Using Holistic Management to Overcome Adversity— Surviving a Severe Flood

BY BLUESETTE CAMPBELL

Editor’s Note: This article is an excerpt from a presentation by Bluesette Campbell, one of three managing partners of the B-C Ranch in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Igrew up on a Montana sheep ranch that my mother purchased when I was a child. She did not have an agrarian background so we jumped in without any prior knowledge which led to many hard lessons and tough times. I grew up learning a lot, maybe far too much too soon. Because of my experiences, I did not want anything to do with agriculture. I wanted to flee as far away from agriculture as I could.

I applied and attended college in upstate New York hoping to expand my horizons. I even studied abroad, twice, in search of something else. However, I came back to Montana after finishing my degree to figure my life out, which did not happen quickly. In the meantime, I was offered a job at the Bench Ranch, a sheep and cattle operation in Fishtail, Montana. What I didn’t realize at the time was that the ranch was run by John and Susan Heyneman who were Holistic Management practitioners. One of the prerequisites for the job was to attend Holistic Management training and therefore took my first course in 1996 with Roland Kroos.

I didn’t realize what an impact that would have on my life. I ended up meeting my future husband who was also helping out on the Bench Ranch. Mark and I were married in 1999 and moved to Saskatchewan, where he grew up, in 2002 and my ‘official’ journey as a practitioner began. I had learned some concepts before, but I hadn’t fully grasped how it would impact and change my opinion about agriculture. It is for that reason that I decided to continue my life in agriculture even though my previous experience with agriculture wasn’t very positive. I give credit to the Campbell family and Holistic Management for showing me that it could be another way full of choice, fulfillment and purpose.

Over the course of the next several years, I completed three more Holistic Management courses, one with Kelly Sidoryk and some with my father-in-law, Don Campbell. I now sit on the board of Holistic Management Canada and have recently been nominated president. I also embarked on the journey of becoming a Holistic Management Certified Educator in the fall of 2019.

Goals, Meetings & Responsibilities

Our family is the main reason why we are ranching. We have 4,200 acres and there are three families that reside on the ranch: Mark and I and our two boys, Mark’s brother Scott, and Don and Bev—Mark and Scott’s parents. We have no off-farm income except for some Holistic Management consulting which we consider to be part of our on-farm income as it is in our goal “to share our ideas and experiences with others in our community.” We’ve been ranching together since 2002 but began planning our migration to Saskatchewan in 2000. We are a cow/calf operation and run, on average, 700 cows, raise our own bulls and have an extra-age breeding program (3 yr.-old, first calf heifers). We hit about a four or five on the brittleness scale.

On average we receive about 15 inches of rain, but have observed that timing of rains has changed over time. To live up to our goal, we also run a Holistic Management internship program, provide grass tours and Open Gate field days here as well. Our management is driven by our written three-part goal, our division of responsibilities and our robust meeting schedule.

Highlights from our holistic goal include: “We are striving for excellence by being the best we can be in people, land, and finances,” and “we will leave the land better than we found it.”

The text of our goal has a lot of meaning to us. We read it at the beginning of each week to remind us of why we are ranching just in case we forget when times are tough. It has been effective in keeping us on track. If we do not feel that it accurately reflects our current status, something needs to change. Either we revisit the goal to change the wording, or more likely, we need to make changes in our management so

The framework of our business is divided between Mark, Scott, and myself as Don and Bev have successfully transitioned out of management. When we first started out in 2002, each person or couple would take on a division of the business for about two years before moving on and learning the next division. That was part of our contingency plan in case someone got injured, died, or wanted to leave the business. This ensured the other managers would be able to carry on with some proficiency. Scott is presently in charge of Production which includes the biological plan, monitoring, fencing, calving, breeding, etc. He also shares Marketing responsibilities with Mark which includes buying and selling of livestock and feed. Mark is in charge of Finance which includes the financial plan and monitoring, bookkeeping, bills, insurance, etc. I account for the People or Human Resources which includes the team plan, monitoring, meeting duties, internship program, educational tours, etc. By these divisions, we can run efficiently and effectively…most of the time.

Our family does not experience more hard times than any other family, but we have had to cope with a variety of illnesses, surgeries, BSE, drought, corporate restructuring, and numerous other challenges, including most recently, a severe flood, one that we may never see again in our careers. Everyone experiences adversity and we just happen to use Holistic Management to get us through the challenges we face.

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