Healthy Land. Healthy Food. Healthy Lives.
JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2020
Microbe-Plant-Human Bridge BY ANN ADAMS
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n November 2019 we completed the 2019 REGENERATE Conference: Health from the Soil Up, that we hosted with the Quivira Coalition and the American Grassfed Association. With the focus of this conference on health from the soil up, I got to thinking about how we are learning so much about soil health now and wouldn’t it be great if we could apply what we are learning in that arena to improving our human potential. It seems as if we may be the weak link in the system, yet we have the incredible opportunity to be a major ally. Regenerative agriculture-focused soil scientists agree on the key principles and practices for good soil health. They all revolve around the symbiotic relationship known as the “Plant-Microbe Bridge.” I think we need to create a microbe-plant-human bridge to reach our full potential as a civilization using the follow five principles.
Flexible Management INSIDE THIS ISSUE Holistic Management is an adaptive management tool. Remaining flexible to changing weather and markets is key to proactive management. Learn how the Hibbard Ranch has changed practices on page 7 and Thousand Hills Ranch on page 8.
In Practice a publication of Holistic Management International
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1) Engage in Mutualism Dr. Christine Jones notes that plant life is more about productivity and photosynthetic potential of the plants than their actual biomass because the microbial community influences that potential. For example, mycorrhizal fungi can significantly increase photosynthetic rate. Likewise grazing a plant too severely or frequently can stress it and reduce its potential. So the right amount of stress and disturbance is key to unleashing the potential in the system rather than inhibiting it. Similarly, with humans we know there are good stressors (like new opportunities) and bad stressors (like chronic worry). How much of our human potential is lessened because of a society or social system that is parasitic rather than mutualistic? How might we change that? 2) Feed Life Microbes are actually creating health out of nutrients through symbiosis. If we understand that a symbiotic system results in everyone being fed and nourished, creating health, then we are inspired to create a culture that respects and honors all life and encourages observation, humility, and cooperation. 3) Encourage Diversity The greater diversity of plants and animals, the more robust the system. Just as innovative agricultural producers are experimenting with
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how to introduce and encourage diversity in their systems to gain the benefits that occur through effective symbiotic relationships, so too we can look at the health within families, organizations, businesses, communities, and nations with a focus on diversity as a benefit and asset rather than a liability or danger. 4) Design Effective Systems Regenerative agricultural producers look at what practices are actually damaging the system and costing money—thus reducing the overall production and profitability. The same questions could be asked regarding the function of our families or communities. How do our systems and relationships encourage our family or community to create resilience and productivity? 5) Engage in Appropriate Disturbance In a healthy ecosystem, disturbance levels must be appropriate and actually support regeneration and life, rather than wreaking havoc on biological communities. To me this principle is kin to the idea that respectful dialogue can challenge paradigms and dogma in a way that strengthens the community rather than tearing it apart. As we begin 2020, I hope you consider how you can use these five principles to help you prioritize your actions and strategies to create systems to improve your health and that of your community from the soil up.
North Bridger Bison—
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 Carrie Stearns . . . . . . . . . . . . Director of Communications & Outreach Stephanie Von Ancken . . . . . Program Manager Oris Salazar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Program Assistant
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Walter Lynn, Chair Avery Anderson-Sponholtz, Secretary Gerardo Bezanilla Kirrily Blomfield Kevin Boyer Jonathan Cobb Guy Glosson Ariel Greenwood Colin Nott Daniel Nuckols Breanna Owen Brad Schmidt Jim Shelton Kelly Sidoryk 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 © 2020 Holistic Management® is a registered trademark of Holistic Management International
no ranching background. It was during that research Matt learned about HMI Certified Educator Roland Kroos. Matt contacted Roland and they met for lunch in Bozeman in January 2018. “I explained to Roland our situation and our background, and that we were serious,” says BY ANN ADAMS Matt. “I had never heard of Holistic Management att Skoglund worked for the before and I had found Roland using ‘bison Natural Resources Defense consulting’ in my Google search. When we met, Council (NRDC) for almost 10 I already knew I needed more education. And years before starting North Bridger at lunch he explained the high level Holistic Bison. His love of the outdoors and passion for Management fundamentals. I was working for conservation were the catalyst for his work with an environmental group, so reading and hearing NRDC, and in his last few years at NRDC he about Holistic Management was speaking was the director of their Northern Rockies office my language. “Roland said if I was serious then I should attend his Holistic Management class on a bison ranch. So I went to Roland’s March 2018 Holistic Management workshop at the Northstar Bison in Wisconsin and I absolutely loved it—learning about the various pieces of Holistic Management and how to run a holisticallymanaged ranch. I love these concepts, know how important they are, and find them endlessly fascinating. I could talk grazing, grass, and soil health all day. Matt and Sarah Skoglund with their children, Greta and Otto. “One of the biggest aha in Bozeman, Montana. But by 2016, he had moments I had during that course—that I still begun doing some soul-searching on his future, use and return to often —is the big picture goal looking for a career that would allow him to start setting. We constantly return to the questions of something on his own, be an entrepreneur, ‘why are we doing this,’ ‘what are our long term and play an active role in conservation and goals,’ and ‘what are our values?’ That focus managing lands for the benefit of the plants, has been really helpful. Now that we are doing soils, and animals. it: managing bison, debt, and the business, By the fall of 2017, after reading Dan obviously there is stress so the goal helps us O’Brien’s Buffalo for the Broken Heart, Matt stop and look back to see if we are aligning with was clear he wanted to give bison ranching a our values and goals. chance—with a focus on field-harvesting the “While I always had a deep love of nature, bison on his ranch. With that clarity Matt began I had no background in ranching. Just learning his research about bison and consultants who about grass, roots, soil, water, and bare could help him overcome the hurdle of having ground—the real fundamentals of the science
Montana Raised, Field Harvested, Grassfed Bison
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FEATURE STORIES
LAND & LIVESTOCK
NEWS & NETWORK
North Bridger Bison— Montana Raised, Field Harvested, Grassfed Bison
Wedge Tent Ranch — Ranching with Nature
Program Roundup................................................... 16
HEATHER SMITH THOMAS......................................................... 8
From the Board Chair.............................................. 18
Integrating Permaculture and Related Practices with Holistic Management
Thousand Hills Ranch— Flexibility is Key to Surviving in Ranching
Certified Educators.................................................. 21
ANN ADAMS................................................................................. 2
SUSAN COSINEAU...................................................................... 4
HEATHER SMITH THOMAS....................................................... 11
Case Study— The Hibbard Ranch................................................................ 7
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Grapevine................................................................ 19 Marketplace............................................................. 22 Development Corner............................................... 24
helpful to work through those projections. We Selling The Story started fencing right after closing, the bison While it’s been a steep learning curve for arrived in January 2019, and we officially Matt and Sarah, they’ve been getting great opened for business in May 2019.” North market response to the quality of their bison Making the Dream Real Bridger Bison was born. meat and all of the work that goes into it, While the pieces were slowly falling into “To get financing I had to put a full business particularly the field harvesting. “Harvesting our place, this move was going to be a big leap of plan together,” says Matt. “It was my first time bison in the field on the ranch is super important faith for Matt and his wife, Sarah, and their two doing that. My strength was writing the narrative, to us,” says Matt. “There’s no stress for the young children, Greta and Otto. “When I came telling our story, and articulating our goals; those bison and no stress in the meat.” After Matt home from the workshop, Sarah and I talked are skills of mine. But running about it a lot. We ultimately decided we wanted the numbers was my weakness. to go for it and that it was time to try and find I needed to be able to determine some land,” says Matt. He began work on a herd growth and economic return. business plan and did more research, looking We were denied financing from for reasonably priced land, which he knew would the first bank we worked with, but, be difficult. But by May 2018 they had zeroed ultimately, with Roland’s help, we in on a great piece of land at a great price near were able to secure financing from Wilsall in the Shields Valley of Montana north a different bank. Working with of Bozeman. Roland was extremely helpful in Matt asked Roland to walk the land with him putting together excel spreadsheets before they made an offer. Roland confirmed on cash flow projections and that the land was solid. There were some signs herd growth. Matt Skoglund enjoys the challenges and rewards of of overgrazing, but all the pieces were there: the “Roland has so much ranching as well as the opportunity to directly improve land water, grasses, soil, and shrubs. “He referred experience working with all different health and address environmental issues by improving back to Holistic Management and his workshop kinds of ranches so he was always ecosystem function on the almost 1,100 acres they manage. and talked about how through our management able to offer good advice and we’d improve it over time,” says Matt. “When share helpful anecdotes during our meetings. harvests an animal, he then field dresses it in we looked at the land, Roland was pointing He helped talk me through how to meet our another pasture. Then he drives the carcass to out different species of grass. He pointed out objectives of starting a ranch and building our a local meat processor, where the meat is then areas that had really good ground cover and own branded meat program. He has become dry-aged for ten days. areas where there was a lot of bare ground and a good friend and an invaluable and trusted “When we deliver or ship a quarter, we pedestaling (erosion). He showed me the old resource to me as a new rancher. Same with include a sprig of sagebrush from the ranch and Holistic Management. a tuft of hair from the animal they’ll be eating. “After we closed on the land, Connecting folks to where their food comes from the bank said they were not is another big part of our mission,” says Matt. going to give us an operating “We are currently only selling quarters direct to loan, as they wanted to see customers. But by the end of this winter we are that we knew what we were hoping to be able to field-harvest under state doing from both a ranching and inspection with a mobile slaughter trailer, which business perspective. will allow us to sell individual cuts and packages “Fortunately, I had met to restaurants, caterers, etc.” someone along the way who was Matt says that animal health has been good interested in being an absentee as they focus on their grazing and offer free investor and getting into the bison choice minerals and salt. The hanging weight of industry. We were able to put their carcasses averages 500–600 pounds. The It will take about 24–36 months to get North Bridger Bison’s a deal together where we both bison usually calve in mid-April to late May. animals to finishing weight on pasture. They need to feed bought bison, he gave us a loan, “Our current graze periods are about a hay in the winter right now, but their long-term goal is to get and we entered into a custom week to a month, depending on the size of to a year-round grazing program. grazing lease. Again, Roland was the paddock,” says Matt. “We’ve started from plants that had not been grazed. He joked that helpful in getting this unique deal across the scratch, and we plan to build multiple more earthworms are not great high jumpers. We finish line. The end result is that we’re getting paddocks next summer. We had a very wet needed bison to create the litter and ground paid to custom graze his animals along with spring and summer so there was lots of growth cover from what wasn’t grazed. He helped me ours in one herd that I’m in charge of. With bred this year. We’ve been working to provide long develop my eye for looking at the land. animals we get a certain percentage of the calf recovery periods, and we’ve mostly been able to “We got the land under contract shortly crop. With the non-bred animals we get paid a do that because we worked on our fencing right thereafter with a September closing date. monthly grazing fee. It’s a win-win deal for both from the start. We got half of the property fenced I worked with Roland over the summer on of us, and we’ve developed a great working in the fall of 2018. We also got a 10-year grazing business planning and herd planning. It was relationship and friendship along the way.” lease on a half-section between our two chunks tough to get financing, and Roland was really CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 behind how all of these work together—the simplicity of it struck a chord with me, and it has guided me ever since.”
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North Bridger Bison
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of our property. “With Roland’s help we developed our pasture maps and put together a master fencing plan. When we first got the property, there were only three or four paddocks. Now we are up to 15 paddocks. We have 310 acres leased, and including our property we have access to almost 1,100 acres. Currently we are running about 45 calves, 75 cows, and four bulls. “To get up and running we bought some
In addition to their own animals, the Skoglunds are also custom grazing some bison for another owner. All the bison are run as one herd.
Integrating Permaculture and Related Practices with Holistic Management BY SUSAN COSINEAU
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first dipped my toe into building my own holistic context (goal) through an online course by Javan Bernakevitch of All Points Land Design in 2014. Prior to that, I had been learning about Holistic Management as a grazing system, and in terms of ecological restoration, but hadn’t understood it in terms of application to one’s life and work. My interest in permaculture came from my background as an ecologist and as someone who has worked on farms.
Mentors in the Regenerative Landscape
For the most part, I consider my holistic context as the framework or scaffold around which all of my other activities, decisions, choices and goals fit. On this scaffold, I have 4 IN PRACTICE
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open cows that we’ve been harvesting, and we even got some surprise calves. We expect it to take us 24–36 months to get the animals to finishing weight on pasture. We are also working with NRCS to try to get some cost-share funding for additional cross fencing because we want to get above 20 paddocks.” While Matt plans to grow the herd over time, they have decided to not increase the herd size by too much too soon. Matt and Roland did a pasture walk in August 2019 and decided they should be investing in the soil and the grasses right now, with dividends in carrying capacity to come later. The Skoglunds also have an Airbnb rental on the ranch, which provides them with helpful supplemental income. With Sarah’s interior design background, they did a small renovation of the old ranch house last spring, and the end result is spectacular, as evidenced by the glowing reviews on their Airbnb page. Matt is quick to credit Roland and make clear that his support was critical for starting their bison ranch and meat business. “None of this would have happened without Roland,” says Matt. “This was a huge leap to leave a good job with great benefits and salary. There is no way I would have taken this leap without meeting Roland, attending his workshop, and getting his consulting advice. But we are sure glad we took the leap. I truly love what I do. I love the work,
Matt was attracted to Holistic Management because of the focus on the triple bottom line. The Skoglunds are interested in not only raising high quality bison, but also improving the land and resources they manage, including improving wildlife habitat. and we really believe in what we’re building here with North Bridger Bison. We’re building something special, and we’re in it for the long haul. There is plenty of stress, of course, and we still need to raise some more money, but at the end of the day we are excited about the really positive customer feedback we’ve been getting—and we just believe really strongly in what we are working to build with our ranch and business.”
variously used tools from Byron Katie’s The doing as well. Shortly thereafter, I completed Work; permaculture design core principles Javan’s online course and gained a deeper and ethics; different mental models; lowunderstanding of how understanding one’s stress stockmanship; financial planning and holistic context could help to integrate the regenerative economics, e.g. 8 Forms of information and knowledge I was gathering, Capital; and countless others that have come and gone, some leaving a traceable mark, others merely offering a different lens through which to glance. Naturally, however, we all started somewhere, and for this I would like to give credit to a handful of individuals that have really helped to direct the course of my learning trajectory. The first time I saw HMI Certified Educator Owen Hablutzel speak at the 2014 Permaculture Voices conference in Temecula, California, I realized that he was taking an approach that Land planning involves both permaculture design and closely fit with where I was trying the whole farm planning offered through to get to: integrating permaculture, Holistic Management. Holistic Management, keyline design, and his own educational background (in building, and seeking as I moved forward. Eastern philosophy). Being relatively new Then I had the opportunity to work with Gord on the permaculture scene, I assumed that Heibert and Jana Macnab of Wood and Water naturally this was something others would be Developments in Vernon, British Columbia. They
January / February 2020
have fully integrated their business into their From Principles to Practice whether that’s a property design, life plan, or lifestyle using an evolving holistic context, and As I’ve described above, learning from those research map. The Holistic Management testing were important mentors in my understanding that have been doing this work much longer questions are useful as a hard check for final of the application of theory to practice. From than I have has been pivotal in how I have built decision making, e.g. Enterprise A versus B. deciding what clients to take on, and when and consider my own practice, both for myself If any of the ideas I’ve outlined or to let one go; to determining scheduling for and as it’s evolved for clients. I consider myself possibilities that I’ve envisioned are in clear workshops, courses, vacations and work incredibly lucky to have encountered these misalignment with the principles, it makes an flow to achieve a rewarding and effective folks and had the opportunities to learn that I easy case for either striking or significantly work-life balance as a young family, working have, working with and coming to understand changing them. Conversely, I often start to make with them was invaluable in connections between different developing my appreciation aspects, seeing opportunities for the explicit use of a holistic to integrate, scale down (or context and management up) and incorporate other concepts in a professional team players into the overall permaculture setting. plan. In a land base design, In fact, reflecting on their I can apply a quick check holistic context provided the that we’ve addressed all four roadmap for their creating a ecosystem processes, and more financially viable, livable the human-social aspect, business model for their initial which Charles Massy details company Elements EcoDesign. in his book Call of the Reed This eventually became the Warbler. In a research design, development of Wood and I might choose one of those Water Land Development cycles to focus on, while being that builds on their innate mindful that it should address gifts and professional skills in connections to the others, and Susan has learned from numerous Holistic Management educators and construction and interior design. certainly neither interfere with consultants including the Regrarians and their design courses. In addition, the development nor harm any of the others. of an online blogging platform for Jana in The better the ways in which permaculture, If it applies, I also use the management Hip Homestead has provided a creative outlet Holistic Management, and a structured design guidelines to ensure I’ve thought through for a busy mom and business owner to share framework, e.g. the Regrarians platform, can different regulatory aspects related to property her insights, ideas and design flair with a be integrated. (access, ownership, use); financial matters; wider audience. For my own life, research work, and design permitting; and other aspects. However, it wasn’t until a couple of years practice, I start with the basics by clearly later, as I completed a 10-day Regrarians defining the whole I’m trying to manage, e.g. My The Power of a Holistic Context training with Darren Doherty in March 2016, 5-year PhD research, or a particular property, After a few years of working with a holistic that I realized that contrary to what I was or our family and household. I make a rough context myself and with a handful of clients, learning, most people weren’t thinking in terms outline based on Quality of Life statements I have come to find it difficult to see how one of integration, at least not at the outset. They and a very rough statement of purpose, e.g. could design a property or advise a landowner were coming in as permaculturists, or farmers, My work increases biodiversity and ecological without both the consultant’s and client’s holistic or entrepreneurs in some related vein, but resilience. I then use a back-and-forth process, contexts in place. not explicitly looking at the bigger picture in brainstorming what I want the future to look like, The consultant needs to be able to state terms of integrating their practices through a aspects I want to incorporate, e.g. working with clearly their perspective to clients while clear, focused framework such as a holistic livestock, field research, community interaction, understanding for themselves where each context provides. and working in silvopasture systems, and what particular client fits into their entrepreneurial I suspect in part this has been because kinds of skills and competencies I want to ecosystem. Are either the particular client, or for the vast majority, Holistic Management is emerge with. the consultant, playing a role disproportionate to about some form of planned grazing, and as a I use the Regrarians’ 10-layer platform to their place in their system? I use my decisionresult, it takes a while before they are exposed organize my ideas for land-based designs. making questions to consider where, when to the value of the holistic context. The broader Throughout the brainstorming process, I check and in what capacity taking on one additional outcome seems that someone coming in from these ideas against regenerative principles, client is likely to impact my financial, social, the grazing side doesn’t develop a holistic using them to help refine and guide my and ecological bottom lines. Will my family and context as a container for their life, family and decisions and planning processes. While one sleep suffer as a result of having too heavy a vocation, instead focusing on figuring out where might also refer to these as ‘permaculture workload? Is this a project that seems likely to fit it into a permaculture system that happens principles’, they have wider application and at the outset to drag on or consume a large to contain grazing livestock. I can’t claim I was are not limited to permaculture design. I use proportion of resources, whether time, energy, any different, and this experience indicated that the principles to put some constraints on and or capital; or does it offer a real possibility it seems to be a consistent starting point for provide inspiration for a rough picture of what for inspiration, renewal, and a great outcome others, too. I want my Future Resource Base to look like, CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 Num ber 189
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Integrating Permaculture and Related Practices with Holistic Management
imaginable overnight. Yet returning to my holistic context a few months after Linden was born, I can see that CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 not that much has changed. We’re both still resolutely committed to increasing biodiversity in both for me and the client? Will taking on this any and every way that we can, whether through client build or degrade my social capital? Can I our food choices, our actions on this property, connect them with my other clients to help build or through supporting organizations that do the community, or are they ‘outside the circle’— work we can’t do from where we are. More than maybe a poor fit with my existing clientele, with ever, my research must satisfy that context, or my own values, or with the wider community? it’s not worth it to me. The importance of being And so on. present and supportive for family I learned from colleagues and has come to the forefront as both close friends also in the consulting a priority and a motivator. I’m business (I will avoid naming to learning more about how to build protect the effective) about ‘calling an online business, because it out the crazies’—using the testing looks like we’ll be here in Ventura questions to assess whether a County much longer than we’d client is a good fit, but being very planned. Being so much less trusting of gut instinct at the outset mobile than I had been in the past to identify those clients that may —both physically and because be a poor fit either now or down traveling with an infant and with the line. In fact, it was my failure to an elderly parent at home is just turn down such a client that was, hard, expensive, and often out for a solid year, one of my greatest of reach entirely—I’ve had to sources of stress. I’d had the ‘gut make decisions that maximize feeling’ they wouldn’t be a good fit the effectiveness of my time at at the outset, but the project and home. Those decisions more than Regenerative grazing in Alberta supported by holistic consulting. scope really appealed to me and ever really depend on the testing offered a lot of capacity for some great work opportunity to learn and adjust my strategies questions. It’s no longer theoretical. to get done. In the end, though, it didn’t, and towards something that might have helped Today, Laine and I find ourselves continually I learned a tough lesson (and parted ways, them reach their goals by a different, more returning to our personal, and my business although amicably, leaving an unhappy client). effective route. and research holistic contexts to ask where the From the client’s holistic context, I gain the gaps lie between what we’re doing and what ability to work and design more effectively and Moving Forward Holistically we want; what we need to move forward, and efficiently: rather than designing from my own These same principles are easily applied where we might simplify, reduce, overlap, or, in objectives for their land base, or what I think is outside a land-based context, as many of you permaculture parlance, stack functions to create best, we can start from the position of having reading this will know well. In August 2018, I greater efficiency and a better quality of life for clarified their goals, how they want to live, and had been enrolled to start a PhD program at our growing family. More than anything, though, what they have to work with, rather than figuring University of California at Merced, focusing the process of writing this down, talking about this out piecemeal as we work together over on some aspects of regenerative agriculture, and making decisions around what language, time. We don’t waste time with my trying to force grazing, soil science, and economics. Never resources, and core concepts we use, and ideas on them that I think they should use or one to do just one thing at a time, I was forging adapting it over time has enabled us to diffuse that I would use in their situation (even though into this new endeavor with a baby on the way, some of the emotional and cognitive stress I might suggest them), and I can focus on in addition to helping care for my 91-year-old that inevitably builds up during times of great finding solutions that fit their real needs and not mother-in-law while we manage her property, on personal transition - not to mention, of course, moment-to-moment desires or influences. which we run a suburban ‘nanofarm’. It’s not a the context of massive global transition that we I am continually working to improve this farm, but it helps keep us sane in suburbia while all face. process, in particular by learning to ask better we ensure that she is able to live as long as I’ve found that the application of a holistic questions. Language and method shouldn’t be possible in her home of over 40 years. context process has had a much wider reach a barrier to developing one’s holistic context. But life happens. In September 2018 I than simply in farming and ranching. I’ve The work is valuable enough to warrant the came out of the delivery room with a beautiful continued to adapt and incorporate different development of a variety of approaches baby girl, Linden—and in a wheelchair. During tools under this extremely useful framework, to that achieve the goal of having or creating a the 29-hour labor and delivery, I had torn a give structure to not only my land-based work holistic context, regardless of the method used major ligament in my pelvis. The end result but also personal life, family, and academic to get there. I have used Skype interviews was months of regaining the ability to walk, research. While it continues to be, and I expect and conversations, email, fillable forms and and postponing my PhD plans indefinitely. will always be, an ever-evolving process, it is documents, and big-paper brainstorming all One might say that nearly everything about one that I will continue to rely and expand upon in pursuit of defining what it is people are our context shifted in just about every way long into the foreseeable future. 6 IN PRACTICE
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managing, what they want and where they want to get to. In fact, the process of helping clients struggle through developing a holistic context, and the question-answer way that I have gone about it in the past, itself illuminated a series of decisions that I had made in what format we would use to pursue the development of a holistic context. Without asking what format might work better for them and then continually evaluating the results I was (and they were) getting, I lost the
January / February 2020
CASE STUDY Sieben Live Stock Company
among the obstacles that the Hibbards deal with as they manage 1,600 cow/calf pairs, 1,300 yearlings, and 60 ewes.
Regenerative Practices
Company. Implementing planned adaptive grazing has had a big impact on the land and business. The ranch has a series of monitoring sites and on some of these sites, bare soil has decreased from baselines of 22% and 8% to 2% and 0% respectively, even during a
The Hibbard’s commitment to regenerative management has been a critical tool in developing a thriving and sustainable Editor’s Note: The following excerpt is ranching business. In addition part of the Profiles in Land and Management to traveling the world to learn Series that features the work of innovative about innovative ranching ranchers and land managers who are practices, the Hibbards have achieving economic and ecological benefits also attended numerous on working lands. This project is supported workshops and programs by TomKat Ranch, the McKnight Foundation, on ranch management the Globetrotter Foundation, and Armonia from groups and individuals The pre- and post-graze heights are evident in this picture. LLC, and by the hardworking agencies, land including the Ranching for Cooper works to keep grazing periods to one or two days. managers, and ranchers that generously Profit School, the Savory shared their stories and time. Collaborators Institute, and Dr. Nicole Masters. drought. With more frequent herd moves and for this profile include: TomKat Ranch, NRCS, Today, the ranch uses a number of longer recovery periods, forage production has Western Landowners Alliance, and Country regenerative practices to improve its ecological increased by nearly 450% in some fields along Natural Beef. For a PDF of this profile go and economic performance. To enhance animal with significant increases in wild populations of to: https://tomkatranch.org/wp-content/ health and reduce supplemental feed costs, the deer, antelope, birds, and elk as well. Planned uploads/2019/08/Profiles-in-Land-andHibbards switched in 2002 from calving in March grazing has had a big impact on their bottom Management-Sieben-Live-Stock-Company.pdf to calving in June and July when the feed for line too; increased forage production and nursing mother cows is more plentiful and the improved utilization from high-density grazing The Ranch weather milder for newborn calves. Additionally, have reduced supplemental feed costs by nearly In 1868, Henry Sieben began the Sieben they began using low-stress livestock handling $1,850 per day during the winter months. Live Stock Company near Helena, Montana. and herding dogs in recent years to help them Planned grazing in the spring and low-stress For five generations the company has been move livestock during the winter. animal handling with herding dogs have resulted owned by the Hibbard Family who have ranched In 2015, the Sieben Live Stock Company in improved livestock health and lower costs sheep and cattle with a strong commitment to started practicing adaptive planned livestock for treatments and medications. At first, calf stewarding and improving the land. Today, the grazing with one-day grazing patterns in the pneumonia rates increased with Spring calving ranch is managed by Chase Hibbard and his Winter and Spring (and as often as possible but ultimately fell rapidly nephew, Cooper Hibbard, as well as a team during the rest of the year) in order to increase from 21 to 1.7% as the ranch began moving of full-time and seasonal employees. Their the density and uniformity of livestock impact and exercising the calves with low-stress and extend handling. The health improvements have been field recovery especially important as the company receives a HIGHLIGHTS times to 12 to premium of $60 – $120 per animal for livestock The Hibbards have experimented with no-till hay production 24 months to certified at Global Animal Partnership (GAP) with an 8 species seed mix and found it eliminated the need for herbicides and fertilizer, cut hay production costs from INCREASE IN HAY promote healthy level 4. $47 to $32 per acre, and increased yields ~60%. PRODUCTION soil and diverse The Hibbard’s trials with no-till hay farming vegetation using an eight species plant mix show improved With planned adaptive grazing, the Sieben Live Stock Company has observed a nearly 450% increase in forage communities. quantity, quality, and cost over traditional hay production in some fields. INCREASE IN FORAGE The Hibbards production methods. Though the new mix has are also higher seed costs (~ $32 per acre), it generates Improved forage quantity/quality and utilization have $200,000 reduced winter supplemental feed costs by ~$1,800/day, currently running an average of two tons of hay per acre without SAVINGS IN FEED COSTS totaling nearly ~$200,000 saved annually. trials with no-till, fertilizer or herbicide and produces a nutritious multi-species and diverse feed for their livestock. Further, the management is guided by the Hibbard Family’s hay-farming practices to reduce damage regrowth in these fields provides approximately constitution that states, “We are stewards first, from plowing and improve soil cover and 35 animal days per acre of additional grazing. owners second.” microbiological health. Conversely, the monoculture barley they once The Sieben Live Stock Company faces many grew for hay grows an average of just 1.6 tons of the same challenges it did in the 1800s. High Seeing the Benefits per acre and requires chemicals and labor (for elevation, short growing seasons, limited access The benefits of these regenerative practices tillage) that pushed total costs to nearly $47 to water, and bitterly cold and long winters are have materialized quickly at Sieben Live Stock per acre.
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because he could see how well it was working but the younger kids were not that excited about fencing. It seems like a lot of work but you can put up an electric fence very quickly. It was hard work for Kenny that first year, BY HEATHER SMITH THOMAS however, before we had enough permanent fences to run the electric fences off of, because he had to build it all and then take it down again,” says Bart. They are now up to 50 permanent paddocks. anching has been a lifelong passion for Bart Carmichael, who Most of the ranch is in pasture but there are a couple fields where they started leasing his grandparents’ place (25 miles north of Faith, South Dakota) when he was just a junior in high school. “They still put up hay. “We have one monoculture field of alfalfa which we hay wanted to sell out, and all I wanted to do was ranch—so I didn’t because a monoculture is hard to deal with as pasture. Mostly we put up want them to sell their place. I leased it month by month for a couple of hay on the neighbor’s place. We lease some ground from them and put up the hay on shares—and bring our share home,” he says. This brings extra years and then signed a five-year lease with them in 1992. Three years nutrients and litter to the home pastures. into that lease, Shannon and I got married. We both wanted to ranch and The Carmicheals’ grazing program has extended their grazing season realized that the payments to buy the place weren’t a lot more than the and there are not many days that lease payments, so in 1996 we rolled it they have to feed hay in winter. “It over into a purchase deal,” Bart says. all depends on the weather,” says From that point on it was a team effort Bart. “When we are moving through as the ranch evolved. the pastures during winter we almost always have green grass (some The Power of Fencing green understory in the tall grass) The 5,500-acre (3,000 owned everywhere we go. This is a big help. and 2,500 leased) ranch was mostly pasture, as a commercial cow-calf We’ve never gotten by without feeding operation, with a little bit of hay any hay; the best we’ve gotten down to ground. “When we first started, it was was 33 days of feeding. This last year just four big pastures that Grandpa we had more snow and we had to feed used as seasonal pastures. After for 90 days.” Shannon and I got married, the first “One year we had to start feeding thing we did was start building fences, hay December 6th and thought dividing those big pastures so we that was terrible. But, by the first of could do more moves. I remember one February we were back to grazing day that Shannon’s Grandpa came up again (only 60 days of hay) and were to visit us and wanted to go fishing and able to graze all the way through. It’s Back Row (left to right): Kaeli, Karisa, Kyler, Keely, Kenny I wouldn’t let him go fishing until he good to have the opportunity (with Front row: Shannon and Bart helped us build a fence!” Bart recalls. some pasture left) to go back and forth “We first split off a half section and from hay to grazing, because on most then we got a Great Plains contract to build another fence and rebuilt an ranches once people start feeding hay that’s the end of grazing until the old fence. We first broke it up into sections and later into half sections,” next spring,” Bart says. he says. “Our cows like to graze; they will go out and graze even when weather In 2012 they had a serious drought and decided to just allot a certain is bad. If we have them fenced into a small area, even if the snow is fairly area for the whole herd, using 40-acre pieces fenced off with temporary deep they will hit it as a group, like a plow, and just flip the snow to get at electric fence. “Our oldest son Kenny kept busy that summer moving and the grass. When they hit it as a group it’s a lot easier for them to break building fences. It really helped stretch our pastures. He could see what through it to eat,” he says. This past winter was exceptional, however. They got three feet of snow was happening because he was building the fences.” and then the temperature dropped to 35 below zero. Those are the kind After that they decided they needed more permanent fences to make of years that it’s nice to have some hay. “We feed big round bales with a it easier to divide the pastures with temporary hot wires. “Every week tractor and just roll them out on the pasture,” says Bart. “I am interested in we were building about a mile and a half of fence. Kenny was all for it
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trying some bale grazing, which is what most of the low-input ranchers do, but I think my cows would eat more than I want them to!” Bart’s cows graze through much of the winter and it’s an easy job to move them around the pasture. “It gives me something to do during the winter,” says Bart. “I move cows just about every day through the winter unless we are feeding. I think moving them often during the winter is just as important as moving them rapidly in the summer. When I move them every day they always have quality forage to go to.” This also keeps spreading the manure around as they go.
A Focus on Maternal Traits
After the first few years with commercial cattle, Bart and Shannon started raising registered Black Angus. “Our initial goal was just to raise some good replacement heifers, but we also kept some bull calves for our own use. It grew from there,” says Bart. Some of the neighbors started buying a few of the young bulls. “We sold bulls at private treaty for four years and then started having a public sale in 2005, at the sale facility in Faith. We sell yearling bulls and two-year-olds. Some folks prefer the yearlings and others want the older bulls. We moved our calving season a little later and now we are right up against the wall to have the yearling bulls old enough for the sale. They are very young and that’s always a struggle. Most of our customers, however, calve in late spring like we do, so it’s not as much a problem for them to buy these younger bulls because they are not having to breed cows until July or August. Most of the folks who buy bulls from us have the same philosophy, so it works,” says Bart. “People don’t buy our bulls to have the biggest calves; they come to buy our bulls because they sire good heifers that make the best cows. Maternal traits are most important to us. It’s not that we don’t like good weaning weights, but you have to start with a good cow. If you have a good cow, everything else falls into place. A good cow will take care of herself, and take care of you.” The cattle are used to being moved because of the grazing system which helps during the big July AI breeding. “We synchronize and breed
Four generations have been ranching and farming on the 5,500-acre Wedge Tent Ranch. every female,” says Bart. “One day we put in more than 230 CIDRs in the mature cows and we were really tired. Most people only do them in batches of 150. The day that we put in 230, we were clicking through them at about 76 cows per hour, and it was dark when we got done.”
Paying It Forward with Holistic Management
Bart was always interested in grass and grazing, and says he kind of “fell into” holistic thinking. “Wayne Berry, from Williston, North Dakota was a great influence. We wanted to have a grazing school here in South
Dakota because all the grazing schools at that time were in Missouri. That’s not only a long ways away, but also a completely different environment; it rains there all the time. I wanted to have a grazing school that would address our conditions here. The NRCS helped us do this, and we held the school here on our place. They brought Wayne Berry to teach it; he is a holistic educator, and we really hit it off with Wayne. This was in 2004. We still talk all the time and share ideas. He has really been a mentor for me, especially in terms of the grazing and management. I’ve asked him a lot of questions,” says Bart. “That’s how we got started with Holistic Management, and then I wanted a Holistic Management workshop here again in our area. It was held in Bison, South Dakota, and Shannon and I gave away two scholarships, to cover the tuition to that workshop. We gave those away at our bull sale, drawing the numbers of two of the guys at our sale. We
The original ranch had only four pastures. Today, the Carmichaels have over 50 pastures which they subdivide with temporary fencing, giving them better grass recovery periods. paid their way to that workshop—and that was a success story in itself,” he says. “We had a full class for that workshop, and we went to it. Shannon teaches school, and both of us are passionate about education. It doesn’t necessarily need to be formal education; we just feel it’s important to keep learning and educating ourselves.” Bart also went to the Ranching for Profit school in 2014 and then last December he and Shannon went to it together. “Now we are in the follow-up program (Executive Link) with continuing education. It’s been an evolving process. It wasn’t that we suddenly just changed everything. It’s been a gradual change,” says Bart. “This is kind of how our grazing management evolved. All our pastures got fenced into half sections and the cattle were grazing more uniformly and it worked, and then about two years later we noticed the cattle were spot grazing again so we broke those pastures up into smaller pieces. Every time we’d do that we’d see a benefit. We didn’t just suddenly divide everything down into seven acres a day; it took a gradual path. The smaller pieces gave everything else a lot more recovery time. Once we leave a spot, it will be 14 to 16 months before the cattle come back to it again,” he says. With this practice all the forage species have a chance to mature and go to seed. This has made a huge difference in forage quantity and quality. “This year everything looks good, however, and even the neighbors’ pastures, because we’ve had adequate moisture,” says Bart. The long rest and recovery on the ranch pastures has allowed some of the missing native plants to come back in. One plant that appeared last fall—that Bart hadn’t seen before is winterfat. “About eight years ago when CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
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I was in North Dakota, a guy asked me if we had this plant in our pastures. He said that if we truly wanted a year-round grazing plan we need to have winterfat. We didn’t have it, and now all of a sudden we’ve found it. We first saw some of it a year ago, and now we’ve found it in three or four of our pastures. It is slowly expressing itself,” says Bart. “I’ve heard that the germination on winterfat is very poor and doesn’t last very long. It is amazing and gratifying to see it come back. I think it took a drought to bring it on, plus a bit of a mistake on our part. It needs sunlight to germinate and we first saw it in a pasture that was really dry and we were moving cows through it faster. I was gone to a grazing school at that time (four years ago) and asked our youngest son to move the cows if he could. I knew that he probably couldn’t, with football practice after school, so the cows were in that pasture a day longer than they should have been. When we came home from that workshop that pasture
The Carmichaels run registered Black Angus. was pretty flat and grazed more than we like; it was kind of embarrassing. We still left more cover than most people do, but it was really trampled. The next year was when the winterfat came in, so maybe everything just lined up right for it to germinate that year,” he explains. “One thing about Nature is that there are so many different things involved. I have a friend who says that if everything we know about Nature was a clock, we’d have a really good understanding of what’s between the 12 and the 1. There’s a lot we don’t know,” says Bart. Bart believes that the important thing is to try to work with Nature rather than against her. “This includes our new calving season,” says Bart. “That has been an ongoing process in itself. When I was still in high school, I took every ag class available. The big thing then was telling us to not do things the way grandpa did it. So I moved up here and I was going to show my grandpa how to get it done the modern way. He calved the middle of April. The first year I was here we started calving on the first of March, and the next year our heifers started the end of February. We kept moving them earlier and earlier. But now everything calves the end of April! “You can’t get away from bad weather totally, but some seasons are easier than others. That’s the thing about Holistic Management; one thing affects everything else. Some people like to calve in January because the weather is often nice in January (not muddy) but the feed costs are higher, and you also have baby calves going through all the late winter storms. Now that we calve later, all of our calves are in the perfect shed during those storms; they are still inside their mother,” he says. There is no perfect season for calving, however. “We AI every cow, using heat synchronization, so the calves come in a short period of time. 10
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During one spring storm in April we had 62 calves born in a three-day period. My youngest son was 18 and helping me that year and we worked our tails off. Thankfully we didn’t have to deal with any calving problems; we just had to get those new calves in out of the weather,” he says. Bart and Shannon plan to host more workshops. “We like to learn all we can and then share what we learn. We had Greg Judy here a few years ago and had a tour. This year I volunteered to have the partners tour next year for the South Dakota Grassland Coalition. I am on the board of directors, and chairman of education, so education is a big deal for us. It’s a win-win for us. If we can help somebody with their grazing plan or their cattle, they are often using our genetics with their cattle. “I read something the other day that was focused on ‘How can I increase profit?’ and it talked about increasing income by 20%. My focus has always been more on how can I decrease cost by 20%. My bookkeeper would say I don’t ever get it done, but that’s the goal,” he says.
Looking to the Future
Like so many farm and ranch families, Bart and Shannon are looking to the future regarding ownership and management of the ranch. Currently their four children are busy in other endeavors. Kenny is now 24 years old and has been married for two years. He and his wife live in Rapid City and he owns a construction company. Their oldest daughter Karisa graduated from college in May. Kaeli is currently finishing cosmetology school in Rapid City, and their youngest son Kyler just graduated from high school and is preparing to go to Dickenson State College. “They wanted to do things here on the ranch, but I always told them that they had to leave home first, for a while, and get more experience—to find out what they really want to do,” says Bart. “I always said they would learn two things: 1) that they were right and Dad doesn’t know everything, and 2) Dad is not nearly as dumb as they thought! “Kenny originally wanted to farm. When he got married we tried to find a place for him but then he found that he really does like doing carpentry.” With the four children, Bart and Shannon had a lot of help before the children went off to college and work. When they did leave Bart figured out a system that didn’t take as much time so both he and Shannon have the extra time to work off farm and enjoy other forms of work. Shannon teaches for the Faith School District. Bart also has an off-farm job as a crop adjuster for NAP (Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program) with FSA (Farm Service Agency) USDA. NAP provides financial assistance to producers of non-insurable crops when low yields, loss of inventory, or prevented planting occur due to natural disasters. “In drought situations this becomes a fulltime job. I started this job in 2002 and I enjoy getting out and meeting people,” says Bart. “Here on our own operation we are always trying to think how to make things better. Shannon and I are not that old but we are thinking about how to plan for the next generation. With four kids, we need to figure out how that works. We don’t want to wait until the last minute. It seems like many folks in the generations before us have had trouble passing the farm to the next in line. We’ve talked to other people who have told us their dad won’t let go, or their grandpa won’t let go. We’ve been blessed in this aspect (and were able to get a start) so we want to be prepared to pass this on to our kids or grandkids. At this point we are just starting this process.” Given the creativity and thoughtfulness that Bart and Shannon have brought to their family, grazing management, financial planning, and animal husbandry, their foray into succession planning will be the next stepping stone in sustaining the Carmichael Ranch.
minimal tillage, but still tillage, so we were losing some topsoil every year. My first step toward trying to change this was to plant those fields—that were uphill from the road—to grass of some kind. “The goal was to stop erosion and destruction of the road; the ditches along it kept filling with topsoil, which made the water run over the road even more and create gullies. Trying to address this problem was my BY HEATHER SMITH THOMAS main reason for starting to plant grass, at that time, plus I didn’t see the ean and Candice Lockner both have roots in the land and they economic side of farming working out very well. We were at the point are passionate about what they are doing—always seeking to where big farming was starting all around us, using no-till methods. They improve their land and cattle. During that journey they have had 100-foot wide sprayers and large equipment. If you didn’t have at learned many new things, worked to teach the next generation, least 10,000 acres of farm ground this kind of investment wouldn’t pencil and are in the process of determining next steps for their operation. Along out and you had to hire other people to do it.” the way, Holistic Management has helped them better understand their So Dean made the decision to quit farming that land and plant it back values and figure out how to steward the land and make a living. to grass, and was enjoying the results. “At first, however, I only planted monocultures. I wouldn’t do Switching from that today, but I was learning Farming to Grazing as I went. Now everything on When Dean and Candice our place is planted back to first began farming on their grass,” says Dean. family’s land, there were “We received a lot of practices that Dean began to criticism for what we were question. “When Candi and doing, especially during I came back from college, I the years when corn got up worked for her father for seven to $7 and $8. I was going years,” says Dean. “Eventually the other direction, while at we moved to the place we are the same time people were on, in 1992. We are near Ree breaking up more grassland, Heights, South Dakota, which wherever they could, to is 60 miles east of Pierre and plant corn, because of the the Missouri River. high corn prices. Granted, I “When Candi and I were probably could have made starting out on our own, some more money for a we rented land from family couple of years doing it that members. Candi’s father way, but the destruction operated his farm in a very of soil would have had a traditional manner and did negative impact in the end. what most people were doing We have some very mixed in this area. There were many soil types here—some things that I didn’t like about it. gumbo, clay pan areas, and “Everyone here planted some with high salt levels corn and cut silage back then; that would make the ground this was the standard thing white, and pretty soon those that everybody did, even soils wouldn’t grow anything. though it didn’t make sense It took many years for that economically. Corn is a very to happen, but after planting expensive feed and growing it all back to grass we are it is destructive to the soil and finally seeing things starting the land, taking nutrients out to grow well in those areas,” Candi and Dean Lockner and not returning them. he says. “There were many traditional things about farming and ranching that I didn’t like. The place Working the Numbers we are currently renting had about 1,500 acres of crop ground. There is Through the years Dean and Candice found many sources of help as a considerable amount of slope, and always some runoff out of the Ree they made their journey into changing the way they managed their land. Hills. Whenever there was a heavy rainfall event, or spring runoff from “We’ve had good mentors with the South Dakota Grassland Coalition. We snow melt, the water would come down over the four-mile stretch of road have been part of that organization for a long time, and there are people that goes through our place—and wash over it in about 14 different places. there that I often bounce ideas off of, and we’ve also done a lot of reading. This was not only destructive to the road but was taking topsoil off our The writings of Allan Savory and others have also had an influence,” farm ground. Dean says. “Back then we were doing what we called conservation tillage. It was CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
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genetics; I bred them to straight Angus bulls, thinking I could make it work that way. But I wasn’t getting the results I wanted. I bred the British breed cows to club calf genetics (continental breeds), and it worked for a while, but as the club calf business became more competitive I could tell that I “Probably the Grassland Coalition has been the biggest influence because they have a lot of events and tours. The tours are great but I think needed to decide which side of the fence I wanted to be on.” Ultimately, he decided to go the commercial route. we learn just as much from the people we are sitting beside on the tours, “I don’t regret that decision,” says Dean. “This is what I needed to do. sharing ideas and thoughts. This group has been very helpful in shaping There were some aspects of the club calf business that I never cared for. the way we do things, the past 20 years. Showing livestock makes about as much economic sense as racing cars “Early on, I had a direction that I thought I should go, yet I was or showing horses. It’s a rich man’s sport, or a sport for people who enjoy doing things so different from other people that I wasn’t very confident being always poor! in my path. Probably one of the biggest turn-arounds was when Candi “Eventually I got off the fence and started trying to raise cattle that and I went to Dave Pratt’s Ranching for Profit school. That was a huge were adapted to the land and what the land will produce in our area, and influence. The only reason we went to that school (since it was quite our herd has made a lot of progress in that direction.” Dean also moved expensive) is that the SD Grassland Coalition provided a scholarship. “We were just starting the years of good cattle prices (2014) and it was the calving season to May-June and even though this means weaning calves younger, to wean them before winter, they do well. January 2015 that we went to that school. Dave forced us to break down “I am a person who is never satisfied with my animals and think they our business enterprises and analyze each part individually. Everything still need a lot of improvement, but then when I take them to the sale he said made me realize that I was going the right direction, but I wasn’t barn and compare them to all the other animals that go through the sale, going hard enough or fast enough. I realize that mine look very good. I am hard on myself and my livestock, “I knew that I was being perceived by my neighbors as being a little and I just need a reality check once in a while to know that I am making unusual or weird, but after going to that school I realized that there were progress and that my cattle are very good. The sale prices reflect that. I people out there that were a lot more unusual and weird than I am!” am always thinking they will just bring average price, but they bring top The other great aspect of that school was that he and Candi attended dollar. The buyers like them and keep coming back, so they must like our it together. “Before that, I would always explain to Candi why I was doing cattle,” Dean says. things the way I was doing and “In the recent past we why I was doing something have sold calves right off the different, and for the most cows, for purely economic part she was ok with it and reasons. I always tell people very understanding, but that I used to do everything school allowed her to really right—weaning 45 days understand; it put us on the before selling the calves, same path together—much giving all the vaccinations, better than it would have been etc.—but I wasn’t seeing without it. any economic return for “We were talking with doing all that work. We’d put some friends recently about our calves through the ring Holistic Management and one and then someone would of the great things about it is have bawling calves right that everything you do must off the cow come in behind be good for the family. It must ours and they were shiny involve everyone. It’s nice to and bloomy because they’d have this great operation, but if come right off grass, and it ends in divorce it is not what they would sell for as much you want.” This photo was taken at an educational pasture tour that the Lockners held in or more than the calves that 2018. The land was marginal farm ground that they seeded back to pasture had all the work put into Raising Cattle for to restore soil health. Photo was taken during the 2017 drought. them. There just wasn’t any Profit economic incentive, so we The Thousand Hills Ranch stopped doing the preconditioning,” he explains. cow herd is basically Angus, with a few black baldies, that Dean has “Since we now have May-June calves, they are usually about 100 been working to improve on the genetics. “Originally my father-in-law had pounds lighter than all the other calves at the sale barn. I sell 400-pound crossbred cattle, but he was in the club calf business. Because I worked calves about the middle of October. Within a month’s time, for the same for him I inherited that program and I was in the club calf business for a time. Then at some point I realized that I didn’t like the type of replacement dollars I got for those 400-pound calves, I could turn around and buy 500-550-pound calves. One of my father-in-law’s criticisms of May-June females we were producing with those genetics,” Dean says. Those show calving was that the calves would be lighter. But it all averages out. You cattle don’t have very many maternal qualities and have some other get a higher price per pound for those lightweight calves early in the genetic issues that are not ideal for the cow herd. season and you are not feeding them for another month. “For a few years it paid some bills because we got some high dollar “This year, because our cow numbers are down, we don’t have load premiums for some of those club calves. I kept riding the fence, trying to do both things. I wouldn’t breed my club calf genetic cows back to club calf lots to sell. I may keep them over until they are yearlings, since we are
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down on total numbers, but we’ll see. We can be flexible to do whatever haul hay all winter because there’s not much snow. But, we survived that seems best. winter and we are still here.” “I haven’t left the calves on the cows past December. This is probably because I didn’t have the type of cows that could handle that. You need a Keep it Flexible pretty good feed source for lactating cows. It also depends on the winter. Dean notes that people question him about his production system Some years you could get by with that, but a winter like last winter would and ask him what he is doing and what his process is. “I always tell have been very difficult, or a disaster. people that I’ve never done the same thing twice,” says Dean. “It’s part “In the last eight years we’ve had at least four years that were very of being flexible and paying attention to the grass—which grasses are below normal for rainfall, so we’ve been decreasing our stocking rate. dominant and which pastures need a change. Maybe we were hard on This year, however, rainfall some pastures last year and has been way above normal need to give them more rest and we have grass galore— this year. and not enough livestock “We have 30 pastures to consume it all. We have we rotate through. On heavy taken in other cattle and are stocking years we have doing custom grazing for other divided those pastures into ranchers. This has given us three or four segments. some flexibility in stocking I’ve probably had 80 to 100 rates,” says Dean. different pastures at times, “I don’t normally put up doing temporary crossvery much hay, but because fencing with electric fencing, of the surplus grass this year depending on the situation. we have put up more hay just This year, because our because it was there and we numbers are way down, we didn’t have enough livestock to have gotten lazy and are utilize it all. Typically, with the only moving the cattle every hay we put up, I leave a large couple weeks. portion of it in the field and “We’ve done everything Thousand Hills Ranch cattle, like these heifers, are mostly Black Angus just bale graze it right there from moving the cattle every genetics that Dean has been working on to improve so the cattle herd do well during the winter, to leave the one to three days, to moving in a low-input system. nutrients on the field that the every two weeks. We seldom hay came from,” he says. leave them longer than that in any pasture. It’s always good to never do the same thing in the same Winter Challenges pattern each year because then you start to affect certain species.” If The winters in this region can be variable in terms of snow. Some you graze the same pasture the same time of year every year this leads years there is a lot of snow and other years the cattle can graze partway to an increase of certain plants that tolerate that regime and reduces through winter without much hay. However, usually some hay is needed. plant diversity. “I had to learn the hard way how best to manage the cattle through Dean also notes how cattle moves play into their calving management. winter. The first year that I decided to try bale grazing was the winter of “One of the biggest changes we made was going to a May-June calving 1996-97 and historically it was one of the worst winters we’ve ever seen. system because this is when the deer have their fawns (after the snow is We had a lot of hay that year, and I didn’t bring any in from the field that gone and there is plenty of forage). The deer are smart enough to have year because the ground was so soft. Our hay mover was cutting into the their babies when there aren’t any blizzards so we figured that we should sod and we didn’t want to cut up the fields. I thought that since it always pay attention to that. One of the best things we ever did was to change freezes up in November and December, we’d have a month that we could our calving season. It is such a pleasure to calve out on green grass,” move the hay after the ground was frozen,” he says. Dean says. Then it started snowing the first of November, and didn’t quit. We were “Our cows calve on 10 to 15 pastures in the spring; we calve a few unable to move the hay because the snow quickly became too deep. We out and then when we move the herd to the next pasture I just wait until spent the winter trying to get the cows to the hay, and the weather was so the time of day when the pairs are kind of separated from the rest (off by miserable that the cattle didn’t even want to be out in the fields. The snow themselves). Then I just open the gate and call the cows, and they come. was three feet deep on the level, and we’d work hard all morning to get It’s easy to haze the pairs back so they don’t come, and the rest go on to a one or two-day feed supply for the cows, and the snow would blow in through the gate. If there’s a little bit of mix-up, it’s easy to resolve. Within again overnight. This went on all winter! It was a very expensive winter,” about an hour, usually the mothers are back at the gate bellowing for their he recalls. calves and wanting to go back, and all I have to do is let them go back,” “So I learned the hard way. I realized that first we should fill up our he says. stack yard so that we have some security with feed close to home, and This makes everything easy. “Candi and I are at a point in our life then leave some in the field for bale grazing. It is important to have some where we are trying to do things a little easier. I am 63 and she will soon options and flexibility. Sometimes you think you know what you should do, be 61. We are not in our 30s anymore so we want to have things a bit but it doesn’t always work out that way. It seemed logical to wait until the easier. I wish I had understood and done some of these things when I was ground freezes up to move the hay, and most winters we would be able to CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 Num ber 189
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younger because it would have made life so much easier! We learn as we go, but it would have been a lot easier if we’d learned some of these things 30 or 40 years ago,” Dean says.
The Future of Agriculture
“There’s the whole spectrum, from people who inherited their ranch to people trying to finance everything,” says Dean. “If they have everything financed, they are in serious trouble now. Even the ones who inherited everything, if they really figure it all up and pay themselves for their time, and a return on their land, they are actually losing equity. They may not be in direct trouble, but they are losing equity.
Dean and Candice have four children and they are all on different career paths. “Right now it’s just Candi and myself here on the farm,” says We are not in our 30s anymore so we want Dean. “Our oldest daughter was the only one who had a big interest in to have things a bit easier. I wish I had agriculture. She went to the University of Nebraska and met a young man who was a city boy/computer nerd who was allergic to everything on the understood and done some of these things farm. He is an incredible man and we highly respect him, but we know when I was younger because it would have that he and our daughter are not going to be moving back to the farm. He has a great career, so they are doing fine; they have a great lifestyle,” made life so much easier!” Dean says. “We have three daughters and one son. I like to tell the story about when my son was in the first grade and told me, ‘Now Dad, if you think I am going to get interested in this farming and ranching thing, you might “Candi and I are in a phase right now where we are trying to transition as well forget about it.’ I figured he was just young, but he never really into what we will do next in life. We are in a situation where we rent from changed his mind. He helped me all the while he was growing up, but he six different family members. That is going to change everything in the is a very social person and this was a more isolated life than he wanted. near future for us. Typically, what happens is that off-farm family members What he is doing now, he is happy with, and he’s probably where he only see the dollars rather than the land. We have tried to be educational should be at the moment.” about how we are taking care of the land and how important it is, but this With the current economics of agriculture, Dean and Candi are glad falls on deaf ears. They are more concerned about how many dollars rent they are not trying to support another family on the farm. “When you have they get, or how much they would get if they sold the land. We are in a to try to do things to make ends meet, with Candi and myself right now, situation where what we’ve been doing the past several years is going to it’s just a break-even proposition. I see many young people in a lot of change drastically in the next two to five years. debt and really struggling. There are people here who are having to get “We are going to be fine, for what little we’ve accumulated, but right out of ag; the bank has told them they will not be able to continue. There now we have been looking at helping some young people. There are a have been a number of bankruptcies. It’s not a good picture right now,” lot of young people out there who want to get into ranching but they may Dean says. have only 30 cows or 50 cows and it’s really more of a hobby because “One young couple here were forced to sell out. They had worked they have off-farm jobs. This may be a way for us to phase out and do really hard on their custom grazing for cow herd to have the people like that. We genetics they wanted, don’t know what and they were just our future plans devastated. We talked will actually be; with them quite a bit, sometimes you just and they hoped we put it in God’s hands. could give them the “We may not magic solution to get continue to do what out of their financial we are doing. Even troubles, but I basically though we’ve made told them that what they things a lot easier were doing—selling for ourselves by the out—was probably way we do things, the best thing they we are questioning could do. why we should work “After they sold as hard as we do their cows they were just to break even in With the focus on soil health, the Lockner Ranch remained productive miserable, but I told the current business during the 2017 drought. them that in a few years climate. We are not they would look back on this and be glad they got out when they did. It has doing this just to break even; we are in this business to make a profit. It’s a been about two years now, and they are starting to realize that they are balancing act between enjoying the lifestyle and the place where we live, glad they got out—because they saved something instead of losing it all,” and trying to make a living. How long do you do that at break-even or a says Dean. loss and keep trying to hang on? Dean notes that even those who inherited ranches are struggling. CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 14
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Development Corner CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24
Holistic Goal. No more trying something out because I read it in an article to then see it fail because it wasn’t a good fit with what I was doing. (In hindsight, this makes so much sense, but when you don’t feel like you know what you’re doing, you’re at the mercy of the new latest and greatest practice/method/product!)
Healthy sheep on healthy soil at the Senter Ranch. As a frustrated architect, Land Planning was my favorite module! The efficiency of infrastructures and layouts has always been instinctive to me, so I had a lot of fun planning how I’d structure the new property my new husband and I would develop on our new ranch. One of the best nuggets of wisdom I received during the program is not to change or add any fencing until you worked the ranch/farm and animals for a few seasons to see what worked and didn’t work. I followed that advice, and although it wasn’t fun chasing livestock that ran through electrical fencing, it made for a better plan on what we needed on our ranch given our livestock. The Biological Monitoring (BM) and Grazing Planning (GP) modules required much more brain power as I quickly saw that I hadn’t understood the symbiotic relationship between the ecosystems and livestock. Understanding the four basic ecosystem processes: the water cycle, the mineral cycle, the energy flow and the community dynamics required that I do a lot of homework for the class, as I hadn’t studied any of it during the years playing on the five acres. My undergraduate degree is in Accounting, so the Financial Planning module was a cup of tea compared to BM and GP. The star of the module was the concept of planning for profits! So many of us look at profit as the result of what you produce less the expenses to produce the item, but to change our mindset to control the expenses to guarantee a profit is brilliant! I love the concept of being in control of the profit. At the time I took the BFR course, I’d just been producing for myself and any extra was given or sold to friends but I knew that this course was going to give me the confidence and the tools to transform it into a viable business, so the Marketing and Business Planning module was
very important. I needed to get a better understanding of the market I was going to be selling in, what was the market, who my ‘competition’ was, what were the regulations, who were my ideal customers, how to advertise the ranch and the products. All these concerns were addressed in the module! The BFR class is a holistic, comprehensive approach at formulating a goal/plan for a business, and making sure that all decisions moved you toward that goal/plan. I knew before I graduated from the BFR class that I wanted to share this mindset with everyone as a Certified Educator! So many of us have lacked purposeful direction, and have made some atrocious decisions because we omitted important factors, whether they related to our business, career or personal life. Holistic Management principles can be applied to business, careers, or our personal life. Earlier this year, I was accepted into the Certified Educator training program with HMI. I hope to be able to share this life changing mindset/worldview to as many as are willing to put up with my enthusiasm for it! HMI’s non-profit business structure was also a leading factor in my decision to join forces with them by becoming a Certified Educator. I felt that they valued promoting these practices more than making lots of profit from teaching these practices. But we all know it takes money to provide classes and workshops, and to market and promote the organization and their work, not to mention paying the dedicated staff who keep the organization running! So I use the monthly giving option that HMI has on their website to make my contribution because I value what they offer.
Christine Senter checking her pastured poultry. A number of years ago, I heard our pastor say, “Our theology comes out through our actions and decisions.” This is true for our passions and worldview too! Once your passion is ignited, and your worldview has been shifted/formed, you can’t help but follow through with your actions and decisions. Part of my goal for becoming a Certified Educator is to give back to HMI by expanding their network and association through my efforts as a Certified Educator. The more we advocate HMI practices, the more effective they become!
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PROGRAM ROUNDUP Grow the Growers Update
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n September 3rd & 5th, 2019 HMI led a 14-hour Holistic Cropping Planning workshop for the Albuquerque Grow the Growers participants. Grow the Growers is a comprehensive farm training and business acceleration initiative designed to attract new and emerging farmers into professional food production. It is a collaboration of the Bernalillo County Open Space, New Mexico State University Extension, The Agri-cultura Network, and HMI. During the workshop, instructor Sarah Williford covered the necessary material for participants to begin a successful holistic crop plan. Participants finished with a resource list for soil testing and composting information and the understanding that the next steps to their crop plan would be to consider their financial and business aims and incorporate them into the plan. 100% of participants reported knowledge change and were satisfied with the program. On October 15th and 16th, 2019 Certified Educator Ann Adams facilitated a 14-hour Holistic Marketing and Business Planning course with the farmers at the Grow the Growers Program. This course included the basics of reading and developing financial statements to develop tax and business planning documents. There were eight interactive small group and individual activities throughout the workshop guiding participants through the nine steps to Holistic Financial Planning and the 14 steps of Holistic Marketing and Business Planning. Thanks to the Thornburg Foundation for their support of this programming.
Open Gate Updates Rio Fernando Open Gate
On October 12, 2019 27 people from Albuquerque to Farmington, New Mexico braved the cold to learn about the importance of soil health and holistic goal setting at the Rio Fernando Park Open Gate Field Day in Taos, New Mexico. George Whitten explaining how grazing The Rio Fernando can improve soil health. Park is owned by the Taos Land Trust and they hosted the event. Stephanie von Ancken, HMI’s Program Manager, led the morning introductions and oriented the group for the day. Ben Wright, land manager with the Taos Land Trust, told the story of Rio Fernando Park and gave an overview of what experiments they have tried in restoring and regenerating the property. George Whitten, manager/operator of the San Juan Ranch outside Saguache, CO, co-founder of the Sweet Grass Cooperative, and holistic grazer extraordinaire, introduced the group to the three components
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of holistic goal setting and led the group through a hands-on decision test using the Holistic Decision Testing Matrix and the group discussed the advantages and disadvantages of incorporating livestock into the restoration plan for the Rio Fernando Park property. Shawn Howard presented next about his experience with a regeneration project of 250 acres near Angel Fire, New Mexico. He has been incorporating Holistic Management practices since 2016 when he engaged in a consulting contract with HMI. He says he is constantly amazed at the resiliency and fertility of the land and encourages everyone to focus on the health of the soil first. Don Peters, Executive Director of Not Forgotten Outreach (NFO), presented on their current projects and how they are working to motivate military families to engage in regenerative farming as a means to heal. They are in the beginning stages of La Finca Militar, 28 acres where they will plant year-round gardens for a farm-to-school program. This space will also house the Taos Veterans Farming Project, a veterans’ memorial, affordable military housing, public walking trails, and the training center for the NFO Veterans Corps. After lunch the group headed out to tour the park. George discussed ecosystem processes. Ben led the group to the rye fields, water catchment projects, mulching experiments, areas with plans for a pollinator garden, and the Johnson/Su bioreactors. At the end of the tour the group participated in a biological monitoring exercise led by George. Micah Roseberry also shared her projects with A.I.R.E and their farm-to-school program getting nutrient rich foods into school cafeterias. Thank you to the Taos Land Trust for hosting this event, to the Thornburg Foundation for their funding support.
El Sueno Ranch Open Gate
On October 25th, 25 participants attended HMI’s El Sueno Ranch Open Gate. El Sueno Ranch is a 10,000-acre ranch located north of Clines Corner, New Mexico. It is owned by Albert Lowry and managed El Sueno Ranch owner, Albert Lowry by Chuck Kuchta. HMI discussing how their cattle centers were Certified Educator Kirk developed for ease of management. Gadzia facilitated the day that began with introductions by HMI Executive Director Ann Adams. Kirk had the participants introduce themselves so he could tailor the day to the participants’ needs. Then Albert Lowry and Chuck Kuchta shared the vision for the El Sueno Ranch that Albert purchased in 2014 and Chuck began managing in 2016. Albert and Chuck noted that the land had been used heavily, particularly near the roads and water, and production was lower because the land was still recovering. They have invested extensively in improving the fencing and water. The water development has enabled them to push the water 5–6 miles from the well so they can better utilize the forage across the landscape and provide adequate recovery. After Albert and Chuck shared the story of El Sueno, Kirk presented on the key components of Holistic Grazing Planning and Biological Monitoring so participants had a better idea of how these processes were being used at El Sueno and the challenges that Albert and Chuck have had to face in their implementation. The key focus for El Sueno
is developing infrastructure and engaging in enterprises that keep the operation of the ranch simple so Albert and Chuck are able to engage in other professional pursuits part-time. Before lunch, HMI’s collaborators spoke about their programming and how they can provide additional resources to the participants. Presenters included Sarah Wentzel-Fisher, Director of the Quivira Coalition, who talked about Quivira’s Carbon Ranching program; Joan Bybee, Board member of the Southwest Grassfed Livestock Alliance (SWGLA), who talked about the webinar series SWGLA is offering to producers about how to improve the outcomes of their efforts to direct market their grassfed products to consumers; and Jon Hayes, Director of Audubon NM, who talked about their Bird Friendly Beef Certification Program. After lunch, the participants climbed on to a hay wagon to tour the ranch, including stopping at a number of the seven monitoring transects Chuck monitors using the Bullseye Method. Participants were able to learn about the numerous forbs, grasses, and shrubs that are on the ranch as well as note what areas showed higher levels of production and discuss why. There were also stops at water points to view infrastructure development. The last stop of the tour was at a headcut that had recently developed in a riparian area near ranch headquarters with discussions on how to reduce or prevent further erosion. Thank you to our funder, the Thornburg Foundation, for their support of this event. Thanks also to our sponsor Twin Mountain Fence as well as our collaborators: the Quivira Coalition, Audubon, and the Southwest Grassfed Livestock Alliance.
Southwest Colorado Open Gate
Thirty people from the Colorado region, and as far away as California attended an Open Gate tour “Creating a Future for Farming Participants enjoyed the discussion about and Ranching in SW grazing strategies at Cachuma Ranch. Colorado” that featured Cachuma Ranch on September 28th, 2019. The tour was organized and facilitated by Cindy Dvergsten, HMI Certified Educator, who has worked with both Cachuma Ranch and Fozzie’s Farm. The tour began in Dove Creek Colorado. Cindy provided a brief overview of Holistic Management before the group traveled out to Disappointment Valley to learn how Kathy and Ken Lausten are working to restore health to long abused rangelands. Their family manages 14,000 acres of both leased and deeded land and raises Criollo cattle, a heritage breed suited to arid rangeland environments. The portion of the ranch the group visited had just been acquired by the ranch and the family is just beginning to develop their management strategy. Participants enjoyed lunch out on the open range and continued discussing the potential for this landscape before loading up and heading south to Fozzie’s Farm where the Cachuma Ranch cattle are finished on lush irrigated pasture. Fozzie’s Farm is an 83-acre irrigated farm operated by the Montezuma Land Conservancy (MLC). Jay Loschert, Outreach
Coordinator and Farm Manger for MLC provided a brief history of the farm and how MLC is considered an innovative local land trust working to protect lands and reconnect community to our natural world in the stunning southwest corner of Colorado. Thank you to our funder, the Ballantine Foundation, for their support of this program as well as to Fozzie’s Farm and Cachuma Ranch for hosting this event.
Taking Grazing to the Next Level Workshop On October 10 & 11, 2019, 47 people gathered at the Betty & Clint Josey Pavilion at Leo Ranch to explore Holistic Management techniques and practices to take their HMI Certified Educator Lisa Bellows grazing management skills discussed the Leo Ranch biological to the next level. monitoring with workshop participants. Participants included young and old graziers, ag teachers, a few students from North Central Texas College, and a couple folks interested in learning more about grazing and its impact on area watersheds. The workshop was facilitated by two highly experienced Certified Educators assisted by several local Certified Educators who enriched the conversation with their diversity of experience including Ben Bartlett, Kirk Gadzia, Deborah Clark, and Lisa Bellows. Ben spent time discussing plant identification and how plants grow and express themselves. The group talked about the missing link of soil biology/soil health and the importance of evaluating why specific plants are growing in your pasture. Understanding the impact of sunshine, water, fertility and diversity, and that grazing management is about how you control the plant-animal interaction. Kirk followed with information about good grazing principles indicated by the plant and animal partnership, with examples and more information on how plants grow in response to grazing animals. He focused on timing, recovery, the nutrition value of forage, managing for animal performance, and how to minimize overgrazing in your planning. Most of the afternoon was spent in the field. The group went to see an enclosed pasture that had been recently grazed and noticed amazing pasture diversity and that it was difficult to tell that any forage had been taken at all. While in the field Leo Ranch manager Robby Tuggle discussed their grazing practices, and how they have been using sheep and cows to create impact on the land. Lisa Bellows discussed plant species differences within the pasture exclosure and did a water infiltration test. She also identified plants in regenerated native pastures and demonstrated use of an electronic floating plate meter for forage assessment. Then Deborah Clark, an HMI Certified Educator and area producer, wow-ed everyone with photos and videos showing the management CONTINUED ON PAGE 18
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and results of their “big herd” grazing techniques. The second day of the workshop began with Kirk talking about the financial aspects of grazing like considerations of asset turnover, and the benefits of selling monthly or weekly versus once a year, how to calculate profit per acre or per animal, as well as return on assets managed (ROAM) as a way of tracking escalating overhead costs. There were also discussions about labor, infrastructure investments and tax consequences of permanent versus portable fencing. In the afternoon Robby explained how they seeded the Eastern gamma grass in strips and how the cattle have dispersed it. HMI Program Manager Kathy Harris gathered a sample of gamma grass to test with a refractometer (brix meter) to show participants another way to measure forage quality. Thanks to Ben Bartlett, Kirk Gadzia, Deborah Clark, Lisa Bellows, and Robby Tuggle for their informative contributions to the workshop. Special thanks to Melissa and Tom Bookhout for all their help with preparation and coordination, and the Dixon Water Foundation for funding and providing the beautiful pavilion and the ranch.
From the Board Chair BY WALTER LYNN
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n the last edition of IN PRACTICE I discussed the social aspects of our Holistic Management® decision-making framework. The people part of a business, our community, and our families is such a huge piece of our holistic goal. This is a continuation on those social aspects. In working on helping others to understand the social components, I committed recently to developing a list of the constraints to soil health adoption. Our networks are hunger for what we sometimes take for granted in regenerative agriculture and Holistic Management. When I have shared my write-up of constraints, many of the constraints point to further education. Education and messaging are so key to helping others understand the possibilities of this world revolution in soil health. We cannot keep soil health under the bushel basket. Each of us has a story to share from our farm or ranch about a soil health change implemented or observed. I would like to share about my networking and creating impact on soil health. The meetings I attend or help to organize, you never know who you may touch. On August 7th, HMI helped sponsor the Farmer’s Footprint video showing here in Springfield. Our venue and local organizers reached out to 50 people that evening, including several attendees of note— including representatives from two downstate Illinois medical schools, my personal M.D., approximately six environmental groups, a local newspaper publisher, and a Forbes.com (Forbes Magazine) reporter. We had demonstrations on soil health and a farmer panel to enhance the soil health message impact. The Forbes.com reporter lives locally, and she
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“There have always been market cycles up and down and you just hang on until the next one—when cattle prices are good again—but those cycles have changed. This is one of the tough realities, and if we are talking about Holistic Management, these things need to be discussed. A person can do everything right, in terms of grassland management, but if you go broke it doesn’t matter. In our situation, Candi and I will be fine, but we are just trying to figure out what the future holds.” Even though the challenges are huge, many people in agriculture have a passion to try to find ways to continue working the land and making a living. As Candice says, “Some of us see our stewardship of the land as a sacred trust and a calling as we try to work with Nature and the natural laws of the earth. We have learned to stop using chemical insecticides and pesticides, using management that allows the natural biological controls to do the work. We are passionate about caring for all of these systems and their interplay, yet we are also reminded of not only the sacredness of life but the brevity of life. “The sustainability of Holistic Management can help us find it [the sacred trust]—not only to learn it and understand it and see it and work it, but also to know that it is being shared in a way that will be carried on.”
published an article about our event and soil health within two days of our event. This blind sow found an acorn with this reporter!! Fourteen days after our showing, I had a confirmed appointment to meet with Southern Illinois University of Illinois School of Medicine’s Department on Population Science and Policy. We discussed the Soil, Food, and Health connection on November 6th. I had several pieces of “soil health technology” to help the education—a penetrometer, two pie pans, bread, and a bottle of water. The penetrometer measures compaction in pounds of pressure per inch limiting physical soil quality. The “flour test” is a demonstration about runoff and creating soil life. Our soil function helps to create the nutrient density of our food for better health. Explaining the soil connection may give us hope in reducing the current odds of one in three people receiving a cancer diagnosis. After the medical school meeting, I was in the groove to commit to writing my “Social Constraints to Soil Health Adoption.” Where can you individually start a conversation? • A Rotary Club • A Slow Food Group • A Master Gardener group • A Group in your faith community • A local community college or University It is about the conversation! I want to personally commend each Holistic Management® Certified Educator and each practitioner for the impact created by their teaching, demonstration and implementation. HMI and its educators have the educational tools to help our journey of lifelong education and learning. Learning is critical because I believe that when we cease to learn in life, we are in a “marble orchard” or cemetery.
GRAPEVINE The
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New HMI Board Members
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MI is excited to announce four new board members that were elected at HMI’s Board of Directors meeting in November 2019. Please welcome our new board members. Ariel Greenwood lives in New Mexico in the winter and Montana in the summer. Ariel Greenwood She studied psychology and agroecology in college, and started farming as a teenager in North Carolina and began working with livestock in California. For the past five years she has worked with pigs, goats, and sheep, but primarily has managed and raised beef cattle in operations ranging from small herds with locally marketed grassfed beef to managing multi-thousand head of yearling stocker cattle. She and her partner, Sam Ryerson, have a management LLC, Grass Nomads. They sometimes consult other operators and landowners as well as practice holistic planned grazing. Their work is generally on large, rougher country where they utilize dogs, horses, and aim for relatively short grazing periods. Ariel writes for such websites as Civil Eats, Humans and Nature, and Fibershed, as well as her own blog, and regularly speaks to media about the issues and complexity surrounding grazing. She also serves as founding board member/treasurer for Contra Viento Journal, an arts & literature periodical about rangelands. Her first exposure to Holistic Management was in 2012/2013 when she took grazing planning, financial planning, and biological monitoring courses through Spencer Smith of the Savory Institute’s Jefferson Hub. She feels fortunate to have entered livestock agriculture largely motivated by the principles inherent to Holistic Management and with a lot of support from other practitioners and teachers. She finds the grazing planning principles and context/goal development framework to be absolutely indispensable. Ariel feels honored to be asked to join HMI’s board as she sees HMI’s focus on high-quality, on-the-ground instruction and influence to be sorely needed. She sees herself helping connect with younger/aspirational producers and practitioners. She is also passionate about helping to bring distant, marginal land into focus for urban or non-practitioners—showing the real change happening on the landscape with the broader public who are intrigued and skeptical of “regenerative grazing.” She sees the psychological savvy inherent to Holistic Management as most needed in farming, ranching, and land management. Colin Nott lives in Namibia and is married to Anna Davis and has two daughters Zoe (13) and Tuli (10). He has a Masters of Science in Rangeland Science from the University of KwaZulu Natal and became a HMI Certified Educator Colin Nott in 2003. He and his wife have worked in
h community development since 1991 in Namibia in the establishment of communal conservancies and worked to facilitate that organized rural communities receive equitable benefits from the wildlife and tourism assets they manage. Since 2005, he has worked within conservancies to support improved management of the degrading communal rangelands in Namibia. Colin is currently rounding up a project working with the Ministry of Agriculture and the three Namibian Farmers Unions. They are publishing a Best Practice document that investigates the current state of Namibia’s rangelands, highlights the main drivers of livestock profitability and looks to incentivize the application of sound rangeland management principles— through the development of Namibian Regenerative Standards and later low interest bank loans and hopefully tax incentives in the future. Colin is eager to join HMI’s board and learn from the successes outside of Namibia and learn from what others are doing as well as share his experiences. Breanna Owens lives in Los Molinos, California with her son Will. She runs a small cattle and sheep operation based in Tehama County, California utilizing mostly leased private and public lands. She recently started working with the California State University—Chico Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Breanna Owens Systems, along with working the last few years with a ranching-conservation collaborative called Working Circle Proactive Stewardship that developed as a result of wolves expanding their range to Northern California. For the past six years she worked with Point Blue Conservation Science as a Senior Range Ecologist and Program Coordinator for the Rangeland Watershed Initiative, a partnership program with NRCS. She is a mentor through Quivira’s New Agrarian Program. She is also the current chair of the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition and a California Certified Rangeland Manager. Breanna grew up in Northern California on a cow-calf ranch, attended Chico State and Colorado State University—Fort Collins. She is motivated by a love for the agriculture industry...for the people, land and livestock that are a part of it. She is inspired by the current conversations and opportunities in highlighting the linkages between the agriculture and conservation communities. Breanna was first introduced to Holistic Management when working for her family in high school and college on a cattle and sheep ranch on the big island of Hawaii. She was also introduced again during courses through the Western Center for Integrated Resource Management at Fort Collins, and more recently through a series of Holistic Management workshops with the Jefferson Center for Holistic Management (a Savory Institute hub) as part of the Ecological Outcome Verification program. Breanna believes that the Holistic Management framework has critical value in supporting people, communities, and industries in decisionmaking and management at all scales and within all contexts. She would CONTINUED ON PAGE 20
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like to learn from others how they have used Holistic Management, how they’ve put the principles into practice, and engage in conversation and programs to effectively support others in thinking about systems-based decision making and management. Brad Schmidt lives in Volga, South Dakota where he is a Regional Agronomist for Ducks Unlimited. He graduated from South Dakota State University in 2017 with a Bachelor’s in Agriculture Science and has been involved with Regenerative Agriculture for about seven years. He was able to convert the family farm in southwest Minnesota to 100% no-till, with Brad Schmidt diverse cropping rotations, diverse livestock enterprises, cover crops, and rotational grazing. He is also a co-owner in the farm’s direct marketing business for their meat products. The farm goal is to be 100% pasture and grass-fed in the near future. When Brad was in college he came across a video of Gabe Brown on YouTube, thus starting his obsession. During college he was fortunate to work for Dr. Dwayne Beck of Dakota Lakes Research Farm who became his mentor. After college he was employed by Cronin Farms of Gettysburg, South Dakota working alongside Dan Forgey. He was then hired on with Ducks Unlimited to head up their Soil Health Program. He has traveled around the United States and Canada, working with producers to help change and adapt their practices. He also works with large companies on their “sustainability” goals and how they can better work with the farmers and ranchers that produce their products. Brad’s first introduction to Holistic Management was a conversation he had with Ray Archuleta during college who advised him to read Allan Savory’s book. After reading Holistic Management, he attended a number of Savory’s talks and watched his YouTube videos. Brad is looking forward to sharing his experiences and failures as a young producer interested in regenerative agriculture and Holistic Management. He wanted to serve on HMI’s board because it’s important to future generations of this world to understand the system processes. HMI would also like to thank Robert Potts of the Dixon Water Foundation for his years of board service. He steps off from the board after completing his board term.
HMI New Advisory Council Member
H
MI is excited to announce that Will Harris of White Oak Pastures has joined HMI’s Advisory Council. Will Harris is a fourthgeneration cattleman, who tends the same land that his greatgrandfather settled in 1866. Born and raised at White Oak Pastures, Will left home to attend the University of Georgia’s School of Agriculture, where he was trained in the industrial farming. He graduated in 1976 and returned Will Harris to Bluffton where he and his father
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continued to raise cattle using pesticides, herbicides, hormones, and antibiotics. They also fed their herd a high-carbohydrate diet of corn and soy. By the mid-1990s Will became disenchanted with the excesses of these industrialized methods. So in 1995, he made the audacious decision to return to the farming methods his great-grandfather had used 130 years before. Will’s efforts have resulted in the successful implementation of Holistic Management at White Oak Pastures. He has been recognized all over the world as a leader in humane animal husbandry and environmental sustainability. He is the immediate past President of the Board of Directors of Georgia Organics and is the Beef Director of the American Grassfed Association and was selected 2011 Business Person of the year for Georgia by the Small Business Administration. Will lives in his family home on the property with his wife Yvonne. He is the proud father of three daughters, Jessi, Jenni, and Jodi. Welcome, Will!
New HMI Certified Educator
H
MI is pleased to announce our newest Certified Educator, Doniga Markegard. Doniga comes to ranching with a background in wildlife tracking and permaculture. Along with her husband and four children, Doniga owns and operates Markegard Family Grass-Fed, raising grass-fed beef, lamb, pastured pork, chicken and dairy supplying the community with local, nutrient dense foods. The family ranch leases coastal grasslands in San Mateo and Sonoma Counties spanning over 10,000 acres. The mission of Markegard Family Grass-Fed is stewarding grasslands by mimicking natural systems through regenerative agriculture practices. Congratulations to Doniga for her successful completion of HMI’s rigorous two-year Certified Educator Training Program!
Montana Aldo Leopold Winner
C
ongratulations to Bill and Dana Milton of the 15,000-acre Milton Ranch near Roundup, Montana for winning the 2019 Montana Leopold Conservation Award. The Miltons began ranching in 1978 as a cow/calf operation. Bill Milton They are now finishing their animals on the ranch as well and selling them through the Country Natural Beef program. In 1993 they received the Montana Land Resilience Conservation Award and have continued to work on the health of their land. The Miltons were featured in Dan Dagget’s book, Beyond the Rangeland Conflict, as an example of ranchers who are actively working to build bridges as part of their environmental work. The Miltons have been monitoring their land for more than 20 years using the services of Roland Kroos of Crossroads Consulting. View the video of their award at: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=vchXIVx8L7w.
Certified
Deborah Clark
Jeff Goebel
Educators
The following Certified Educators listed have been trained to teach and coach individuals in Holistic Management. On a yearly basis, Certified Educators renew their agreement to be affiliated with HMI. This agreement requires their commitment to practice Holistic Management in their own lives and to seek out opportunities for staying current with the latest developments in Holistic Management.
Henrietta 940/328-5542 deborah@birdwellandclarkranch.com
Belen 541/610-7084 goebel@aboutlistening.com
Guy Glosson
*Las Vegas
Katherine Napper-Ottmers
505/225-6481 • katherineottmers@icloud.com
CALIFORNIA
*College of Agriculture, CSU Lee Altier
Chico 530/636-2525 • laltier@csuchico.edu
Owen Hablutzel
Los Angeles 310/567-6862 go2owen@gmail.com
Richard King
Petaluma 707/217-2308 (c) rking1675@gmail.com
Doniga Markegard
Half Moon Bay 650/670-7984 Doniga@markegardfamily.com
Kelly Mulville *Paicines
707/431-8060 • kmulville@gmail.com
Don Nelson
Red Bluff 208/301-5066 • nelson-don1@hotmail.com
Rob Rutherford
San Luis Obispo 805/550-4858 (c) robtrutherford@gmail.com COLORADO
Joel Benson
Buena Vista 719/221-1547 • joel@holisticeffect.com
MONTANA
Roland Kroos
Bozeman 406/581-3038 (c) • kroosing@msn.com
Cliff Montagne *Montana State University
Bozeman 406/599-7755 (c) • montagne@montana.edu NEBRASKA
Paul Swanson *Hastings
402/463-8507 • 402/705-1241 (c) pswanson3@unl.edu
Ralph Tate
Papillion 402/250-8981 (c) tater2d2@cox.net NEW HAMPSHIRE
Seth Wilner
Newport 603/863-9200 (w) seth.wilner@unh.edu NEW MEXICO
Ann Adams
Erica Frenay *Brooktondale
Holistic Management International Albuquerque 505/842-5252 anna@holisticmanagement.org
Kirk Gadzia
Bernalillo 505/263-8677 (c) • kirk@rmsgadzia.com
Tim McGaffic
Dolores 808/936-5749 • tim@timmcgaffic.com
*Calhan
Katie Belle Miller
970/310-0852 • heritagebellefarms@gmail.com KANSAS
William Casey
Erie 620/ 423-2842 bill.caseyag@gmail.com
Larry Dyer
MICHIGAN
Petoskey 231/881-2784 (c) ldyer3913@gmail.com
*Meadville
MISSISSIPPI
Preston Sullivan
601/384-5310 (h) 601/835-6124 (c) prestons@telepak.net
970/946-1771 • craigrleggett@gmail.com
Elizabeth Marks
CD Pounds *Fruitvale
Phillip Metzger
Norwich 607/316-4182 • pmetzger17@gmail.com NORTH DAKOTA
Joshua Dukart *Hazen
OREGON
Angela Boudro
Central Point 541/ 890-4014 • angelaboudro@gmail.com
Tony Malmberg
Fredericksburg 830/456-5587 (c) • peggysechrist@gmail.com
Christine C. Jost
Washington DC 773/706-2705 • christinejost42@gmail.com WISCONSIN
*Madison
Larry Johnson
Laura Paine *Columbus
608/338-9039 (c) • lkpaine@gmail.com
SOUTH DAKOTA
605/730-0550 • randy@zhvalley.com
Gainesville 940/736-3996 (c) lbellows@nctc.edu
Peggy Sechrist
608/665-3835 • larrystillpointfarm@gmail.com
Union 541/663-6630 tony@holisticmanagement.guide
*North Central Texas College
214/568-3377 • cdpounds@live.com
WASHINGTON DC
701/870-1184 • joshua_dukart@yahoo.com
TEXAS
Peggy Maddox
Hermleigh 325/226-3042 (c) • peggy@kidsontheland.org
Chatham 518/567-9476 (c) elizabeth_marks@hotmail.com
Lisa Bellows
Orange Grove 361/537-3417 (c) • tjlitle@hotmail.com
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.
*
These associate educators provide educational services to their communities and peer groups.
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
Cindy Dvergsten
Dolores 970/882-4222 info@wholenewconcepts.com
Theresa J Litle
Craig Leggett *Chestertown
Randal Holmquist *Mitchell
Kathy Harris
Holistic Management International Plano 214/417-6583 kathyh@holisticmanagement.org
NEW YORK
607/342-3771 (c) info@shelterbeltfarm.com
U N I T E D S TAT E S
Snyder 806/237-2554 • glosson@caprock-spur.com
Judi Earl
AUSTRALIA
Coolatai, NSW 61-409-151-969 judi_earl@bigpond.com
Graeme Hand
Ralph Corcoran
Langbank, SK 306/532-4778 rlcorcoran@sasktel.net
Blain Hjertaas
Franklin, Tasmania 61-4-1853-2130 • graemehand9@gmail.com
Redvers, SK 306/452-7723 bhjer@sasktel.net
Dick Richardson
Brian Luce
Mount Pleasant, SA 61-4-2906-9001 dick@dickrichardson.com.au
Ponoka, AB 403/783-6518 lucends@cciwireless.ca
Jason Virtue *Cooran QLD
Tony McQuail
61-4-27 199 766 Jason@landlifeeducation.com.au
Lucknow, ON 519/528-2493 tonymcquail@gmail.com
Brian Wehlburg
Kelly Sidoryk
Kindee NSW 61-0408-704-431 brian@insideoutsidemgt.com.au CANADA
Don Campbell
Meadow Lake, SK 320/240-7660 (c) doncampbell@sasktel.net
Blackroot, AB 780/872-2585 (c) kelly.sidoryk@gmail.com FINLAND
Tuomas Mattila
Pusula 358-407432412 tuomas.j.mattila@gmail.com
NAMIBIA
Usiel Seuakouje Kandjii
Windhoek 264-812840426 (c) • 264-61-244028 (h) kandjiiu@gmail.com
Colin Nott *Windhoek
264-81-2418778 (c) • 264-61-225085 (h) canott@iafrica.com.na
Wiebke Volkmann Windhoek 264-81-127-0081 wiebke@afol.com.na
NEW ZEALAND
*Christchurch
John King
64-276-737-885 • john@succession.co.nz SOUTH AFRICA
Wayne Knight
Mokopane +27-82-805-3274 (c) wayne@theknights.za.net
Ian Mitchell-Innes
Ladysmith, Kwa-Zulu Natal +27-83-262-9030 • blanerne@mweb.co.za
Num ber 189
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TTHHEE MMAA RR KK EE TT PP LL AA CC EE
Resource Management Services, LLC
CORRAL CORRAL DESIGNS DESIGNS
Kirk L. Gadzia, Certified Educator PO Box 1100 Bernalillo, NM 87004 Pasture Scene 505-263-8677 Investigation kirk@rmsgadzia.com www.rmsgadzia.com
How can RMS, LLC help you? On-Site Consulting: All aspects of holistic management, including financial, ecological and human resources. Training Events: Regularly scheduled and customized training sessions provided in a variety of locations. Ongoing Support: Follow-up training sessions and access to continued learning opportunities and developments. Land Health Monitoring: Biological monitoring of rangeland and riparian ecosystem health. Property Assessment: Land health and productivity assessment with recommended solutions.
with Richard McConnell & Tina Williams
By World Famous Grandin By World Famous Dr. Dr. Grandin Originator of Curved Ranch Corrals Originator of Curved Ranch Corrals The widecurved curvedLane Lane makes The wide makes filling tubtub easy. fillingthe thecrowding crowding easy.
Includes drawings for loading Includesdetailed detailed drawings for loading ramp, round crowd pen, pen, dip dip ramp,VVchute, chute, round crowd vat, gates and hinges. Plus cell center vat, gates and hinges. Plus cell center layouts compatible with with layoutsand andlayouts layouts compatible electronic sorting systems. Articles on electronic sorting systems. Articles on cattle behavior. 27 corral layouts. $55. cattle behavior. 27 corral layouts. $55. Low Stress Cattle Handling Video $59. Low Stress Cattle Handling Video $59. Send checks/money order to:
Send checks/money order to:
GRANDIN GRANDIN LIVESTOCK SYSTEMS
LIVESTOCK SYSTEMS 2918 Silver Plume Dr., Unit C-3 2918Fort Silver PlumeCO Dr., Unit C-3 Collins, 80526
Fort970/229-0703 Collins, CO 80526 www.grandin.com 970/229-0703 • www.grandin.com
May / /June 2016 2020 h January February
22IN IN PRACTICE 22 PRACTICE
“Bud Williams” Livestock Marketing & Proper Stockmanship Learn how good stockmanship can make your livestock handling experiences improvemarketing the way youbased manage how We livestock on today’s your land, human and financial resources. price (no crystal ball) can help you realize Intro Holistic Management Seminar: Jan. 7-10, 2020, Sieben
Livestock Co., Adel, MT May27-30, 25-26 — 2 Day Jan. 2020, SDStockmanship Grassland Coalition, Mitchell, only, Dickinson, ND SD Feb. 10-13, 2020, 30-June Coalition, 1 — 3 Day Marketing/ SDMay Grassland Wall, SD Stockmanship, Wawota, SK Mar. 3-6, 2020, Durham Ranch, Wright, WY Coming also to Alberta, Wyoming,
Advanced andHolistic Iowa! Grazing/Land Planning:
Mar. 16-18, 2020, Perry Ranch, Clearmont, WY Contact or register with:
www.handnhandlivestocksolutions.com Roland Kroos Patrick Toomey info@handnhandlivestocksolutions.com 417-327-6500 (406) 581.3038 (508) 259.5427 kroosing@msn.com ptoomey.crc@gmail.com
www.CrossroadsRanchConsulting.com
THE MARKETPLACE “Bud Williams” Livestock Marketing & Proper Stockmanship with Richard McConnell & Tina Williams Learn how good stockmanship can make your livestock handling experiences enjoyable, easier, and more profitable and how livestock marketing based on today’s price (no crystal ball) can help you realize your profit goals.
liams From Bud Wil — Stockmanship
You know about our great videos, now we have one completed book and an another book on the way!
Springfield, MO — February 10-12 Bluffton, GA — March ???? Middlebury VT — August 20-23 "My son and I sorted, loaded and delivered 33 feeder calves Saturday. Brian said we should send you guys a Thank You Note each time we handle cattle. This was the smoothest and easiest it’s ever gone. Price was good too. The only people who don’t like this method are the folks who have never taken the time to learn and try." — Ben www.handnhandlivestocksolutions.com info@handnhandlivestocksolutions.com 417-327-6500
Get your copy of Proper Livestock Marketing 101 today, and pre-order your copy of Smile and Mean it: the Bud and Eunice Williams Story available the middle of February! www.stockmanship.com Eunice@stockmanship.com 417-719-4910
HMI Grazing Planning Software • User-friendly excel-based interface • Let the computer do the math while you plan • Easy SAU and ADA calculations • Account for multiple herds • Grazing Manual hyperlinks • Livestock and Land Performance Worksheet • And many more features
$150
O $40 TDE A R G P U
“This tool has already given us a many fold return beyond our initial investment and we have just begun to use it.”
— Arnold Mattson, Agri-Environment Services Branch, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
TO LEARN MORE or TO ORDER: Call 505/842-5252 or visit us at www.holisticmanagement.org/store/
Evaluating Soil Fertility for Wine Grapes A three day advanced workshop presented by Neal Kinsey
Course features 100 new and different examples of winegrape soils from the various countries and grape-growing areas of the world including the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand,Canada and South Africa. All samples have been analyzed using the Kinsey/Albrecht System of soil analysis; course features specific tests to establish desired nutrient levels for winegrape production. The basic foundation for determining each nutrient required to achieve excellent soil fertility is provided as a specific formula. Each formula is expressed and completely explained by subject covered, and is included as a handout in each participant’s workbook, thus providing how to calculate answers for each example used for the course.
January 20, 21 & 22, 2020 The Delta King, Sacramento, CA. Cost: $1500/if one person per room— includes program & lunch daily, plus full breakfast and accommodations at the Delta King Riverboat Hotel ($1200 per person includes all of the above if two attendees per room.) Course only including lunch and breaks— $900 for previous clients or $1200 all others. Soil pit demo weather permitting. Cost: (includes lunch). $150 each for course participant & family members. $350-includes tour plus one night’s lodging. $250 (tour only) for all others.
Optional “Vineyard Soils”Tour
January 23 optional tour from 8am–4pm for course participants who would like to visit area vineyards utilizing our testing and fertilization program. Soil tests showing initial fertility levels and current changes will be utilized
For consulting or educational services contact:
Kinsey Agricultural Services, Inc. 297 County Highway 357 Charleston, Missouri 63834
Ph: 573/683-3880, Fax: 573/683-6227 www.kinseyag.com • info@kinseyag.com
Num ber 189
h IN PRACTICE 23
Nonprofit U.S POSTAGE
PAID Jefferson City, MO PERMIT 210
Healthy Land. Healthy Food. Healthy Lives.
a publication of Holistic Management International 5941 Jefferson St. NE, Suite B Albuquerque, NM 87109 USA
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
please send address corrections before moving so that we do not incur unnecessary postal fees
to ACRES Magazine, and read articles on improving the soil with cover crops and compost tea. In 2007, I found Betsy Ross from Sustainable Growth Texas and had her come to tell me to what to do on my small plot of land and the first recommendation she gave me was to get the soil analyzed! So for the next few years, my practices were dictated by the results of soil tests, with much input from others. In hindsight, I never did BY CHRISTINE SENTER spend much time understanding some of the science/rationale behind was born in Argentina, raised in Brazil of British parents. Living in all that I was doing, so I was at the mercy of others interpretations/ third world countries, we sourced all of our food from the weekly understanding. Inadvertently, my little ranch was being steered by farmers market and our own garden. We had to make all of our others, and thankfully, I had placed my trust in wise counselors! food from scratch and learned how to make do when converting Fast forward to 2015, and via a Facebook post, I learned of American recipes (buttermilk was milk with a teaspoon of lemon juice, a Beginning Farmer/Rancher (BFR) course in Texas put on by chocolate chips were dark chocolate an organization called Holistic bars cut up into chunks!). Management International (‘HMI’) I came to the US (Michigan) that was starting within weeks. I for college, and was amazed at remember calling and talking to the abundance of processed and Peggy Cole about getting into the packaged foods, and soon fell in love class. I gave her a quick background with Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, of my agrarian experience and her Squirt and Snickers! As a poor college words were, “We’ll get you in! You’ll student and as I started my career, get so much help from this program!” these convenient and inexpensive Little did I know what a life foods were my mainstay. changing event this class would be! Ten years later I got sick. I went BFR taught me to take the reins to the doctor, and all he could give for my life and ranch, and set my me were prescriptions to treat my own course! The Senter Ranch provides healthy food at the local farmer’s symptoms instead of treating the HMI brought all the things I’d market. Christine’s journey from illness to health through a cause. This didn’t sit well with me, been attempting to do on my land healthy diet is behind the Senter Ranch’s mission. so I started researching and soon into a systematic decision making hypothesized that the food I was eating was making me sick. framework that encompassed all aspects I’d been struggling with, I started buying produce and meats, and cooking from scratch. I felt including some I hadn’t even considered! a little better. I worked through several issues while I kept improving the I had always had a vision of what I wanted my little farm/ranch to source of my ingredients and eventually started raising some of my own look like, but had never thought of formulating it into a Holistic Goal, food and healing my body. from which all decisions and actions were to be based on. A Holistic I was able to purchase five acres in Texas in 2005, and I continued Goal that encompassed my preferred quality of life, finances, land my quest to raise much of my food, while I worked a corporate job one management, community involvement, and other personal choices. hour away. The children and I had a milk cow, we raised chickens, and Most importantly, HMI taught me how to test decisions against my CONTINUED ON PAGE 15 we had a garden. Considering myself a homesteader, I was introduced
DEVELOPMENT CORNER Taking the Reins with Holistic Management
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Printed On Recycled Paper
