Healthy Land. Healthy Food. Healthy Lives.
JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2018
In Practice a publication of Holistic Management International
NUMBER 177
W W W. H O L I S T I C M A N A G E M E N T. O R G
Soil, Food, and Hope for Our Future BY ANN ADAMS
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here has been a flurry of online articles recently about the role of meat in our diet and its effect on planetary health. We have people, like George Monbiot of the Guardian who are eagerly awaiting the viability of the artificial meat industry to address what he perceives the tremendous waste of grazing. Then there is the “Grazed and Confused” article on the Oxford Martin School website that highlights the findings of a new report by Food Climate Research network that notes all livestock are clear net contributors to GHG (greenhouse gases) and, therefore, not “climate saviors.” In response to the “Grazed and Confused” study is an article, “Beef Isn’t to Blame,” on the Sustainable Dish website, which references numerous counter studies to the “Grazed and Confused” study (many of which we have also noted on our website). While the question of what is the right diet for planetary health has led many to look at what they choose to eat, we know that the majority of the world’s population is often just thankful when they have something to eat. This particular challenge seems to me the greatest need right now as we look to help people feed themselves on resilient landscapes rather than having their hopes pinned only on humanitarian aid. At HMI we work from the premise that nature functions in wholes. Nature has been engaged in symbiotic relationships long before humans walked the earth. As a keystone species, humans have demanded more than our fair share of resources. We have also fixated on technology as our “climate savior.” And, we know that there have been many unintended consequences from our playing with all the tools at our disposal—fire, technology, rest, and living organisms (including animal impact and grazing). Yet, there are incredible examples of people working in partnership with nature to create long-term solutions that don’t have dangerous
unintended consequences because they have learned how nature functions and worked with those key principles. The stories of these regenerative agriculture heroes are always inspiring to me. Do I think that domestic livestock are “climate saviors?” I think that question is a red herring. Do I think domestic livestock can be used to increase organic matter? Absolutely. I’ve seen it happen on my property and talked to hundreds of people who have experienced the same thing. It’s not rocket science—it’s soil biology. Provide more food and habitat for micro-organisms and you can support more micro-organisms that do all the work of carbon sequestration and growing plants that are the conduit for that exchange. Ultimately, I trust natural processes over artificial products made by humans any day. Humans can attempt to control nature, but ultimately natural law and processes prevail. Since we depend on nature, I’d rather work in a food system that attempts to partner with nature and reap the symbiotic benefits than one that is propped up on technology and companies we must trust to do what is right for us. I also think many consumers have this conception that because the livestock industry requires the taking of lives (particularly mammalian lives) that it is somehow more vicious and questionable than crop farming which only requires the harvesting of vegetables, grains, and fruits. But anyone who has farmed knows that it is far more in the “how” than the “what.” I feel far better about eating a locally raised and slaughtered grassfed animal from a producer I know than I do about some commercially grown strawberries from a company in California whose workers are struggling with health issues because of the pesticide use on that farm (not to mention the impact on numerous other sentient beings because of those practices). I have used the holistic decision-making process as a way to help me make decisions about my food choices and how I can contribute to the health of the planet. People may say my decisionmaking is faulty because they have decided to believe one study over another. I know that these natural processes—the ecosystem processes—have been functioning quite well without human CONTINUED ON PAGE 19
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Holistic Management focuses on the triple bottom line— looking at the social, environmental and economic issues of each decision. Learn about how Ranchlands LLC is working to educate the next generation of conservation ranchers on page 2 or learn about how the Feiring Cattle Company is working to create a sustainable quality of life on page 7.
The People Part
Ranchlands—Developing the Next Generation of Conservation Ranchers
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 Kathy Harris. . . . . . . . . . . Program Director 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 Gerardo Bezanilla Avery Anderson-Sponholtz Kirrily Blomfield Kevin Boyer Jonathan Cobb Guy Glosson Wayne Knight Robert Potts 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 © 2018 Holistic Management® is a registered trademark of Holistic Management International
BY MADELINE JORDEN
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uke Phillips could have been a This is what Ranchlands, Phillips’ ranch “normal” rancher. Raised in northern management company, does best—takes the Mexico in a second-generation uninitiated and gives them the opportunity to ranching family, he came of age learn something about the impact ranching can in a world where cowboys shot coyotes to have on the land. Between artist retreats, a protect their calves, ranches were grazed in hunting and fishing club, bird banding stations, their entirety year-round, and cattlemen were art exhibits, a leathershop that makes products just that—men who raised cattle. The ranchersold in Aspen and Seattle, an internship conservationist had yet to emerge. While program, ranch vacations, a summer concert the tide has been changing in recent years, series, and a strong social media presence, with more and more farmers and ranchers there’s hardly a segment of the population that embracing their role as land stewards, perhaps Ranchlands isn’t actively trying to reach and Phillips’ most radical act has been not just include. Besides diversifying our business, to join this growing group of agricultural conservationists, but, since the very beginning, to throw the doors open and invite others to observe and participate in the project for sustainable ranching. I showed up to Phillips’ Chico Basin Ranch in 2014 an utter urbanite who thought all cattle were cows and had never taken so much as a peek under the hood of a vehicle. I’ll Ranchlands’ motto is: Ranch. Conserve. Live. Providing young never forget the feeling of people the opportunity to learn holistic ranching skills, gives them stepping out of the saddle the opportunity to start their own businesses or become a manager after eight hours moving elsewhere—conserving more lands. cattle my first week, seeing stars and not sure if my legs were going these enterprises grew out of an intention to to catch me when they hit the ground, wondering redefine the conversation and build community if my half-baked desire to ride horses across the around ranching. We sum up our approach with prairie for six months was really such a good a three-pronged motto: Ranch. Conserve. Live. idea after all. In the end, I know I got more out of my internship than the ranch did; from an RANCH operational standpoint; I was mildly helpful at Cattle and bison ranching has always best. But three years later, I’m still here. been, and continues to be, the backbone of
FEATURE STORIES
LAND & LIVESTOCK
NEWS & NETWORK
Ranchlands—Developing the Next Generation of Conservation Ranchers
Feiring Cattle Company— Creating a Sustainable Quality of Life
Board Chair............................................................. 16
Three Principles to Graze By
Round Rock Ranching— Ranching For A Better World
MADELINE JORDEN.................................................................... 2 BY ALLEN R WILLIAMS, Ph.D. . .................................................. 5
HEATHER SMITH THOMAS......................................................... 7
HEATHER SMITH THOMAS.......................................................13
Knap-Time
TROY BISHOPP..........................................................................15
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Program Round Up.................................................. 17 Grapevine................................................................ 19 Certified Educators.................................................. 20 Marketplace............................................................. 21 Development Corner............................................... 24
Ranchlands’ business. A diversified approach, in one day, so the cowboys would ride to the fence exclosures. which includes seedstock, commercial cows, tops of the old sea vents dotting that area of We reach the back of Double Tank an hour and yearlings, provides the annual capital that the ranch and scan the pasture with binoculars, after leaving headquarters. It’s warm enough allows us to pursue other goals and gives us a looking for groups of cattle. Shortly after arriving now to shed a layer. Spreading out across the purpose on the land. on the Chico, Duke Phillips divided the North mile-long length of the north fence, we begin Phillips cut his teeth in ranch management pasture up with tens of miles of electric crossto move south, gathering up cows and calves during a decade of work at the Dale Lasater fencing so that these smaller parcels could be and pushing them ahead of us as cowboys and Ranch near Matheson, Colorado. Dale and his grazed effectively. He also put in a continuous cattlemen have been doing for centuries. These father, Tom, had long managed their land and electric wire along the west side of Chico are the techniques and skills, the elegance with cattle by the principle of “Mother Nature knows Creek. Historically, homesteaders watered their which our group can operate as a unit, even best” and were among the first to embrace Allan livestock along the creek and from other natural when we’re out of sight of each other, that I Savory when he arrived in the United States springs on the ranch, and most of these riparian have been able to absorb during my time on the with his theories of Holistic Planned Grazing. areas were therefore decimated by overgrazing. ranch. I didn’t know these traditions of American Driven by a conviction that every aspect of Jake’s mare, Bone, splashes calmly through ranching, and I can’t believe I’m now taking part the natural world had a role to play, even if we the creek, and the rest of our horses follow in them. From brandings in pastures with wooddon’t understand it, the Lasaters didn’t treat dutifully as we continue to make our way west heated irons to moving cattle on horseback, their animals with pesticides, didn’t exterminate towards Double Tank. As I weave through the Ranchlands staunchly maintains many of the prairie dogs, didn’t shoot coyotes, and instead low-hanging branches of the willow trees, a traditions that forged the original mystique of the got rid of the cows that cowboy. At the same time, didn’t protect their calves. we are looking forward And they had seen the to the future. It seems payoff—bare patches of likely that the years to ground on their ranch come will see an even were recarpeted with a greater emphasis on healthy community of environmental health, and grasses and plants, and the conservation services their cattle and business ranchers have been were thriving. By the providing for years will time Phillips won the be the most compelling lease on Chico Basin reason for our presence Ranch in 1999, he was on the land. a convert. He had grown up in a ranching industry CONSERVE where the natural world The healthy proteins presented obstacles to we produce in the course be overcome, but on the of land management Chico, nature was treated are merely a convenient as a set of conditions with byproduct that are which to work in harmony. valuable for their ability Madeline Jorden learned how to work bison on the Zapata Ranch as part of her Outside the saddle to feed our communities apprenticeship with Ranchlands. house, Jake, Sam, Wyatt, and provide the ongoing Anna, and I catch and tack up our horses in the great-horned owl flushes from her perch and funding for our conservation work. We see first light of this brisk fall morning. The cadence flies downstream. Today, the creek bottom our cattle as a means to the end of ecological of chirping crickets pulses in the background is a lush and fertile area of the ranch where health. Since the vast grasslands of the United as gravel crunches beneath the soles of our coyotes, mule deer, badgers, and tarantulas States have been stripped of the migrating boots. Swinging up into the saddle, we head come to water. Arkansas darter fish, released bison herds that historically played a large role west out of headquarters as the sun breaks by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), wriggle in cycling nutrients back into the soil, it falls to over the horizon in the east. Trotting at the head in shallow pools. In part, thanks to CPW’s today’s ranchers and their cattle to maintain the of the group, Jake, a graduate of Ranchlands’ repopulation efforts here, the fish species has prairie landscape. apprenticeship program and current managerbeen removed from the federal endangered Out in Double Tank pasture, as we gather in-training at the Chico, lays out the plan for the species candidate list. Protecting their habitat cattle and begin moving them south, we trot day. We’ll be gathering our herd of commercial is one of the many reasons we move cattle over stands of blue grama, galleta, alkali cattle in Double Tank pasture, sorting out a few through the creek. When he fenced off the sacaton, and bottlebrush squirreltail. As we heifers, and putting the rest through the gate creek from the ranch’s larger pastures, Phillips move the cattle away, we put these grasses to into Tower pasture. also installed well-water troughs so the cows rest for the year. They’ll be left alone until the Twenty years ago, Double Tank and Tower could drink without overusing the creek. While next growing season, when warm, wet weather were part of a massive 10,000-acre pasture small groups of cattle in smaller pastures will will bring them back to levels ready for grazing. called the North pasture. It was an impossible sometimes water from the creek, especially We are lucky to work with a variety of tract for a small crew to cover on horseback delicate areas are protected by six-string electric CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 Num ber 177
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Ranchlands
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conservation organizations who understand the role that ranching can play in our country’s grasslands. In the San Luis Valley, Ranchlands manages the Zapata Ranch for the Nature Conservancy (TNC). One of the largest wild bison herds in the United States roams freely across 50,000-acres of this 100,000-acre property, and each year, we round up the herd to collect data in order to help TNC meet their conservation goals for the herd. Over the course of fourteen years, we’ve been working to return the herd to genetic purity by removing any cows with bovine genes in their mitochondrial DNA. This year, there were only 5 remaining known cows with bovine DNA. The bison herd is also a consistently popular draw for tourists and media groups; we regularly book visitors for bison tours, and horseback rides through the 50,000–acre bison pasture are a large draw for guests at the ranch Lodge. Our annual bison roundup was the subject of a short film accepted to the Tribeca Film Festival and a mini-series on the History Channel. We have also found unlikely allies in local birders who have long visited the Chico looking for rare species. Every year, the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies operates a banding station that takes place in conjunction with field trips we offer to local school groups. This year, a Tropical Kingbird was spotted during migration season—the first sighting ever recorded in Colorado. Birders are important stakeholders in the ranching cause because they value the maintenance of the shortgrass prairie ecosystem compared with the meager biodiversity that would be found in a landscape such as a farming monoculture, subdivisions, or any other form of land use that destroys
Photo Credit Bill Maynard
Because of improved grazing practices, there has been an increase of forages and biodiversity on all the ranches that Ranchlands has managed. For that reason, Ranchlands partners with conservation groups like The Nature Conservancy to make these conservation areas also viable ranching operations. 4 IN PRACTICE
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the native ecosystem. Birders also help us to quantify the ecological value of our landscape by providing counts and lists of species present. Every scientist, ornithologist, or mammalogist we work with gives us valuable information in better understanding our prairie home, a home we share with the migrating warblers, herds of pronghorn, and burrowing badgers.
LIVE
Birders are some of the most interested consumers and citizen scientists who understand the valuable role that conservation ranches play in providing wildlife habitat for a world rapidly losing habitat and biodiversity.
Because our ranches really are our homes. Ranchlands has realized that the model for progressive ranching will never be successful without integrating people into the landscape. Luckily, there is no shortage of dedicated, impassioned people on our team who find satisfaction in the lifestyle ranching offers. Traditionally, ranching has been a closeddoor industry. The high costs of entering agriculture are significant enough to prevent young people from choosing it as a career, while families who do pass down an agricultural operation are threatened by the opportunity for higher wages in urban areas that are drawing the next generation away from the land. All in all, there is very little “new blood” entering the field, which does much to stifle innovation. Ranchlands has addressed this issue by inviting inexperienced or amateur young people to work as interns. At the very least, these individuals will leave us with a better appreciation for the role that ranching plays in conserving natural landscapes, while those with a longer-term interest may be invited to join our apprenticeship program. Our apprentices spend between two and six years learning the ins and outs of holistic ranch management—skills such as horsemanship, stockmanship, and grazing planning along with how to manage a team, work with conservation partners, and cater to ranch guests. Upon completion of the program, they are qualified to take over management of a diversified ranch operation within or outside of Ranchlands. On the whole, the average age of our team is late 20s to early 30s. While ranching might not offer competitive salaries, there is a large contingent of young people, such as myself, who are looking for livelihoods that provide a sense of purpose, hard work that means
January / February 2018
something, and a chance to work with nature and play a vital role in its preservation. As we trot back from our move that afternoon, having successfully moved over 1000 pairs into fresh pasture, I look between Jake, the Colorado School of Mines graduate with an engineering degree, his girlfriend, Sam, from the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, her friend, Anna, she met while working on stations in Australia, and Wyatt, a buckaroo cowboy from Nevada. None of these are people I would have met in the cities I grew up in, and yet the sense of community that grows among a group of people who care about the same things and are working towards a common goal on a beautiful, unforgiving piece of land is profound. As Frankie, a wrangler this summer at Zapata, put it: “it was like working on a ship— leagues away and almost completely detached from everything else I knew. And it’s not that I couldn’t stay connected to the outside world, it’s that I ceased wanting to… This summer I was surrounded, supported, and motivated by people constantly. People who know the strange euphoria that accompanies a merciless job, and that when things go from bad to worse, they actually get funny. People who imbued me with courage and responsibility, and trusted me to succeed, and people who define success not by doing a job perfectly, but by still having the will to succeed after failing repeatedly. People that give new meaning to the words “hard work” and “long hours.” People that have taught me so much that I now reserve the word ‘teacher’ for only the most passionate and poised mentors in my life, nearly all of whom are employees of Ranchlands.”
To learn more about Ranchlands visit: http://www.ranchlands.com/.
Three Principles to Graze By BY ALLEN R WILLIAMS, Ph.D.
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y consulting partners and I teach a form of grazing that we call Adaptive Grazing. Adaptive grazing, also called Flex Grazing, is first and foremost not a rigid system or even a routine. It allows the practitioner to address multiple goals and objectives, and to adjust to changing conditions. The benefits derived from adaptive grazing far exceed those of any other grazing practice I have experienced. The practice of adaptive grazing can be summarized in three basic principles that we employ. First, let’s look at the basic tenets of adaptive grazing, which is goal oriented. It allows us to work with multiple goals simultaneously. For example, we can target animal performance, soil building, development of plant species diversity, and soil aggregation, all at the same time. Second, it is dependent on stock density and not stocking rate. Pounds of animals per acre is the focal point. Third, management and flexibility are key to the success of adaptive grazing. We must manage and adjust to changing conditions using keen observation. Fourth, it is predicated on frequent movement and frequent rest. We are to move rapidly through each paddock and allow plenty of rest for each previously grazed paddock. Fifth, adaptive grazing targets complete plant root system recovery between each grazing. This is very important in the soil and microbe building process. Finally, it is highly reliant on temporary fencing technology. Luckily, today we have excellent electric fencing technology that allows effective grazing practices. To be highly successful at adaptive grazing, there are three principles that we live by: 1) The Principle of Compounding, 2) The Principle of Three, and 3) The Principle of Disruption. Follow these three principles and you will be a successful grazer. We will discuss these principles in a three article series, starting with the Principle of Compounding.
Principle of Compounding
I often call this principle, the Principle of Compounding and Cascading Effects. Why? Because there is nothing we do in agriculture— or in life, mind you—that has a singular effect. As a matter of fact, most of the things we do in agriculture have an exponential effect, we often simply don’t realize it.
Unfortunately, we have been trained to think “singular.” One example of that is we have been taught that if we see a weed in our pastures, we are to take an herbicide, spray the weed, and kill the weed. In our thought process, we think, “see weed, spray weed, kill weed.” Job done. Right? Not exactly. Rather we have created a whole series of compounding and cascading effects that will either be positive or negative. You see, compounding effects are never neutral, they are either always negative or positive. We determine which through our management. They impact everything from the soil and soil organisms, to plants, insects, pollinators, birds, wildlife, livestock, water quality, and eventually us. So, what really happened when we sprayed for weeds? First, we never get rid of “weeds” by using an herbicide. We simply set them back for a while. Otherwise, we would only have to spray for weeds once and never again. They are always there in the latent seed bank. Second, the herbicide may have “set back” the undesirable weed, but it also set back numerous other plant species that have highly nutritive properties for our livestock. Third, we have damaged some of our soil microbiology. No way around this. There are certain microbial species that are associated with certain plants, and when we set those plants back, we also set back those specific microbial species. Fourth, we have decreased our plant species diversity and complexity because we have set back certain plant species in the mix. With most herbicides, we set back our forbs and legumes. Forbs (or what most people call weeds) are actually loaded with secondary and tertiary nutritive compounds that provide additional nutritional benefits, have significant medicinal qualities, and even contain plant compounds that have natural deworming properties. These first four compounding effects cause a cascade of other negative effects that we often do not associate with our “singular” practice. The other cascading effects include loss of plant root mass and depth, loss of soil carbon, loss of soil aggregate and water infiltration, reduced animal performance and health, a decrease in soil microbial species and biomass, decrease in soil macro-organism populations, etc. So, we just went from a “singular” act of spraying weeds to triggering a whole series of compounding and cascading effects that create negative consequences that last for years or
even generations. Likewise, poor grazing practices cause a series of negative compounding and cascading effects that last for years and increase our reliance on external inputs, reduce our true carrying capacity potential, and rob us of profits. These include practices such as set stock grazing, continuous grazing, slow rotations, and even high stock density grazing practices where the same methods are employed each day, without any significant alterations. Negative consequences that we routinely observe include seriously compacted soil, poor soil aggregate layer, significantly reduced soil water infiltration rates, reduced plant species diversity and complexity (trend towards a monoculture or near monoculture), poor soil microbial population diversity and biomass, increased reliance on fertilizers, herbicides, and other chemicals, increased reliance on supplementation, increased costs of production, and decreased net profits.
Positive Compounding Benefits
However, the implementation of practices that encourage positive compounding and cascading effects produces a plethora of favorable impacts. These include increased soil health parameters, improved plant species diversity and complexity, enhanced animal performance, better water quality, reduced inputs and costs, increased net profits, and far better quality of life. Positive compounding is a result of sound adaptive grazing application and implementation. We will discuss specifics of adaptive grazing implementation at the end of our series, tying in all three principles stated earlier. For now, we will look at some of the benefits derived from adaptive grazing that illustrate the Principle of Compounding. Adaptive grazing allows us to more quickly build new soil organic matter (OM). Figure 1 (see next page) shows how rapidly we can build new OM by employing adaptive grazing principles. Farms from five different states are shown with increases in soil OM from Year 1 to Year 5, as a result of transitioning from more traditional grazing methods to adaptive grazing. This new soil organic matter also resulted in greater degrees of soil aggregation, better water infiltration and retention, re-establishment of the plant-microbe pathway through a more viable CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
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liquid carbon bridge, relief of soil compaction, reduction in erosion, and a host of other positive benefits. To further add to the compounding effects, we saw significant increases in the total soil microbial biomass or population (Figure 2). In case studies of five different farms in five states, we saw highly significant increases in soil microbial biomass (ng/g of soil) within a five year time period. In all cases, the microbial biomass went from less than 2000 ng/g to more than 6000 ng/g in all cases. One even eclipsed 10,000 ng/g within a five year period. As we increase the soil microbial population, we see compounding benefits that include increased soil aggregation due to the soil “glues” produced by mycorrhizal fungi and other microbial species, increased plant root depth and mass, enhanced mineral solubilization and plant uptake, reduced soil compaction, etc. As we improve the soil microbial population and soil OM, we also see a requisite increase in plant nutritive value and quality, as measured by plant brix. In Figure 3, improvements in plant
brix values result in significant improvements in animal average daily gain (ADG). In the majority of conventionally managed pastures, plant brix ranges from 2–5%, with short seasonal peaks at 6–10%. From the Figure 3 chart, it is evident that low brix values result in lower gain performance. As plant brix increases, gains improve at a fairly linear pace until we get above 20% brix. Finally, changing grazing practices from conventional methods (set-stock, continuous) to adaptive methods—where cattle are moved daily or even multiple times a day under higher stock densities—results in increased plant brix values, even within the first season of adaptive grazing implementation. In sideby-side comparisons on farms in six different states, adaptive grazing significantly increased plant brix values within a singular grazing season (Figure 4).
Summary
Everything we do creates or causes either negative or positive compounding effects. Understanding this is key to being able to
make sound management practice decisions. It should be noted that keen observation is critical to making the correct decisions. Positive compounding effects are driven by building soil organic matter, soil microbial populations, increasing the soil aggregate layer, enhancing plant species diversity, and using stock density impact to our benefit. These impacts tend to be exponential in nature rather than singular or linear. Create positive compounding effects and you will produce benefits that are multi-year and even multi-generational in nature.
Allen Williams is the founding partner of Grass Fed Insights, LLC and is on HMI’s Advisory Council. He is also a 6th generation family farmer, pastured protein producer, adaptive grazer, consultant, and a “reformed academic.” He can be reached at allenwilliams@joyce-farms.com or at 662-312-6826. This article first appeared in the Stockman Grass Farmer. To learn more about this publication go to: https://www. stockmangrassfarmer.com/index.php.
Figure 1. Adaptive Grazing (AMP) Impacts on Soil Organic Matter.
Figure 2. Soil Microbial Biomass Increases Resulting From Adaptive Grazing.
Figure 3. Impact of Increased Plant Brix Value on Animal ADG.
Figure 4. Impact of Adaptive Grazing on Plant Brix.
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LIVESTOCK
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Feiring Cattle Company— Creating a Sustainable Quality of Life BY HEATHER SMITH THOMAS
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onnie and Trish Feiring and their two girls raise low-input registered Angus cattle on their family ranch near Beach, North Dakota—near the Montana border. Their practices include holistic planned grazing, bale grazing, multi-species grazing, and cover crops to help build soil fertility. Their efforts have resulted in improved quality of life and animal health as well as improved land health. For their efforts they received the North Dakota Stockmen’s 2016 Environmental Stewardship Award. While both Donnie and Trish have been involved in agriculture since they were children, it was a Holistic Management course in 2012 that helped them address some of the key issues facing many agriculture producers in the 21st century.
rented a tractor from Trish’s brother the first winter we were here, and ever since then we’ve kept leasing one. We don’t want to own machinery, with all of its expense. I am not a mechanic, and we have a theory that if something rots, rusts or depreciates, we probably shouldn’t own it.” Trish says that the tractor they leased for feeding cows that first winter had no cab. “One of the primary reasons we started bale grazing was that Donnie could plan ahead and put out four or five days’ worth of hay, so the
Start-Up Business Challenges
Donnie and Trish got married in 1998, after they both graduated from North Dakota State University. Growing up, they competed against each other in 4-H livestock judging and their families had known each other for a long time. After their marriage they began exploring how they could start ranching. It took a few years to get their ranching venture started. Trish worked for NRCS to help make ends meet, and still does. “She is now our local District Conservationist here in Golden Valley County,” say Donnie. “She started working for NRCS out of college in 1997, and continued while we lived in Towner, North Dakota. For 7 years we lived there and I worked at various jobs. I worked for a rancher, did a mail route, drove a school bus, and worked for a feedlot for a while.” During that time they were using Trish’s family’s ranch as a place for their cattle as they got started. “From the beginning, we knew we would never be able to handle all three things at once that were required to get started in the cattle business—the land, the cattle and the machinery,” says Donnie. In 2005 Donnie and Trish found a small farmstead to rent, near Beach, about 12 miles away and in 2011 they were able to buy it. With all their money in the land, they had to figure out how to address some of the other pressing needs of their business. “We had no equipment and we didn’t have the capital to invest in equipment along with the land, or to buy more cattle to stock the land,” says Trish. “We didn’t want to have to buy any machinery,” says Donnie. “We
Haley, Donnie, Taylor, and Trish Feiring cows could eat and he didn’t have to drive around on that cabless tractor in sub-zero weather or try to start it every day. We don’t have to go out in the middle of a blizzard to feed our cows. We feed them ahead of the storm and let them fill up on hay and they are usually just fine. And I don’t have to worry about Donnie going out there in the blizzard and not being able to get back to the house!” she says. “We have a lot of challenges ahead of us, in agriculture,” says Donnie. “When my dad was still alive he said there would just be different challenges, and I think that’s true. There are always challenges but what we face later will probably be different than some of the ones we face today. I am encouraged about the fact that many people are trying to get back to their roots and want to know where their food comes from,” he says. CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
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and are fortunate enough to find a piece of ground to start out, you should consider yourself lucky. With land prices, we were fortunate to find a place to rent for several years and then buy. The holistic class made us look at our individual skills. Neither Donnie nor I was a mechanic. He doesn’t A lot of people want to know how their beef was raised, and don’t mind doing it, but it’s not his favorite thing, and neither of us like to go want to buy something that was imported—that they don’t know how it around in circles all day in a tractor,” says Trish. She and Donnie prefer to was produced. “We need to get away from chemicals. We are not organic have every free opportunity to spend with family or making sure the cattle here, but we don’t use chemicals. I think for human health and for animal health we need to get away from that. Yet many people in our society think are content and happy, instead of spending time in a tractor. “We wanted our children to be involved as much as possible in this using these crutches is part of advancement and technology that help us venture, and the holistic class made us take a different look at things— produce food. But I have a hard time with that idea,” he says. including the land and livestock. When we make any decision it has to include all of those things, not just one, and we also try to incorporate Turning the Corner with Holistic Management the girls. They are “We were struggling, obviously not the wondering how we were decision-makers yet, going to get all of this but we let them weigh to work,” says Donnie. in on our decisions and “Then in February we ask what they think. of 2012 we took our That’s how our chicken first course in Holistic enterprise became Management. I tell part of our operation people that this was because these livestock the best money I ever are small enough for spent. We heard about the girls to handle. They this through Trish’s job could start their own at NRCS.” enterprise. We did it The local Soil partially for the girls and Conservation District also to build soil health sponsored a class on some acres that and about 20 people needed extra attention. attended. “Donnie and It’s been a good I made a commitment addition,” she says. to do it together,” says Improved forage stands have been the result of improved grazing Trish says her first Trish. “I told him that if management at Feiring Cattle Company. encounter with Holistic I was going to do it, he Management was should do it, too. We actually in college. “I took a Holistic Management class from Wayne Berry feel strongly that if someone is going to invest in this they should do it at Williston, North Dakota. He was an instructor at University of North as a couple. Otherwise it’s very difficult. We’ve noticed that when one of Dakota-Williston. Holistic Management had always intrigued me, so when us has gone to a meeting, when they get home, the other person wants Donnie and I got married and were trying to figure out our next step, we to know what was presented. The person who attended the meeting is thought more about it.” brain-drained by that time and it’s hard to convey everything to the other person.” It’s better if both can attend together and be a part of it first-hand, rather than try to re-explain it all. “Our local educator is Josh Dukart,” says Donnie. “I tell people that I “In February of 2012 we took our learned more in three days of that class than I did in 4.5 years at NDSU! It first course in Holistic Management. was a lot more help,” he says. “You go to one of these classes thinking you will find some answers, I tell people that this was the best but you actually come away with more questions!” It opens the door for money I ever spent.” new ideas, trying new things, discovering more opportunities—seeing ways to tweak some ideas to fit your own place. “That was the biggest thing it did for us,” he says. They took the Holistic Management course and both enjoyed the class. “After going to the class, we look at things differently,” says Trish. Two years later, in 2014, they took the financial course. “We also took an “Now, whenever we try to make a management decision in our operation online course through HMI. That was a little more difficult because at that we sit down and think about it differently. If we are considering purchasing time we had little kids running around the house. It was harder for the two something we ask ourselves if it’s a ‘want’ or a ‘need.’ Is it an asset to of us to sit and focus, listening to a webinar for an hour and a half in this our operation or is it a liability? We find that some things are an asset at situation. If the house was quiet and you could focus on it, I think it would certain points during the year and then become a liability at other times,” be easier,” she says. she explains. “Last year we worked with Chad Nios in Bowman,” says Donnie. “His “We also opened our eyes to diversification, trying to look at multiple family had been practicing Holistic Management for many years. His dad enterprises on the same land base. When you move into a community 8 Land & Livestock
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took courses in the late 1980s and early 1990s from Roland Kroos. The courses we took helped us a lot, because we realized we had to do things unconventionally. We couldn’t do things the way everyone else is. For instance we don’t start calving until May 1st and everyone here thinks we are crazy. Yet this change is one of the best things we ever did,” he says.
being depleted—it was just take, take, take from it. Now we are trying to build it up again and it might take 30 years to go the other direction but we are hoping it won’t take that long. So we are trying to figure out ways to improve soil health quicker. By putting the natural fertilizer on it with the chickens, we are already starting to see improvement.” When it was put back into grass after farming, this land was originally seeded to western wheatgrass. “When we first got here, there wasn’t any of that left; it had all gone to brome,” says Donnie. “But after we started doing more grazing in different patterns, utilizing heavy impact and then “I tell people that I learned more leaving it and giving it more rest, we are seeing the western wheatgrass in three days of that class than I did in come back. This was neat to watch; the seeds must have been there in the soil, waiting for an opportunity. Before the high-density grazing 4.5 years at NDSU! It was a lot and long recovery periods, the brome grass always overtook it. With more help.” continuous season-long grazing the western wheat grass never got a chance.” It’s been baby steps, with the bale grazing, and now using the chickens to add concentrated nutrients. “This took a lot of burden off us. The big focus of cattle producers here “When we talk about soil health and trying to keep our cattle healthy is to keep trying for more weaning weight. We calve later and even though we also need to look in the mirror—the human health side of things,” says our calves aren’t as big in the fall, we have less stress in our life. The Trish. “We think about the management, the labor, etc. but if you don’t calves we sell are lightweight, but dollar-wise we actually get more back have human health you don’t have soil health or livestock health. It’s been because we have less expense in that calf; there’s more profit margin. For a slow evolution for us and this is the part we are working on now. We us, this is a win-win situation,” says Donnie. were never big grain feeders, but when you start looking at the expense “Then we started and look at where you raising pastured poultry can cut costs and plan in 2015, realizing it for a profit rather than would fit very well into plan for breaking even our operation. We were every year, this is an looking for something ongoing process. It that would improve makes you change our soil health. Some the way you think of the land had been about things.” broken up and farmed “We’ve been to Gabe in the 1970s to grow and Paul Brown’s place wheat, when wheat and have become good went to $8 a bushel. friends,” says Donnie. The owner later seeded “They have incorporated it back to grass in chickens, along with 1983 and it has now pastured pork. After mostly gone to brome we took the Holistic grass. In 2013 we got Management course a SARE (Sustainable and the financial side of Agriculture Research it, we were looking for The Feirings make sure that all the animals on their farm are calm and friendly—as can be and Education) grant something else to grow seen by this group of bulls watching eight-year-old Haley. using cover crops to on our place that would try to rejuvenate this fit with what we were ground and get better production,” he says. doing. We didn’t feel we were ready to take the plunge for pigs or sheep This enabled them to plant cover crops in their brome grass pastures, so we thought we’d try chickens.” which helped them work toward extending the grazing season. The cover The first year, they got 50 laying hens and 50 broilers, and started crops also helped improve soil health, and increase infiltration due to the selling eggs. “We plan to do more broilers again this summer. We sell out deep-rooted species in the cover crop mix. of them quickly because people really like them,” he says. The chickens’ “We did some soil testing on that ground, and old plow pan is at seven diet consists of 20% forage and 80% concentrates. They are housed in inches and it only absorbs about .75 inches of water and the rest all ends 10-by-12-foot portable pens known as “chicken tractors,” which can be up on our neighbor’s land. We were trying to get better biological health moved anywhere in the pasture to place fertilizer where it is needed the in that soil so we could keep most of the moisture. We did a cover crop most. The Feirings move the chicken tractors once or even twice a day. study on that piece of land for two years and still felt we weren’t getting Over the past couple years, they have seen significant improvement in soil enough production from it. We did some bale grazing on it, and we can health. Having 75 birds in one pen for one day is equivalent to putting on see that those areas where we bale grazed are improving, but it takes 300 pounds of nitrogen per acre. time,” he says. “A friend of ours near Bismarck runs sheep and sells lamb and beef,” “I have to remind myself that for more than 30 years this land was CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 Num ber 177
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raising cattle with good dispositions. Our girls can walk out in a group of 30 18-month-old bulls. If there are any bulls that aren’t at ease with that, they go into our grass-fed beef program. This weeds out the ones that we wouldn’t want to sell to someone else. I’ve told Donnie that I don’t know if says Donnie. “She told us that selling eggs can open the door for selling I could live with myself if one of our customers ever got hurt by one of our meat, and we’ve found that to be true. Many of our egg customers now bulls or a heifer that they kept from one of our bulls,” she says. want to buy our beef. The first year we sold grass-finished beef we only “The Holistic Management class totally changes your perspective on sold six beef and this year it will be 10 to 12 head.” how you think about things and you The Feirings are currently developing ask yourself more questions about a label for their grass-fed beef and have why you are doing what you are obtained a retail meat permit. They doing. We’ve been using the Quiet currently sell most of their beef through Wean nose flaps for weaning and this direct sales and also plan on attending a past year we decided to go ahead few farmers markets. Donnie and Trish and Bangs vaccinate the heifers at feel it is essential for consumers to know the same time, since they are less where their food comes from. They want stressed with this kind of weaning to actively help educate more people program. We had to ask ourselves about sourcing their food locally and the why we’d been running them through health benefits of eating grass-fed beef. the chute an extra time all these years? There are a lot of things we Creating a Profitable Livekeep doing without question, just stock Operation because that’s the way we’ve always The Feiring cattle run 135 cow-calf done it or that’s the way our parents pairs and 50 yearlings (all grass-fed) did it,” says Trish. on 1,985 acres (800 owned acres and “We’d all been taught that we had 1,185 leased acres). Because the to have more production, especially place they bought wasn’t set up for my dad’s generation in the 1960s cattle, they’ve had to invest in some and ’70s,” says Donnie. “It was all improvements. “The only thing that about making the cattle bigger, and was here when we came was a well, maximizing production. That had three water tanks and a boundary been pounded into his head. Even fence around the section—divided into in the 1990s when I went to college, two different pastures,” says Donnie. it was still about production and how “We started building new facilities, and we were going to feed the world. We splitting up those pastures. We’d like to felt we needed to produce more. It’s get them into smaller pieces, 75 to 80 different today. Even though a lot of acres, so we can do more moves. We’ve people are still on that path, there been doing a lot of dividing pastures, While Donnie never thought he’d help raise is more realization that we need a with electric fence and step-in posts.” chickens, the egg enterprise has been an opportunity balance and need to look at the whole Having portable fences has been to get Haley and Taylor involved in the farm and picture.” We have to think about the good, allowing for flexibility and leaving build soil fertility. land, the cattle, and sustainability room to figure out where they might instead of squeezing everything for want to put the permanent fences. You maximum production. don’t always know, and this gives leeway for some trial and error. Trish says that farmers over the years have taken too much out of the The Feirings utilize wells in all their pastures to supply stock water. land. “I think back to when my great-grandpa was ranching and he never Two of the wells are solar-powered. Fiberglass tanks are located in each talked about buying mineral supplements for his cattle. Now people buy pasture and are capable of storing three to five days of water, in case of mineral like it is candy,” she says. Given a chance, however, pastures can emergency. Many of the tanks are frost-free tanks used for winter grazing. have a healthy balance and there will be certain plants that can provide Improving the land and pastures with grazing management is a way the minerals the cattle need. Some plants can pull minerals from deeper to eventually be able to run more cattle without having to buy more down in the soil profile. land and the Feirings have focused on this. Multiple enterprises on the “In Holistic Management they talk about having ‘aha’ moments. One same ranch (several species of livestock) can also help, such as the of those ‘aha’ moments for me was when we turned a group of cows into chicken enterprise. a new pasture when the yucca plants were blooming. They bloom every The Feirings’ cattle genetics have also evolved. The purebred Angus other year. When we came back the next day all the flowers were gone; cattle they started with were fairly moderate and efficient so they didn’t the cattle ate them! Yucca is a deep-rooted plant that pulls nutrients from need to change a whole lot to go to grass-fed genetics with the kind of a deeper zone than what most of our rangeland plants do. I realized there cattle that can do well in any environment without pampering. was something in that plant that those cows needed, and they went after Temperament is another aspect that’s very important in the Feiring herd. “If our girls can’t walk out in our cow herd or be around a certain cow, it—something that most of the grasses and forbs on our native prairie were not able to supply,” she explains. that cow doesn’t belong in our operation,” says Trish. “We’re dedicated to 10
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“I think that over the years we’ve gotten into the take-take-take mode in agriculture and have not put anything back. We’ve depleted a lot of the minerals and nutrients in our native plants to the point that some of those plants have diminished and disappeared without our realizing it. Some of them may no longer be able to tap down and grab some of those nutrients that they were able to, at one point in time.” When pastures are not allowed a chance for recovery, some of the preferred grazing plants decrease and die off.
“The calves we sell are lightweight, but dollar-wise we actually get more back because we have less expense in that calf.” “This is a long, slow trend and people don’t notice it,” says Trish. “I was in 4-H for 12 years and one of my projects was collecting native range plants and mounting them. I’ve told Donnie that there are a lot of those plants that I remember seeing on my parents’ ranch and had no problem finding them, and now it’s harder to find them. Today if I see purple prairie clover I’m excited because I no longer see it everywhere like I used to. It’s a native legume that fixes nitrogen in the soil and provides it for other plants.” This is more reason to keep trying to help the land with proper animal impact, rather than trying for maximum production. Before taking their first course in 2012 the Feirings had been selling yearling bulls. “We were calving in late March and through April, and took the bull calves up to my father-in-law’s feedlot to try to get them big enough to sell as yearlings,” says Donnie. “We had our sale in mid-March and it was a challenge to get them to weigh 1,000 to 1,200 pounds; we were pushing them fairly hard, with a lot of grain, to get them to grow big enough and semen test at that age. We’d often need to have them checked again a bit later. It seemed like we were always spending money to get these bulls ready to sell. We were clipping and washing them, ultrasounding them and doing a lot of things to get them ready for the sale—a lot of extra effort and expense that we no longer have to do. We were also spending a lot of money on advertising and weren’t really satisfied with the product we were offering.” “The bulls were in a feedlot situation, and then we decided to go grassfed,” says Trish. “That’s when we went from selling grain-fed yearling Angus bulls to 18-month-old bulls that were grass-fed. We completely removed all grain from our operation. Neil Dennis says that God gave these animals a four-compartment stomach for a reason, and we need to let them use it. We also say that He gave them four legs for a reason—to travel and graze. We tend to want to do everything for the cattle, even though they are fully capable of taking care of themselves if we give them the opportunity. Over the years, livestock breeders have taken away some of those natural abilities.” Using chemicals to control parasites is another example. Like other ranchers, Trish and Donnie poured their cattle every fall/winter to control lice. “This is the fifth year we haven’t done it,” says Trish. “The first couple years were difficult because it was hard to watch them itching and rubbing on everything. But we held off and each winter got better, and now we have some natural immunity back in our cows. We looked at it holistically and asked ourselves whether we were treating a symptom or treating the problem. Is it the whole herd being affected or just a few animals? Does
every cow need to be treated or do we just need to eliminate the ones that have the problem? Eventually we were able to minimize lice as a problem in our herd. I don’t want to have to touch that stuff anymore because it’s toxic. Our health means more to us now than it did before.” Going to grass-fed cattle was another logical step. “We saw what Mark DeBoo at Diamond D Angus (Valier, Montana) was doing,” says Donnie. “He switched his calving season and went to selling forage-raised bulls in 2003. We bought one of his bulls the last year that he grained his bulls, and then went back three years later and bought a forage-grown bull. It was hard to adjust our ideas about what these bulls looked like, but that forage-raised bull just kept getting better and better.” Forage-developed bulls continue to grow and fill out until they are three or four years old.
Adding bale grazing to their management practices, has improved the Feiring’s forage stand and quality of life. When a storm is forecast they put out multiple bales before hand and let the cattle feed up on the hay to make it through the storm so the Feirings don’t have to be out in inclement weather or trying to maneuver equipment. “This was a hard adjustment for us, however,” says Donnie. “The first year we went to forage-raised bulls in 2012 and foraged-raised replacement heifers, it was hard to let them do it on their own. We were so used to looking at fed-on fat.” This is a good way to find out which ones can thrive on forage and which ones can’t handle it. “We’ve been doing this now for five years and we’ve made adjustments and our cattle are doing well. It’s much healthier for the cattle and for the people who eat the meat when these animals are eating forage, which is what their rumen was meant to do.” Since converting to a grass-fed program, they have had little to no sickness in the cattle.
“Having 75 birds in one pen for one day is equivalent to putting on 300 pounds of nitrogen per acre.” “The customers who buy our grass-finished meat are amazed at the difference, and the better flavor in the grass-finished beef,” says Donnie. “Some have raved about these being the best steaks they’ve ever had, in their life. As the producer I felt honored and excited, but in another sense I also felt sad. Here are people who are just now discovering the quality of a CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
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good steak! What are we doing as an industry to have this big difference? How many people in this country have never had good fresh meat with this kind of flavor? There are probably thousands, maybe millions. Most people never get the real flavor.” Donnie and Trish firmly believe that grass-finished agriculture products are healthier and have a higher content of Omega 3 fatty acids. They believe in only using antibiotics on their cattle when absolutely needed; any calves that have been treated do not go into the all-natural grass-fed beef program.
Producing Quality of Life
Trish and Donnie have two girls, Harley (8) and Taylor (6). “When we got the chickens we were thinking about including the girls in our business,” Donnie says. “Eventually Trish would like to quit her job so we can be together working on the ranch as a family. We wanted to find something else we could do on the ranch that the girls could handle, and the chickens have been nice for that—other than the butchering part! Chickens have fit in well for us and our holistic goal.”
Good genetics and disposition make simple chores like calf weighing so much easier. With the laying hens, Harley and Taylor started H and T Egg Company. “They sell eggs and we now have 115 laying hens. When we started, egg prices were high; it was the year that eggs were in short supply because of the bird influenza. We did a poll on potential egg customers, to find out what to charge for eggs. The answers we got back were anywhere from $2 to $6 per dozen, so we split the difference and charged $4 a dozen,” says Donnie. The girls sell eggs to friends, people at their church, school teachers, bus drivers and neighbors. “Now we also have four people we deliver eggs to in Dickinson, North Dakota, which is 60 miles away. We try to do that every other week, to make the trip count when we are going there anyway for groceries or other supplies,” Donnie says. “I thought $4 a dozen seemed like a lot, but people are willing to pay that price and some of them even tip the girls in addition to the price— perhaps because they appreciate good eggs and know the money is going to a good cause. One fellow tells us he won’t eat any other eggs. It’s been a good project for the girls,” he says. “I have friends who think we are crazy to be raising chickens or doing something different with the cattle that might be considered old fashioned. But we enjoy it and we are doing something we can do together as a 12
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family, and it works. We have talked about bringing in sheep or goats as the girls get a little older. We don’t feel like we are there yet, but this is something we might look into at some point,” he says. “We definitely keep a more open approach. Five years ago, if someone had said we’d have chickens in our pastures I would have thought they were crazy!” The Feirings also use horses, and the girls love to ride and participate in youth rodeo. “Trish and I both grew up on ranches that used horses and we enjoy having horses, but today we have to really work at finding jobs for the horses to do!” The cattle are easily managed during planned moves without the need for horses. “We had one group of 64 pairs last year that we were moving every three or four days. Any time we’d show up, those cows were ready to move and we just had to open the gate. We really don’t need horses to gather or move cattle but we still like to go riding with the girls just for fun,” says Donnie. It’s a great way to get out and look at the land, and the girls have become more confident in their riding skills. He is pleased that the girls are interested in helping on the ranch and having their chicken enterprise. “Maybe they will want to ranch when they grow up and maybe they won’t, but this is a way for them to find out what they like to do. This gives them some opportunities. I see so many farm/ ranch operations that don’t have room for the next generation, but it doesn’t have to be that way.” Donnie mentions Jerry Doan as an example. “He says he will open the door to any one of his kids to come back to the family farm, but tells them that they have to come back with an idea for an additional enterprise. Their farm has several enterprises for different family members, including rural tourism. Thinking outside the box can give you a way to make it work.” Donnie and Trish want to involve their children in their operation. “That’s where the holistic thing really works—where everybody is a part of it. We also enjoy more quality time as a family. When I was growing up, there was no such thing as a vacation and that word wasn’t even in our vocabulary,” says Donnie. “The first year Trish and I decided to go on a vacation we planned to go to Rapid City to the Black Hills and see Mount Rushmore and just have a relaxing time. I was telling Trish that I needed to get this done and that done and I wouldn’t be able to go, and she said, ‘The Suburban is leaving on Thursday whether you are in it or not!’ So I realized that I had better get my stuff done so I could go. This was three years ago, and we went—and had a blast. The cattle and everything else on the ranch was fine when we got home. Ever since that trip, I’ve become more relaxed and can go on vacation without a lot of worries. We have a 71-year-old neighbor who is retired and he looks in on our place.” This takes the burden of worry away. “A person needs to get away sometimes just to rejuvenate and come back fresher, but there are many people in agriculture who never go anywhere or say they can’t because they have certain chores or the heifers are calving, or whatever. Now that we are calving in May and June, the heifers calve out on pasture and we just don’t worry about them. I didn’t know that calving heifers could be that easy!” Donnie and Trish strive for manageable debt and staying financially secure in order to be able to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. This approach allows them to make independent decisions based on their beliefs, rather than strictly on economics. Donnie and Trish have effectively combined daily ranch management with enjoyable activities, such as using horses and being able to do things together as a family. With Holistic Management they have been able to create financial security and a high quality of life, while stewarding the land they own.
Round Rock Ranching—
Ranching For A Better World BY HEATHER SMITH THOMAS
S
ean McGrath is a fifth-generation rancher. He and his wife Tanya and family manage a 110-year-old family operation, Round Rock Ranching, with 250 Angus-based cows. Their ranch markets feeder calves, backgrounders, grass-finished beef, purebred seedstock, F1 heifers and environmental goods and services. The ranch headquarters is near Vermilion, Alberta and located four miles north of the Battle River, between the junctions of the Grizzly Bear Coulee and Benner Coulee, with a summer grazing operation at Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan. The ranch at Vermilion is roughly 80% native prairie which is extensively winter grazed. Along with growing grass and raising cattle, Sean provides consulting services to the beef industry and helps teach the AI course offered at Lakeland College. He also sells Speedright electric fencing materials and provides rangeland monitoring products for Land EKG in Canada, selling rangeland monitoring systems. “The nice thing about ranching and being self-employed is that you can do a lot of different things as well as experimentation and innovations. If you are interested in something, you can usually figure out a way to tie it into your everyday life, and explore a lot of different directions. And I really get a charge out of teaching other people about some of the things I’ve learned,” he says. Sean met his wife Tanya when they were both attending university and they’ve been married for 17 years. Sean and Tanya have 3 children: Billy (13), Destinee (10), and Denae (8). “They help on the ranch but also are involved in 4-H, dance, and sports. They enjoy working and helping, but we don’t want to make them work so hard that they don’t want to have a future in ranching. They need to understand that life is fun as well as work. There are days and weeks that are so busy that things are way out of balance, but there are also weeks where we are gone on holiday,” he notes.
A Focus on Land Stewardship
The vision statement for Round Rock Ranching is “The Best Beef in a Better World.” In 2014 the McGrath family received the Provincial and National TESA awards, presented annually by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA). The CCA has been giving The Environmental Stewardship Award (TESA) to environmentally-conscious ranchers since 1996. This national honor for 2014 went to Sean and his wife and their three children in partnership with Sean’s parents, Fred and Anne McGrath—for demonstrating “a thoughtful and strategic approach to stewardship that has resulted in significant benefits to the land as well as the operation’s bottom line.” In winning this award, Round Rock Ranching was selected because of many practices which included implementing innovative techniques like various offsite watering systems while practicing beneficial management practices resulting in outstanding environmental stewardship. Their stewardship on tame pasture stands, for instance, has extended stand life and allowed for significantly increasing and maintaining production on those lands—with limited inputs. The ranch has also adopted helpful practices such as bale grazing, use of portable wind fence, and fuel-efficient vehicles for daily operations to reduce energy use and costs. Winter feeding methods also significantly reduce electrical demands on the ranch. Numerous recycling efforts have been implemented for twine, used oil containers, used oil, and old wire.
Sean selects cattle that fit the land rather than trying to force the land to produce for the cattle. The emphasis on timing of grazing has greatly contributed to the success of this ranch. Employing various winter grazing techniques like swath and bale grazing has worked to reduce fuel, time and money. “The changes we’ve made have just been in the management— The McGrath children helping sort cattle here coaxing nature with Billy in the background, Destinee in the along and letting her middle, and Denae up front. do her thing; she can do amazing things if you let her,” said Sean. He works closely with groups like Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS) and Cows & Fish to provide environmental and educational benefits for the ranch operation and to share with the public. Through the various projects done with these groups, riparian areas on the ranch are thriving and providing wildlife habitats, carbon sequestration and biodiversity preservation. “We are landscape health verified through the Cows and Fish (Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society) REAL Beef Program (Ranchers Enhancing Alberta’s Landscapes). We work through the Verified Beef Production protocols to ensure animal and human health and well-being and we have an Environmental Farm Plan. If our kids eventually choose to ranch, I would like to see our place in better condition than it is today,” says Sean.
Listening to the Land
The place at Meadow Lake is about 1,000 acres, and all tame pasture. “Our place here at home at Vermilion is quite unique. We are prairie parkland, but our home operation is 80% native rangeland—which is extremely unusual. This is a big part of why we run cattle the way we do, and are not a mixed farm. Every piece of land here at home has a coulee running through it. It’s just grazing land, but if it’s managed carefully it will surprise you on what it will do,” Sean says. The several decades of planned grazing have increased the forage production and carrying capacity. “We use a lot of the pastures in late fall and winter. On the tame pastures we get pretty good production with our grazing, as well. On the native grasses we use Land EKG to monitor and measure what’s going on,” he says. “The Land EKG is a formal measuring system where production, biodiversity, and results of management are looked at. If people are familiar with a rangeland health assessment, this is simpler. We do some of that level/depth of monitoring, but Land EKG gives us about 80% of the results with only 15 to 20% of the effort. It’s roughly 85% of a full rangeland health assessment, accomplished with much less effort.” When a person monitors their land and pastures for a long time and becomes familiar with the biological trends, it becomes easier to have a CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
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good feel for what’s happening. It helps to be in tune with your own place; you have a pretty good idea if things are improving or not. “We always try to push things, just to keep learning. There is some science behind what we are doing in our monitoring, but it is also an art— and becomes even more of an art as you get more familiar with your land,” he says. “You are aware of many things, and focused. It’s a bit like how a mechanic knows that a piece of machinery isn’t running right; he can tell by the sound of it. It’s the same kind of intuitive knowledge about the land,” says Sean.
Flexible Grazing
The cow herd is basically Angus, though in the past the ranch used some Simmental genetics to create F1 calves. “We recently started a purebred herd of Angus just because we want to accomplish some things genetically. In our crossbreeding program we used mostly black Simmental with moderate frame size, very similar to our Angus bulls in size—just to keep that balance and just add a little hybrid vigor. Those calves just stay a little healthier and grow a little better,” says Sean. All the cattle on this ranch graze nearly year round except for the bale grazing. “It depends on the year. We’ve brought cows off grass some years as late as Valentine’s Day, and on other years we’ve had to bring
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Sean McGrath and his family work to create “The Best Beef in a Better World”—the ranch’s vision statement. Land & Livestock
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them off grass in December or January to start the bale grazing; it’s always weather dependent, so a person always needs a back-up plan and system. Our plan is to never run out of grass. Water and grass are the two important things we monitor.” For risk management, their cattle program is always flexible. “If someone comes along with the right money, our calves will be for sale. But I don’t want to ever be forced to sell calves just because I’m out of grass. We do have a drought plan, so if we don’t hit certain targets by certain days, we have some groups or certain cows that are on the list for possible sale and those can go. If we don’t have a certain amount of moisture by the 15th of May, for instance and the grass isn’t going to be adequate, those cows are gone. They might go on Monday and it might start raining on Tuesday but I don’t care. That’s the rule, and we are pretty strict about it; we don’t hang onto cattle too long,” he says. The cattle are marketed various ways. “With the purebred herd we sell 2-year-old bulls and we’ve also leased out some yearling bulls to people who calve later. We calve later than most purebred breeders, so these yearling bulls are not very old,” he says. “The steers can also be marketed several ways. Often we’ve sold them privately, and we’ve also sold heifers privately. Occasionally we take calves to an auction market, depending on the year and the situation. We sell any open heifers as grass-finished beef. We’ve sold many different products, several different ways,” he says.
Creating Work/Life Balance
Round Rock Ranching has been evolving for over 110 years. “My great-great-grandfather David Ganton started here with a homestead in 1906. As the years passed, my great-grandfather (Charles Ganton), and then his daughter Mary and her husband (my grandparents) ran the place, and then my father Fred McGrath. After university and working somewhere else for a while, my wife Tanya and I came back to Vermilion in 2002. I had always had an interest in the farm, and when we came back we went through the farm succession—passing it from my dad to us. At first Tanya and I lived in town, and then moved out to the farm in 2010,” says Sean. In the early1980’s Sean’s father went to a workshop/presentation with Allan Savory at Lloydminster, Alberta. “As a kid in the 1980’s I helped Dad build a lot of electric fence, running yearlings in a rotational grazing system, and I remember everyone thinking we were nuts. We got an electric fencer from New Zealand, and it was way ahead of anything here,” says Sean. “In 1988 we quit grain farming completely and went to straight cattle. When my wife Tanya and I came back from university, we were the first generation that didn’t buy the farm from the previous generation. We all thought it didn’t make sense to keep buying the same land base from ourselves five times. So we expanded the ranch instead, and bought the place in Meadow Lake as part of that process,” he explains. “Holistically, the best thing we ever did was create a vision statement for our ranch that everyone in the family could understand and get behind. It basically addressed the financial, production, and human/ people side of things—looking at what is important to us, what we believe, and what we are trying to accomplish. Our vision statement is ‘The Best Beef in a Better World’ and that makes every decision easier,” he says. “If someone comes along trying to sell us something, we can examine it from several aspects—and see if it will make our product better, or the world around us better. If it doesn’t do any of those things it’s an easy decision to not buy it. If it does do some of those things we can look into it a little further. We’ve always taken that approach.” The McGrath family’s mission is to “produce and market the best beef in an environmentally, socially and economically responsible manner”. This
means that the ranch must make a profit, but can’t do it at the expense of in a new direction.” You can try ideas on a small scale on some of your the surroundings or society at large, either locally or globally. land and then see how you might want to expand those. “There are three simple core principles that guide our operation: “If someone presents you with a new idea and says that you can apply respect and life (they are the same thing); do right, and do it right; and it at home, you probably can, almost 100% of the time. The biggest thing third is to learn what you do, do what you learn, and love what you do, do we’ve learned here is that we can steal every good idea we’ve ever seen,” what you love.” says Sean. You may just have to tweak The ranch grazes cows through winter it a little to fit your own environment and and does some bale grazing. “This year, situation. in February, with all the cows and calves, “I always say that about half my good we have about 350 head to feed, and only ideas turn out to be ok—about 27.3% have about 20 minutes of chores each of the time! There are lots of things that day. We try to find that balance work/life won’t work for us, but the only way we’ll balance, so we don’t have to work long know is to try, and experiment.” hours every day.” The experiments pay off in the Part of Holistic Management is looking long run. “A decade ago, our cost of at the whole picture and having a plan. production per calf we raised was about “We realize that life isn’t linear. We $200 or more higher than it is now. The sometimes have to tweak our plans, and amount of work we had to do back then, Sean McGrath has trialled a number of winter grazing even change our back-up plans,” he says. with even less cows, was a lot more— practices including having the cattle graze corn stalks. “We’ve always been experimental and not just per cow, but totally, across the open to new ideas. For instance, I’ve had lots of people (from all over the board,” he says. country) tell me that you can’t graze cattle in the winter. My philosophy “Being willing to be receptive to new ideas can open a lot of doors to is that if you think you can’t, then of course you can’t. But if there are many things, not just financial. It opens doors to family time, and some things you think you can do, you will find a way. Regarding Holistic especially opens doors to meeting new people. The way you find out new Management, probably the biggest take-away message is that if you think things is by talking to different people. I always encourage everyone to about it or want to try it, you don’t necessarily have to turn your whole farm have an experimental mind set,” says Sean.
Knap-Time BY TROY BISHOPP
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ou’re probably looking at my title and thinking that I spelled in error, the act of slumber after a heavy lunch. In my defense, naptime is usually when I think about how to react to all the purple knapweed growing on my farm this year. Just as I enjoyed an intense drool, dreaming of endless pristine pastures devoid of unsightly weeds, the annoying alarm clock of Mother Nature goes off and brings me back to the reality—weeds (also known as forage) are here to stay! Poet, Phillip Pulfrey said it best: I learn more about God From weeds than from roses; Resilience springing Through the smallest chink of hope In the absolute of concrete.... My intimate relationship with this forage-weed is a lot like a marriage, it takes patience and compromise to work. Many folks abhor this matrimony and seek divorce by lethal injection with chemicals. I’m too darn stubborn to take this easy, costly route for I have an appreciation or affliction in working with this plant as a symbol of diversity and importance. In my way of thinking, God gave us this plant for a reason and I’m determined to find out why. According to the late Newman Turner, this “herb” knapweed or hardheads, as he called them, is one The dreaded knapweed.
of the few indicators of phosphate deficiency. He said, “The existence of knapweed is one of the few justifications for applying rock phosphate as well as manure and ground limestone.” Curious to me was his description of how far down the plant’s roots will go to tap subsoil phosphorus and thrive when other plants won’t. Since I have low phosphorus on many fields because of no grain importation or added soil amendments, this makes sense to me. Ok, so it’s evident I have a problem. In addition to fertility, I have outwintered on fields, scarring them up and compacting them, which gives way to plants that can fill the void and have rolled out bales with knapweed plants in them. My friend Nathan also thinks the severe drought with long pasture recovery periods and the die back of other pasture species from last year is helping with the proliferation problem. I’m sure it’s a combination of many factors. The bigger question is what to do or not do against our holistic farm goals which direct us to like diversity, soil biology, water quality and wildlife. Can bigger picture thinking and land management be the right tools? I’m convinced if you study and observe the subtleties of nature, you’ll find the solution. If you can accept the spotted, Russian or whatever knapweed species you have will always be around in some fashion depending on conditions, I think you can move forward in controlling the forage plant. Ian MitchellInnes coaxed me to move towards what I want by planning my grazing. He also liked that we have the most overlooked weed killer, frost and snow. I took this knowledge to heart. Here are a few control measures, minus chemical or biological remedies, I have tried with some success: 1) Teach your animals to eat it by learning animal behavior from Kathy Voth’s training regime. CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
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Knap-Time
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2) Plan to graze an infested field when the plants are young and tender (4–6") while getting enough animal impact to eat every plant or trample them. 3) Manure heavily or add compost or soil amendments so other plants outcompete the weeds. 4) Graze more frequently avoiding long recovery periods >40 days and clip after each grazing period. 5) If the knapweed gets ahead of you, have the patience to let it flower (allowing bees to make you some awesome honey and grassland birds to nest) and then turn animals in to eat the blossoms and top leaves thereby stealing the plants ability to seed. It’s number 5 that has me most interested. I’m not too old to forget the Bambi movie when Thumper the bunny rabbit was scolded by his mom for just eating the blossoms and came up with this famous quote, “Eating greens is a special treat, it makes long ears and great big feet. But it sure is awful stuff to eat.” After witnessing the cows eating all the purple flowers and the top leaves when turned into a paddock, I decided to do a brix test on the plant. Turns out Thumper was right, the brix was twice that of the other plants in the field. I took it even further. I harvested them and sent them into the Dairy One Forage Lab. The technicians must have been scratching their heads as they tested them. In Jerry Brunetti’s honor, the sample came
back indicating the plant parts were as good as pre-bud alfalfa with an excellent mineral profile. This was good stuff! Why would we want to kill it? With the plant tops bitten off here in July and August, I went ahead and clipped the paddocks down so I would have quality stockpiled forage for fall and winter grazing before our frost in the first part of October. Taking a cue from Newman Turner’s chapter on making an herbal ley with a mower this now awesome forage-weed that sucked up phosphorus from the subsoil is chopped up and returned back to the soil biology to fertilize the growing sward. Cycle complete! My long view of this purple knapweed problem and solution manifested itself while I was lingering in a field filled with busy pollinators. How would my decision affect more than me as the workers of humanity harvested pollen? Shouldn’t we weigh the control options very carefully because we have the ability to think with this big brain cell of ours? I’m convinced if you work with nature on the same plane, you’ll find the answers you need. But it might take a little nap to get you prepared for a change in mindset.
Troy Bishopp is an enthusiastic 5th generation organic grass farmer with 32-years of grassfed experience operating Bishopp Family Farm near Deansboro, New York. He can be reached at: troy-bishopp@verizon.net.
What knapweed looks like after it is utilized for the excellent forage that it is.
From the Board Chair—
With Gratitude to Certified Educators BY DANNY NUCKOLS, PhD
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ll Holistic Management practitioners realize that effective land management cannot come forth via a philosophy of top-down management. In fact, almost all organizations, no matter the type, are finally realizing that the success of any endeavor must begin with a baseline, core belief—in Holistic Management philosophy this is the importance of humans partnering with nature to improve soil health. First-order attention must also be given to those persons on the front line who are actually implementing the goals of the organization. In the case of HMI, those in charge of on-the-land training in Holistic Management principles and practices are Certified Educators. Recently, the HMI Board of Directors of HMI asked the Certified Educators about 10 questions about how the Albuquerque home office can help better serve their needs in implementing Holistic Management training and increase the practice of Holistic Management. Both Board and staff are grateful for the frank feedback we received. Almost without exception, those responding to the survey held the HMI staff in high regard, saying the staff are doing a remarkable job in supporting their work. Both the Certified Educators and the staff feel, however, that further, continued attention is needed in key areas. Below are a few of the Certified Educator comments: 1) strengthening of marketing support from the Albuquerque home office will always be appreciated; 2) continue to provide, and approve upon, demonstrations, videos and documentation of the benefits that farmers have received from practicing Holistic Management; 3) all partners in Holistic Management should mine the newest research and novel methods pertaining to Holistic
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Management, and address why people do not successfully implement Holistic Management; 4) focus on creating behavioral change in the people Certified Educators train; 5) continue to improve better quality professional adult learning approaches and materials; 6) more attention needed on helping land managers to build business skills; offering more business services, such as bookkeeping, financial analysis and strategic management; 7) the HMI model needs to look beyond being a grazing management system to a way of life that is inclusive of some of the many processes that are showing good results, but are also slow at being adopted due to the lack of successfully addressing the “social weak link,” or “limits to growth;” 8) if HMI is to become the leading regenerative agricultural organization, we need to balance reaching out to the conventional agricultural producer, the local food producer and the general public; 9) further, continued collaboration is needed with like-minded organizations, e.g. Nature Conservancy, Quivira Coalition, Land Institute; 10) more attention is needed by the HMI Board, or the management and operation team, or the community of educators, in knowing the difference between complexity vs. complicated vs. simple environments to be able to help land managers and farmers change what they do. An organization is only as good as its alignment around a mission and its philosophy. In the end, HMI needs to invoke its fundamental core tool: the attitudes and behavior of the people at the hub of its mission, those deep within the organization. Thank you, Certified Educators, for all that you do. We hope you continue to help HMI find ways to improve upon its performance, which I personally feel it continues to do year after year.
PROGRAM ROUNDUP Open Gate Update Tikkun Olam (Oregon)
On October 7th, people gathered at the Tikkun Olam Research and Teaching Farm for the Making Better Decisions for Better Soil Health Field Day. The group’s dynamics were really good and the small group size led to open conversations and sharing of personal experiences that really enhanced the day. Participants mentioned that they really enjoyed getting to know farm owner, Scott Goode. There were a couple participants who were new to Holistic Management, but the majority of the group had attended at least one formal training. Certified Educator Angela Boudro Gary Price discussing grazing management practices that have helped increase reported that there was a lot of enthusiasm over the Holistic the plant diversity on his ranch. Goal setting exercise with one participant exclaiming: “your Holistic Goal is the meat of Holistic Management,” which lead to some District introduced that organization and explained the amazing stream good discussion on values and what to do if not all members of the demonstration happening on their trailer. Designed to mimic the action management team buy in to this process. of stream flows on riparian banks with deep rooted grasses versus bare Phillip Morton, the County Executive Director for FSA, attended the ground, the demonstration showed clearly how erosion destroys the event, participated in the exercises, and presented on FSA programs natural meander of streams. available for farmers. The post-lunch field tour included one of Gary and Sue’s original Participants were really excited about the soil building and carbon parcels which had great biodiversity and tall thick bunches of little sequestration possible through the farming methods Scott practices. bluestem on a high hill with great views. Everyone talked a bit about There was lots of conversation about scaling these methods up, the the grazing management, then Robert Perez talked more about the effect on soil carbon and soil health, water cycling, plant health and the quail release program. Larry Johnson followed, discussing Miller-Coors resulting nutrition in vegetables farmed using these methods. dedication to land stewardship that helps produce great tasting water for their beer. 77 Ranch (Texas) Peggy Sechrist then led a small-group biological monitoring On October 21, 45 people participated in the 77 Ranch Open Gate exercise. After moving to yet another location, Bill Fox described in Blooming Grove, Texas, learning from a variety of experts involved the water infiltration studies, Gary Price described aspects of his in the ongoing research on the 77 Ranch. After a welcoming talk about management, and Matt Machacek dug up the grass roots present that Holistic Management by Peggy Cole, ranch owners Sue and Gary Price support thriving grasslands. related the story of the last 31 years collecting adjacent pieces of land Thanks to Farm Service Agency for their support of both of as they came up for sale. To date, the ranch includes 2,500 acres— these programs. mostly old cotton farming land. The Price’s holistic goal focuses first on the financial—they must make the land payments for the ranch to exist. To help them do that and to regenerate that old worn out cotton land, they chose a cow-calf cattle In 2017, HMI focused on supporting apprentices and interns operation as their primary enterprise. They sell all their production, as participants in the New Agrarian Online Program through our targeting the all-natural markets. partnership with the Quivira Coalition’s New Agrarian Program (NA) Next up, a panel of professionals took turns explaining how and funding by the Thornburg Foundation. We had 35 total participants they are involved with the ranch and how their group can help other including mentors, interns, apprentices, HMI scholarship recipients, and producers. Bill Fox presented research by TX AgriLife Research on employees of Quivira who participated in the program. precipitation infiltration in well-managed grasslands. Jay Whiteside HMI’s goal was to have participants complete 75% of the courses described quail research and release programs on the ranch, Jenny offered. The NAP program offered participants the opportunity to take Pluhar outlined TXGLC (Texas GrazingLands Coalition) support for the Introduction to Holistic Management course, Holistic Financial grasslands management and Larry Eubanks explained that FSA (Farm Planning course, Holistic Marketing and Business Planning course, Services Administration is way more than low-interest loans. Lastly, and the Holistic Land/Biological Monitoring course. We have had 100% Matt Machacek, NRCS, encouraged all to use NRCS in their decisionparticipation in completing those goals. Throughout the program, we making toward their own ranch goals. used Instructure Canvas as our distance learning platform and made Holistic Management Certified Educator Peggy Sechrist presented sure that all webinars were interactive and anyone who handed in a talk on the role of soil health in the water cycle (and beyond), then completed assignments received feedback on their work. We recorded CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 Tina Hendon and other members of the Tarrant Regional Water
New Agrarian Online Program
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Program Roundup
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Here’s what the participants had to say about the program: • The Holistic Goal is something that I will take into all aspects of my life and give this gift to family members and friends. • There is so many things that I learned that were new to me and that I was able to gain a better understanding of. I would say the Holistic Goal and the testing questions which are the most difficult because it asks you to change the way that you look at life and your decisions in life. The two of them I will continue to grow and learn with and from for the rest of my life. • Working through my holistic goal was such a great learning experience with them (mentors), as was attempting to work through some pricing decisions, and Number of Apprentices, Interns breakeven points. Course/Module and Scholarship Participants Who • The ability to analyze ecosystem health: this is Participated something that I do feel as if working with both my Introduction to Holistic Management 20 mentors and Holistic Management has increased Holistic Financial Planning 20 my confidence. Marketing and Business Planning 14 • With the knowledge from the program I will help other organizations re-organize how they view Holistic Land/Biological Monitoring 10 their relationship to their land and their business Total 64 missions. Help other organizations gain perspective on how their missions and visions can extend to cover ecological, social, and economicgoals. Featured • As we mentors were already very familiar with Holistic Participants: Management and have been practicing it for decades, we liked Kase Wheatley some of the way the Holistic Goal explanations and worksheets “The NAP have been revised, making them more useful for people starting Intro to Holistic out, with limited or no assets. I also think the Marketing module Management has was very informative and would have liked to attend that webinar been a wonderful more often. I think Monica Pless from Quivira brought valuable addition to the farm insights and ways to help make the coursework more relevant to work I’ve done this the age and experience level of apprentices. season. This course • I gained confidence in ranch decisions. The degree to which I was Kase Wheatley has taught me much able to engage with the course re-emphasized the value of all of the foundational theory and framework that often goes unspoken the different elements of Holistic Management that we use in our about on farms and connected it in a meaningful way to the labor I’ve ranch and life, and re-invigorated me to more actively use some of been doing. Understanding the why, not just the how, feels crucial to the methodologies. actually pursuing agriculture as a livelihood.” • I will apply the information from the program it in the future when I am running a ranch of my own. Jyles Airey-Filipello • The depth of knowledge was awesome! Very practical useful “The Introduction to Holistic Management Course was an incredible materials too. opportunity to articulate the dreams that live with in me and give them a frame work to form them in goals that can be achieved. The language of planning begins to be crafted and your eyes open to seeing the world with questions that enable you to cultivate healthy decision making that is connected to your highest goals of caring for the earth, your community, and your family. I feel so fortunate to be able to take this course and know that these are seeds that will grow with me into the landscape of my life, thank you so much.” all webinars and archived so those who couldn’t make the sessions could watch and listen to the recordings and email instructors with questions and provide input via the discussion forum. The overall response to surveys shows that there was high satisfaction rate among participants for these courses ranging from 90–100% satisfaction. Actual behavior change in terms of created plans/drafts varied depending on subject. Thanks to the Thornburg Foundation for their support of this program. Our participants were from several different states and two different countries:
Hayley Strohm “The NAP HMI course has given me a framework that I can apply to any of my future endeavors; to help make decisions, plan for financial stability, and work towards accomplishing my holistic goals.”
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Jyles Airey-Filipello
GRAPEVINE The
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N E W S F R O M H O L I S T I C M A N AG E M E N T I N T E R N AT I O N A L
HMI in the News
Better Nutrition Magazine recently spoke with HMI’s Executive Director, Ann Adams PhD. During the interview, Ann spoke about how the success of the industrial farming model has led to degradation of soil quality, stating that living, fertile soil is very different from dirt that’s being used to grow food by putting in synthetic fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides. The article also spoke about decreased nutritional values, citing a USDA study that has found that the nutritional value of foods, particularly vegetables, has dropped between 5–80%. And while organic farming helps by eliminating the use of toxic chemicals, organic certification does not require improved soil quality. That’s where regenerative agriculture comes into play—with an aim to not just eliminate toxic inputs, but to actually regenerate the land by enhancing the soil and creating more resiliency, particularly important when dealing with climate variables. Soil health can be assessed by how efficiently the land absorbs water. Holistic Management practitioner Gabe Brown recently talked about how his land was able to absorb upwards of 13 inches of rain without flooding, while a neighboring property remained flooded weeks later, due to degraded soil unable to absorb water properly. You can read more at: https://www.betternutrition.com/features-dept/ regenerative-farming.
Soil, Food, and Hope for Our Future
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intervention. We ignore them at our own peril and are well-advised to get in the game and partner with nature if we want to survive. I also believe that regenerative agriculture is a means by which both the conscious consumer and producer can actively be a partner with nature. Wars have been won by everyone pitching in with rationing, creative recipes, and growing victory gardens, taking responsibility for making a difference. It wasn’t just the soldiers on the frontline that influenced the outcome. I think we can take the same proactive steps now with the planetary challenges we face by becoming informed on these issues and deciding what we can contribute to the efforts being taken to leave the world a better place for the generations to come. Because of the people I talk to on a daily basis and the results they have accomplished, I have great hope for what we can do for future generations. It all starts with recognizing we each contribute to the future—one decision at a time.
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HMI at Quivira Conference
HMI participated in the Quivira Conference last fall by offering two Roundtables on Holistic Management. These smaller breakout sessions allowed the 340 participants to break into interest groups and learn more about different topics. HMI’s roundtables focused on how Holistic Management is a systems approach for effective adaptive management of all resources. The HMI panel included Holistic Management practitioners and educators sharing the results they have seen using this process. Thanks to our panel HMI Panel (left to right): Julie Sulliparticipants who included: Jeff van, George Whitten, Julie and John Goebel, Kirk Gadzia, Cindy Ott, and Kirk Gadzia. Dvergsten, Julie Sullivan and George Whitten, and John and Julie Ott. HMI is also excited to announce that we will be partnering with the Quivira Conference and the American Grassfed Association for the 2018 Regenerate Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico on October 31–November 2, 2018. Look for more information to come on that event.
In Memoriam
It was with great sadness that HMI learned of the passing of Richard “Dick” McNear in Rappahannock County, Virginia. He was surrounded by his wife, Jeanie, and their three daughters. Dick graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1961 and later received his Master of Science in engineering from Purdue University. Dick began farming in Rappahannock with his father in 1961. He became the Director of Planning and Zoning for Fauquier County. Dick retired in 1992 and began farming full time. Working with the Culpepper Soil and Water District (CSWCD) and the National Resource Conservation Service, he learned new sustainable farming practices. He also placed the farm into an open space easement with the Virginia Outdoor Foundation to protect it from future development. In 2013, he was awarded the Conservationist of the Year award by CSWCD after adopting Holistic Management practices. He also served as a board member of the Rappahannock County Farmer’s Association, the Piedmont Environmental Council, and the Krebser Fund. Dick championed the financial survival of sustainable farming and, in 2012, was part of HMI’s Future Farms program, learning Holistic Management with other area farmers. In Dick’s trademark, self-deprecating fashion, he said “I was the biggest pessimist going into this thing, but ultimately became a huge advocate of the program.” Our condolences to the McNear family. Dick will be greatly missed by many.
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COLORADO 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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KANSAS Bill Casey 13835 Udall Road, Erie, KS 66733 620/423-2842 • bill.caseyag@gmail.com MICHIGAN Larry Dyer 1113 Klondike Ave, Petoskey, MI 49770 231/347-7162 (h) • 231/881-2784 (c) ldyer3913@gmail.com MISSISSIPPI Preston Sullivan 610 Ed Sullivan Lane NE, Meadville, MS 39653 prestons@telepak.net 601/384-5310 (h) • 601/835-6124 (c)
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MONTANA Amy Driggs 1551 Burma Road, Eureka, MT 59917 208/310-6664 • adriggs@ldagmachinery.com 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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NEBRASKA Paul Swanson 5155 West 12th St., Hastings, NE 68901 402/463-8507 • 402/705-1241 (c) pswanson3@unl.edu
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NORTH DAKOTA Joshua Dukart 2539 Clover Place, Bismarck, ND 58503 701/870-1184 • Joshua_dukart@yahoo.com
WISCONSIN Heather Flashinski 16294 250th Street, Cadott, WI 54727 715/289-4896 (w) • 715/379-3742 (c) grassheather@hotmail.com Larry Johnson 453 Woodside Terrace, Madison, WI 53711 608/957-2935 • 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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U N I T E D S TAT E S Tim McGaffic P.O. Box 1903, Cave Creek, AZ 85327 808/936-5749 • tim@timmcgaffic.com 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
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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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.
ARIZONA
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
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 Kelly Boney 4865 Quay Road L, San Jon, NM 88434 575/268-1162 • kellyboney_79@yahoo.com 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 Albuquerque, NM 87109 505/842-5252 • kathyh@holisticmanagement.org
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
Bellows *NorthLisaCentral Texas College
1525 W. California St., Gainesville, TX 76240-4636 940/736-3996 (c) • 940/668-7731 ext. 4346 (o) lbellows@nctc.edu Deborah Clark PO Box 90, Henrietta, TX 76365-0090 940/328-5542 • deborahclark90@sbcglobal.net Guy Glosson 6717 Hwy. 380, Snyder, TX 79549
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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. associate educators provide * These educational services to their communities and peer groups.
I N T E R N AT I O N A L AUSTRALIA Judi Earl “Glen Orton” 3843 Warialda Rd. Coolatai, NSW 2402 61-409-151-969 (c) • judi_earl@bigpond.com Paul Griffiths PO Box 186, Mudgee, NSW 2850 612-6373-3078 paul@holisticmudgee.com Graeme Hand 150 Caroona Lane, Branxholme, VIC 3302 61-3-5578-6272 (h) • 61-4-1853-2130 (c) graemehand9@gmail.com Dick Richardson PO Box 341 Balhannah SA 5242 61-0-42906900 (c) 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
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
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
NAMIBIA Usiel Seuakouje Kandjii P O Box 24102, 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
January / February 2018
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KENYA Christine C. Jost Box 30677, Nairobi 00100 773/706-2705 (c) • 703/981-1224 (w) cjost@usaid.gov
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
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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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Introduction to Holistic Management February 5-7: $495 Advanced Training Session (Requires prior attendance at intro session.)
February 8-10: $495 Comprehensive Holistic Management Training February 5-10: $895 Remember, profitable agriculture is not about working harder— it’s about making better decisions!
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22 IN PRACTICE
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THE MARKETPLACE
HMI’s Getting Started Online Learning Series Learn from anywhere on the planet We improve the way you manage your land, human and financial resources.
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No matter where you live, you can start learning Holistic Management without having to fly or drive to a workshop. We offer two learning series you can access directly from your home operation.
$350/class
Durham Ranch Seminar, Wright, WY
(Scholarships available)
Feb. 20-23, 2018
• Holistic Land Planning registration starts January 16th
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• Introduction to Holistic Management starts January 17th
North Star Ranch Seminar, Rice Lake, WI
• Holistic Financial Planning starts January 18th
March 5-8, 2018
• Holistic Cropping Planning January 18th
You can register or check out other Seminars at
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Healthy Land. Healthy Food. Healthy Lives.
To learn more and register go to: https://holisticmanagement.org/training-programs/#online
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Num ber 177
h IN PRACTICE 23
Nonprofit U.S POSTAGE
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Healthy Land. Healthy Food. Healthy Lives.
a publication of Holistic Management International 5941 Jefferson St. NE, Suite B Albuquerque, NM 87109 USA
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DEVELOPMENT CORNER
people to change behavior. Walter knows this piece can often take the longest, but there are tools and processes that help. His work with the tenants on the family farm has been witness to this challenge. Walter and his brother own two farms in Illinois. They have been dabbling with cover crops for a couple of years and this fall they are planting a three-way cover crop mix on 100% of the farms. The goal is BY ANN ADAMS to get more diversity in their corn and soybean rotation and have this ailing from Springfield, Illinois, Walter Lynn is a semi-retired winter cover crop grazed by livestock (another enterprise for the farm) CPA with an “agriculture niche” and a passion for soil health in the spring which in turn should pay for the cost of the cover crop. and addressing the critical issue of helping more agricultural Walter also wants the farm to be a demonstration site in the area. In producers make the shift to regenerative agriculture. fact, the Lynn Family Farm is the only farm in the township that is 100% Walter became acquainted with Holistic Management in the midcover crop. 1990s after winning a Holistic Management class at a Stockman Grass The farms have already been in conservation tillage with a vertical Farmer conference. He sees Holistic till on the corn and a no-till on the Management as a way all land beans. Cover crops are part of the stewards can regenerate degraded cash rent lease agreement on the land and that passion led Walter to 316 acre farm, so Walter is making join the HMI Board in 2014 and he sure that piece happens. He didn’t now serves as vice-chair. get push back from the tenant to Walter grew up on his family’s have it included, but he had to create farm in Illinois. Even back then accountability for the implementation. the farm was more diverse than The lease agreement also states that the average farm in the area. The the cost for the cover crop planting is Lynns utilized a crop rotation of the tenant’s responsibility. The 120-acre cattle, corn, bean, wheat, and hay. farm is crop share and the cover That background meant that Walter crop seed expense is split equally kept looking for ways to improve between the landlord and tenant. agricultural profit while also doing The long-term goals for the farm Walter demonstrating effect of soil tilth on water infiltration right by the soil. (after livestock integration) is to 1) at an HMI workshop. In 2012 Walter attended an bring input costs down, 2) increase Elaine Ingham workshop in Gainesville, Texas sponsored by the Dixon soil life, and 3) get the fungi-bacterial ratio in balance. Water Foundation. The focus on soil health peaked his interest and he Walter believes our soils are a piece of the biological capital farmers began reading more about this topic and formed a group called “The and ranchers manage in order to have the profitable impact to promote Herd Quitters.” They have held trainings including having HMI Certified thriving rural communities. He wanted to be on HMI’s Board because Educator Joshua Dukart train them in March 2017 and Gabe Brown in he sees that HMI is working for that triple bottom line impact: financial, August 2017. biological, and social. “If I can be part of that, it resonates with me and While soil health is an integral focus for Walter, the piece of the it rings my bell,” says Walter. “I want to be a part of something that is puzzle that is really fascinating to him is the people dynamics—to get regenerative and resilient”.
Be a Part of Something Regenerative
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