PROGRAM ROUNDUP HMI’s Online Courses Support International Learning
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Holistic Financial Planning Course Results
MI’s Online Holistic Financial Planning course had 32 participants from Germany, Canada, Australia, the United States, South Africa and the Netherlands. This course focused on key financial principles that helped participants learn how to work on their business, not just in their business. Participants were able to develop a financial plan and identify ways to implement and monitor that plan. The participants were very excited to learn the key economic analysis tools for improved financial decisions for both annual budgets and for long-term investment. 100% of participants were satisfied with this course and would recommend it to others as well as learning how to develop a holistic financial plan. Featured Participant: Pamela Myllymaki, Stanford, MT, USA “The class not only helped me learn a lot more about my numbers and what to do with that information, but at the same time how to assess my goals and accomplish my goals with using my numbers.”
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Ranch by Design Texas Workshop
n May 2 and 3, 2019, a sold-out crowd gathered in Dumas, Texas at the Blue Ranch to learn about planning water and fencing infrastructure to facilitate more effective land and livestock management. Professional Certified Educator Deborah Clark, of Birdwell & Clark Ranch, led the workshop covering all aspects of Holistic Land Planning, working with participants on many examples of land maps. The group spent both afternoons at Blue Ranch, with ranch manager Mike Turner leading a tour so participants could see firsthand the water and fencing infrastructure, historical sites on the ranch, and forage improvements achieved by their grazing management. Craig McCloy, son of Blue Ranch owners Rex and Susan McCloy, led a highly informative “show and tell” session on the materials and equipment he used and the successes and challenges he experienced while installing the water
infrastructure at Blue Ranch. Clint Rollins, NRCS/GLCI Grazing Lands Specialist, talked about the services his agency offers and did a brief explanation of forage assessment. Later Thursday afternoon, a panel took questions from the group on topics as diverse as quail habitat, managing sheep and goats, the usefulness of ‘weeds’, and including horses in your grazing plans. Friday afternoon included demos of fencing and water products from Punchy Cattle Company and Tank Supply, Twin Mountain Fence, United Fiberglass, and Justin Rader’s home-made portable water trough. 90% of the participants were satisfied with the course and 83% increased their knowledge on how to prioritize land/infrastructure developments investments. Thank you to our Funder for this workshop, The Tecovas Foundation, and to our collaborators: Texas A&M Agrilife Extension, Moore County Agri-Life Extension Service, Moore County Community Center, USDA-NRCS Moore County, Texas Parks & Wildlife, West Texas A& M, 100th Meridian Ranching, and NRCS/Grazing Lands Coalition Initiative. Lastly, thank you to our Sponsors: Twin Mountain Fence, Punchy Cattle Company, Capital Farm Credit, United Fiberglass, Inc, Cactus Feeders, Jack Seed & Supply, and Ozark Hills Insurance. A special thanks to Rex and Susan McCloy for allowing access to their beautiful Blue Ranch, and to Craig McCloy for his informative presentation.
Full Heart Farm Day
On May 31, 2019, twenty-five people gathered at Full Heart Farm in Ledyard, Connecticut to learn about regenerative agriculture. Participants, a majority of whom were young women farmers, received an introduction to a number of topics including: holistic financial planning, improving decision making, improving land health (through monitoring of ecosystem processes functioning) and soil health. Full Heart Farm owner, Allyson Angelini, gave a brief history of the farm to start out the day. Full Heart Farm was started in the spring of 2012 using the principles of holistic financial planning and holistic land management. The overgrown, previously un-farmed parcel was converted into productive crop land by rotating pigs (to clear overgrown areas and rocks) and chickens (to build fertility). Each season the farm has evolved to fit the needs of the farm family, as well as the changing market for local foods. The farm currently raises specialty vegetables and cut flowers on about an acre of crop land for a 100-person CSA and a handful of wholesale accounts. Participants spent the morning inside the barn learning why it is important to have a financial plan, filling out a priority expenses worksheet, practicing holistic decision testing and hearing from Jiff Martin and Dina Brewster speaking on University of Connecticut Extension and Connecticut Northeast Organic Farming Association CONTINUED ON PAGE 20
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