#170, In Practice, November/December 2016

Healthy Land. Healthy Food. Healthy Lives.

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016

In Practice a publication of Holistic Management International

NUMBER 170

W W W. H O L I S T I C M A N A G E M E N T. O R G

Celebrating Community

BY ANN ADAMS

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wenty years ago I took my first Holistic Management class on my journey to become a Certified Educator. Over the 20 years I have remained involved with this organization and the Holistic Management network, I’ve seen a lot of changes and growth.

Back then, HMI (then known as The Center for Holistic Resource Management) was twelve years old. At that time it was rare to receive international phone calls, and email was still not something we could count on people having whether in Africa or rural areas of America.

Today, I’m on video skype calls with people from all over the world on a regular basis and everyone is on email, Facebook, or Twitter.

By the time I graduated from the Certified Educator training program in 1998, we had about 40 Certified Educators with networks in eight states and five countries. Today, we have over 60 active Certified Educators and another 60 educators who have been trained as whole farm/ranch community trainers or community facilitators. We have active networks in 18 states and eight countries. We’ve trained or educated 50,000 people from over 130 countries with the help of our Certified Educators and our online courses and free downloads. In turn, those 50,000 people have influenced over 40 million acres.

In 1998, our mission was to restore the vitality of communities and the natural resources upon which they depend. Today our mission has evolved to educate people in regenerative agriculture for healthy land and thriving communities. Clearly healthy communities and healthy land have been constant themes throughout the history of this organization, and Holistic Management has been the tool we have seen to be highly effective in creating that outcome.

Over the years we have had numerous donors and funders who have supported our work. For that we are extremely grateful. We are

also grateful to all the Holistic Management practitioners who have shown through their passionate hard work that when you use this process, remarkable things happen on the land and in families and in their communities. I have also enjoyed the relationships we have developed with over 100 organizations who have collaborated with us to get the word out about Holistic Management and who have worked with us to get Holistic Management training to their constituents because that training would help those organizations achieve their missions that focused on sustainable agriculture or effective resource management or the many other outcomes that come from practicing Holistic Management.

I remember when I wrote At Home with Holistic Management in 1998. I recorded as many quotes as I could from our network on how this process had helped them improve family life. I was so inspired then by what those people had to say. I continue to be inspired by the many quotes I have heard over the last 20 years from the people I have interviewed for IN PRACTICE. Clearly, Holistic Management has influenced so many lives and landscapes.

But our work is far from done. We know we are still a minority of people who understand that our working landscapes can function better and provide more benefits to all species through that improved capacity. We also know that we need to have more people understand that everyone’s decisions impact how that land is managed and how it functions. The excitement around a host of topics including sustainable or regenerative agriculture, local food systems, healthy food, and resiliency is a prime opportunity for us all to build on the momentum of people recognizing that daily decisions are a powerful way to change the world—and that the world needs changing.

These are exciting times for HMI and for those who have the privilege of being involved in the front line of change. Whether you see your role as producer, food advocate, change agent, conscious consumer, engaged family member, funder, or a combination of those roles, we need each of you to share your talent, knowledge, experience, passion, and resources with others.

Through creating the symbiotic relationships that feed ourselves and others, we may all be fed.

For many Holistic Management practitioners, land stewardship is a driving ethic. Such is the case with Stacy Davies who manages the Roaring Springs Ranch near Frenchglen, Oregon.

Learn more about his experience with Holistic Management and how his management improves wildlife habitat on the ranch, including habitat for a group of white faced ibises in a meadow in the Catlow Valley on the ranch.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Land Stewardship

From the Board Chair DANIEL NUCKOLS, PhD

Healthy Land. Healthy Food. Healthy Lives.

In Practice a publication of Hollistic Management International

HMI educates people in regenerative agriculture for healthy land and thriving communities.

STAFF Ann Adams. . . . . . . . . . . . Executive Director Kelly Curtis. . . . . . . . . . . . Finance and Operations Director Jennifer Klass . . . . . . . . . Development Director Kathy Harris. . . . . . . . . . . Program Director Peggy Cole. . . . . . . . . . . . Program Manager, Texas Mary Girsch-Bock. . . . . . Development Manager Carrie Stearns . . . . . . . . . Communications &

Outreach Manager Valerie Grubbs. . . . . . . . . Accounting Manager Julie Fierro. . . . . . . . . . . . Education Manager Stephanie Von Ancken . . Programs / Office

Assistant

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Daniel Nuckols, Chair Walter Lynn, Vice-Chair Kelly Sidoryk, Past Board Chair Ben Bartlett Gerardo Bezanilla Kirrily Blomfield Kevin Boyer Laura Gill Guy Glosson Wayne Knight Jim Shelton Sarah Williford

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT In Practice (ISSN: 1098-8157) is published six times a year by: Holistic Management International 5941 Jefferson St. NE, Suite B Albuquerque, NM 87109 505/842-5252, fax: 505/843-7900; email: hmi@holisticmanagement.org.; website: www.holisticmanagement.org Copyright © 2016 Holistic Management® is a registered trademark of Holistic Management International

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n issue #168 of IN PRACTICE, I promised our readers further elaboration on the difference between the formal academic fields of ecological economics and environmental economics. I finished my last column by arguing that for those of us who believe in a Holistic Management approach to land stewardship, any continuance and reliance upon the same mental constructs, technologies, and institutions will only hasten and intensify the tragic heavy damage toward the land in particular, and the biosphere in general.

Hope exists, however, with the growth of the field of ecological economics; especially with its emphasis on a holistic approach to land stewardship. Environmental economics, by contrast, has traditionally operated within a disconnect between the market economy and the feedback loops of the biosphere.

Ecological economics, in rebuttal, fuses ecology with economics to claim that a healthy natural ecosystem is direly needed to support a market economy.

Robert Costanza, Gund Professor of Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont, correctly asserts that ecological economics is a trans-disciplinary field, branching into biology, psychology, anthropology, history, and archaeology. Its practitioners want to know how humans are embedded in their ecological life-support system, and not have the study and operation of the natural environment derivative from that of the functions and behavior of a market economy.

Constanza goes on to claim that conventional economics does not properly factor-in an essential understanding of scale.

In many respects, we live on a finite planet where the economy cannot sustain infinite physical growth—there are biophysical limits.

Traditional economics, unfortunately, does

not properly treat these resource limits; or, it operates under the mistaken consciousness that technology can always address the issue of resource constraints.

A key underlying proposition of this fallacy is that the market price system generates the appropriate price signals for when a resource is becoming scarce, providing incentives for entrepreneurs to invent and innovate manmade resource substitutes. While indeed this has, at important instances, taken place, e.g. fiber optics replacing copper, the price system is infamous for failing to properly price natural resources when: 1) “commons” are involved, i.e., rivers, lakes, atmosphere; 2) scale is ignored, leading to unanticipated “tipping” points, e.g. soil erosion, global warming, and; 3) biosphere feedback loops are not considered.

In essence, the economy is a subset of the environment. As the environmental commentator Dano proclaimed, “you can have an environment without an economy, but you can’t have an economy without an environment.” Those who support economic systems that promote continuing and unlimited growth are ignoring problems of intergenerational, intragenerational, and interspecies equity and sustainability.

So called expert cultivation of new technology will not always be able to circumvent rudimentary resource and energy constraints.

Rather, ecological economists—those more tuned into the study of natural systems— recognize living organisms and their habitats (e.g., soil) do invariably stop thriving when they reach underlying resource constraints and its mismanagement.

Costanza disagrees with “technological optimists (who) argue that human systems are fundamentally different from other natural systems because of human intelligence; CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

FEATURE STORIES From the Board Chair . ......................................... 2 Building a Net-Zero House Holistically ............. 3 A Farewell Note— 30 Years of Holistic Management

DON CAMPBELL.......................................................................... 5

Roaring Springs Ranch— Having a Blast Managing One Million Acres

HEATHER SMITH THOMAS ........................................................ 7

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Lessons of a Fenceline

JEFF GOEBEL ............................................................................. 9

LAND & LIVESTOCK Award-Winning Stewardship on the Prather Ranch

HEATHER SMITH THOMAS....................................................... 11

Caring for the Soil by Building Fertility and Production Potential

NEAL KINSEY.............................................................................20

November / December 2016

NEWS & NETWORK Program Round Up.................................................. 17 Certified Educators.................................................. 19 Marketplace............................................................. 20 Development Corner............................................... 24

Building a Net-Zero House Holistically

BY ELIZABETH MARKS

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fter 20 years of renting and some extensive use of the testing questions, I decided to build a house. After searching for a year, I found 10 acres (5 acres of pasture and 5 acres of wooded wetlands) on a dirt road only 15 miles from my office in bucolic upstate New York. The location was idyllic: rolling hills with pastures and woods crisscrossed by horse trails nestled in a friendly and tight knit rural community. I set about to design and build my dream home.

Setting the Project Goal

My first step was to create a holistic goal and resource inventory for my house building process (a holistic goal for this project). Some may say that my personal holistic goal should have been general enough to use, especially since my decision maker (me) didn’t change.

However I wanted it to be more specific and identify resources and values that pertained to the building process as well as the place I visualized living in. Here’s what emerged from that process Core Values: • A living space that is open, light, warm and bright yet energy efficient • Wise use of space—no unused places in the house • Spend money once!

• Plan a house that fits my needs now and in the future while considering resale • Stay within my budget

Creating a Resource Inventory

Next, I developed a resource inventory and identified weak links and challenges. Resources included an open, south facing site, friends in the contracting business, and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). In NY, NYSERDA offers rebates and resources to help with green building. They have an energy star program that provides funding for a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) rater, a person who can advise you on green building, what components will give you the biggest bang for the buck, and do a blower door test so leaks can be detected and fixed. NYSERDA also provide funds to off-set solar and green building costs. Challenges included possibly shallow to bed rock soils, lack of building experience, and limited funds while having expensive taste. I did not use the testing questions formally because once I had the context of my project holistic goal, my choices were always clear whether they would move me toward or away from that goal.

For re-sale and financing purposes I wanted to use traditional building materials. Plus I didn’t have the construction experience (or access to people who did) for alternative building materials such as strawbale construction. I

explored buying a factory built modular home but ended up not doing it because of cost and it wouldn’t have allowed me to incorporate all of the green building and customized options I wanted. Instead, I decided to go stick built and to be my own general contractor. Even though I had never done anything like this before, I knew what I wanted and I figured no one was more motivated then me to get it done right. Plus I needed to save a lot of money.

The House as a Whole

Because I had great southern exposure, solar was a better option than wind energy (my site was too sheltered by trees and nearby hills) or geo-thermal (excavation costs may be too high). I sited the house so that the long side of one half of the roof was facing due south to provide the most surface area for the solar.

When designing the rooms, I placed the majority of my windows on the south side (12 large windows on the south versus 4 smaller ones on the north side). I loaded up the south facing roof with 33 solar electric panels and 2 solar hot water panels on a first floor bump-out roof.

Utilizing Allan Savory’s idea that the best way to improved management is through improved decision making, I spent a lot of time thinking

What I need to have in place to achieve those values: • Time to think and plan (don’t feel rushed.)

• Choose components of the house that I truly love.

• Work with people I like and trust; use people who come recommended.

• Utilize a budget tracking system.

Future Vision: • A place I am excited to come home to; my road is one that I feel good driving down.

• A house that visually looks in place with the surrounding farmhouses and country homes.

• A house that is low maintenance and allows me to spend time on things I love.

• Total energy bill < $50 a month.

Elizabeth consciously chose to have a frame built house based on her knowledge level and her ability to work as the general contractor for the house so she could incorporate all the green ideas she wanted for her home.

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Building a Net-Zero House Holistically CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

and planning. There are a number of things you can do that do not cost extra and are a matter of making good choices. I used advanced framing techniques such as: “California Corners”—2 studs (vs. 3 or 4) which minimizes pockets of uninsulated areas and uses less wood, 24” on center (vs. 16”) studs to reduce thermal bridging, and 2 x 6 construction (vs. 2 x 4”)— more space for insulation.

Elizabeth installed an energy efficient air source heat pump that utilizes electricity to extract heat from the air and distribute it through forced air ducts. It also is an air conditioner in the summer.

Besides the holistic goal and resource inventory, the biggest Holistic Management principle I incorporated was designing the energy system as an interconnected whole rather than individual parts. As is common in farming, people will get fixated on one piece of technology and claim it to be the “best.” When choosing green building elements, it is more important to pick what is best for your site and what works in conjunction with the other components of your system.

With all of the techniques I used, I heard warnings of how “they don’t work.” For example, I went to great lengths to seal all gaps in the sheathing and around windows and used spray foam to create a warm, insulated building envelope. So many times I heard this was a bad practice because a “house needs to breath”.

Fresh air exchange is very important, but rather than random gaps in the walls, I opted for an energy recovery ventilator. For about $2,500 this is a system that sucks in fresh air, runs it 4 IN PRACTICE

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through a closed system of baffles adjacent auction. For $100–$300, I was able to pick up to the outgoing stale air which warms it before bureaus, writing desks, tables, and oriental rugs, discharging it through the vents into the house. etc. for a quarter of what a similar item would This is an energy efficient way to bring in fresh, be at Pottery Barn. I used local materials where filtered air that I can control. possible. Floors and other wood were local The basement was constructed out of pine or other wood native to northeast. Using insulated concrete forms (ICFs). These look like local stone and wood was an important design giant Legos with a piece of foam on the outside, element of the house. The house was designed a piece on the inside and a 6” gap in the middle to look like an 1840 Greek revival farmhouse, in which to place the concrete. They create one of many in my area. a cool, dry basement that stays a consistent The benefits of building green have been 55–65 degrees year round. This was one of immense and hit evenly on my financial, the green building techniques that was actually environmental, and social values. My utility cheaper than a traditional poured concrete bill (heat, hot water, electric) averages $25 a basement because I used less concrete and month ($16 monthly utility service fee and $9 I was able to do the labor myself along with a on average for propane for a cook range and couple of gal pals. fireplace), or about $300 a year. Many houses of With a well-insulated interior, I could install similar size in my area of upstate NY (think cold an energy efficient air source heat pump. This winters) pay $3,000 - $5,000 a year for heat and is a system that utilizes electricity to extract electric. The total additional costs for the energy heat from the air and distribute it through forced efficiency components minus my federal and air ducts. It also is an air conditioner in the state tax deductions and an incentive payment summer. A lot of folks warned me away from from NYSERDA was $16,000. I estimate that air source heat pumps saying they don’t work the payback period is about 5–6 years. My solar in colder climates (I live in Zone 4b). This technology has been around for years and in the last four or five have gained efficiency in colder temperatures. In February, temperatures dipped down to 25 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. While the oil furnace couldn’t heat the house fast enough in my mom’s house (the thermostat was set to 70 but the house was only heating to 64) and she had pipes freeze, my system had no trouble keeping up and every part of my house was warm. Although we had an unusually mild winter, my heating and cooling costs for January through June have only amounted to $130 (0.05 cents a kWh) with heat set to 65 degrees F. I installed Energy Star appliances, windows Elizabeth sited her house so that one long side faced south maximizing the roof space to add solar panels. and doors. All of my lights are LED which use 90% less energy than incandescent bulbs. I’m panels have a 30 year life expectancy. forever forgetting to turn off the lights in the Environmentally I am not using oil and have closets and those have occupancy sensors significantly reduced my carbon emissions. in them so lights will go out if no movement is Due to improved water efficient appliances and detected. Outside lights also operate on motion fixtures, I use an average of 40 gallons of water detectors. a day, versus 80–100 gallons per day for the I searched for ways to reduce/reuse/recycle. average American.

During the construction process I generated Equally important has been the satisfaction about 2 garbage bags a week. I used long of living according to my values. Building a lasting, low maintenance materials such as net-zero home has generated so much positive Hardie board siding and a metal roof. I opted for energy and people are excited to see my home. spending a bit more on quality, American made Good planning in combination with actions in materials rather than buying something cheap alignment of your values is a powerful force. now with the idea of replacing it in the future.

Much to my disappointment, I wasn’t able to use Elizabeth Marks is a Holistic Management salvaged materials. In the end they cost more Certified Educator in New York who can be either in actual price or in labor. What I was able reached at: Elizabeth_marks@hotmail.com or to do was get fine antique furniture at the local 518/567-9476

November / December 2016

A Farewell Note—

30 Years of Holistic Management

BY DON CAMPBELL

Editor’s Note: Don has been a great Holistic Management instructor and practitioner and a source of inspiration to many people. The following is reprinted from the June Canadian Holistic Management newsletter. The reference to the tennis balls below is about a visual metaphor that Don uses in his classes to help people understand about prioritizing their lives based on their values. If you think of activities that lead you toward your holistic goal and support your core values as tennis balls, then ping pong balls are the next level of important activities and marbles may be the type of activities that are nice but not necessary. If you start by putting the bigger (more important) items in a jar (a metaphor the limited amount of time we all have), then fit in the smaller items around the larger ones, you are able to fit all the big items and a number of the smaller ones as well. However, if you start with the smaller items, the bigger items never fit. Getting clear about what those big/ critical activities and values helps you put them first in your life and makes, as Don notes, for a much richer life.

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wrote my first Canadian newsletter in October of 2007. Bev and I taught a course at LaRiviere, Manitoba in April that year.

David and Val Pogson were part of the group. Val talked to me and said “Did you ever think about writing a newsletter for Holistic Management people?” My reply was “No, not really.” Val said “I think it would be helpful.” I followed up on Val’s suggestion. Thank you Val!! Without your motivation the newsletter may never have happened.

This is an excellent opportunity to point

“Planned grazing has helped us more than double our grass production on a set land base.” out the power and influence we all have. Val motivated me. Her impact has lasted 8 years and resulted in about 100 newsletters. How are you influencing people?

I have decided that now is an appropriate time to let go of some of my Holistic Management activities. I taught my last courses this past winter. This spring I wrote my last

newsletter. My last Cattlemen article was in May this year. These decisions are largely based on the example of my Dad (who I admire greatly).

He said be involved, do your best, and quit when you are still capable. I have tried to follow Dad’s advice. I felt a responsibility to the people who attended our courses to teach as well as possible. I tried to learn something from each course. I think the courses we have done in the last 2 or 3 years are as good as any, perhaps even the best we ever taught. It is important to me to quit when I am still capable. The time is now.

The first Canadian newsletter had articles from David Irvine, Lee Pengilly and Kelly Sidoryk. Thank you to these 3 contributors.

You each helped the newsletter get off to a good start. Kelly Sidoryk, Allison Guichon, Pam Iwanchysko and Kristine Tapley have all helped email the newsletter. Thanks to each one of you. Without you, the newsletter wouldn’t have happened.

I really enjoyed writing the newsletter. It has helped me clarify and simplify my thoughts. I want to offer a special thank you to each person who has taken the time to read the newsletter. I hope the letter was helpful. Without readers the letter would be meaningless. Thank you.

I have used Holistic Management principles for about 30 years. I have had the opportunity to work with many of you during that time. Holistic Management has transformed my life. I have gone from what I considered to be a very good life to what I consider to be an exceptionally good life. It is my sincere hope that you have benefited in a similar manner.

I want to review what Holistic Management has helped me achieve. While I can’t speak for others I am confident many of you have achieved similar things. It is my hope that seeing the benefits may motivate you to work harder to apply the Holistic Management knowledge you already have or to investigate Holistic Management.

Personal Benefits of Holistic Management

1. Personal growth. Holistic Management encouraged me to become a life-long learner.

Holistic Management has given me the opportunity to meet and be touched by many, many wonderful people. As I become a better person all areas of my life improve. I am confident in saying: “I am a better person than

Don Campbell.

I used to be. I am not as good as I am going to be.” Please note I am not talking about how good I am only that I am better than I used to be.

2. Stronger relationships. As I have grown to be a better person I am also a better husband, father and friend. I want to pay tribute to my wife Bev. Her unconditional love, support and belief in me have allowed me to succeed. I am reminded of Gary Gregor’s quote “You never achieve more than your significant other believes you can.” Are there any steps you might take to strengthen your belief in your spouse?

3. Increased self-confidence. I have always been fairly confident. Having the decision making, financial planning and grazing planning skills has greatly increased my selfconfidence. I now see things as opportunities not problems. When something needs to be done I am confident I can figure out how to do it.

4. Better decision making. The basis of Holistic Management is to make better decisions towards your unique goal. As I have done this all areas of my life have improved.

5. Improved quality of life. My quality of life is excellent. I believe quality of life not standard of living is what makes us happy, peaceful and content. I will define what quality of life means to me. I invite you to define what quality of life means for you. Here is my definition. a) How do I feel about myself? b) How are my relationships with the key people in my life? c) How is my CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

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30 Years of Holistic Management CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

relationship with God? If these 3 areas are healthy I will be happy whatever my standard of living is. Holistic Management has helped me live my dream. Holistic Management has helped me create the future I desire. The only thing necessary for me to have a better life is for me to become a better person. I am working on that.

6. Increased clarity. Our holistic goal has given us great clarity. It is easy to say “yes” to things that are important to us. It is easy to say “no” to things that are not important. We are able to do this with a clear conscience and with no second guessing.

7. Increased balance. Our Holistic Management goal helped us identify the “tennis balls” in our life. This in turn helped us balance our time. For many years now we have had time to do what is most important to us. Like everyone else we have 86,400 seconds each day. When we reach the end of the day, month or year we can honestly say: The tennis balls have all been cared for. Yes, there may be a few ping pong balls and lots of marbles on the floor but it doesn’t really matter.

8. Increased profit. Holistic financially planning has helped us create a profitable business. We know where we are going and how we are going to get there. This gives us loads of confidence and great peace of mind.

9. Healthier land. Planned grazing has helped us more than double our grass production on a set land base. One of the most encouraging things is that this process will carry on long after we are dead and gone.

10. More success with inter-generational transfer. We have had the wonderful privilege of working with our 2 sons and their families.

Holistic Management has helped us create the base to make this possible. Holistic Management has helped us see our business as a tool. Bev and I used it to create what we desired. The next generation is free to use it to create what they desire.

11. The privilege of belonging to a management club. Management clubs are a tremendous source of support, encouragement and love. We have been blessed to belong to 2 outstanding clubs. On top of this we have met with many of you in your clubs. We have always been so thankful for how you have accepted and treated us. I am totally confident in saying that much of the success we have achieved has

come directly from our management clubs.

12. Friends, Friends and more Friends.

Holistic Management has given us so many wonderful, wonderful friends. We have friends across Canada and even in other countries.

One of life’s sweetest blessings is friends.

We sincerely thank each one of you. I am a better person for having known you. You have contributed to our success.

“Holistic Management has helped me live my dream.

Holistic Management has helped me create the future I desire.”

I remember years ago when Holistic Management was new. One of my sayings at that time was: “Holistic Management Works.”

That still holds true today. Holistic Management is very simple. Write a three-part goal based on your deepest values and desires. Make decisions towards your goal. Use the tools of financial and grazing planning to create the future you desire. You can live your dream.

Holistic Management can help you.

From the Board Chair CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

or how history has shown that resources fundamental ones that we will eventually face. constraints can be circumvented by new ideas.

Malthus’ predictions have not come to past yet Technological optimists claim that Malthus/ dire for the entire world the pessimists would argue, predictions about population pressures have but many parts of the world are in a Malthusian not come to pass and the trap now, and other parts may ‘energy crisis’ of the late well fall into it.”

1970s is behind us.”

Where does HMI fit into this Constanza, however, debate between environmental shies more towards being economists versus ecological a technological pessimist economists? I strongly suspect when he asserts, “The our loyalties lie more with technological pessimists the latter. We also know that argue that many natural sustainability is fundamentally systems also have about leaving sufficient capital ‘intelligence’ in that they for future generations; how can evolve new behaviors much we decide to consume and organisms (including today impacts how much we humans themselves). invest in the future. We are Daniel Nuckols Humans are therefore a also aware, however, of the part of nature, not apart argument that it is morally from it. Just because we have circumvented problematic to separate out, save capital for local and artificial resource constraints in the future generations while millions of people today past does not mean we can circumvent the are experiencing dreadful poverty.

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We should not let this quandary paralyze our HMI mission of improving the land, preserving water, training agricultural producers, and ultimately enhancing and sustaining lives. We promote and sustain policies and practices that bring forth land resilience. We know it is possible to provide educational management and planning programs to farmers, ranchers and land stewards which help producers reduce costs, increase profits, improve the health of their land and NOT leave less for those who follow. Holistic Management practices are transferable across the globe, and between generations. Through practices promoting long-term resilience, Holistic Management proponents can operationally and morally eschew the debate over how much capital to consume today versus how much to leave for future generations. In many respects, HMI’s entire mission and history, as it relates to land management, has been one of exposing the false dichotomy that more today means less tomorrow.

Roaring Springs Ranch—

Having a Blast Managing One Million Acres

BY HEATHER SMITH THOMAS

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oaring Springs Ranch, near Frenchglen, Oregon, is one of the larger extensive grazing operations in Oregon. This cow/calf and stocker operation utilizes more than one million acres for year-round grazing. The ranch goal is to be economically and ecologically sustainable, eliminating the use of harvested and stored feeds. The ranch is managed by Stacy Davies, who is also involved in Country Natural Beef—a natural beef program begun

by Holistic Management practitioners Doc and Connie Hatfield.

“The cattle industry in Harney County was the original industry in this area, beginning in the 1870s, and continues to be the stable industry in the county,” says Davies. “Timber came and went, tourism is good when the economy is good, but drops off immediately when the economy falters. Tourism as an industry is not dependable, whereas the cow/calf operations continue on,” he says.

“The cattle industry in the West began with the cattle barons and their large herds, feeding miners, followed by homesteaders and their herds. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, thousands of homesteaders came to our part of the country to farm and failed, and the only ones that stayed were the ones who relied upon livestock,” says Davies.

“The reason that stock-raising continues to be sustainable is bunchgrass. That’s what nature provides in southeastern Oregon. It’s a renewable resource that can be harvested on an annual basis. The best way to harvest this is with livestock. Sheep, cattle and horses are hardy enough to survive here, and cattle are the most abundantly marketable,” he explains.

Grass Farmers Make a Difference

Because the growing season is short, native grasses are what do best in this area. “Typically we have about 70 frost-free days, about 12 inches of precipitation and limited irrigation water. The high desert is bitterly cold in winter and snow depth can vary. The high elevation and cold is what drives our climate and the native bunch grasses are hardy enough

to thrive and produce strong forage. Livestock do well on it,” says Davies.

“In our climate the valleys are open enough that we can graze through winter, so we save forage in the valley floor for cattle to graze all winter. Some operations put up hay and feed hay, and we do some of that as well. But we are mainly using what nature provides, as a renewable resource—converting grass into a saleable product which is meat. This is the key to our high desert economy,” he explains.

“It is beautiful how well ranching dovetails with nature. As a result, healthy ranching economies preserve the wide-open spaces that wildlife depend on. Ranching is the only use that harvests what nature provides, in a harmonious manner that allows the natural process to continue around us.” Ranching can enhance rather than disrupt the environment because proper grazing is necessary to a healthy native plant community. The grass and the grazer exist in a symbiotic relationship.

“Ranching works with Nature instead of against her. All other uses of the land disrupt Nature or fight Nature or completely change the landscape—whether it’s farming where you plow it under or wind farms where you put up big towers, power lines and roads to get to them. Even recreational activities are disruptive, compared to grazing animals.” Even bicycle trails or the facilities that people use for recreational use change the landscape.

“The intrusion of people, and the fossil fuels required to get them there are more intrusive than livestock. Grazing animals are the least

Stacy Davies has been managing the Roaring Springs Ranch for 20 years.

disruptive. If we wanted to, on our operation, we could eliminate all fossil fuel use. We could put another 10 cowboys on the payroll and go back to doing everything on horseback. We could do that, and there are no other economic uses of the land that could completely eliminate use of fossil fuels,” he explains.

“The biggest shift in my thinking, in embracing Holistic Management, was when I accepted the fact that we are simply grass farmers, harnessing the sun’s energy, harvesting it with cattle and selling it as beef rather than being cowboys. In that context, recognizing that we play a little different role than what we might have earlier envisioned—that we are not just cowboys herding cattle around on the land—was a major mind shift for me. Profitability comes from either growing more grass, harvesting it more efficiently with our cattle, or marketing it better through our beef,” he says.

Technology plays a role, but we can’t allow it to override what’s best for Nature. “If we fight with Nature, we are going to lose. Thinking about the whole—everything from photosynthesis in plants to the end consumer eating protein—is much broader than just being a cowboy and raising calves. The opportunity for economic gain is much broader when you look at the larger In the first 10 years of managing holistically, Roaring Springs Ranch CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 was able to double their carrying capacity.

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Having a Blast Managing One Million Acres CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

whole.” A person must try to understand the land, and what it takes to feed that cow, and grow the meat.

“This is more important than just chasing cattle around on the land and wondering why we are running fewer cows instead of more. It’s a big responsibility for us, and it’s been a big change for me these past 20 years in trying to get better at it,” he says.

100% Increase in Carrying Capacity

The cattle on this ranch utilize private land and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) leases.

Management is more intense on the private ground (with no agency regulations dictating how and when certain areas can be grazed) and always working toward improvement of the land and vegetation. “Our cattle are constantly on the move, in large groups, to optimize animal impact. We generally don’t use herding to contain them and intensify the impact; we use fencing and planned grazing the various pastures. Our cows will be in a pasture only 1 to 2 weeks. In some of the largest pastures we use herding, but we don’t get as much animal impact as Allan Savory does on his ranch in Africa,” says Davies.

Even so, the cattle at Roaring Springs are grazing on less than 2% of the ranch at any one time. “This means 98% of the ranch is being rested at any given time. The areas that we graze during the critical growing season, we typically graze at a different season the next year. Thus our spring range gets used every other year. By doing that we can accumulate a lot of forage that we can stomp down the next time, and increase litter on the surface, stomp it in, and increase soil organic matter,” he explains.

“By limiting the area our cattle have access to, and intensifying grazing as much as we

A pair of strutting male sage grouse. The sage grouse population has increased by 30% in the past 15 years.

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have, we’ve increased our carrying capacity.

We’ve almost doubled our cattle numbers from what they were 20 years ago and what they would have been historically. We actually made that difference—doubling the herd—in the first 10 years,” he says.

“We’ve also seen substantial improvement to fisheries and riparian habitat, stream flow, watershed health and wildlife populations.

It’s all been due to capturing every bit of rain when it hits the ground.” With more ground cover/litter and less bare soil, the moisture soaks in, whereas on bare ground it runs off. In these arid western areas we need the soil to soak up every bit of moisture that falls from the sky.

In particular, they have seen neotropical migrant birds increase by 19% from 1999 to 2009. They have also seen nesting pairs of Greater Sandhills Cranes increase by 251% in 10 years. The Sage Grouse lek counts show an increase of 30% in the past 15 years, and the Redband Trout populations are up 80% since 1986.

Another priority has been control of juniper trees (which use a lot of the available water), along with the change in grazing management.

“This has had a very positive impact on rangeland health,” he says.

“We are unable to manage as intensively on the public land we use, but we have put in a lot of water developments on our BLM allotments, to allow us to increase herd size. If you have 3,000–4,000 cows together in one area, it takes a lot of water, especially during the heat of summer. We’ve put in a lot of 10,000 gallon water troughs, additional wells, some pipeline systems, and additional water holes. Our summer range has mostly springs and creeks which have become more productive because of our range management, but water is always a major concern and requires attention to make it work,” Davies says.

“We have been very proactive in working with the government agencies to sign agreements that demonstrate that we are focused on rangeland health and wildlife success. That gives us some flexibility that we would not otherwise have. We’ve been proactive in addressing problems and trying to solve them, because we work within the Holistic Management context. We recognize that our success is dependent upon our performance more than on outside factors, and we need to take responsibility to achieve success,” says Davies. The bigger picture is Holistic Management—which influences not only grazing but everything else done on the ranch.

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Ranch biologist holding a redband trout in spring spawning colors. Their population has increased by 80% due to improved management.

The Many Faces of Holistic Management

“My earliest exposure to Holistic Management was when I started working with Doc and Connie Hatfield in 1988. They had attended the schools and were doing their best to practice Holistic Management techniques. I went to the school in Albuquerque in 1989, to get a better understanding of what they were trying to accomplish. I have been a firm believer in the holistic concept ever since,” he says.

“One part of it is the grazing management, but it’s much bigger than that. It involves taking responsibility for our entire lives. They told us not to complain about the markets, the regulations we have to deal with, nor complain about drought. Instead, we should do something about these. That’s the basis for Country Natural Beef, for our intensive grazing management, and reserving forage for drought relief—and all the other things we do in order to survive through good times and bad,” explains Davies.

“My wife Elaine and I worked for Doc and Connie Hatfield from 1988 until 1994 then went to Deseret Ranch. It was more of a corporate system, utilizing the animal science methodology of ranching, with higher inputs and higher outputs—using all the technology available. We stayed there for 3 years and then came back to Oregon to work at Roaring Springs Ranch. Here, we were able to once again focus management on reducing inputs, working in balance with nature, managing grazing in a way to improve the environment.

This requires our grazing management to be biologically driven—to match grazing to the needs of the plants and natural functioning systems that exist on the ranch,” he says.

“I’ve managed the Roaring Springs ranch for nearly 19 years and we’ve made a lot of progress. Part of Holistic Management that I learned at the beginning was to pay attention to the mineral cycle/water cycle/energy cycle in capturing sunlight in plants and converting it to a saleable product (beef) through grazing.

We need to return that organic matter to the in certain areas and continually overgraze near continue in business). To make that happen, we soil, thus returning minerals to the soil. If we water. They under-graze the hills and rocky have to touch them. We need to reach out and do it properly, we actually improve the water areas,” says Davies. connect with them,” he says. cycle, increase infiltration rates, and have “The other lands, with villages and wandering “We spend time in retail stores visiting higher levels of organic matter in soils that can livestock and unmanaged grazing, are pretty with consumers, host tours, speak at colleges store water longer. Litter on the surface allows much denuded. Then you come to Allan’s ranch and conventions and try to be very active in water to soak in rather than run off. When we that is intensely managed, with abundance communicating the ranching message to our apply management with those mineral/water/ of forage. When the rainy season comes, he urban cousins who sometimes in ignorance energy cycle thought processes as cause us trouble. If we can guidelines, we can make progress remove some of that ignorance, faster because they build on one we hope to have allies when we another,” says Davies. need them,” he says.

“If you’ve enhanced the water “When you travel the world cycle and have more production, and see what has happened in you return more organic matter to other countries, you realize how the soil, and capture more sunlight important this is. For instance, as energy. Eventually cow herd Rhodesia was the breadbasket numbers can increase, which in turn of Africa when it was an English provides more animal impact on colony. After the revolution and plants/soils, and more improvement. change in government—the The way we get organic matter back change from Rhodesia to into the soil is with animal impact.

Zimbabwe today—now there The more numbers in the herd, is 90% unemployment and an the more animal impact. It’s an economy that has collapsed. Now upward spiral; these things build on they import what little food they Because of improved grazing practices, the Roaring Springs Ranch now one another and they all increase have. What they don’t import, they has improved wildlife habitat for a host of different animals including deer. together,” he explains. grow in their own gardens. Their This all comes about through managed doesn’t have floods, while all the other areas agricultural industry has collapsed. When you grazing but is based in the larger context of the suffer from floods and erosion because water see what happens with the ignorance of the whole, and taking responsibility for our actions. doesn’t soak in, with nothing to hold it back. It’s masses, it’s sobering,” Davies says.

“We recognize that we can make a difference, a fascinating contrast. We realized there is great “Rhodesia reached a point where less than and then we try to implement it,” he says. opportunity for us to do better at home than 2% of the population owned the majority of “One of the highlights of our experience we’ve ever done before,” he says. the land. The revolution completely changed was going to Zimbabwe in 2015.We visited with the economic health of a great nation. Race, Allan Savory and Jody Butterfield on their ranch, Educating Consumers & economic disparity and ignorance all played a the African Center for Holistic Management.

Policy Makers role in the revolution, but we have challenges We were their guests for a week and saw what Grazing management is a big part of here that share those same roots. The more Allan has done in Africa. It was amazing,” Holistic Management, but the bigger picture we can do to bridge that urban/rural divide, the says Davies. includes marketing as well as growing the better. As far as I’m concerned, that’s part of the “The herders have implemented it fully. Four cattle. “We market all our cattle through the holistic context, and part of that three-part goal guys keep 500 cattle bunched in a small area Country Natural Beef Co-op, which is direct that embodies sustainability.” and constantly move them. If they come to bare to the retailer/consumer. We have taken the While Stacy has grave concerns about what soil or an area that needs more animal impact, market fluctuations and marketing aspect of our can happen in a country where the majority of they stop the herd and hold them in that spot for product into our own control. This has been very the population doesn’t understand how Nature a bit. If they want to stomp more grass down, helpful,” he says. functions and how effective management of they actually move faster, so the cattle are “The three-part goal of Holistic Management public and private land can address a host of stomping more than they are eating,” he says. includes the environmental piece, the human environmental, economic, and social woes, he Savory’s ranch is a stark contrast to the piece, and the financial piece. The human piece also has remembered a key tenet of Holistic landscape around it, in terms of environmental is the most challenging for most of us because Management: focus on what you want to change health and amount of forage. “His soil is it’s so broad. It includes everything from family where you have control. completely covered with living plants or litter. If communication and employee communication Given what all that the team at Roaring rain comes, it would soak into the ground. It was to community relations, working with the Springs Ranch has been able to accomplish, fascinating to see that place, stimulating us to government agencies and our connections with they are a great example of what people are do better with our own ranches.” consumers,” says Davies. able to achieve despite a host of changes and The National Parks in Zimbabwe were “Through Country Natural Beef, because challenges. “Holistic Management has been a the worst in terms of environmental health. of our Holistic Management focus, we realize lifelong journey that has been a lot of fun,” he “They are filled with wild animals that are not that we need people in the cities to understand says. “We’ve had an absolute blast in life, trying managed. There is no hunting, and nothing to what we do so they will consider the impact of to figure it out. We’ve gotten better, but it’s still really move them around; animals congregate their vote and their spending (and allow us to not perfect!” he says.

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Lessons of a Fence Line

BY JEFF GOEBEL

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fence line has always been a source of intrigue for me and has guided me into my life path of today. As my curiosity about the world around me grows over time, I observe with wonder, the world of humans and nature, and a fence line remains one of my greatest curiosities, as I wonder why it exists.

Sure, a fence lines indicates a property boundary, defining ownership, but there is more to a fence line than meets and bounds. The simplicity of the line can teach us much about the world we live in and may even help save our species.

I’ll tell you how, but first, let me share some observations I’ve made about fence lines.

In the late 1990s, I had the good fortune to be involved with the Kellogg Foundation and was elected to serve on the National Steering Committee focusing on their Integrated Food and Farming Systems Initiative. We toured various farms and locations around the country.

One trip in particular left an impression. We visited the renowned Thompson Farms, an economically and ecologically sustainable farm in Iowa. (See their case study at: http://bit.ly/2dbHd1N).

It was clear when we arrived. After driving for miles through soybeans and corn, suddenly, we crossed a fence line and entered an oasis of biological health and wealth.

As we listened to the Thompson story, I was dazzled by the wisdom of the farming family. Their land was more productive and diverse, and their profits were five times those of neighboring farms.

Of course, I brought up the fence line contrast and asked about the neighbors’ willingness to adopt their practices. The Thompsons said none of their neighbors wanted to listen. I asked how far to the closest farm practicing their methods? Over 100 miles! Wow, I thought to myself; but why? Obviously, the surrounding land was capable of producing these amazing results. What was the difference between the properties? It was simply a different set of core beliefs and behaviors. I wondered what it would take to make a shift?

Some years earlier I had worked with the

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Colville Tribes and arranged a tour for the tribal natural resource managers and elders to see what others were doing to produce remarkable results.

One year, we went to Utah and Wyoming to view the work of Gregg Simonds and his team on a property he was managing near Cody, Wyoming. He led us up a riparian area full of tall grasses and a beautiful stream shaded by willows. We stopped at a fence that divided the area. On the opposite side was a biological desert, with a denuded stream bank and little herbaceous vegetation throughout the pasture.

In the distance were a few cows. Gregg simply

Colville team reviewing riparian area. asked, “What do you observe?”

The tribal team observed cattle grazing on the side where the land was in poor condition.

Next, Gregg asked, “What do you think is the story about this side, with all the vegetation and a healthy, stabilized stream channel, cool with shade. The answer, “No cows!”

Gregg explained that actually, 950 cows had passed through this side, three separate times, for a total of ten days, to equal 9,500 animal days of pressure, creating healthy ecological conditions. The other side had only 30 cows for 100 days to equal 3,000 animal days of pressure, yet the results of the different management were astounding.

Had Gregg’s “thinking” crossed the fence line, the landscape would look different and the economic conditions improved. The contrast on the land illustrated the difference in the way the two ranchers thought. I continued to wonder how to transfer one set of beliefs to the other side for more sustaining conditions; and why the models of education and demonstration I had used when I was with the USDA weren’t working to make this shift? What would work?

Later, Gregg and I teamed up to work with

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150 ranchers in central Montana. What if we paired his stories through presentations, with the consensus building work I had done for decades? Results were positive.

During most conferences and workshops I’ve observed, only a few people do all the talking—the “experts” and a few others—leaving little opportunity for people to process what they learn. In addition, participants have concerns on their minds, as they listen with skepticism about what is presented, especially if new ideas challenge limiting beliefs. I have learned to allow people to explore their concerns as they learn. It is also important to let people express their fears before they are willing, or even able, to advance to the possibility of adopting new ideas.

We designed a framework for this into a three-quarter day event.

After expressing their concerns, the ranchers were able to “process” Gregg’s proposed shift from conventional management to extraordinary management with ecological and financial gain. Gregg used their numbers and shared methods to increase conservation measures while increasing their bottom line.

The most common thought ranchers stated would prevent them from implementing Gregg’s suggestions was: “What will the neighbors think?”

A year later, I followed up with the local USDA officer and asked what she’d observed since the workshop. She said two things: First, she wished we had invested more time to process. Second, she said ranchers were coming in to sign up for practices that had been somewhat socially restrictive, but because they had discussed their fears with their neighbors they were willing to try things they normally wouldn’t.

These experiences inspired me to seek processes that would significantly accelerate adoption of new ideas and behaviors for greater success.

Today, I use the consensus building process around the world to foster change with unprecedented results in communities, businesses and even governments. If I’ve learned something from a fence line, it’s that shifting behaviors and beliefs can create a world that works—across fence lines.

To learn more about fostering change or for news and information about upcoming workshops, visit Jeff’s website at www.climateconsensusinstitute.org and see his ad on page 23.

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Award-Winning Stewardship on the Prather Ranch

BY HEATHER SMITH THOMAS

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im and Mary Rickert have been involved with the Prather Ranch, located near Macdoel in northeastern California, for many years, working with the land and cattle to create an environment that works as a harmonious whole—for healthy cattle, healthy business, healthy food, healthy land and wildlife habitat.

In 2015 they received the Leopold Award for California in recognition of their accomplishments. Whether working with Point Blue Conservation to improve rangeland habitat or creating conservation easements to protect land from development, the Rickerts have drawn on their vast knowledge gained from a lifetime of working in production agriculture, as well as their deep love of the land, cattle and wildlife.

A Legacy of Environmentalism

The Prather Ranch was established in the 1880s. In 1964 the ranch headquarters was purchased by Walter Ralphs, who was part of the Ralphs family that owned a chain of supermarkets in southern California.

Under his ownership, the ranch was running a conventional cow-calf operation on 3,000 acres which at that time was a mix of pasture, hay ground, and timbered land. After a number of ranch managers had come and gone, Walter Ralphs contacted Jim and Mary in 1979 to hire them as managers of his ranch.

“We came on board at that time as managers, and we had such a good relationship that Walter decided he wanted us to participate and have an ownership interest in the ranch, which we did. Over the years we’ve expanded the original ranch; it has grown to 35,000 acres of deeded and leased land in 5 counties in northern California.” Walter Ralphs passed

Jim and Mary Rickert

away in 2010, and in 2015 the Rickerts became majority owners of the cattle operation and processing plant. They lease the balance of the ranch holdings from one of Walter’s heirs.

“Walt was very concerned about the environment and in many ways he was a man before his time. We made a lot of changes to the ranch when we first became involved. Previous managers had taken advantage of him, and we were able to turn that part of the ranch around and improve the environment,” Mary says.

“Most of our winter ranges and ranches are on major waterways such as the Sacramento River, Fall River, Cow Creek watershed, etc. Wherever possible we’ve put in exclusionary fencing so the cattle are not walking down to the rivers and streams. We put in several solar-generated water systems for the cattle. One of our winter ranges is 2,200 acres, and separated from the others. It’s nearly diamond shape, with a huge water trough in the center of it, using solar energy to pump the water. We use a lot of NRSC programs such as EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program) for fencing. We’ve divided this pasture like a big pie so the one water source can service all the paddocks. We move the cattle from paddock to paddock, but the water trough in the center can be used for all the paddocks,” Mary says.

“We just close the gates on whichever area we want them out of and open the gate to the paddock we want them to have access to water. We don’t have to pay for electricity for pumping water, and the cattle (coming to the trough for water) are not detrimental to the shoreline of the river,” she says.

In summer the cattle graze irrigated pastures in higher elevations and in winter are moved to the Sacramento Valley foothills. These planned moves protect the land and natural resources in the mountains. The cattle also gain weight better on the lower elevation winter ranges in a warmer environment.

About 9,000 acres of the ranches the Rickerts operate on are in conservation easements. “This is something our grandchildren may not be very happy about, 50 years from now, but these ranches will always be cattle operations and can never be sold for development purposes. This is something we feel strongly about. We want to make sure there are open, working landscapes here.”

“Conservation easements are an excellent tool for a rancher to be able to utilize funding provided for long-term improvements on ranch properties.

Prather Ranch cattle run on 16,600 acres that are permanently preserved as cattle ranching operations. Protecting riparian areas are part of the agreement,” Mary says.

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with many restrictions, but agri-tourism is allowed. “This ranch has hosted various groups, allowing urban dwellers to visit a ranch and learn about cattle ranching first hand,” she says.

“Jim and I manage other ranches besides the Prather Ranch. We have a farm management firm and we do farm and ranch management for other clients, but the Prather Ranch is the operation that more or less expanded and grew into something noteworthy. We graze Prather Ranch cattle on all the other ranches we are involved with. Much of the land is leased. One ranch we lease is with the Nature Conservancy, close to Mt. Shasta. We bring cattle there for spring and summer grazing, and we usually calve there,” says Mary.

Creating Wildlife Habitat

Jim and Mary also own the Fenwood Ranch in Shasta County. “This ranch is protected by a conservation easement and is home to a large deer herd and endangered bank swallows. Flocks of wild turkeys also inhabit the property. We are participating right now in a multi-year bird survey, through NRCS and the Conservation Security Program, looking at soil quality and bird populations,” she says.

The Rickert Ranch has an abundance of wildlife, including elk. The River Ranch and Fall River Ranch (both in the Fall River Valley) provide pasture for Prather Ranch cattle and provide habitat to large protected deer herds. The environmentally-sensitive Fall River borders these ranches, but with funding through NRCS, the riparian areas have been protected with cattle watering ramps installed with filter fabric and cinder rock; the riparian areas are very healthy and provide habitat for prolific waterfowl and wildlife.

In the Fall River Valley, riparian buffer strips and tail water recovery systems ensure that manure doesn’t get into the creeks or the river; thus the fishery is not threatened by cattle production. Shasta Big Springs Ranch (on the headwaters of the Shasta River) is leased by the Rickerts from the Nature Conservancy and they are collaborating to demonstrate that grazing is compatible with fisheries production and riparian restoration. The Prather Ranch also cooperates with the local Resource

Conservation District and watershed groups to implement watershed monitoring.

In the Fall River Valley, the Rickerts seasonally lease grazing from the Bar D Bar Ranch (in which they are majority owners), which recently completed a collaborative project to restore a 250-acre wetland. “This project was funded and supported by Ducks Unlimited, California Waterfowl Association, NRCS, and Bar D Bar Ranch. The goal of the project was to enhance waterfowl, provide habitat for wildlife and develop an effective water system because the area is prone to flooding. Cattle will be utilized to manage forage and reduce fire hazard,” says Mary.

In everything the Rickerts do, wildlife is considered. “We leave the stock water systems on our winter ranges functioning during summer to provide water for wildlife,” Mary says. Owl boxes are installed on all the ranches to benefit the local populations of barn owls. Bee hives are an integral part of all the grazing areas, since bees improve pollination of plants and contribute to a healthier ecosystem. The Rickerts host annual bird counts for the Audubon Society on the Bar D Bar Ranch and River Ranch.

On all the ranches the Rickerts manage, many projects have been accomplished to benefit wildlife as well as cattle, funded through EQIP and the Riparian Conservation Reserve Program. These include more than 5 miles of stock water pipeline, 6 miles of cross-fencing, and more than 40 water troughs—along with 8 miles of riparian buffer planted, with livestock exclusionary fencing.

Holistic Management & Innovation

Jim and Mary have been following many of the principles of Holistic Management for a long time, in their attempts to work with everything as a whole—the land and the environment, the cattle, the grazing methods to improve the land, the people involved. “The Savory Center (previous name for HMI) asked us to attend a Slow Food conference in Turin, Italy years ago. We’ve been to other meetings and conferences since then,” Mary says.

“We also go to low stress cattle handling events, and have hosted field days on that topic. We’ve also done a lot of work with NRCS to help improve our land and grazing. We have taken some of the holistic courses; Jim has been the one participating in most of those. It’s been a part of our whole system, since we’ve been doing this for so long. It’s just a part of how we do business,” she explains.

The last 4 years have been very challenging, with the drought. “This puts a strain on the system, trying to find ways to continue, with less feed. You have to reduce cattle numbers, and learn to be flexible.” Flexibility is one of the criteria for success in ranching. The rain this spring is a help but it isn’t enough, and won’t solve all the problems from the drought.

The entire ranch is being managed with “the whole” in mind, including wildlife. “Everything we do is geared to be wildlife friendly, such as ramps in our water troughs (so that if a bird or small animal falls in, it can crawl out), etc.

We use barbless wire for the bottom wire on all our fences, so the deer, etc. can scoot under the fences easier. We have about 100 elk on one of the ranches we operate on, about 10 miles east of Redding, which is close to human populations,” Mary says.

“We do invite some hunting groups on our ranches, but we control how many elk can be hunted—to keep a good balance. We have found another benefit from having Prather Ranch cattle run on 16,600 acres that are permanently preserved as cattle people out on the ranches, hunting, in that this helps deter ranching operations.

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trespassers. The hunters make sure that no one else is out there, who shouldn’t be,” she says.

Innovation, practicality, and conservation of resources are important factors in their holistic ranch management.

On the Prather Ranch Headquarters, for instance, the Rickerts installed a 285-kilowatt solar panel system to supply the power to operate their beef processing plant and irrigation wells. Additionally the ranch installed a solar thermal system to produce part of the hot water needs for the processing plant.

Other innovations include ways to prevent erosion on the farmland on the main ranch by utilizing crop rotation and planting cereal rye in the dry corners of fields irrigated by center pivots. This prevents dust when strong winds blow in the Butte Valley; with this ground cover there is minimal loss of valuable topsoil. The cereal rye is harvested and used as feed for the cattle.

On the Fenwood Ranch, the Rickerts have been working As part of the closed herd business model, the Rickerts grow in cooperation with NRCS on the Point Blue Conservation all their own hay.

Science’s Rangeland Monitoring Network to measure water infiltration, bulk density, organic carbon, plant diversity and abundance, and bird diversity and abundance. “This program has been requirements of highest quality and safety for use in the medical field. active for 3 years, with an initial survey of vegetation and soil sampling in Only Prather Ranch cattle have been processed in this facility.

2015, and will continue for years to come,” Mary says.

“After we built the federally-inspected facility, we were selling hides to “In the Fall River Valley, many open ditches have been converted to provide collagen, as well as bones, tendons, pituitary glands, etc. for use PVC pipelines to reduce water loss. We’ve applied ‘time of use’ pumping as human replacement parts and other ingredients for improving human to cut down on irrigation costs. Tail water recovery systems are utilized health,” she says. Other bovine raw materials were sold for medical to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Sump pumps recycle water and research and as dietary supplements. make the irrigation system more efficient.”

“Biomedical and pharmaceutical companies frequently get bought To remain viable, the ranches operated by the Rickerts have developed out by other companies, new products come on line, and there are multiple enterprises and many sources of income—from beef and cattle many changes. For the first few years we were actively selling hides to a byproducts to hay and hunting. Hunting clubs (deer, wild turkey, dove and company called Collagen Corporation, which was subsequently bought by pig hunters) contract for hunting on the ranch.

Allergen. They developed a synthetic product and are not using the bovine More than 20 years ago, Prather Ranch joined with other hay growers collagen anymore. But we continue to sell bovine products,” she says. to form the High Mountain Hay Growers Cooperative, to find buyers for Because of the health standards required for biomedical products, their hay and help growers produce high quality hay. The Co-op arranges the Rickerts have had a closed herd for many years, and stringent health for bulk purchases of inputs like baling twine to save money for members, protocols. “We don’t purchase any animals to bring into our herd. We and also circumvents the “middlemen” hay brokers who buy low from can use artificial insemination, and we use ranch-raised bulls from our farmers and sell high to hay customers. The Co-op now has 13 members own herd. We have enough different family lines that we can do this and produces about 65,000 tons of hay each year. without inbreeding, and since we do use some AI, we can bring in new Farming and hay production add diversification to the Prather ranch genetics,” she says. There have been no female cattle purchased since with income from high quality alfalfa hay (and a use for rain-damaged 1975, and the male side of the herd was closed in 1990 by using artificial hay­— to feed to their cattle) and production of strawberry nursery plants. insemination and ranch-raised “cleanup” bulls.

“The unique climate in Butte valley produces the best quality nursery They also have a young sire assessment program that has existed for plants in the world. We lease part of our farmland to 2 large strawberry many years. “People nominate their young sires and we determine which nursery operations that sell their plants in a global market,” Mary says. ones we want to use in our herd for AI, and then we have the reference sires and do carcass evaluations. We’ve worked primarily with the Angus Closed Herd Model Association to do this. One advantage has been that the producers The Rickerts have also developed a vertically integrated beef operation pay us to help them develop proofs for their young sires. What was with their cow/calf herd, slaughter facility and retail meat outlets. They once an expense (to purchase semen) has become a revenue source,” raise all their cattle and their own hay. she explains.

“In 1990 we changed a lot of the focus in what we were doing; from With a closed herd, the Rickerts try to ensure that none of their cattle that point on we had a closed herd—after we were approached by a come into contact with outside cattle. The Headquarters Ranch has a plastic surgeon that Jim and I knew who had developed a patent for 7000-acre buffer zone of Forest Service land (with no grazing) between injected collagen. We became the supplier for that product. Subsequently the ranch and any other cattle, to reduce the possibility that the herd might in 1995 we built a USDA-inspected state-of-the-art slaughterhouse on the have exposure to other cattle. ranch. This is a 5000-square foot facility and we have a fulltime federal The cattle on the ranch are a combination/composite of several inspector,” Mary says. Their cattle provide bovine raw materials for the breeds. “The contract with the original Collagen Corporation was that CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 bio-medical industry. The closed herd enabled the ranch to fulfill the N um ber 170

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we would sell them steer hides that had to come from either Angus or Hereford cattle. So that’s what we used, and we are really fond of the black baldy cattle. This is an excellent cross. We’ve also used some Red Angus but none of our cattle are purebred; they are a mix.” There are many advantages to having the hybrid vigor (heterosis) of mixed breeds.

“The black baldies finish very well and are very healthy. We also select for tenderness and marbling. Years ago, when the DNA markers were first determined for these traits, we started looking for those characteristics in any bull we utilize for artificial insemination. This is really important to our program and we’ve been breeding for tenderness and marbling for at least 10 years. We want to make sure our customers have the best eating experience,” Mary says.

“We’ve had an animal ID tracking system and a number for each animal—for more than 30 years. We now have an elaborate computer program, so we know where each animal is, at all times. All documentation

each company’s standard operating procedures is compatible with the other ones we do business with and that there are no conflicts. It can be a challenge!”

“Right now we are selling hides that are used for a spray adhesive, for surgeries. We have sold a lot of bones that are used in fracture repair.

Now, instead of using titanium screws or plates, a company in Florida is using bovine bones and computerized machinery to make these screws and plates. These natural materials absorb into the system for better healing,” Mary says. Bovine bones are also used in dental implants.

“We also sell bovine parts for research to Stanford, USC-San Francisco and other research facilities. A new contract we are currently working on is to supply carotid arteries, which will be used for people on kidney dialysis. Their veins become worn out, and instead of repairing those veins with synthetic material, surgeons are now using bovine arteries because they close up better. When you poke a needle into synthetic material it doesn’t close back up, whereas the bovine material does,” she explains.

There are many uses for cattle parts. “If we are going to all this trouble to raise our cattle as carefully and healthy as possible, we might as well take advantage of what we can do with them,” she says.

Having a closed herd assures customers (whether they are buying meat or bovine body parts for medical purposes) that there will be no diseases coming in from other sources. “This also means we can only use our own livestock transportation (to haul cattle from place to place) so we have a truck and trailer,” she says. They can’t use commercial trucking or any cattle transport that has hauled other cattle, because there would be some risk of disease spread; there’s no way to know the health status of animals that were in that truck earlier.

“There are many challenges, and other producers may think we are a bit crazy! But our herd is very healthy and we have very little antibiotic use because of all the steps we take to keep the cattle healthy,” she says.

Grazing Management & Stewardship

Intensive grazing as a husbandry practice has been utilized on the ranch for many years. “This increases plant diversity; the plant communities are a mix of legumes (nitrogen-fixing) In 1990, the Rickerts went to a closed herd to be able to safely supply such and grass species to improve overall productivity without the bio-medical products as injected collagen. use of applied fertilizers, resulting in less labor cost. Pastures of herd health records are put on the computer. If the cattle receive a and rangelands are grazed to leave adequate feed and cover for wildlife vaccination, we have the lot number and date. Everything is documented and to prevent erosion,” she explains. Under the Rickerts’ management, so that if we ever have a question we can go back and check it,” she says. the carrying capacities of these pastures and rangeland has more than As part of the standard operating procedure for biomedical companies, doubled during the past 30 years, as a result of intensive grazing and individual animal ID is required from birth. The ID number is also included improvements in irrigation efficiency. on the package of meat after the animal is processed. This enables traceGrazing management mimics native herbivores by utilizing the back and also allows the ranch to cost-account each animal that goes mountain climate and higher ground during summer and wintering in through the plant—using a meat scale/labeling machine that generates a the foothills. “This pattern enables our cattle to graze year round. The report with the number of and weight of each meat cut on each animal. mountain meadows are fragile in early spring so we delay turnout on Health of the cattle is paramount. “For many years we’ve used these ranches until the grass is tall enough and strong enough to support disposable needles and syringes when giving any kind of injection, so grazing,” Mary says. there is no cross-transference of blood or pathogens between animals.

“We move cattle out of the winter pastures in the spring and When we castrate, we use disposable scalpels, one for each calf. This intentionally leave enough standing grass to protect the land from erosion, is a very expensive way to work cattle, and very time consuming, but is provide protection and feed for wildlife, and to furnish forage for the cattle very safe for the animals. It’s challenging for the guys who have to do it, when they return in the fall.” On the Newville Ranch an innovative seeding and they often ask why they have to do it this way—but it’s just part of our program was accomplished many years ago by adding clover seed to the protocols and standard operating procedures,” she says. mineral mix put out for the cattle. The seed passed through the manure “We have all these different contracts and binders from the various and was spread all over the ranch by the cows. This increased clover companies we supply products for, and we have to make sure that production significantly, with very little cost.

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Grazing has also been utilized to help control wildfires, not only on the ranches but also in an urban setting. “For a number of years, we have collaborated with the McConnell Foundation and Shasta College to demonstrate that cattle can be used as a fuel reduction tool in and around towns and cities. Under the supervision of Shasta College students, some of the ranch cattle are grazed in the Chum Creek greenway within the city of Redding. The students gain valuable experience in learning to work with cattle and managing intensive grazing,” Mary says.

In 2015, 80 head of cattle were grazed in the greenway. Using electric fences, students moved the cattle once or twice a day. “The McConnell Foundation is attempting to re-introduce native perennial grasses to the area and reduce fire hazard in a Wildland Rural Interface (WRI). The cattle have proven to be an excellent tool to selectively graze invasive annual weeds,” she says.

This program has been well received by the public. Townspeople have access to the greenway on foot trails during the grazing season, and last summer the cattle program was so popular that the local TV news station did a segment on the cattle’s return to the area. “The McConnell Foundation maintenance crew is very supportive of the grazing program, since prior to the cows they were required to maintain the greenway with mowers and weed eaters,” Mary explains. The grazing benefits the Foundation by saving labor and uses no fossil fuels.

Vertical Integration

Because of all the groundwork that the Rickerts have laid with their USDA inspected plant and closed herd, there was even more opportunity to develop a vertically integrated branded beef program. “After the USDA federally-inspected slaughterhouse was constructed on the ranch (so we could produce biomedical products) I remember saying to Jim that now we needed to develop the very best branded beef products, to take advantage of our slaughter plant. We were probably a little before our time. We were one of the first producers certified organic, and we started out with part of the herd that way. That was a hard sell, at that time. People were not very interested yet. This was back in the 1990s and we ended up selling some of our beef at conventional prices in what we called our natural line,” Mary says.

“We sold meat at farmers’ markets and I can remember going down to Berkeley and those people were all vegetarians; they told us they didn’t ‘peddle flesh’ in their markets. It was very challenging the first years and we worked very hard at it. We did make some progress, and then a couple things happened to speed that process. December 23, 2003 was another defining moment in our business because that’s when the first case of mad cow disease was discovered,” she explains.

“Because of everything we were doing in our attention to detail and standard operating procedures and protocols we follow for our biomedical products, everything we did would prevent getting mad cow disease into our herd. All of a sudden people were interested in our beef and we’ve had a waiting list for our meat ever since. Right now if you were to order some beef it would take 10 months to get your order filled. We have a limited supply, because we have a closed herd,” she says.

Today most of the beef is sold through their sister company, Prather Ranch Meat Company, located in San Francisco. Beef is marketed directly to customers in the Bay area and via a home delivery CSA program. “Our meat company has developed many value-added products such as hot dogs, beef sticks and jerky,” Mary says.

“We were certified organic for a long time, until the nationals standards changed, about 6 years ago. That’s when they said that grain finished cattle were required to graze on pasture year round. We can’t grass finish our cattle because the ranch where our cattle are finished is at 4,400 foot

elevation and we don’t have grass year round. We have about 6 months when the grass is not actively growing and sometimes there’s snow, so we have to feed the cattle,” she explains.

“We have to provide a steady supply of beef for our customers. We slaughter cattle every Tuesday morning, every week of the year. This also provides the bovine raw materials—whatever is needed—for whatever company we are shipping to at the time. They need a constant source, too,” Mary says. This is the main reason the ranch has a spring calving herd and a fall calving herd, to provide beef year-round for processing.

This also helps provide year-round employment to the people who work on the ranch.

“Basically what we do now is sell our beef as natural rather than organic, but we have such a following and customer base that they don’t worry about it not being organic. It’s so good that they don’t care. Our grazing land is all still certified as organic, through California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). We don’t use commercial fertilizer; our feed pens are scraped out periodically and the manure applied to the fields.

Each spring the fields are harrowed according to approved management practices. We’ve worked with NRCS to prepare a nutrient management plan to manage cattle manure from the feed yard to provide a valuable soil amendment to enhance forage production,” she explains.

“Calves are raised under organic standards until they go into the feed yard. It’s not a typical feedlot because we don’t have very many animals in each pen, so they each have a lot of space. This is part of the criteria for the humane certification,” Mary says. The feed pens are large and the animals are not crowded.

“We do not feed any corn; it’s a rice bran and barley ration with chopped hay, for their finishing ration. When they first come into the feed yard they are started on a ration that’s about 75% chopped hay, and then we gradually increase the grain/concentrate part of the ration. By the time they go to slaughter it’s about 25% chopped hay, the balance being rice bran and barley. This seems to produce a good quality meat,” she says.

“The other thing we do that’s different than a conventional feedlot operation is that we slaughter about 23 head per week on average. This may include an occasional cull cow or bull—and they make excellent hamburger because we fatten our cull cows. Our herdsman visually inspects the cattle in all the pens and selects the ones that are ready

The Prather Ranch is a vertically integrated operation that sells bio-medical products from cattle as well as a whole line of branded beef products as a result of having a USDA federally inspected slaughter facility.

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to slaughter that week. He has a good eye for cattle and can figure out which individuals are ready. It’s not a matter of sending a certain pen at a certain time like most feedlots do. We select the cattle individually, to try to get a very consistent product—the best quality at that particular time,” Mary says.

The beef they produce is also certified humane. “We go through the Humane Farm Animal Care; we have been involved with them from their beginning. We were the third livestock operation to be certified humane, as of 2003, so we’ve been doing this for 13 years. This is a very important aspect of our operation and one that our customers really care about.” Consumers want to know how the animals were raised and handled.

“Jim and I have known Temple Grandin for a long time, before she became famous, and I have a quote of hers that I have framed. It hangs over our knock box (where the cattle are slaughtered) and it says that the place where an animal dies is a sacred place, and there should be one pure moment of silence. We acknowledge the life that these animals have lived, and the contribution they are making to us for food and medical purposes. Therefore we don’t ever take them for granted and we have respect for their existence and want to give them a humane death.”

The Humane Farm Animal Care audit is once a year, and very rigorous. “It takes about 4 days to go to the various ranch locations and they also audit the slaughter process. Everything is done in a humane way. For instance, the cattle to be slaughtered are put into an alleyway the night before, and don’t have to be loaded on trucks. We try to keep their cortisol levels as low as possible, with the cattle relaxed and calm.

They have access to water and they are with their friends. We use rubber matting over any areas of concrete, so they are not slipping and sliding.

We also don’t let the sun glare into that area,” Mary says.

“We keep the entire process as calm and easy for them as possible.

We make sure the animals are treated calmly with the least stress possible at all times. It’s better for them, keeps them healthier, and is better for the meat quality. We were probably on the front end on a lot of this kind of thinking, with low stress handling,” she says. Ranch employees go through annual training sessions to make sure they are properly trained in low stress cattle handling.

After slaughter the carcass is hung for at least 2 weeks before being cut up. This also helps with tenderness. “We sell our meat primarily in northern California. About 70% goes to the San Francisco Bay area to farmers’ markets. We are also partners in a store front at the Ferry Building at the Embarcadero in San Francisco. We have established a large customer following in that area,” Mary says.

Even though the main ranch is about 250 miles away from the Bay area, some of the cattle are on winter range only 100 miles away. “Our cattle are probably considered to be locally produced,” she says.

Serving the Larger Community

Jim and Mary have spent their careers promoting and educating others about the importance of being good stewards of the land, hosting tours on the ranch for college and high school students, and many other groups (local, state, national and international). The ranch has been featured on TV programs such as National Geographic, California Green and California Country. Articles about the ranch have been published in many magazines including Food and Wine, Modern Farmer, California Farmer, Angus Journal and Hereford World. Mary was profiled in a series 16

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of children’s educational books (for second and third graders) as “Rancher Mary”. The ranch was also featured in a documentary in which the producer wanted to profile food production systems that promote humane treatment of their animals.

For the past 3 years Mary has been serving on the California State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection and has also been active in trying to protect grazing interests. There was a proposed grazing regulatory action project that the California State Water Board wanted to implement on the 33 million acres of rangeland in California, thinking that cattle were contributing to water pollution. Mary became involved as a private citizen and worked with the California Cattlemen.

“Jim and I are very proactive in our community in terms of government relations; we try to be spokespersons on many different issues. Hopefully we are effective in explaining our position as ranchers. We are a diminishing population. We are a tiny minority, trying to feed everyone, and there are also a lot of misconceptions out there about how we operate our cattle production,” Mary says.

Jim has been very active in local, regional and national organizations.

He has served as County Chair of the Shasta Trinity Farm Service Agency County Committee, served on the board of the Fall River Resource Conservation District, the Agricultural Business Development’s Ag Advisory Board at Cal Poly SLO, is a member of the Technical Advisory Committee for the California Rangeland Trust and a member of the Agricultural Issues Center at UC Davis.

Mary has done a lot of volunteer work throughout her life. “A big part of our focus is being involved as a spokesperson and role models to encourage others to think about their particular operations and how they can improve them to make them more environmentally and ecologically healthy,” she says.

The Rickerts also try to make a difference in other areas of life. “A family member was diagnosed with a mood disorder, and as a result I became very involved in the mental health arena over the years, serving on our county mental health board and in various other organizations on a volunteer basis. I became an advocate on that subject, and recently was talked into running for a county supervisor position. I had been asked to do that for years, because our communities are having so much trouble with homelessness, substance abuse, etc. I am trying to scale back on my office work at the ranch and take on some different challenges,” she says.

“I am nearly 64 and feel like I’ve reached/accomplished the goals we really wanted to do with this ranch. The Prather Ranch has grown and we have about 1,500 mother cows. It needs to be expanded and brought to the next level, since we have such a huge demand for the meat. We will have to follow protocols that will allow us to expand, and it will take many years to grow the herd. We are looking for other potential investors and this would relieve me of some of this work, so I could focus more on community issues and service.”

Jim and Mary continue to manage the Ralphs Prather Ranch Foundation that Walter Ralphs established many years ago. The goal of this foundation has been to make a positive impact in the communities where they live. “It has made large contributions to local high schools to improve their vo-ag shops, has supported scholarship programs, the California FFA Foundation and provided funds to replace a museum roof and a church roof. We feel it is important to participate in our local communities and help support causes that will benefit others,” she says.

PROGRAM ROUNDUP Open Gate Results

H

MI has been busy overseeing and supporting numerous Open Gate programs around the world. Here’s a highlight of just a few of them.

Shipwheel Feeders, Alberta, Canada

The second Open Gate event to be held in Canada in 2016 took place at Shipwheel Feeders, in Taber, Alberta on July 7th, 2016. 35 participants were on hand to hear ranch owner Blake Holtman and ranch manager Andrea Stroeve-Sawa discuss the story of Shipwheel Feeders, which includes 35 years of Holistic Management Decision-Making.

Next, Holistic Management Certified Educator and HMI Board member Kelly Sidoryk presented on the decision making process and testing questions. Participants were then brought out to a grazing cell and broken up into small groups, with each group going through the testing questions.

(l to r) Dana Penrice, Young Agrarians; Kimberly Cornish, Food Water Wellness Foundation; Rowland Davies, long time HM supporter; Blake Holtman of Shipwheel Feeders and his granddaughter, Taylor.

After lunch, participants shared some insights from the exercises that were completed in the field. Kristen Miller, from the Multi Species at Risk group gave a presentation on the work that they do, along with an assessment of Shipwheel. Participants then headed back outside to a riparian area to listen to a presentation on the health of riparian areas from Kristi Stebanuk from The Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society, more commonly known as the Cows and Fish program, with a question and answer session immediately following. Ranch manager Andrea then led participants on a walking tour, with Andrea going over basic grazing practices as well as pointing out an area where they used animal impact to deal with invasive sage plants.

Lastly, Kelly Sidoryk talked about the basic principles of Holistic Management, including pictures and examples from her operation. The day concluded with an introduction to program collaborators; the Food, Water and Wellness Foundation and the Young Agrarians.

Thanks to Shipwheel Feeders, The Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society, the Food, Water and Wellness Foundation, and

the Young Agrarians for their support and collaboration in making this event possible.

Kandanga Farm, Queensland, Australia

HMI’s first 2016 Australian Open Gate took place at Kandanga Farm, in Queensland. 82 adults and 10 children Jason Virtue sharing information about joined facilitator and soil life.

Holistic Management Certified Educator Jason Virtue to hear about the benefits of Holistic Management from those that currently use the framework. Presenters included Kandanga Farm owners Tim and Amber Scott, Nick and Vanessa Hughes from Red Cedar Ridge Farm, Susan Rodgers of Eumundi Beef, and Michael and Anna Henbury of Melsted Park.

Participants in the event ranged from both full- and parttime farmers, as well as food consumers who are committed to purchasing locally grown and raised, nutrient-dense food. Also in attendance were a number of people looking to get into agriculture in some form.

Key topics shared throughout the day included the following: • You can produce quality food without applying chemicals and fertilizers to your plants and animals and soils.

• It is the management of the soil surface and the plants on it that determines the effectiveness of the rain water that falls on the land.

• No matter how much land you have, you can be a food producer.

• Local production is critical to feeding the local community.

• Planning of grass production in the growing season makes life and business in the non-growing season much easier.

We’d like to thank BOS Rural Supplies, Country Noosa and Landlife Education for helping to make this day possible.

Colorado Farm, New South Wales, Australia

On August 31st, 45 producers and consumers gathered at the “Colorado Farm” near Caroona, New South Wales, Australia to learn about how good grazing practices improve soils and pastures (and why that’s good for consumers as well as producers). Holistic Management practitioners Derek and Kirrily Blomfield own and manage “Colorado” and they share how Holistic Management has helped them improve the land and improve the profitability of their business. These people influence 66,792 acres.

Also on the agenda for the day was a report on the Liverpool Plains Land Management’s “RAIN OOO Project” by Barbara Gallagher. This program helps farmers learn regenerative agriculture techniques and implement change on their farms. This event was facilitated by Holistic CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

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Management Certified Educator Judi Earl who also taught participants the principles of Holistic Planned Grazing. Chook Kealey also shared the key principles to low-stress stockhandling and how that can improve animal performance.

Center, where McAuliffe Ranch owners Pam and Dan Harkness talked about how their late brother Tim was a pioneer of Holistic Management in the area.

Holistic Management Certified Educator Kirk Gadzia then provided participants with an overview of Holistic Management, along with how management and timing of grazing affects grasses, grass growth, recovery periods, and why grazing planning is important. Kirk later led a discussion about how to factor wildlife into grazing planning.

Chook Kealey talking about low-stress stock handling.

In the afternoon, the Blomfields led a farm tour to show how they had successfully returned cropped paddocks to grassland, as well as restoring gullies, and developed their fencing and water infrastructure to improve grazing management. Lastly, Judi Earl involved participants in learning how to monitor biodiversity and assess pasture productivity.

The key outcomes for this event include that 75% of participants said they planned to change management practices as a result of this program. The area 45 participants learned about how improved they influence land health has multiple benefits. is 31,150 acres. They noted they would be looking at replanning fences and reassessing paddock areas so they are better able to manage pasture growth and allow for more plant recovery. Overall there was a 97% satisfaction rate and 93% of the participants said they would recommend this event to others.

This Open Gate event was funded by the Australian National Landcare Programme. Thanks to the Blomfields for sharing their farm and providing the tasty grassfed beef for lunch. And thanks to our other sponsors and collaborators including the Liverpool Plains Land Management and the Tamworth Regional Landcare Programme.

McAuliffe Ranch, New Mexico

On a beautiful New Mexico day, with ominous rain clouds in the distance and a nice breeze, 57 participants attended McAuliffe Ranch Day, in Raton, New Mexico.

The morning presentations took place at the NRA Whittington

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57 participants learned about grazing planning and soil health at the McAuliffe Ranch Open Gate.

Next, Duke Phillips, CEO of Ranchlands, a ranching business that that runs cattle and buffalo on native ranges, spoke about his passion for educating young people, and giving them the opportunity to really learn hands-on.

Following Duke was Tom Lasater, manager of Lasater Grasslands Beef, which sources cattle from ranches ranging from Montana to New Mexico. Tom spoke to participants about marketing grassfed beef and the value of organic certification, and also donated five packages of grassfed beef that were raffled off to early registrants.

The afternoon was spent on the land, with attendees participating in a monitoring exercise, including observations about small patches of pasture with dead grass that are remnants of the last drought. Participants also learned about forage assessment.

Attendees later went down to the riparian area to see the effects of grazing, which showed a lot Participants learned about how to monitor for of plant growth on soil and plant health. the banks whose roots were working to hold soil in place.

A special thanks to The McCune Charitable Foundation and The Thornburg Foundation for providing funding for this program.

Certified

Educators

The following Certified Educators listed have been trained to teach and coach individuals in Holistic Management. 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 and to seek out opportunities for staying current with the latest developments in Holistic Management.

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COLORADO

Joel Benson P.O. Box 4924 Buena Vista, CO 81211 719/221-1547 • joel@holisticeffect.com Cindy Dvergsten 17702 County Rd. 23, Dolores, CO 81323 970/882-4222 • 970/739-2445 (c) wnc@gobrainstorm.net Katie Miller 22755 E Garrett Rd, Calhan, CO 80808 970/310-0852 heritagebellefarms@gmail.com

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IOWA Torray & Erin Wilson 4375 Pierce Ave., Paullina, IA 51046-7401 712/260-6398 (Torray) • 563/419-3142 (Erin) torray@gmail.com • wilsonee3@gmail.com

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MAINE Vivianne Holmes 239 E Buckfield Rd., Buckfield, ME 04220-4209 207/336-2484 • vholmes@maine.edu

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MICHIGAN Larry Dyer 1113 Klondike Ave, Petoskey, MI 49770 231/347-7162 (h) • 231/881-2784 (c) ldyer3913@gmail.com MISSISSIPPI

Sullivan *610Preston Ed Sullivan Lane NE, Meadville, MS 39653 prestons@telepak.net 601/384-5310 (h) • 601/835-6124 (c)

MONTANA Roland Kroos 4926 Itana Circle, Bozeman, MT 59715 406/522-3862 406/581-3038 (c) kroosing@msn.com Cliff Montagne Montana State University 1105 S. Tracy, Bozeman, MT 59715 406/599-7755 (c) • montagne@montana.edu

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NEW YORK Craig Leggett 6143 SR 9, Chestertown, NY 12817 518/494-2324 (h) • 970/946-1771 (c) craigrleggett@gmail.com Erica Frenay Shelterbelt Farm 200 Creamery Rd., Brooktondale, NY 14817 607/539-6512 (h) • 607/342-3771 (c) info@shelterbeltfarm.com Elizabeth Marks 1024 State Rt. 66, Ghent, NY 12075 518/828-4385 x107 (w) • 518/567-9476 (c) Elizabeth.marks@ny.usda.gov Phillip Metzger 120 Thompson Creek Rd., Norwich, NY 13815 607/334-2407 (h) • pmetzger17@gmail.com

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U N I T E D S TAT E S CALIFORNIA Lee Altier College of Agriculture, CSU 400 West First St., Chico, CA 95929-0310 laltier@csuchico.edu • 530/636-2525 Owen Hablutzel 4235 W. 63rd St., Los Angeles, CA 90043 310/567-6862 • go2owen@gmail.com Richard King 1675 Adobe Rd., Petaluma, CA 94954 rking1675@gmail.com • 707/217-2308 (c) 707/769-1490 (h) Kelly Mulville P.O. Box 23, Paicines, CA 95043 707/431-8060 • kmulville@gmail.com Donald D. Nelson 11728 Shafer Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080-8994 208/301-5066 • nelson-don1@hotmail.com Rob Rutherford 4757 Bridgecreek Rd., San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 805/544-5781 (h) • 805/550-4858 (c) robtrutherford@gmail.com

Albuquerque, NM 87109 505/842-5252 • kathyh@holisticmanagement.org

NEBRASKA Paul Swanson 5155 West 12th St., Hastings, NE 68901 402/463-8507 • 402/705-1241 (c) swanson5155@windstream.net Ralph Tate 1109 Timber Dr., Papillion, NE 68046 402/932-3405 • 402/250-8981 (c) Tater2d2@cox.net NEW HAMPSHIRE Seth Wilner 24 Main Street, Newport, NH 03773 603/863-4497 (h) • 603/863-9200 (w) 603/543-7169 (c) • seth.wilner@unh.edu NEW MEXICO

Ann Adams Holistic Management International 5941 Jefferson St. NE, Suite B Albuquerque, NM 87109 • 505/842-5252 anna@holisticmanagement.org Kirk Gadzia P.O. Box 1100, Bernalillo, NM 87004 505/263-8677 (c) • kirk@rmsgadzia.com Jeff Goebel 1033 N. Gabaldon Rd., Belen, NM 87002 541/610-7084 • goebel@aboutlistening.com Kathy Harris Holistic Management International 5941 Jefferson St. NE, Suite B

NORTH DAKOTA Joshua Dukart 2539 Clover Place, Bismarck, ND 58503 701/870-1184 • Joshua_dukart@yahoo.com OREGON Angela Boudro PO Box 3444, Central Point, OR 97502 541/ 890-4014 • angelaboudro@gmail.com SOUTH DAKOTA Randal Holmquist 4870 Cliff Drive, Rapid City, SD 57702 605/730-0550 • randy@zhvalley.com

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TEXAS Lisa Bellows North Central Texas College 1525 W. California St., Gainesville, TX 76240-4636 940/736-3996 (c) • 940/668-7731 ext. 4346 (o) lbellows@nctc.edu Guy Glosson 6717 Hwy. 380, Snyder, TX 79549

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806/237-2554 • glosson@caprock-spur.com Tracy Litle 1277 S CR 305, Orange Grove, TX 78372 361/537-3417 (c) • tjlitle@hotmail.com Peggy Maddox 9460 East FM 1606, Hermleigh, TX 79526 325/226-3042 (c) • westgift@hughes.net Katherine Napper Ottmers 313 Lytle Street, Kerrville, TX 78028 830/896-1474 • katherineottmers@icloud.com CD Pounds 753 VZ CR 1114 Fruitvale, TX 75127 214/568-3377 • cdpounds@live.com Peggy Sechrist 106 Thunderbird Ranch Road Fredericksburg, TX 78624 830/456-5587 (c) • peggysechrist@gmail.com

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WISCONSIN Heather Flashinski 16294 250th Street, Cadott, WI 54727 715/289-4896 (w) • 715/379-3742 (c) grassheather@hotmail.com Larry Johnson W886 State Rd. 92, Brooklyn, WI 53521-9102 608/455-1685 • 608/957-2935 (c) larrystillpointfarm@gmail.com Laura Paine N893 Kranz Rd., Columbus, WI 53925 920/623-4407 (h) • 608/338-9039 (c) lkpaine@gmail.com

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

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

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

AUSTRAILIA Judi Earl “Glen Orton” 3843 Warialda Rd. Coolatai, NSW 2402 +61 409 151 969 (c) • judi_earl@bigpond.com Graeme Hand 150 Caroona Lane, Branxholme, VIC 3302 61-3-5578-6272 (h) • 61-4-1853-2130 (c) graeme.hand@bigpond.com Dick Richardson “Spring Valley,” 165 Ironbark Lane Frogmore, Boorowa NSW 2586 61-0-429069001 (w) • 61-0-263856224 (h) dick@dickrichardson.com.au Jason Virtue P.O. Box 75 Cooran QLD 4569 61-0-754851997 • jason@spiderweb.com.au Brian Wehlburg Pine Scrub Creek, Kindee, NSW 2446 61-2-6587-4353 (h) • 61 04087 404 431 (c) brian@insideoutsidemgt.com.au CANADA Don Campbell Box 817 Meadow Lake, SK S0X 1Y6 306/236-6088 • 320/240-7660 (c) doncampbell@sasktel.net Ralph Corcoran Box 36, Langbank, SK S0G 2X0 306/532-4778 rlcorcoran@sasktel.net

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@cciwireless.ca Noel McNaughton 5704-144 St NW, Edmonton, AB T6H 4H4 780/432-5492; noel@mcnaughton.ca 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 Box 72, Blackroot, A B TOB OLO 780/872-9761 (h) • 780/875-4418 (w) 780/872-2585 (c) • sidorykk@yahoo.ca

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KENYA Christine C. Jost ICRAF, Box 30677, Nairobi 00100 254-736-715-417 (c) • c.jost@cgiar.org NAMIBIA Usiel Seuakouje Kandjii P. O . Box 23319, Windhoek 9000 264-812840426 (c) • 264-61-244028 (h) kandjiiu@gmail.com Colin Nott PO Box 11977, Windhoek 9000 264-81-2418778 (c) • 264-61-225085 (h) canott@iafrica.com.na

Wiebke Volkmann P. O . Box 9285, Windhoek 264-61-225183 or 264-81-127-0081 wiebke@afol.com.na NEW ZEALAND John King P. O. Box 12011, Beckenha Christchurch 8242 64-276-737-885 john@succession.co.nz

*

SOUTH AFRICA Wayne Knight Solar Addicts, P.O. Box 537, Mokopane, 0600 South Africa 27-0-15-491-5286 +27-87-550-0255 (h) +27-82-805-3274 (c) wayne@theknights.za.net Jozua Lambrechts PO Box 5070, Helderberg, Somerset West, 7135 +27-0-21 -851 5669 +27-0-08-310-1940 Ian Mitchell-Innes 14 Chevril Road, Ladysmith, 3370 +27-83-262-9030 ian@mitchell-innes.co.za UNITED KINGDOM

Philip Bubb *32 Dart Close, St. Ives, Cambridge, PE27 3JB 44-1480-496-2925 (h) +44 7837 405483 (w) pjbubb99@gmail.com

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THE MARKETPLACE

Graze comfortably... anytime, anywhere.

Farmers say: “I can’t afford not to buy one!”

Scott Foster from Corydon, IN “I know it will last for years to come.”

Carolyn Stoltzfus from East Fallowfield, PA

Our mobile shade structures are built to shelter your herd from the sun and heat.

Choose our mobile shade solutions for cooler cattle and better production.

Our products: - Are designed and built in the USA - Come with a 10-year warranty - Are easy to set up and move - Improve pasture quality - Keep your cattle cool - Improve yields Financial assistance may be available through the NRCS EQIP program - please inquire.

www.shadehaven.net 20 IN PRACTICE

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November / December 2016

(855)-247-4233

Caring for the Soil by Building Fertility and Production Potential

BY NEAL KINSEY

K

insey Agricultural Services serves clients all over the world, including North America, Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and South America, providing broad experience in working with soils and crops from over 75 countries worldwide. So we not only see soils from around the world, we see the condition of those soils in relation to each one’s ability (or quite often the lack of ability) to grow and produce high-yielding, top quality crops.

Very few soils are in the shape they need to be to produce either top quality or the highest potential yields. There are various reasons that help contribute to such problems. However the biggest problem is that far too many ranchers, farmers and growers are not willing to invest the time and money needed to take proper advantage of what present day methods for evaluating soil fertility can offer. These methods help add to overall profitability as well as building up the quality of the crops that are being grown at the same time.

Our goal as a consulting company is to help interested parties to understand the consequences of any mineral excesses or deficiencies the soils may have, and the problems that correcting them will at least help begin to solve.

The place to start on every farm is by taking a sufficient amount of soil samples. Many farmers only want one composite soil sample per field and one specific fertilizer formulation for each field. This will never

help the soils in each field do their best.

The ideal approach should be to locate every observable difference in growing patterns in a field. Once determined, such areas should be evaluated and fertilized Neal Kinsey accordingly. One sample per field may be better than guessing, but it is not the way to obtain the most productive ability for each field on the farm or ranch.

As a result farmers and growers are losing the potential for more productiveness on each individual field and consequently the entire farm, just to save time and money on soil samples. Yet these samples cost a mere fraction of what the costs for fertilizing the crop improperly winds up being in the end.

And this brings up another point which occurs far too often in terms of fertility and crop production. Many growers are spending their fertilizer dollars in the wrong places. What has always worked or making the “best guess” eventually means the failure to supply the correct materials required to grow the best crops.

Too many working in agriculture have had the idea drummed into their head that all you need is a good pH and plenty of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium, or a good supply of manure or compost, to grow whatever crop is planned for each field each year. And this is generally based on guessing what the crop takes out, not what the soil has or does not have to offer in terms of growing the best crop each year.

Our approach has always been to provide consulting services that help farmers and ranchers economically achieve an ideal level of productivity and quality. Contact us today!

THE MARKETPLACE

Effective Soil Fertility and Water Use for Improving Crop Quality and Production Presentation by Bill Brush, with specific topics from Neal Kinsey December 5 – 7, 2016 • St. Louis, Missouri Sheraton Westport Plaza Registration (closes November 21st—limited to 75 participants) $1,400 (Includes course, room, breakfast, lunch and am/pm breaks) For consulting or educational services contact:

DAY 1: How the nutrient balance of the Albrecht/Kinsey model affects plant processes DAY 2: There is magic in the soil: Microbiology of soil and nutrient mineralization DAY 3: How does water affect the Albrecht/ Kinsey soil balancing and how to calculate what additional amending will be needed to obtain optimal soil levels Optional Farm Tour: $100 (Vineyard, Grass based Dairy & farms with cover crops)

Kinsey Agricultural Services, Inc. 297 County Highway 357 Charleston, Missouri 63834

Ph: 573/683-3880, Fax: 573/683-6227 www.kinseyag.com • info@kinseyag.com

Num ber 170

h IN PRACTICE 21

THE MARKETPLACE

The Porta Reel System for Temporary Fencing Geared Reel 3:1, TA280 • Save time by 3-way transmission • Special eye for well-directed wire routing • Impact-proof plastic guarantees durable use • Heavy-duty steel crank arm • Up to 600 m plastic polywire or about 200 m tape

NEW iable l e r h

wit ut! w n o k n c ive lo t A perfect, professional reel system for a x fi temporary fencing systems that have to be assembled/disassembled quickly and for many years of use. The indispensable aid for modern fencing.

TwinMountainFence.com • San Angelo, TX • (800) 527-0990 • En Mexico: 01-800-640-3156

2017 DATES!!!!

Holistic Management Trainings

CORRAL DESIGNS

“Bud Williams” Livestock Marketing & Proper Stockmanship

Jan. 30-Feb. 4, 2017

with Richard McConnell & Tina Williams

Albuquerque, New Mexico with instructor Kirk Gadzia

Come to one of our schools and learn how good stockmanship can make your livestock handling experiences enjoyable, easier, and more profitable and how livestock marketing based on today’s price (no crystal ball) can help you realize your profit goals.

Introduction to Holistic Management January 30 - February 1: $495 Advanced Training Session (Requires prior attendance at intro session.)

February 2-4: $495 Comprehensive Holistic Management Training January 30 - February 4: $895 Remember, profitable agriculture is not about working harder— it’s about making better decisions!

Pasture Scene Investigation

Information and Registration:

By World Famous Dr. Grandin Originator of Curved Ranch Corrals The wide curved Lane makes filling the crowding tub easy.

Includes detailed drawings for loading ramp, V chute, round crowd pen, dip vat, gates and hinges. Plus cell center layouts and layouts compatible with electronic sorting systems. Articles on cattle behavior. 27 corral layouts. $55.

Low Stress Cattle Handling Video $59.

Send checks/money order to:

GRANDIN LIVESTOCK SYSTEMS

www.rmsgadzia.com

Kirk L. Gadzia, Certified Educator Resource Management Services, LLC Bernalillo, NM ~ 505.263.8677 kirk@rmsgadzia.com

22 IN PRACTICE

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2918 Silver Plume Dr., Unit C-3 Fort Collins, CO 80526

970/229-0703 • www.grandin.com

November / December 2016

We are setting our 2017 schedule now. Call or email to set up a school in your area or join us — February 6-8, 2017—Springfield, MO

www.handnhandlivestocksolutions.com info@handnhandlivestocksolutions.com 417-327-6500

THE MARKETPLACE Fostering Change & Holistic Financial Planning For Ranches, Farms, Businesses, and Governments

We improve the way you manage your land, human and financial resources.

On-site Introductory HM Course

Durham Ranch Seminar, Wright, WY

Feb. 20-23, 2017

Feb 26 – Mar 4, 2017

Limited to 15 Register now for this dynamicparticipatory course involving the Ranch staff and Roland Kroos, HMI certified educator.

Check out our website for other 2017 Seminars at

www.Crossroadsranchconsulting.com Contact

• • • • • •

Pu’u O Hoku Ranch on the beautiful island of Molokai, Hawaii

Large Scale Holistic Planning Effective Conflict Resolution Increase Profitability Achieve goals by overcoming limiting beliefs Enhanced Quality of Life

Facilitated by Jeff Goebel Sr. Certified HMI Trainer

Foster Change

Roland or Brenda Kroos (406) 522.3862 • kroosing@msn.com

For more information or to register go to www.climateconsensusinstitute.org

2016-2017 Holistic Management Courses Nebraska/Iowa Class Topic

Hastings, Nebraska

Red Oak, Iowa

Introduction to Holistic Management

December 2-3

December 9-10

Holistic Financial Planning

January 27-28

February 3-4

Holistic Grazing Planning

March 16-18

March 30-April 1

Biological Monitoring

June

June

For more information or to be put on a list, contact: Ralph Tate Tater2d2@cox.net Num ber 170

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Nonprofit U.S POSTAGE

PAID Jefferson City, MO PERMIT 210

Healthy Land. Healthy Food. Healthy Lives.

a publication of Holistic Management International 5941 Jefferson St. NE, Suite B Albuquerque, NM 87109 USA

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

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

DEVELOPMENT CORNER

Jennifer’s Sauce Recipe

Meet the New Development Director

BY JENNIFER KLASS

W

hat an exciting time to be joining the Holistic Management International Team! Recently, I joined this amazing group of like-minded professionals as the Director of Development. Already, in my short time, I can see the impactful work HMI is doing to help farmers and ranchers become successful.

As you may know, HMI’s goal for 2016 is to reach 5,000 producers, educators, land owners, conservationists, government and NGO employees, and food advocates with our global programming as we collaborate with over 100 organizations around the world. Whether they attend a day-long event, access a free download, enroll in a course, or share their knowledge through one of our many communication channels, they are all part of the HMI community of people passionate about improving lives and landscapes through Holistic Management. I’m truly excited about my part in these exciting initiatives.

We are always delighted to see the growing number of people who have attended HMI’s various courses and events around the US, Mexico, Canada, Australia, and other parts of the world, helping people as they work to create healthy land, healthy food, and thriving communities.

We are also pleased and inspired when we can hear and share stories with our supporters and friends. This is where you come in!

I’d like to take this opportunity to meet with you by phone, or in person, to learn a little more about your connection to the Holistic Management community. Your input is valued. After all, without friends like you, we would never be able to reach our mission to “educate people in regenerative agriculture for healthy land and thriving communities.” Please contact me at jenniferk@holisticmanagement.org or call 505/842-5252 x102.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Jennifer Klass

“After spending a weekend at the local salsa fest, peeling hot, local, organic green chili and spending a day with my family picking organic raspberries at a local raspberry farm, I wanted to reap the rewards of my efforts. The green chili turned out to be too hot for my family’s taste buds so I decided to make a green chili raspberry sauce to cool down the heat. It turned out amazing! So far we have glazed and grilled free range chicken breast with it and poured it cold over fresh baked brie. However, its possibilities are limitless. Enjoy!”

Green Chili Raspberry Sauce

Ingredients (yield: 7 half-pints) • 4 cups local organic raspberries (either fresh or frozen) • 1 cup organic apple juice • 3 cups pureed local, organic green chili peppers, seeded and chopped (mild, medium, or hot) • 1 tablespoon lemon juice (preferably the bottled kind) • 3 cups local honey (or 7 cups sugar) • 1 (1 3/4 ounce) package dry pectin Directions (yield: 7 half-pints) 1. Combine raspberries, green chili puree, pectin, water, and lemon juice in an 8-quart non-stick pan.

2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.

3. Add local honey and organic apple juice all at once.

4. Return mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.

5. Boil hard for 1 minute.

6. Remove from heat.

7. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving a 1/4-inch headspace.

8. Place lids and screw on bands fingertip-tight.

9. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes, adjusting processing time for elevation as necessary.

Printed On Recycled Paper