PROGRAM ROUNDUP 2019 REGENERATE Conference
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n November 19–22, 2019, HMI co-hosted the 2019 REGENERATE Conference with the Quivira Coalition and the American Grassfed Association (AGA) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Over 500 people attended the conference. This year’s theme was “Health from the Soil Up.” Presenters included Fred Provenza, Nicole Masters, Grant and Dawn Breitkreutz, Michael Graziano, Glenn Elzinga, Cory Carman, Roland Kroos, Cooper Hibbard, Carter Randolph, Peggy Sechrist, Graeme Hand, Blain Hjertaas, Kelly Sidoryk, and Joel Benson, among many other wonderful speakers. The HMI/AGA social, sponsored by Greenacres Foundation and Tomkat Ranch Educational Foundation, was attended by over 200 participants. Over 500 attendees traveled to Almost all the pre- and post- Albuquerque to participate in the 2019 conference workshops were REGENERATE Conference sold out as people learned about Beef Butchery, Farmland Transition, Keyline Design, Supply Chain Primer, Energy on the Ranch, Veterinary Homeopathy, Soil Health and Quality Food Production, and Profitable Regenerative Grazing. Our thanks to all our sponsors for their support of this event. Please save the dates for November 17–20, 2020 for the 2020 REGENERATE Conference.
Lowry Range Workshop On November 13–14, 2019, twenty-five people from five states and various state agencies and farm managers from private ranches attended the Lowry Grazing Workshop near Denver, Colorado facilitated by HMI Certified Educator Kirk Gadzia. The course provided participants with a mix of classroom grazing planning principles and seeing these principles in practice on the land at the Lowry Ranch. The program focused on key grazing strategies, implementation and all the steps necessary to create a holistic grazing plan. The first day participants covered the principles of Holistic Planned Grazing, key guidelines for grazing planning, and actually began developing a grazing plan. In the afternoon the group traveled to Lowry Ranch and worked with Nick Trainor, who holds the grazing lease at Lowry Ranch. The participants did a forage measurement exercise and learned how to calculate animal days per acre.
The second day participants learned about grazing strategies for improving land productivity and how to implement and monitor a grazing plan. They also completed their work on their grazing plans they Nick Trainor leads a discussion of were developing. holistic grazing planning at the Lowry Range in 100% of Colorado. participants intend to create or modify a grazing plan as a result of this program and have increased their understanding of the value of grazing planning. Likewise, 100% of participants were satisfied with the course. Thanks to our funders Martha Records and Rich Rainaldi, as well as our sponsors, The Stockman Grass Farmer and Trainor Cattle Company.
Online Learning Update HMI’s Online Learning Series Getting Started Introduction to Holistic Management course had 39 participants from the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Portugal, and Senegal. This course focused on key Holistic Management planning concepts and principles to help participants manage their farm/ranch for the triple bottom line (social, environmental, and financial sustainability) and more effectively manage resources. Participants were excited to learn how to improve their ability to observe, understand, and make decisions based on what they can control. Through these new skills participants now have the knowledge and tools to improve their ability to work with nature and to increase productivity.
Featured Participants:
Gena Pinheiro, São Miguel, Azores “One of the biggest things we gained was a paradigm shift. We no longer see ourselves as farmers, but rather stewards of the resources that have Gena Pinheiro and João Mendonça, been put into our care owners of The Farm by Âmago resource managers. The course gave us an introduction to understanding how nature functions and how we could harness that understanding to better care for our resources. Before this course, we didn’t always take the big picture into account before making decisions and now, it’s always center stage. Our hope is that we can continue building on the plethora of tools we’ve acquired through this course, to not only improve our personal and farm life, but also help others do the same.”
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