) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $100

Subscribe for 1 year for only $35/U.S. ($40/International) 2 years ($65/U.S.; $70/International) 3 years ($95/U.S.; $105/International)

_ Gift Subscriptions (same prices as above). _ Special Edition: An Introduction to Holistic Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5 _ Compact Disk Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$14 _ Bulk subscriptions available.

Pocket Cards Holistic Management® Framework & testing questions, March 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$4

Planning and Monitoring Guides

One year for $17 each/U.S., or $22 each/International ______ Please indicate number of one-year subscriptions

_ Policy/Project Analysis & Design August 2008, 61 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17

_ Back Issues: $5 each; bulk orders (5 or more issues) $3 each. List

_ Introduction to Holistic Management

Please indicate issue numbers desired: ___,___,___,___,___,___,___,___,___,___ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$25

August 2007, 128 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$25

_ CD of Back Issues: #71 - 130

_ Financial Planning August 2007, 58 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17

Books & Multimedia

_ Aide Memoire for Grazing Planning August 2007, 63 pages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17

Holistic Management: A New Framework for Decision-Making,

_ Second Edition, by Allan Savory with Jody Butterfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $39 _ Hardcover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $55 _ 15-set CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $125 _ One month rental of CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $35 _ Spanish Version (soft). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25 _ Holistic Management Handbook, by Butterfield, Bingham, Savory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $29 _ At Home With Holistic Management, by Ann Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20 _ Holistic Management: A New Environmental Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10 _ Improving Whole Farm Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $13 _ Video: Creating a Sustainable Civilization—

_ Early Warning Biological Monitoring— Croplands April 2000, 26 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$15

_ Early Warning Biological Monitoring—Rangelands and Grasslands August 2007, 59 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17

_ Land Planning—For The Rancher or Farmer Running Livestock August 2007, 31 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$15

Planning Forms (All forms are padded – 25 sheets per pad) _ Annual Income & Expense Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17 _ Worksheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$ 7 _ Livestock Production Worksheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17 _ Grazing Plan & Control Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17

An Introduction to Holistic Decision-Making, based on a lecture given

by Allan Savory. (DVD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30 Stockmanship, by Steve Cote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $35

_ _ The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook, by Shannon Hayes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25 _ The Oglin, by Dick Richardson & Rio de la Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25 _ Gardeners of Eden, by Dan Dagget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25 _ Video: Healing the Land Through Multi-Species Grazing (DVD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30 _ PBS Video—The First Millimeter: Healing the Earth (DVD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25 TO ORDER

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