January // February February 2007 2006
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ark your calendar for November 1 - 4, 2007 for the Holistic Management International Gathering, scheduled to take place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in historic Old Town. We anticipate as many as 500 international educators, practitioners, and others interested in Holistic Management and land stewardship. Our theme, Healing the Land: Practical Solutions to Complex Problems, will focus multiple sessions and workshops on a wide variety of topics, including soil health, animal behavior, genetics, strengthening the Holistic Management social toolbox, multi-species grazing, accessing government money, other forms of ranch income, low stress livestock handling, and much more. We certainly hope you will join us! General structure of the Gathering will include a Welcome Reception Thursday evening, November 1, and a grand opening of the Friday schedule of events with an inspiring keynote address from Joel Salatin, author of Family Friendly Farming and You Can Farm. Joel will be sharing his thoughts on building a local food system, and, in afternoon sessions, conduct a special session, providing insights and practical knowledge on developing a farm to earn a white-collar income. We are also pleased to open the Saturday Joel Salatin schedule of events with popular speaker and author Dr. Temple Grandin (Animals in Translation and The Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships) speaking on how consumers can be change agents. Our Saturday luncheon keynote will be Dr. Temple nationally syndicated radio host Thom Grandin Hartmann, author of The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, offering thoughts and actions on human relationships as they are tied to the environment and natural resources. Allan Savory will close our 2006 Gathering at a final reception. We cordially invite you participant in the HMI 2007 International Thom Gathering. Engage in extensive opportunities for learning and the Hartmann exchange of valuable ideas from all over the world. Won’t you join us? As the details develop, we will update both IN PRACTICE and our website. Stay tuned!
www.holisticmanagement.org www.holisticmanagement.org
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
TEXAS
Holistic Management has been going strong in Texas for over 20 years. See information about the HRM of Texas annual meeting on page three. Likewise, The West Ranch in Ozona, Texas continues to provide Holistic Management outreach and research, including the SARE Grant featured on page four.
FEATURE STORIES HRM of TX, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Peggy Cole
A Texas Learning Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Maryann West
Animal Impact & Soil Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Dr. Pat Richardson
Seamless Marketing & Holistic Management . . .5 Aspen Edge
Land & Livelihood Restoration in Zimbabwe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Jody Butterfield
ISU Grazing Research–– Detecting Changes on the Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Keith T. Weber
LAND & LIVESTOCK On the Howell Ranch–– Profitable Custom Grazing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Jim Howell
Sticking with It on the Circle Ranch . . . . . . . . . . 11 Jim Howell
The National Animal Identification System–– A Contrast In Policy Formation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Rob Rutherford
NEWS & NETWORK HMI Grapevine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Certified Educators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Network Affiliates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
HRM of Texas, Inc– Starting our 20th year by Peggy Cole Holistic Management International is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting resource management that restores land to health and operations to profitability. As the worldwide pioneer of Holistic Management, we’ve worked successfully with ranchers, farmers, pastoral communities and other entities since 1984. FOUNDERS Allan Savory
Jody Butterfield
STAFF Shannon Horst, Executive Director Peter Holter, Senior Director of Marketing and Product Development Bob Borgeson, Director of Finance, Accounting and Administration Jutta von Gontard, Director of Development Constance Neely, International Training Programs Director Ann Adams, Managing Editor, IN PRACTICE and Director of Publications and Outreach Kelly Bee, Accountant Maryann West, Executive Assistant Donna Torrez, Administrative Assistant
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Ron Chapman, Chair Ben Bartlett, Vice-Chair Gail Hammack, Secretary Sue Probart, Treasurer Ivan Aguirre Jody Butterfield Daniela Howell Brian Marshall Jim McMullan Ian Mitchell Innes Jim Parker Christopher Peck Soren Peters Jim Shelton Roby Wallace Dennis Wobeser
ADVISORY COUNCIL Robert Anderson, Corrales, NM Michael Bowman,Wray, CO Sam Brown, Austin, TX Sallie Calhoun, Paicines, CA Lee Dueringer, Scottsdale, AZ Gretel Ehrlich, Gaviota, CA Cynthia Harris, Albuquerque, NM Edward Jackson, San Carlos, CA Clint Josey, Dallas, TX Doug McDaniel, Lostine, OR Guillermo Osuna, Coahuila, Mexico York Schueller, Ventura, CA Africa Centre for Holistic Management Private Bag 5950, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe Tel: (263) (11) 404 979; email: hmatanga@mweb.co.zw Huggins Matanga, Director HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE (ISSN: 1098-8157) is published six times a year by Holistic Management International, 1010 Tijeras NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102, 505/842-5252, fax: 505/843-7900; email: hmi@holisticmanagement.org.; website: www.holisticmanagement.org Copyright © 2007.
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006 was an exciting and transitional year Glosson at the ranch of Gloria and Tony Foltin in for Holistic Resource Management of that same area. A hands-on class, learning Texas. Beginning with a generous focused on the Bud Williams-style of moving infusion of funds from the Dixon Water cattle smoothly through sets of cones. Foundation to implement an aggressive vision of In September we joined the Dixon Water increased activity and financial sustainability, Foundation in hosting a series of events at Bear HRM set out to accomplish what has come to be Creek Ranch, just west of Fort Worth. We began known as The Dixon Grant. with a full day of Guy Glosson’s Low Stress In February, the HRM Board met to begin Stockmanship. This was a fundraiser for HRM, implementing the Dixon Grant. HMI Senior Staff, with Guy Glosson donating the entire event to Shannon Horst HRM. In October, and Peter Holter, HRM Board Member joined us to see how Sharon Lane hosted HMI and HRM of TX us on her 432-acre could further ranch near collaborate. One Corsicana for the critical agenda item Shadow Mountain was to select a Ranch Field Day. We Director of emphasized the Development to help positive aspects of create a supporting fragmentation which foundation that can occur if the would allow HRM to fragments of a poorly sustain. managed ranch are Meanwhile out in purchased by holistic the field, the 2006 managers. Topics HRM programs included plans for began. In March, the ranch, wildlife HRM of Texas collaborates with The West Ranch to HMI hosted a field habitat provide field days for the public. Dr. Pat day on the West improvement, native Richardson shares her knowledge about soil Ranch near Ozona. plant ecotypes, mesofauna as part of her efforts to educate the This was part of the government outreach component public about the importance of soil health. programs and useful of our two-year SARE tools. (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Besides field days, HRM of Texas offers other Education) grant, researching the effect of types of outreach. HRM Directors are often in various grazing methods on the encroachment of demand to speak locally, nationally, and even juniper. internationally. Dr. Pat Richardson, Dr. Dick Besides our annual meeting we held a number Richardson, Malcolm Beck, Richard Sechrist and of field days. The Seco Valley Ranch field day in others have been busy sharing the message of June was on Don and Debbie Davis’ grassfed Texas Holistic Management. Longhorn beef operation, 1,883 acres near Right now planning is in full swing for HRM Bandera, Texas. In August, Walt Davis and Peggy of Texas 2007 programs. We will begin with our Sechrist taught our second annual Ranching for annual meeting in February (see page 3), and Profit School, this time in the Tomball area, near committees are working now to arrange six field Houston. The class, made possible by a grant from days, a collaboration with the Oklahoma Land The Magnolia Charitable Trust, was well stocked Stewardship Alliance, another with Texas with enthusiastic people hungry for knowledge Organic Farmers and Gardeners (TOFGA) and about this way of managing ranches. These folks the American Grass-fed Association. These have now requested a follow-up advanced class. quality educational programs will continue to Following that two-day class was a half-day offer Texans the opportunity to learn more Low Stress Stockmanship class taught by Guy about Holistic Management.
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A Texas Learning Site– West Ranch Update by Maryann West
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he David West Station for Holistic scientific knowledge of earth and environmental 115. The West Ranch now also has 900 ewes, 200 Management is located southeast of subject matter, other school districts are requesting lambs, and 20 rams. To round out the ranching Ozona, Texas. Gifted to HMI in 2002, more programs. The 2007 educational calendar is challenges, Peggy and Joe have begun work to this learning site has been managed by already booked, and Peggy will oversee the certify organic both the land and the livestock. Joe and Peggy Maddox ever since. As longdevelopment of the new elementary/middle school Peggy, a Certified Educator, has focused her time Holistic Management practitioners, the energies on engaging the students from a number curriculum this coming spring. Maddoxes have been managing this learning site To address the increased needs of work staff of school districts in the area. Working with a as a working ranch, as an educational resource and the public, the West Ranch has also begun grant from the National Fish and Wildlife center for the regional school children, and as a Partners, elementary education at the West Ranch renovations and facilities upgrade including research site for Southern Sustainable Agriculture included dung beetle farming, ground water flow, public bathrooms for the educational programs, Research & Education (SARE) and improved and heated intern and international interns. quarters and ranch hand housing, Guided by HMI’s and their own replaced corrals, and a new water holisticgoal, Joe and Peggy have pump. Work is being contracted faced the 2006 challenges of the through HMI with a regional triple bottom line. construction company, making As in many locations in the best use of the local talent and Southwestern U.S., the West encouraging increased public Ranch experienced continuing interaction with Holistic drought throughout the first Management. This facilities seven months of the year. To upgrade has been long overdue, as address this issue Joe culled cows Peggy and Joe have opened their early, sold yearlings, and private quarters since 2004 to HRM increased livestock moves before of Texas field days, interns, school resorting to alfalfa hay and students, and visitors from around range cube purchases. the world. Fortunately, the sheep produced West Ranch also hosted the many spring lambs. By mideighth international intern in the Schoolchildren from Ozona Public Schools spent part of their field day in May August, Joe and the ranch hands 2006 creating naturalist journals and learning about the environment. HMI internship program this were preparing for herding the summer. Asher Mutsangi, from livestock to maximize forage. The rain picked up Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, focused his learning and soil and plant science. In this year alone, in late summer, and Joe culled the dry cows and contract on Holistic Management decision“The West Ranch Lady,” as Peggy is now known, purchased 54 breed heifers. As the hands began making and low stress livestock. This intern and her volunteers, Pat Richardson, Art Roane, training the livestock for herding in October, Joe program has provided an opportunity for Kathy Dickson, Gretchen Maddox, and Karen purchased another 30 black heifers and four agricultural knowledge exchange with developing McGinnis, hosted 212 students and 17 teachers Angus bulls, bringing the herd to approximately countries. from grades 2-6. Plans for the future include To generate needed income and provide other expanding the curriculum and including a gifted and talented opportunities for public engagement, the West Ranch manages a hunting program during the program for middle school. autumn-winter season. Peggy and Joe host a This autumn, with funding barbeque for opening weekend and provide from the Norbury Grant, the spotlight and helicopter surveys for the 19 hunters West Ranch also facilitated a HRM OF TEXAS ANNUAL CONFERENCE who lease hunting rights. workshop on low-stress Kerrville, Texas • Feb. 10, 2007 All of these challenges have created a need for livestock handling with Future Speakers & Workshop Presenters include replanning the budget projection for 2006 and a Farmers of America students Richard Sechrist, Peggy Maddox, Malcolm Beck, more detailed five-year plan. As the Maddoxes from the Ozona High School. Pat Richardson, and Terry Gompert move forward with implementing this plan, they As the educational delivery Learn about Holistic Management, watershed management, will contend with the usual need for ranch repair component of the West Ranch water conservation, dung beetles, and how to influence policy in the way of windmill and pump repairs and continues to grow, the local makers. Holistic Planned Grazing Course taught by Terry Gompert and Holistic Financial Planning taught by Peggy fence supplies, as well as increased gas prices, school’s science scores Maddox and Jim and Judy Reed on February 9, 2007. while also planning for profit to reinvest in the continues to rise. As teachers Register online at www.hrm-texas.org or call 512-847-3822 ranch and livestock–creating healthy land and and principals credit Peggy’s healthy profits. programs with increasing
Catching Raindrops– Abundant Water for Texas
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Animal Impact & Soil Health— Update on Texas SARE Grant by Pat Richardson
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n 2005, HRM of Texas received a Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grant to examine the issue of cedar infestations. The proposal, Addressing Cedar Infestations Sustainably– Using Animal Impact to Increase forage Production and Improve Soil Health, was to use The David West Station for Holistic Management (The West Ranch) as a research facility to see how holistic planned grazing would affect soil health and cedar infestation. The first organizational meeting took place in May 2005 and included the managers of the West Ranch–Joe and Peggy Maddox; Dr. Richard Teague of Texas A&M Extension; Art Roane–rancher and Hair Sheep Association Officer; Dr. John Walker–Director of Research, Texas A&M University System Research; Steve Nelle-NRCS Wildlife Biologist; Drs. Patricia and Dick Richardson–ecologists at Univ. of Texas at Austin; and Peggy Cole–Executive Director Holistic Management of Texas and project photographer. We designed a research plan which included creating 10 paddocks of similar size (100 acres/40 ha each) and terrain. We assigned each paddock to one of four different grazing management practices: moderate continuous grazing, one herd/three paddock rotation, no livestock grazing, or high-density, short-duration planned grazing. A 200-acre moderate continuous graze paddock (referred to as Paddock 9) had previously been fenced. Next we determined, located and marked the end points for the paddock fences, and then located the position of all 12 monitoring transects. The monitoring protocol we selected was to monitor each treatment area twice a year at three 100-meter transects. The high-density, shortduration planned-graze treatment uses large number of animals for a short time period with approximate 180-day recovery. The one herd/three paddock rotation treatment means the paddocks are being grazed on a nine-month rotation (three months per paddock), so that the herd does not graze the same paddock at the same time of year every year, and gives approximate 180-days recovery. In June 2005 we gathered the first round of transect data. The transect protocol consists of approximately 100 meters, with a peg placed at each 10 meters. At each peg, a meter square (of pvc pipe) is placed on the ground with one corner on the peg and the opposite corner pointed toward 4
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the next peg in the transect. At each square we estimated: 1. The percentage of large rock (bigger than a fist) 2. The percentage of small rock (small rock = thumbnail to fist size. Less than thumbnail size = part of soil) 3. Percentage of litter 4. Percentage of basal 5. Percentage of bare ground 6. Percentage of spike moss (An indicator species) At each corner of the square (either inside or outside) we measured in inches and identified the nearest living forb and the nearest living perennial grass. Along the length of the transect, we performed two monitoring walks: 1. Seedling belt transect. Within a two-foot wide belt, we counted number and type of tree seedlings between each peg (seedling is 8 inches or less in height). 2. Canopy cover. We identified any tree (or woody species) that is providing canopy cover along the transect count. We also took some baseline soil samples collected from under clumps of native grass and under trees near transects in each treatment. The soil meso-fauna that were extracted from the samples were observed with a dissecting microscope and filmed with a third eye digital video camera to produced a 12-minute movie showing the diversity and behavior of the fauna found in the soil samples. The video has been presented at the West Ranch field day and at multiple conferences. In December of last year we completed all the electric fences for all eight new paddocks. We began the one herd/three pasture rotation with a herd of two cows and 10 sheep on a three-month rotation (each paddock is grazed for three months followed by a
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six-month rest). The moderate continuous graze was done using three bulls and 10 sheep. Lastly, the high-density, short-duration planned-graze treatment took place in December 2005 for three days per paddock with 72 cows, 800 ewes, 200 lambs, and 19 bucks. In June of 2006, we grazed again for two days per paddock with 44 cows, 900 ewes, 200 lambs, and 19 bucks. On December 19-20, 2005 we gathered the second round of transect data and collected a third round on July 13-14, 2006. While previous monitoring indicated increased soil and plant health with the return of livestock to the land, the most recent monitoring indicates that stock density is still not sufficient to address the land needs. Preliminary analysis suggests that there is no significant difference among the four test plots. To rectify this situation, Joe and Peggy Maddox will begin herding the livestock to increase stock density and animal impact in the high-density, short-duration, planned-graze treatment area. Further monitoring will tell us if this additional effort can push soil health past the plateau currently experienced. For more information about this research, contact Dr. Pat Richardson at: patr@biosci.utexas.edu.
Seamless Marketing and Holistic Management by Aspen Edge
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our marketing messenger. We highlighted those feeling words from The Lodge holisticgoal–inspired, passionate, committed, supported, rewarded, nurtured–and translated them into: Tonal values How we would want people to describe us after meeting us • Friendly (we enjoy the company of our guests and treat them in a relaxed and respectful way) • Attentive (our guests are here to enjoy a service where they are catered to as unique individuals) • Caring (we are passionate about what we do and demonstrate this through the care we extend to people, physical resources and nature) Honing In • Authentic (we practice what we preach and our guests see this in the way they are treated, the When we started to develop our three-productway we live and farm our land) based business, we found Service Values that using the following Definitions What we want people to marketing process think about our services. alongside holistic • Marketing Messenger decision-making resulted • Enlightening (the insights we Who we are and what we stand in tremendous provide open up our guests’ for as reflected in our product effectiveness. Previously, minds to new potential in and targeted at our market. marketing had been a their own lives) • Brand Map ‘shot-in-the-dark’ affair. • Effective (we always meet our A summary of the values that It was easy to react to our guests’ needs through deep are reflected in the product concerns about incomelistening and positive action) against which every marketing generation by trying • Ethical (we take into message will be gauged. something new. However, consideration social, economic this resulted in lack of • Elevator Pitch and environmental values) consistency, wasted A succinct summary of our • Inspiring (our enthusiasm for resources, and minimal marketing message the life we are creating results. Once, we began to encourages change) practice Holistic Corporate Values Management, we became much clearer about What we stand for as a business where we wanted to be headed. This in turn provided us with the foundation for the marketing • Sustainable (we messenger outlined in our brand map and leave an Marketing elevator pitch. These frameworks complemented increasingly Messenger each other perfectly. We went through the whole smaller ecological • Story process for each of our products, but for footprint) • Vision illustrative purposes, I will use the first that was • Partnership (we • Brand Map launched–The Lodge. enjoy establishing Tonal values Although we have had a holisticgoal in place local and Service Values since 2003, we decided to begin afresh by writing international Corporate Values our Story–a short summary of what had brought supportive Core Values us to where we are today. This enabled us to relationships) • Elevator Pitch review and identify anything that was out-ofWhat we do • Positive (we work keeping with the quality of life we were trying to What we believe in towards making a create. We then drafted our Vision, which Who we reach positive difference dovetailed beautifully with the process of How we work in our lives and reviewing our family holisticgoal, and went on to the lives of others) create The Lodge holisticgoal. This in turn, drove hen I read Doc Hatfield’s evocative comments about his beef in IN PRACTICE #109, “The Sustainable Production System,” I was reminded that when we develop any business that is holistically-managed, we sell much more than our product. There are values behind that business which should be seen to run right through the product and its delivery. This is seamless marketing–who we are and what we stand for, is evident in everything we do. This creates consistency and clarity, not only for ourselves, but for our clients and customers. We can be secure in the knowledge that all our efforts are leading us towards our holisticgoal.
• Professional (we maintain high standards consistent with our tonal values) Core Value A two or three word description of the brand In partnership with nature (this provided us with our strap/tag line and unique selling proposition–what would make us stand out from the crowd)
Implementing the Message Once this process was completed, we were able to compare our ‘brand map’ to the values in our quality of life statement. We asked ourselves “Are the values that support the kind of life we want to create reflected in our marketing messenger?” When we had the green light, we moved onto creating the policies, strategies, and objectives that would reflect both our holisticgoal and our marketing messenger. We broke down each of these elements into social, economic and environmental components. For example, one social policy was that we wished to be seen as friendly, caring, attentive, and authentic (which directly related to our tonal values, which in turn, related to our holisticgoal). This was then translated into the following social strategy–that social protocols are clearly outlined, agreed-upon and communicated. Out of this strategy, the following objectives for the year were outlined–create a guest ‘safety and comfort’ booklet, offer 100% money-back guarantee, provide complete website information to help guests plan and enjoy their holiday, provide a complimentary selection of organic produce on guests’ arrival, ensure we communicate at least once a day with guests to attend to their needs, offer the opportunity to purchase organic eggs, milk, and bread during guests’ stay, and offer to arrange for visits to local sites and other opportunities.
The Feedback Loop The objectives were then entered onto our Life Plan (a planning chart we created similar to the Grazing Plan and Control Chart that we use to organize our time management), to ensure that they would be achieved within the timeframe allocated. We monitored our performance and re-planned as necessary. For example, our first priority was the creation of a website. This ran over-time with the result that when we were ready to take out targeted advertising, we had missed the best time. In order to mitigate this effect, we wrote press releases to a continued on page 15 N u m b e r 111
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Land & Livelihood Restoration in Zimbabwe by Jody Butterfield In mid-2005 HMI, the Africa Centre for Holistic Management, and several partners launched a pilot program in two rural communities near the Africa Centre’s Dimbangombe Ranch headquarters in northwestern Zimbabwe with funding from USAID. The program has three objectives: to utilize the livestock in two pilot communities to begin to restore desertifying land and water resources; to elevate the most vulnerable families in the two communities out of poverty through the conversion of an ongoing micro-credit program to one based on goats as currency (due to hyperinflation); and, last, to address the cultural prohibition against women owning and/or inheriting livestock, and the stigma of those living with HIV, through gender empowerment training to the male and female members of the goats-as-currency banks.
launched, giving a lifeline to the most vulnerable families–those headed by orphans, or grandparents or widows looking after young children and orphans. And at monthly bank meetings, men and women found a place where they could discuss sensitive issues openly and women felt comfortable expressing their hopes and fears out loud.
Dry Season Challenges The first challenge we faced with the onset of the dry season in April 2006 was a gradual
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free, soon made their own fields available. That it was a woman who broke the stalemate, isn’t surprising. Having livestock fertilize the fields saves women having to gather manure, haul it to the fields, and spread it–a task usually seen as a woman’s responsibility. It gave them much-valued time for other family duties, especially for single mothers raising their own and orphaned children. In both communities, bank members remained committed to keeping their animals in the community herd. We think the reason behind this was the continual reinforcement of their training during monthly bank meetings. Surveys taken of bank members one year from their initial training, showed that the vast majority of them had a good understanding and it was reinforcing their commitment to the community herd and grazing plan.
Goats-as-Currency Banks imbabwe is breaking all kinds of records these days, none of We won’t be able to say that the them enviable: the world’s goats-as-currency banks are a fastest shrinking economy financial success until the first interest (down 40 percent in six years); highest payments (in goats) come due in inflation rate (1200 percent), lowest mid-2007. Each family has borrowed life expectancy (34 for women, 37 for 10 female goats at 30 percent interest, men); one of the highest HIV infection and thus 3 goats (at least two of them rates (25 percent), unemployment female) will be due. At that point we rates (80 percent) and death rates will know whether enough progeny The villagers provided the labor for constructing waterpoints. This higher than those in Darfur (3,500 per woman is carrying bricks for the water storage tank at Sianyanga have been produced to not only make week) due to a combination of AIDS, the interest payment, but to also build poverty, and malnutrition. A pilot program that diminishing of commitment to keeping animals their herd while providing animals for sale or seeks to restore land and livelihoods in such slaughter. together in a single herd. This shouldn’t have conditions faces big challenges, but even the However, the banks are showing signs of been a surprise since, once crops are harvested, smallest successes make those challenges seem success in other ways. The monthly bank villagers usually allow their animals to wander surmountable. and have continued this practice for so long that meetings have become one place where both And we have had many small successes. The it is now considered “tradition.” What’s more, men and women can openly discuss gender two pilot communities, Monde and Sianyanga, issues, HIV prevention and stigmatization, and with no fences marking village boundaries, the combined all their animals (cattle, goats and where women feel confident (and are not animals from neighboring villages wandered donkeys) into single herds, planned their punished) for expressing their differing views. into the Monde and Sianyanga cropfields to grazing, and herded them daily through the last graze the stubble before the Monde and Each bank has bylaws created by its members wet season. One villager at Monde who had that allow women and girls to inherit livestock. Sianyanga herds could get to it, which played crowded animals onto a cropfield prior to the At Monde, they had their first test case in havoc with their grazing plans. rains showed that with this treatment in the dry October 2006 when a widowed grandmother In Sianyanga, which is 72 miles (120 km) season crop yields in the following wet season looking after her only surviving granddaughter, away, no one had seen the results achieved on could increase enormously without having to the animal-treated cropfield at Monde, and they a six year old girl, succumbed to AIDS. Her 10 plow or apply imported fertilizers. The villagers were hesitant to bring the whole herd onto their goats have been inherited by the granddaughter built lion-proof enclosures to keep their herds fields in the dry season. But one old woman said who is now living with an uncle, who will serve safe at night and they provided the labor to dig as her guardian. The bank members will ensure she would try it and the others, once they could pipelines, and build water troughs and storage see the advantage of having the hard soil broken that the guardian respects the terms of the loan tanks. Four goats-as-currency banks were contract and uses income generated from those up and the dung and urine applied on site for
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and then select a smaller group for advanced training in the use of the veterinary kit, including inoculations, provided to each village. Changes Going Forward These “community-based veterinary workers” will receive some support from district veterinary What will it take to ensure the success of our officers. first two pilot communities, as well as the four Livestock owners in Monde and Sianyanga additional communities we who missed out on the previous training, will be plan to add before the pilot exposed to repeat/reinforcement sessions, called phase of this program by the village heads, to ensure they do concludes in 2009? HMI and understand how animals combined into single Africa Centre program staff herds under planned grazing can restore their and our partners–Heifer land and cause their rivers to flow once more. International/Zimbabwe; ZIA Going forward, we will make a number of International changes to our curriculum to make it even (monitoring/USA); Peter more effective for learners who speak multiple Mundy (National University languages but are often illiterate. And we will of Science and Technology; also attempt to reach one sector of the and Vivian Ncube (gender community–unemployed/uneducated young specialist/Zimbabwe) met for men aged 12 to 24–who are often considered two days last September to troublemakers and who have avoided discuss the revisions and involvement in the program (even to assist their improvements that program mothers or grandmothers with herding duties). staff are now beginning to At the end of September, a field day was held at Monde, attended Social issues, or “people problems” remain implement. by local and national media. Shown here is the water trough our biggest and continuing challenge. In Engagement of the constructed by the villagers. Monde, members of two traditional as well as local different tribes harboring (government) council leaders is the highest historical animosities are priority. That started in November with attempting to pull together, leadership training, at their request, which and not always succeeding. program partners Heifer International and In Sianyanga, most of the Vivian Ncube helped facilitate. Village heads will men have left to find work be given much more responsibility in the and many, if not most, never program, including nominating members to return except to die (usually serve on the Grazing Management Committees, from AIDS). All of these identifying new bank members and nominating things are present to some bank officers, calling meetings, overseeing degree in any community. So disputes brought to them by the grazing how we address them in this committees or bank officers, and more. The pilot program should be local development council will make sure local relevant in other situations. agricultural and veterinary extension officers are Our USAID funding ended available to the program. in December. Since they were In the past year, villagers elected to herd the providing short-term animals themselves, rather than pay employed The Chairman of the Sianyanga Grazing Committee with a “disaster relief” funds, they herders. But because some livestock owners, woman whose cropfield is being “treated” by a herd of over 400 were unable to continue particularly vulnerable bank families, could not goats. The goats are herded by day, and spend each night in the share in herding duties, this did not work well. lion-proof enclosure which is moved across the field until the whole their support, though And because herders kept changing, there were field has been impacted with hooves, and fertilized with dung and program officers will continue to follow our limited opportunities for reinforcement of the urine. (Cattle and donkeys were grazing in a different area). progress with regular visits. basics, or to provide more advanced training, They have been most impressed with our Africa communities create a fund (in livestock) that such as community-based veterinary care. As a Centre staff, saying they’ve rarely seen such will be used to pay herders, to resupply the result of the first, some bank members were commitment to ensuring the success of a village veterinary kit, and to maintain the asked to leave, even though each bank had project. They have faced every challenge with waterpoint, as a sign of their commitment agreed to take over the herding duties of bank calm, and although the villagers themselves can families who were incapable of taking them on. before any funds are expended on waterpoint take most of the credit for the successes to date, development (pump, pipeline, troughs, storage And in the latter case, sick animals weren’t it wouldn’t have been possible without the tanks). diagnosed in time to provide simple treatments genial but firm coaching by the Africa Centre Animal health is the next priority. Heifer that might have saved them. staff and their unwavering belief in the villagers’ International will work with us to train herders In Monde and Sianyanga the villagers ability to succeed. in livestock disease prevention and treatment, themselves have been asked to come up with 10 goats and their progeny to cover her school fees and ensure she is well nourished.
solutions to the herding and animal health problems, but ACHM staff will be suggesting that village heads select herder candidates who will be thoroughly trained to serve as community herders and remunerated in livestock. Going forward, we will likely insist that new
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ISU Grazing Research– Detecting Changes on the Land by Keith T. Weber
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was first introduced to Holistic complete weather station to record rainfall, rain later time for comparison. Already though, Management as an undergraduate at the rate, temperature, wind speed and direction, these preliminary efforts have shown us that University of Wisconsin in the late 1980s. humidity, and even ultraviolet and total solar there are no pre-existing differences in the Over a decade later, in 1999, I met Allan proportions of sagebrush, grasses, litter, and bare radiation inputs. In addition, we have installed Savory and began to critically consider Holistic forty soil moisture probes that constantly collect ground among the study’s treatment sites. The Management in the work I was doing at Idaho data over the three treatment areas. During the next step was to fence the treatment areas and State University. At that time, the ISU this was completed later in the summer of 2005. summer of 2006, ISU students Underwood and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Training The primary form of comparison that will be Jacob Tibbits completed a second season of and Research Center, which I direct, began a sampling similar to last year’s, but with a few used in this study relies upon state-of-the-art long-term research program to investigate land satellite imagery from the Quickbird, SPOT, and additional measurements like soil compaction cover change over time, focusing on the and soil moisture. MODIS satellites. Past research has taught us rangeland landscape of southeastern Idaho. Grazing for the 2006 growing season has that correctly located imagery is absolutely Our rangeland research been completed, applying program has since expanded, and stocking densities of .12 animal Allan has been there every step of units per acre (0.3 animal the way as our primary units/ha) in the rest-rotation consulting expert. Most recently, pasture and 2.36 animal units GIS Center staff scientists Drs. per acre (5.9 animal units/ha) Temuulen Sankey and Jerome in the short duration pasture. Theau have embarked upon an That equates to 6 and 12 animal exciting new experiment with me days per acre (ADA’s) respectively. to examine the effect of various Of Global Interest grazing treatments on rangeland health. The study will take place We plan to begin our end-ofat ISU’s O’Neal Ecological season analysis this fall, using Reserve, just 30 miles south of field data and satellite imagery. the main campus in Pocatello. Our analysis will focus on Here, we will compare three rangeland health calculations grazing treatments: total rest, and comparisons among the traditional rest-rotation grazing three treatment pastures. We with partial rest, and short may not see many differences duration grazing with plant this year, but we hope to recovery. continue this experiment for ten years, at which point we should Allan Savory (left) at O’Neal study area with ISU Research team (from left to Doubling the see fairly substantial differences. right: Jamen Underwood, Jacob Tibbits, and Keith Weber). Stocking Rate While planning this experiment, Before beginning the experiment this essential to produce reliable results. With this in we realized that due to its potential impact and summer, we collected data describing premind, we constructed five ground control broad interest others may wish to collaborate. existing land cover condition. These data, platforms that are visible within the highAs a result, the GIS Center has established a gathered by ISU students Jed Gregory and Luke resolution Quickbird imagery. The exact visiting scholars program and is currently Sander in the summer of 2005, include ground location of each control has been recorded using accepting applications from scientists across the cover estimates for shrub, grass, litter, and bare sophisticated global positioning system units globe. This new study is funded by the National ground. In addition, the field data were and these points have been used to correct the Aeronautics and supplemented with aerial photography having a control locations seen in the imagery. Space Administration with support from remarkable resolution of only two inches. This Preliminary analyses with the correctly-located Senator Larry Craig, Senator Mike Crapo, and state-of-the-art imagery gives us a permanent imagery suggest that accuracy can be boosted Representative Mike Simpson, all of Idaho. record of pre-existing conditions at the O’Neal from approximately 60 percent to nearly 100 We are excited about this study as well as our and, with it, we can even see individual shrubs percent. This unprecedented accuracy will allow new visiting scholars program that we hope and patches of bare ground. us to not only map and model the study area, will attract international researchers to ISU’s Using the field samples and aerial but also reliably detect even small changes on GIS Center and the O’Neal study area. To learn photography, a pre-study land cover map was the landscape. more about the GIS Center’s research and the created by another of our students, Jamen The O’Neal Ecological Reserve is a highlyvisiting scholars program visit Underwood. This mapping will be repeated at a instrumented study area. We have installed a http://giscenter.isu.edu. 8
IN PRACTICE
January / February 2 0 07
LIVESTOCK
&
On the Howell Ranch–
Profitable Custom Grazing by Jim Howell
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grew up in two different worlds. During the entire school year, I was been possible, but Holistic Management has given us the confidence, clarity, bound to the sterile suburban landscape of flat, boring, soulless, commitment, and skills to make it happen. seasonless, manmade Southern California. When I was a kid, strawberry Lessons on Life and Leasing farms, orange groves, and dairies were still pretty common, but by the late seventies, new housing tracts, industrial warehouses, and strip malls had Of all the various profit-generating avenues we pursue, my heart and pushed out all relicts of reality. my passion have always been Since my dad and mother were both grounded in our grazing enterprise. teachers, they had their summers free to Since 1997, we have been fill as they pleased, so we all came back custom-grazing cattle–some years to my granddad’s ranch here in yearlings, and some years cows and Colorado every summer. I couldn’t calves–not only on our own 2,000 imagine there could be a more idyllic acres (800 ha), but on adjacent spot on earth, and I dreamed about leased ranches as well. From 1999 to getting back to Colorado from the 2003, we leased a neighbor’s place–a moment we left in August till we very productive little irrigated patch returned the following June. of 240 acres (96 ha) next to our All through childhood and my early lower place–and integrated this adulthood, I dreamed of becoming a ranch into our own, managing both full-time Coloradoan and making a as one grazing cell. We learned an living from our land. After college, my awful lot by having that place (see IN marriage to Daniela, two different PRACTICE #88– “In a Drought, ranch management jobs and a Trapping Sunshine”), but the lease backpacking trip through Africa (to Thanks to a tremendous increase in stock density and long recovery was too high, and the irrigating was visit holistically managed ranches), periods, the plant mix high on these steep slopes is transitioning from awfully labor intensive. The Daniela and I made the decision to landowner was very conventional, an overrested mess to a diverse mix very high quality, vigorous finally make the move to Colorado. and didn’t appreciate at all our native grasses and forbs. That was 1996, and the summer of efforts to improve her place, and the 1997 was our first taste of being self-employed Colorado ranchers. Tomorrow few bucks that we ended up with were pretty meager for all that work. morning we’ll ship the last of this year’s cattle, and we’ll have successfully After the summer of 2003, she informed us that her daughter had completed our 10th season of holistically managing the Howell Ranch. purchased a few cows, and that she would need the place back the next Seasonal custom grazing (early June through November) and big game summer. It immediately hit me that all that knowledge I’d gained about her guiding and outfitting have been our bread and butter enterprises. We’ve also specific place was just that–specific to her place. Of course there were some done a little forestry work and conducted educational programs to lessons more broadly applicable to any ranch, but the value of the knowledge supplement our cash flow, and have organized and led our international of how to irrigate that piece of country, how and when to graze it, how to ranch tours during the winter. Through holistic financial planning and lots work it into the management of our place, and the increased production we of monitoring, controlling, and replanning, we’ve managed to stay in were realizing due to our management skill, evaporated with that phone call. business, build our own house on the ranch, capitalize an additional Despite the fact that the financial side of the deal wasn’t all that attractive, ranch-based business (Del Cerro handwoven textiles–see IN PRACTICE losing this lease was hard to take, and over the course of the following winter, #105), and accumulate a lot of valuable experience. Before our grounding Daniela and I decided we wouldn’t take on any more leased ranches. in Holistic Management, we never would have thought this would have all continued on page 10 N u m b e r 111
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On the Howell Ranch– New Perspectives, New Opportunities
continued from page 9 mind for the future. They wouldn’t take no for an answer, and asked us to think about it for a couple weeks. Then it dawned on us–we were in a position to bargain. Remembering my lessons from Greg Judy, I called them back and told them that if we took the lease, we would determine the stocking rate, and I laid out all the planning and level of management that we would perform, and the benefits that would accrue to the health of their land and wildlife populations. And, for the performance of these professional management services and achievement of ecological improvement, we would charge a management fee which would offset much of the price of the lease. “Deal,” they said.
Then I started reading about a guy named Greg Judy, and eventually read his book, No Risk Ranching–Custom Grazing on Leased Land. Judy’s perspective made me aware that all that planning and management we’d done on that 240-acre (96-ha) leased place, and on our family’s place (owned by my parents), was worth something, and we needed to be compensated for it. It These overrested bunchgrasses display the rank, decadent suddenly dawned on me that it’s crazy condition that formerly characterized millions of grass plants on the slopes our leased ranch. Most of these plants to pay the standard going rate for have been heavily grazed, and the overburden of Holistic Results grass, and then provide a wayorganic matter returned to the soil surface. And it is a deal–a win-win deal. We’ve had the above-standard level of management. lease for three seasons now, and have made huge On top of that, I was starting to get a few well-paid consulting strides in increasing the ranch’s productivity, jobs helping other ranchers with their holistic land and biodiversity, and overall ecological health. That’s of grazing planning and biological monitoring. When I course good for the land itself, good for our cows, and calculated the time I spent doing these “professional good for their elk. We’re making a healthy gross management services,” as I call them, on our own land profit, and they pay a nearly insignificant property (which we were leasing at the going rate from my parents) tax bill due to keeping the land in agricultural and the leased place, it was pretty enlightening. My production. And I’m realizing a lifelong dream. calculations indicated that my lessors actually owed me a little We wouldn’t have been able to broker this deal, money, instead of the other way around. and successfully execute it, when we showed up here So, Daniela and I took a deep breath, got our story and in 1997, however. We learned a lot of lessons by our numbers straight, and made a presentation to my managing our land and the 240-acre (96-ha) place parents. We ended up renegotiating the lease, and the end during those first seven seasons, and that experience result made it a lot easier for us to justify staying here on the enabled us to state with confidence what we could ranch and continue living our dream. Dreams turn into achieve for them. By 2004, we knew that with nightmares if they’re not self-financing. strategic placement of portable hot wires and a little We still didn’t feel too enthusiastic about taking on more Now, a year post-grazing and herding, we could get cattle to climb our steep slopes country, however, unless something came along that was just impacting, these same bunchgrasses and clean up old rank bunchgrasses that hadn’t been too good to pass up. And, in the spring of 2004, it did. We’ve are growing with incredible vigor. grazed in three decades. We knew the key points in got another neighbor adjacent to our high place that owns an the season to irrigate bottomland for optimum production and forage quality, incredible 7,000-acre (2,800-ha) ranch, which is a pretty big tract of private and we’d figured out the necessary recovery periods through trial and error. ground in this increasingly fragmented part of the state. The ranch is owned On dryland range, we had learned that great leaps in plant vigor and soil by extremely successful absentee owners from the Midwest. They bought it in cover come with two-year recovery periods, and we had the biological 1999 primarily for its elk hunting potential, and came to Colorado with no monitoring data to prove it. With that guideline, we are using only half of the interest in or knowledge of range management or cattle. But, to keep the ranch under agricultural tax status, they had to run a few ranch each year (outside of the irrigated bottoms), with grazed and ungrazed cows, and found a local rancher who agreed to lease the grass, irrigate the 250 pastures interspersed in a mixed mosaic of “holistically planned chaos” (see IN PRACTICE #83–Nature’s Lessons from Migratory Herbivores”). We had acres (100 ha) of bottom ground, and do all the fencing. But, they only let learned how the elk and deer use the land in response to our grazing these folks run 100 cows (plus or minus)–a stocking rate way too low to justify all that work. During my summertimes growing up, I got into the habit management, and could emphatically state that the wildlife would flourish of steering my horse through our gate and onto this place. I ended up getting with the input of holistically planned livestock grazing. By freshening all to know every nook and cranny of its canyons, benches, and ridges. It became that old grass with cattle grazing, the elk and deer now congregate on our country in the fall and spring, and hunting is superb. a part of the Colorado I dreamed about all year while in California. After Now, after three seasons on the new leased place, the results are very moving back here in the late nineties, I soon began to dream about having satisfying. The bulk of the very rugged dryland country was formerly the chance to manage this ranch holistically someday. The fact that the new fenced into two huge pastures taking in four main water catchments. With owner only thought their “elk” ranch could handle 100 cows brought me one-wire, hi-tensile electric fence, we’ve now strategically split that country back to reality, however, and I didn’t let my dreams carry me away. into eleven permanent pastures, and have the flexibility to break each into Then they called us in that spring of 2004. They were looking for a new lessee and were offering us the lease. At the time we were heavily immersed in multiple sub-pastures with portable polywire. With the former 100 cows having access to all of these different catchments for months at a time, the our new textile business, and taking on the lease of this place was the last thing on my mind. I told them the timing wasn’t right, but to keep us in continued on page 14 10
Land & Livestock
January / February 2 0 07
Sticking with it on the Circle Ranch–
Healthy Wildlife Habitat On A Working Ranch by Jim Howell
A
s an only child with a slave menagerie of lizards, snakes, birds, driving father, my dad grew up rodents, rabbits, and hares round out a working his tail off on the remarkable mix of fauna–especially for family farm and ranch here in a piece of country that, if viewed from Colorado. He ended up deciding to leave an airplane or the interstate, looks like a the ranch and make his living bunch of rocks, cactus, and greasewood. elsewhere, but those early years instilled The ranch is owned by Christopher in him a code of ethics that transferred and Laura Gill and their four grown to the rest of his life–a code which I offspring–young Christopher and wife, know he has striven to pass on to me Sterling, Carolyn and husband, Peter, and my brothers. Josephine and husband, Marshall, and My dad is not an exceptionally still-single Richard. As keen philosophical sort of guy. His lessons outdoorsmen and hunters, the Gills were short and sweet. Some were were attracted to the ranch by its articulated, but most were simply taught abundance of fauna and hunting by his solid example. Be tough. Do what opportunities, and, after being you say you’ll do. If you make a introduced to Allan Savory and mistake, fess up. Finish the job. Stay These plants were grazed fairly heavily during the previous dormant participating in HMI’s Range and humble. Be generous. Listen. Respect Ranch Manager Training Program, season, but will not be grazed this year. This forage is very high your elders. Show up on time. Watch quality forage from the current growing season, and will be reserved gained many new insights into your pennies. And, the most pervasive for use by wild herbivores over the coming winter, both as food and managing for healthy wildlife habitat. and oft-repeated: Don’t quit. As life’s In this sort of highly brittle country, cover. When this pasture is grazed during next year’s dormant challenges and circumstances come where an average year sees 10-12 inches season, most of this material will be returned to the soil as litter. rolling along, I must admit that I often (250- 300 mm) of erratically spaced consciously ask myself, “What would my dad do?” And, I get my answer. rainfall, they learned that healthy land and thriving plants must receive an This article is about lessons learned and progress made on the Circle occasional dose of disturbance in the form of a migrating herd of carbonRanch, near the far west Texas town of Van Horn. I cycling, soil surface-agitating bovines. wrote about the Circle in the November 2003 issue of IN That’s a lot easier said than done, especially in this PRACTICE, after just having completed my second year sort of landscape. No surface water, extreme elevation of facilitating the ranch’s dormant season grazing changes, vast stretches of lowly productive, degraded planning session. I’ve been back six times since, for land, and lots and lots of rocks don’t make for ease of various land planning, grazing planning, and management. After my first visit in the summer of 2002, monitoring meetings. As I sat down to ponder where to I wasn’t sure if they could pull it off. But that’s before I begin this article, it dawned on me that the code of knew the Gills or their heroic ranch manager, Charlie conduct I learned from my dad has been at the heart of King. I’ve since learned that these folks have a lot of Circle Ranch’s success–especially that one about not heart. They’ve stuck to their vision, they haven’t quit, quitting. and they do what they say they’ll do. Charlie himself is not a young man, but he gets more done that just about Circle Ranch Recap any man or woman I’ve ever been around, young or Before I delve into where we’ve come and what we’ve old. Whenever Chris locates him on the ranch radio, accomplished (actually what they’ve accomplished–I Charlie’s typically out of breath. haven’t had to sweat too much), I better reintroduce the Fast Track Land Planning Circle. Spanning 32,000+ acres (12,800+ ha) of high Chihuahua Desert, the Circle encompasses everything Okay, compliments aside, I must admit that it took Most of the plants grazed on Circle from flat grassy prairie dominated by vast stretches of me a year and two visits before we knew the ranch and Ranch have the chance to go through the grazing program well enough to sit down and do a blue gramma, to insanely rugged desert mountain two growing seasons between grazing land plan. Father Gill is impatient, and likes to see woodlands and canyons, to broad, flat escarpments periods. These sideoats gramma plants things happening. He frequently reiterates to me that rimmed by shear cliffs, to scrubby desert flats. The contain standing material from the ranch isn’t that big, but the ecological and “the most successful businesses spend at least 30 percent previous year, most of which will feed of their time planning,” and, “80 percent of your topographical diversity within its boundaries is huge. Pronghorn antelope, desert bighorn sheep, desert mule the soil, as well as high quality growth income comes from 20 percent of your effort.” deer, elk, mountain lions, coyotes, scaled and gambel’s from the current year, most of which Planning was not what was initially happening at the will feed the cattle. continued on page 12 quail, mourning and white-winged doves, and a vast N u m b e r 111
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Sticking with it on the Circle Ranch
continued from page 11
Poor water distribution was a key Circle, however, at least in the land bottleneck in achieving an even level of planning department. New waterlines, forage utilization, especially in the water troughs, and storage tanks were mountains and canyons and the corners of popping up as Chris tried to push animal some of the big desert pastures. All this new densities, but there was no long-term water has gone a long way to alleviating strategy of implementation directing these this problem, but so has significantly additions. Eventually, Chris and the increased stock density. Pasture numbers family, with the HMI’s help, organized (not including a handful of small traps these efforts in a way that followed his around the headquarters) have gone from own advice. We spent three intensive days 17 to 39, bringing the average pasture size coming up with a detailed, down to about 800 acres (320 ha), and all comprehensive, long-range land plan in new subdivisions are made with what we’re December of 2003. This was greatly calling semi-portable fence, which consists facilitated by the holistic training the During the growing season of 2006, the Circle Ranch was a of permanent posts and portable polywire. family had by then acquired. picture of abudance with 20-inch tall blue gamma grass. This level of pasture subdivision and I say long range, and on most outfits it stock density, combined with excellent water distribution, now means they would have been, but again, the Gills like to see progress. What might have can expect cattle to find their way to essentially every nook and cranny on the taken others a lifetime to accomplish, the Gills and Charlie have nearly ranch. And, because the only wires that are up at any given point are pulled off in three years. I won’t go into the details, but the Circle Ranch wherever the cattle happen to be, the ranch isn’t crisscrossed with miles and engineered and installed its own system and now has lots and lots of water. miles of fence waiting to be torn out by herds of racing pronghorn. Plus, it’s This water development was intentionally placed to aid livestock distribution cheap! With Chris’ leadership, the family’s support and Charlie’s persistence, and more efficient grazing planning, and to meet the demands of wildlife. The Gills have really taken Allan Savory’s insights on the interaction of plant they kept at it and got ‘er done. and animal communities to heart, and think it a mistake to treat domestic Grazing for Choice and wild animals as if they are anything other than part of the same community. As Chris says, “We think in terms of plants and animals, not We’ve been planning the grazing to the best of our ability all along, but this cows and grass.” nearly completed land plan is now enabling us to bring a much greater level of All cattle troughs are equipped with an access ramp into and out of the finesse to the grazing planning. Since the focus of the ranch’s management is water for small mammals and birds. New waterlines running adjacent to to create healthy habitat for domestic and wild animals, those considerations especially good quail habitat are plumbed with custom–designed quail come first to mind as we decide how to bring the cattle to the grass. Chris’ waterers (which all large and small animals can use also). Many of the new standard operating directive is to “do what’s right for the habitat,” because troughs and storages have been placed along the edges of the ranch habitat that supports the animal community, by definition, supports cattle, escarpments, the intention being to serve as bighorn sheep, elk, deer, which are proxy substitutes for the bison that should be there anyway. antelope, small animal, bird and cattle water points. The Circle Ranch does not own any cattle, choosing instead to custom This works financially. The ranch is now selling sheep, quail, and mule graze these during the dormant season. This preserves objectivity on deer hunts for surprising prices. A sheep permit nets $61,000, more than stocking or destocking decisions. In September, after the bulk of the the entire dormant season custom grazing gross income from 1,000 summer monsoon rains have typically arrived, we inventory the amount of yearlings. Mule deer hunts bring up to $10,000, quail weekends $10,000. grass on hand and, along with a range of other considerations, arrive at a The cattle are critically necessary for habitat health and income, and well- stocking rate for the coming non-growing season (mid-October to late placed water is necessary for this to happen. If that water can also be May/early June). In a nutshell, our habitat management strategy revolves placed to develop valuable wildlife, with no extra effort, we get a great big around creating a patchy mosaic of diverse vegetation structures across the bang for the buck. ranch. We do this to try and create choice for wildlife–that is, we try to create choice of cover and choice in diet. Depending on the year (how and where the rains come), from 30-60 percent of the ranch will be left out of the 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 grazing plan and allowed to carry a good cover of standing forage all the way Total Acres Grazed 29,610 25,830 16,065 18,900 11,390 18,900 through the dormant season. This % of Ranch Grazed 94 82 51 60 36 60 provides areas of extensive cover for all types of wildlife, including those with Total Animal Days 94,500 99,000 110,250 110,000 91,800 210,000 easily measured economic value, like Stock Harvested quail, sheep, elk, mule deer, and pronghorn–each of which needs Average Animal Days 3.2 3.8 6.7 5.8 8.1 11.1 abundant cover for survival of their per Acre Harvested young. The balance of the ranch will be grazed at various levels of intensity, and
Circle Ranch Grazing Stats
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most of those pastures will be pastures that would have been ungrazed the previous year. So, those pastures will have two seasons of standing, accumulated growth. When the cattle (bison proxies) show up, there is an excellent supply of older material, most of which gets added to the litter bank, as well as younger material from the current year’s growing season, most of which feeds the cattle. Those pastures then provide excellent quality forage for the wild herbivores as they recover during the following growing season. All of this seeks to replicate the ancient relationship between plants and animals.
Harvest Trends Over the past five years, per acre production has increased dramatically under our grazing planning. Of course, we’ve also been blessed by some generous rainy seasons, especially this year, with the average acre receiving nearly 14 inches (350 mm) of rain from late July to early September. That hasn’t happened in a long time. As Charlie says, “That rain makes us all look pretty smart.” He’s sure right, but I also believe our grazing strategy has primed the land to be ready for those abundant rains. In 2001, the year before my involvement began, the average grazed pasture yielded 3.2 stock days per acre (SDA). After the dormant season of 2005-06 (which followed an average rainfall year), average yield per grazed acre had increased to 9.3 SDA, and over the course of the 2006-07 dormant season, we’re planning an average harvest of 11.1 SDA on 60 percent of the ranch (with a herd of 1,000 yearlings), and leaving the balance for cover. That cover will become next year’s litter. Our monitoring tells us we’re making sound progress on all fronts–wildlife numbers, cover, plant spacing and diversity, plant vigor and production, economic returns, and human attitudes. Holistic results, if you will. Chris says, “Even ignoring this year as too good to be included, in six previous seasons of holistic planned grazing we went from using 90% of the ranch heavily, to using 30% of the ranch moderately, for the same total stock days of grazing. Texas Parks and Wildlife wants us to shoot 36 mule deer bucks this year. On opening day, in two hours, I jumped 24 coveys of quail in just one paddock. These numbers are unheard of elsewhere in West Texas. In my mind, this ends any debate regarding whether planned grazing works.” But as good as holistic planned grazing is, at the end of the day, positive outcomes come back to hard work, daily discipline, and persistence. On the Circle Ranch, those aren’t hard to come by. I think Dad would approve.
The National Animal Identification System–
A Contrast In Policy Formation by Rob Rutherford
P
olicies are created by governments and other bureaucracies in the presence of problems-either perceived as being present or feared as becoming present at some time in the future. Policies are rather broad statements of purpose. They are the “what” and not the “how, when, and who” which generally appear in the form of regulations after policies have been adopted. At the time of policy introduction, those who will be impacted are generally provided with the “why.” Currently, the United States livestock industry is in the process of being introduced to the policy of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). Efforts are well underway to develop the regulations intended to carry out this policy. From my viewpoint, the process being used provides a textbook example of conventional policy formation and one that deserves analysis with Holistic Management® policy analysis.
A Point of Comparison
remain unchanged. With Holistic Management® policy formation, the first step would be to probe deeply to discover the true cause of the problem-and not be content with drafting policy addressing the effects of that cause. Decision makers would likely either create a holisticgoal with their constituents in mind, if they did not already have one-testing the policy toward it. In this way, the policy would create the desired outcome rather than reacting to a perceived problem. It would then be assumed that the policy might be mis-directed and early warning signs would be identified which would serve as indicators that the policy needs to be adapted.
BSE to NAIS Now let’s take a look at the National Animal Identification System. This policy burst onto the scene in 2004, but had its origins much earlier, as concerned individuals at the national level sought this type of program well back into the 1980s. The foot and mouth outbreak in Great Britain during 2002-03 was important in creating the momentum needed by the planners of this policy. Then, when a Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)-positive cow (mad cow) was identified in the state of Washington in December of 2003, the policy had every reason to proceed with warp speed. Then Secretary of Agriculture, Ann Veneman, made pronouncements that we (the USA) would pursue a plan to be able to track animals. Not long after that pronouncement, the official objective of the program was announced, to track any animal within 48 hours of a reported animal disease outbreak. Policy formation began. Obviously, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has no holisticgoal. Policies were formed that would allow officials to track any animal, including where it had been and how it had been disposed of, within 48 hours of the outbreak of highly transmissible and catastrophic disease. Various officials were consulted. High on the list were the officials in Great Britain, which helps to explain why the current program highly resembles the continued on page 14
The current policy is not being “sold” based upon the true underlying “why.”
With conventional policy formation, a perceived problem is used as an objective of the policy. Along with that, it might be that the true underlying problem, rather than the cause, is concealed as a matter of political expediency. The pronouncement of the policy is likely to be framed in such a way so as to affect large numbers of people. At no time is this policy formed within the context of a holisticgoal. Often, these policies are created under the umbrella of some mission or vision statements drafted by the agency responsible. The policies are formed to achieve an objective or goal. During the formulation of the policy, and the regulations to follow, various inputs are considered such as past experience, expert opinion, compromises, expediency, fear, cash flow, intuition, etc. Then, public input is requested, but is handled as window dressing to create public buy-in for a policy that is already pre-determined. There is a tendency for those who have drafted the policy to have very strong ownership. Therefore, they are likely to resist substantial modification. Once the policy is written, no meaningful monitoring is created to check its effectiveness. Once implemented, adjustments to the implementation might occur, but the policy will
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The National Animal Identification System British “passport” system. In addition, those sectors of the economy that would benefit from the proposed program were quite aggressive in making input early in the process-such as the technology sector developing RFID (radio frequency identification devices). The policy had to be implemented quickly and had to be sold to the masses. Efforts were made to make sure that all who would listen knew about the catastrophic effects of diseases like foot and mouth and mad-cow disease even though we are continually reminded that this policy is not about food safety. Many field hearings were held. I personally testified at three of them. Each presenter was given three minutes to make input. The input was met with solemn reception. In retrospect, it seems that the overwhelming majority of the input was ignored, but “stakeholders” must admit that they had an opportunity to participate in the process. Input continues to be solicited to this day. The apparent lack of commitment to change the policy after receiving constituent input has resulted in distrust and conflict between the administrators and the livestock owners. In response to what the USDA is seeing as a growing resistance to the policy, the implementation plans are being revised, such as the exception for animals from small herds and flocks, animals being transported to fairs and expositions with “casual and short term commingling.” But these adjustments represent variances in the implementation, not the policy itself. Furthermore, the program is being marketed more and more as an advantage to livestock owners as a way to create and maintain better records effectively and efficiently. A major stumbling block at this time is that the technology is not remotely ready to do what the proponents are hoping to achieve (typical accuracies of readers in field conditions with sheep are about 50 percent). But with continued work, performance is bound to improve. The question becomes one of will these tools be available on a voluntary basis, or will the central government insist on mandatory adoption of the technologies and information gathering and storage. There is also the feeling that those who benefit from policies ought to pay for them. So, who will bear the brunt of the cost of the proposed system? At this point, it appears that the producers of the livestock will pay the costs rather than the public at large. If the ownership of the livestock is wrapped up as a subsidiary of large multinational corporations-the cost of the program is worth it. For smaller scale producers, the economic burden certainly outweighs the perceived benefits. The degree of divisiveness and conflict is mounting daily. How could it be that a policy that supposedly is about tracking animal disease be of more benefit to large scale industrial
continued from page thirteen
animal production systems than it is to smaller scale diversified operations? If this is really about the perceived horrors of diseases like BSE-then isn’t the public at large benefiting and therefore shouldn’t the economic burden be borne across the entire population?
An Honest Approach So, how might the situation look different with Holistic Management? The first step would be to be more forthcoming about the true problem. It can’t simply be tracing of animals who could be involved with disease transmission. Why? There is no mention of tracking wildlife animals that can transmit diseases, such as Brucellosis, Pneumonia, Johnes, Rift Valley Fever, and Lyme Disease, among others, to other species including humans. Furthermore, if it was about tracking diseases, why would the program exempt all those small herds and flocks that have a higher degree of species intermixing and much more co-mingling than the large extensive operations? The experiences with the Exotic Newcastle Disease outbreak in California several years ago proved that the greatest risk of the spread of the disease was in the backyard flocks of various types of birds. The newly nominated Undersecretary of Agriculture, Bruce Knight, who will provide oversight to the NAIS is quoted as preferring that the system be voluntary. But, most health officials believe that a voluntary program will not be an effective disease tracking system. So if it isn’t about tracking disease, what could it be? In my opinion, the answer is revealed in the words of Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns, “I believe a fully functional animal tracking system will keep us competitive in international markets, helping us retain and expand our market share.” With that knowledge, it becomes clear that the current policy is not being “sold” based upon the true underlying “why.” It’s about protecting the financial interests of organizations involved in trade, most importantly, international commerce, not the economic well being of the typical U.S. livestock owner, and certainly not about the health of the average U.S. citizen. This international focus dovetails well with a national agriculture policy that has evolved over the years wherein surpluses of commodities produced in the U.S. must move to overseas markets as a way to balance trade. High level officials have known for some time that tracking of livestock animals would be necessary to maintain international trade. When the discovery of BSE caused the close of trading windows with Japan (most notably), something had to be done. How might the policy formation process be different? If the problem is the threatened shut-down of trade, then the policy ought to address that
This policy is not about food safety
On the Howell Ranch
continued from page 10
narrow riparian ribbons ended up being continuously grazed, and the upland slopes barely touched. Now, even without using the polywire, our nearly 400 custom-grazed cows are grazing at an average stock density 44 times greater (four times as many cows on one eleventh of the land at any given time). This level of stock density, though still a long ways from what it could be, has enabled us to clean up huge swaths of horribly overrested bunchgrasses. With much greater energy flow and more efficient mineral and water cycles, these plants now have a new lease on life, the soil surface is covered with decaying plant litter, and the elk have started to realize that these formerly rank and nasty slopes are now covered in high quality forage. On the 14
Land & Livestock
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irrigated pastures, we’ve increased forage production nearly 100%. We still have a long way to go, both on this leased ranch and our own place, but as I grow older, I’m learning that worthwhile results take time to materialize. During the tough times of growing a new business, it is easy to get distracted and rationalize easier ways of making a living. Through the process of developing a holisticgoal, Holistic Management helps us figure out what actually is worthwhile, and then gives us the decision-making and planning skills to begin living that dream. But, meaningful, gut-filling progress still takes time. My lesson over the past ten years? Be clear on what you want, plan-monitor-control-replan, be doggedly but patiently persistent, and good things are bound to happen.
The National Animal Identification System specifically. In short, some honesty about true intent would be welcome. Critics have suggested that our national leadership has previously pushed policies based on false pretenses, and has usually suffered long-term negative feedback. If this is about international trade, the policy would necessarily be developed at the national level as it is likely that a certain degree of continuity existed across the states, and foreign trading partners are not likely to establish trading policies with each individual state. The successful implementation of the policy would need to consider who is affected as a result of the regulations that will ensue. In the current case, every owner of a livestock animal in the U.S. will be impacted, even though the vast majority of animal owners will not be involved in international trade. Consideration should be given such that those who benefit from the policy provide the needed finances to make sure it becomes effective. It could be argued that the existence of international trade makes imported items available and affordable, therefore, the public at large benefits and should pay for the program. On the other hand, if the primary beneficiaries are those involved in international trade, then the financial burden ought to fall there. Within the currently proposed language one thing is very clear, the small-scale livestock owner who markets products locally will see no economic benefits from this policy, yet likely will be obligated to participate at some significant cost. There is a sense that an objective of the program is to utilize electronic identification, in other words, the use of a specific tool has become a goal. To force a particular tool as a goal/outcome instead of a means to achieve certain benefits is a sure way not to enhance the support of a policy. Lastly, any proposed policy and ensuing implementation strategies would need to identify ways to determine if the policy was working. Fortunately, the current system has provided for monitoring. However, the result of the feedback has resulted in “tweaking” of the implementation rather than amendment of the policy itself (i.e., extension of deadlines for implementation, exemptions for certain groups of animals, modification of
the types of RFID that would be used, etc.) Current policies and procedures within the livestock industry already serve to provide tracking of animals. Within the cattle sector, programs exist to eartag and record cattle to be able to track Tuberculosis and Brucellosis. Within the sheep and goat sectors, a national Scrapie program provides for individual identification and recording of movements of higher risk animals. The swine industry likewise has systems in place (including a uniform system of ear marking) to be able to track diseases like pseudo rabies and others. In addition, the cattle industry of the western part of the country has branding systems that enable the ownership identity of cattle to be proven. These systems could easily serve the stated purpose of the National Animal Identification System. The primary obstacle standing in the way of this low-cost, effective approach is the lack of trust between policy makers and livestock producers. But, the approach thus far has been one where the policy makers don’t trust the ability or desire of producers to provide information as to where animals are and have been. At the same time, based upon previous experiences, livestock producers don’t trust the ability of the policy makers to provide the needed accuracy and privacy of information for the program to succeed. The currently proposed NAIS policy is intended to maintain trading conduits for products produced in the U.S. that enable us to buy things produced elsewhere. But, the program is being sold based upon other premises. Perhaps a more long term approach would be the creation of policies that strengthen local and regional commerce, thereby creating self-sufficiency rather than dependency on long distance trading partners. Rob Rutherford is a Certified Educator and professor in the Animal Science Department at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. He can be reached at: 805/756-1475 or rrutherf@calpoly.edu.
Seamless Marketing and Holistic Management number of magazines and papers, with the result that we were mentioned on the eco-tourism site of the UK national paper The Guardian, resulting in three bookings immediately. We also monitored our performance through our conversations with guests and the comments they made in our visitor’s book. When we received the following testimonials from a family from New Zealand, we felt that who we were and what we stood for had been reflected from the biggest picture, our holisticgoal, Satisfied customers on a hike near The Lodge. through our marketing message and into the product itself. breathtaking and varied and a highlight for me. I “A week has been far too short. You have one am desperately hoping you will still be here when of the most outstanding locations I have ever seen. we next visit Europe” Thank you for all your kindness, the bread, the “This place is really cool. I would love it if I fruit, the games and the books to keep the kids could stay one more week. You’ve got really cool happy. I will remember our week-long game of games, like ‘Civilisation.’ The puppies are really ‘Civilisation’ for a long time! The walks too were great with their nice soft coats. Thank you for the
continued from page five chicken book. There were heaps of varieties. The chicken that I liked the best was the Barnevelder.” The above testimonials reflected our tonal, service and corporate values as well as created the quality of life we wanted. The use of Holistic Management, with its capacity to create clarity of direction, supported by the feedback loop, together with this succinct marketing process, produced a product and a quality of life that reflected our values. We were able to move effortlessly from the vision to the daily details and back again. This is turn provided us with the economic reward we wanted, Within two weeks of the website going live, we had our first booking, and as we near the close of the season, we have had consistently more guests than ever before. Aspen Edge is a Certified Educator near Granada, Spain. She can be reached at: 00334-958-347053 or aspen@holisticdecisions.com. To learn more about The Lodge and Holistic Decisions visit their website at www.holisticdecisions.com. N u m b e r 111
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T he news from holistic management international
New HMI Board Members
H
MI held its annual Board meeting on November 16-17, 2006. Board Officers were elected which included Ron Chapman as Chair, Ben Bartlett as Vice-Chair, Sue Probart as Treasurer, and Gail Hammack as Secretary. Among other Board business, four new Board members were added to HMI’s Board of Directors: Roby Wallace, Christopher Peck, Daniela Howell, and Soren Peters. Roby Wallace is President of EntreBusiness in Albuquerque. As a Senior E-Myth Consultant, Roby helps business owner operators and other organizational leaders move from being Chief Cook and Bottle Washer to CEO. Roby was trained in the E-Myth methodology under the Roby Wallace guidance of renowned business author and visionary Michael Gerber. Roby has lived and worked on family ranches in Texas and New Mexico, and continues to be involved in management decisions. Roby grew up in Galveston, Texas and has a B.S. in Wildlife Management from Texas Tech and a M.S. in Rangeland Ecology from Texas A&M. He and his wife, Yvonne Chauvin, live in Albuquerque’s North Valley. “I am excited to be part of HMI because it is a wonderful group of thoughtful people working together to address the most important human and land issues of the day,” says Roby. “I welcome the opportunity to use the Holistic Management® decision model for this critical work, and to integrate all of my training and experience.” Christopher Peck is a sustainability entrepreneur living in Sebastopol, California. He is the owner of Holistic Solutions and a partner in Natural Investment Services, providing financial planning and portfolio management services to socially and environmentally progressive clients. A Holistic Management® Certified Educator since 1996, he has been teaching and practicing sustainability since 16
IN PRACTICE
people, programs & projects
1992. He teaches financial planning and sustainable business development at New College in Santa Rosa, CA. Christopher is the author of Developing the Art of Teaching: Guidelines to Effective Facilitation. Christopher is interested in serving on the HMI board to further its holisticgoal and strengthen its financial foundation. As someone motivated for many years to Christopher Peck address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss, and strongly motivated to help build a sustainable world, Christopher continues to be inspired by the roll HMI can play in this necessary global transformation. Daniela Ibarra-Howell was born and raised in Argentina. She studied Agricultural Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires and worked for the Argentine Ministry of Agriculture for four years in the areas of land degradation and restoration. She further completed a Masters Degree in Natural Daniela Resource Management at Ibarra-Howell Lincoln University in New Zealand. Having met husband, Jim, in New Zealand, Daniela settled in the U.S. and comanaged with Jim HMI’s Learning Site in southwestern New Mexico. During this time she also completed HMI’s Certified Educator Program. Jim and Daniela settled in southwestern Colorado where they own and manage the Howell Ranch. A variety of land-based ventures (contract grazing, outfitting, organic wool textiles, and educational efforts) take place at the ranch on a year round basis. During the North American winter, Jim and Daniela lead educational trips to extraordinary ranching families around the world. Soren Peters, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is the manager of the Peters Corporation which includes the Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe
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Dining, Century Bank, Santa Fe Properties, and Rancho Las Ciruelas (a 1,500-acre working ranch and organic farm). He also serves on the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board and is a Director for the Santa Fe Art Foundation. He graduated with a B.A. from Colby College with a minor in Environmental Studies. Soren Peters At Rancho Los Ciruelos, Soren runs a herd of Corriente cattle. Soren has been working on the family land for 15 years, starting a vegetable farm with his sister. Soren first learned about Holistic Management when he met Allan. He was intrigued by Allan’s ability to read the soil surface and reveal its history. He later completed HMI’s Ranch and Range Manager Training Program. HMI welcomes these new Board members and expresses our heartfelt thanks to all the Board for their many volunteer hours, helping HMI fulfill our mission.
New Advisory Council Member
H
MI is excited to announce the addition of Edward Jackson to the Advisory Council. EJ is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Provade, the leader in ondemand managed procurement solutions for the Global 2000. Prior to founding Provade in 2004, Edward served as Director of Supplier Relationship Edward Jackson Management (SRM) Product Strategy for PeopleSoft. He joined the PeopleSoft SRM team when SkillsVillage, a company he co-founded, was acquired by PeopleSoft. Edward is excited about supporting HMI because he truly believes HMI is focused on one of the most severe problems facing us as a human race, the desertification of our lands. He says, “Allan Savory encouraged me to get on my hands and knees and truly look at the ground. As I began to understand the relationship between animal and land, and more importantly, the decision making that affected these resources, I could see the clarity in his lifelong pursuit and HMI. While on one hand I am highly concerned about the rapid depletion of our natural resources and diminishing utility and vitality of our lands, on the other I am filled with great optimism from the wisdom and insightfulness that Holistic Management brings
to bear. In the end, it is quite simple for me. HMI and Holistic Management bring hope to a cause that seems nearly lost and without remedy.”
Book Review
by Ann Adams
Savory Wins Award
Sustainable Capitalism: A Matter of Common Sense
A
by John Ikerd Kumarian Press, 2005 • 211 pp.
llan Savory was awarded the Conservation in Agriculture Award by the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union as part of their 100th Anniversary Celebration in Manitou Springs, Colorado on October 1, 2006.
Colorado Gathering
C
olorado Holistic Management will hold its annual winter program Saturday March 3rd 2007 in Buena Vista, Colorado. The theme will be “Profit and Product: Back to the Basics.” To register please visit www.coloradoholisticmanagement.org, e-mail march03@coloradoholisticmanagement.org, or call Byron Shelton at 719-395-8157. We look forward to seeing you.
Elementary Educational Opportunity at West Ranch
I
nterested in working with children? Join us as we begin an adventure for all participants–students one and all. Develop our future resource base–KIDS! Get your hands dirty! Share Holistic Management with Kids on the Land! A valuable field experience at the West Station for Holistic Management, in Ozona Texas, Kids on the Land will begin curriculum development and training May 2007. Progressing in phases, participants will create a learning team, dedicated to creating and delivering a Holistic Management field experience to students in Grades 3-6. This effort will lead to the creation and beta testing of a solid Holistic Management curriculum specifically for kids. Participants will spend a week at the West Ranch, with three days preparing the field experience, instructional delivery, and four fun-filled days with students. Curriculum will include environmental knowledge and skills, scientific concepts, and science processes rooted in Holistic Management and tied to the National Science Standards. Peggy Maddox, Director of Education at the West Ranch, is seeking interested individuals, especially those passionate about working with kids. Room, board, and travel stipend provided. Please contact Peggy at 325/392-2292 or westgift@earthlink.net.
N
ot being a student of economics, I was a little hesitant to pick up John Ikerd’s Sustainable Capitalism: A Matter of Common Sense. But I didn’t have to get very far into the book to recognize it was far more than a critique of capitalist economics. As Fred Kirschenmann, Director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University notes, “John Ikerd combines insights from philosophy, psychology, ecology, sociology, and economics to question many of our current free market assumptions and to make a case for employing common sense to build a more sustainable future for our planet.” The bottom line for Ikerd is that social and ethical values must be reintegrated into capitalist economics. The only way to do that is to give explicit consideration to relationships in the decision-making process. Our common sense tells us our lives are made better by relationships, thus we must pay attention to them. Because Ikerd draws from so many disciplines to help people understand how capitalism arrived at its current state, this text is an easy and fascinating read. In many ways, it helped me better understand why Holistic Management is so effective and the importance of understanding the relationships within natural systems (including human systems). Ikerd begins by pulling from neglected principles of classical economics–particularly the pursuit of happiness. He notes Robert Putnam’s study in which they found that Americans are only half as socially connected as they were in the late 1950s despite increased wealth. In other words, this wealth is failing to sustain quality of life. His definition of sustainable capitalism is when no one seller or buyer has a large enough share of the market to have noticeable effect on prices. The market place must have interdependent relationships with true free trade with no coercion. Likewise, there must be informed trade with both parties understanding the ultimate
consequences of their actions so exploitation isn’t part of the game. Lastly, decisions must be made by individuals. In looking at this definition Ikerd suggests we have moved from capitalism to corporatism in which “we let someone else make our economic and political decisions for us.” In his mind, corporatism is transforming capitalism into a perverse form of communism. He suggests that there is a natural tendency toward corporatism within capitalism because of its fundamental flaw–a lack of attention to the need to renew, regenerate, and reproduce the natural and human resources that support productivity. Ikerd isn’t shy about suggesting policy changes, but he does so always in the context of governments and organizations functioning within the principles of living systems. He writes, “Sustainability is inherently individualistic, site-specific, and dynamic, and the requirements for sustainability will therefore differ across ecosystems and communities at different times.” In this way, national requirements simply layout the foundation for local efforts. Likewise, management of a sustainable economy must be decentralized so as to promote interdependent relationships. And because all living systems have a feedback loop, we must build into this economy a constant intention of action and attention to results. As Ikerd discusses how to manage a sustainable organization he has a whole section on Holistic Management noting that Holistic Management is synergistic because the gains from holism come from greater efficiency in the functioning of the whole–greater coherence of the components–to fulfill the shared purpose. The bottom line for the need for this decision-making framework is because Nature always has the last word. This book is available through Kumarian Press, 1294 Blue Hills Avenue, Bloomfield, CT 06002, USA. Order by toll free phone 800-289-2664, fax to 860/243-2867 or internet at www.kpbooks.com N u m b e r 111
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Certified
Educators
To our knowledge, Certified Educators are the best qualified individuals to help others learn to practice Holistic Management and to provide them with technical assistance when necessary. 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, to seek out opportunities for staying current with the latest developments in Holistic Management and to maintain a high standard of ethical conduct in their work. For more information about or application forms for the U.S. or Africa Certified Educator Training Programs, contact Ann Adams or visit our website at: www.holisticmanagement.org * These educators provide Holistic Management instruction on behalf of the institutions they represent. UNITED STATES ARIZONA Tim Morrison 230 1st Ave N, Phoenix, AZ 85003 602/280-8803 • tim.morrison@az.nacdnet.net CALIFORNIA Julie Bohannon 652 Milo Terrace, Los Angeles, CA 90042 323/257-1915 • JoeBoCom@pacbell.net Bill Burrows 12250 Colyear Springs Rd., Red Bluff, CA 96080 530/529-1535 • sunflowercrmp@msn.com Marquita Chamblee 1563 Solano Ave. #453, Berkeley, CA 94707 510/526-8240 Richard King 1675 Adobe Rd., Petaluma, CA 94954 707/769-1490 • 707/794-8692 (w) richard.king@ca.usda.gov Tim McGaffic 13592 Bora Bora Way #327, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292 310/741-0167 • tim@timmcgaffic.com Kelly Mulville 3195 Sunnydale Dr. Healdsburg, CA 95448 707/431-8060 (h) • 707/756-7007 (w) jackofallterrains@hotmail.com Christopher Peck 6364 Starr Rd., Windsor, CA 95492 707/758-0171 • ctopherp@holistic-solutions.net * Rob Rutherford CA Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 805/756-1475 • rrutherf@calpoly.edu COLORADO Joel Benson P.O. Box 4924, Buena Vista, CO 81211 719/395-6119 • joel@outburstllc.com Cindy Dvergsten 17702 County Rd. 23, Dolores, CO 81323 970/882-4222 • info@wholenewconcepts.com Daniela and Jim Howell P.O. Box 67, Cimarron, CO 81220-0067 970/249-0353 • howelljd@montrose.net Craig Leggett 2078 County Rd. 234, Durango, CO 81301 970/259-8998 • crleggett@sisna.com Chadwick McKellar 16775 Southwood Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80908 719/495-4641 • wonderlandranch@yahoo.com Byron Shelton 33900 Surrey Lane, Buena Vista, CO 81211 719/395-8157 • landmark@my.amigo.net Tom Walther P.O. Box 1158, Longmont, CO 80502-1158 510/499-7479 • tagjag@aol.com GEORGIA Constance Neely 1160 Twelve Oaks Circle, Watkinsville, GA 30677 706/310-0678 • cneely@holisticmanagement.org 39-348-210-6214 (Italy)
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IDAHO Amy Driggs 1132 East E St., Moscow, ID 83843 208/310-6664 (w) • adriggs@orbusinternational.com IOWA Bill Casey 1800 Grand Ave., Keokuk, IA 52632-2944 319/524-5098 • caseybeef@msn.com *Margaret Smith Iowa State University, CES Sustainable Agriculture 972 110th St. Hampton, IA 50441-7578 515/294-0887 mrgsmith@iastate.edu LOUISIANA Tina Pilione P.O. 923, Eunice, LA 70535 phone: 337/580-0068 • tina@tinapilione.com MAINE Vivianne Holmes 239 E. Buckfield Rd., Buckfield, ME 04220-4209 207/336-2484 • vholmes@umext.maine.edu Tobey Williamson 52 Center Street Portland, ME 04101 207/774-2458 x115 • tobey@bartongingold.com MASSACHUSETTS * Christine Jost Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine 200 Westboro Rd., North Grafton, MA 01536 508/887-4763 • christine.jost@tufts.edu MICHIGAN Ben Bartlett N 4632 ET Rd., Travnik, MI 49891 906/439-5210 (h) 906/439-5880 (w) bartle18@msu.edu Larry Dyer 13434 E. Baseline Rd. Hickory Corners, MI 49060-9513 269/671-4653 dyerlawr@msu.edu MINNESOTA Gretchen Blank 4625 Cottonwood Lane N, Plymouth, MN 55442-2902 763/553-9922 • ouilassie@comcast.net Terri Goodfellow-Heyer 4660 Cottonwood Lane North, Plymouth, MN 55442 763/559-0099 • tgheyer@comcast.net MISSISSIPPI Preston Sullivan 610 Ed Sullivan Lane, NE, Meadville, MS 39653 601/384-5310 • prestons@telepak.net MONTANA Elizabeth Bird 3009 Langohr Ave., Bozeman, MT 59715 406/586-8799 • ebird@montana.edu
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Wayne Burleson RT 1, Box 2780, Absarokee, MT 59001 406/328-6808 • rutbuster@montana.net Roland Kroos 4926 Itana Circle, Bozeman, MT 59715 406/522-3862 • KROOSING@msn.com * Cliff Montagne Montana State University Department of Land Resources & Environmental Science Bozeman, MT 59717 406/994-5079 • montagne@montana.edu NEBRASKA Terry Gompert P.O. Box 45, Center, NE 68724-0045 402/288-5611 (w) • tgompert1@unl.edu Paul Swanson 5155 W 12th St., Hastings, NE 68901-1703 402/463-8507; 308/385-6428 (w) • swanson@inebraska.com NEW HAMPSHIRE Seth Wilner 104 Cornish Turnpike, Newport, NH 03773 603/863-4497 (h) 603/863-9200 (w) • seth.wilner@unh.edu NEW MEXICO * Ann Adams Holistic Management International 1010 Tijeras NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102 505/842-5252 • anna@holisticmanagement.org Mark Duran 58 Arroyo Salado #B, Santa Fe, NM 87508 505/422-2280 • markjodu@aol.com Kirk Gadzia P.O. Box 1100, Bernalillo, NM 87004 505/867-4685 • fax: 505/867-9952 • kgadzia@msn.com Ken Jacobson 12101 Menaul Blvd. NE, Ste A Albuquerque, NM 87112; 505/293-7570 kbjacobson@orbusinternational.com * Kelly White Holistic Management International 1010 Tijeras NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102 505/842-5252 • kellyw@holisticmanagement.org Sue Probart P.O. Box 81827, Albuquerque, NM 87198 505/265-4554 • tnm@treenm.com David Trew 369 Montezuma Ave. #243, Santa Fe, NM 87501 505/751-0471 • trewearth@aol.com Vicki Turpen 03 El Nido Amado SW, Albuquerque, NM 87121 505/873-0473 • kaytelnido@aol.com NEW YORK Erica Frenay 454 Old 76 Road, Brooktondale, NY 14817 607/539-3246 (h) 607/279-7978 (c) • efrenay22@yahoo.com Phil Metzger 99 N. Broad St., Norwich, NY 13815 607/334-3231 x4 (w); 607/334-2407 (h) phil.metzger@ny.usda.gov Karl North 3501 Hoxie Gorge Rd., Marathon, NY 13803 607/849-3328 • northsheep@juno.com John Thurgood 44 West St. Ste 1, Walton, NY 13856 607/432-8714 • jmt20@cornell.edu NORTH CAROLINA Sam Bingham 394 Vanderbilt Rd., Asheville, NC 28803 828/274-1309 • sbingham@igc.org NORTH DAKOTA * Wayne Berry Williston State College P.O. Box 1326, Williston, ND 58802 701/774-4269 or 701/774-4200 • wayne.berry@wsc.nodak.edu Steven Dahlberg 386 8th Ave. S., Fargo, ND 58103-2826 701/271-8513(h) • 218/936-5615(w) • sdahlberg@wetcc.org
OHIO Chris Norman 13460 Merl Ave., Lakewood, OH 44107-2708 216/221-5864 • cenorman@yahoo.com PENNSYLVANIA Jim Weaver 428 Copp Hollow Rd., Wellsboro, PA 16901-8976 570/724-7788 • jaweaver@epix.net TEXAS Christina Allday-Bondy 2703 Grennock Dr., Austin, TX 78745 512/441-2019 • tododia@sbcglobal.net Guy Glosson 6717 Hwy 380, Snyder, TX 79549 806/237-2554 • glosson@caprock-spur.com Jennifer Hamre 602 W. St. Johns Ave., Austin, TX 78752 512/374-0104 yosefahanah@yahoo.com Peggy Maddox P.O. Box 694, Ozona, TX 76943-0694 325/392-2292 • westgift@earthlink.net * R.H. (Dick) Richardson University of Texas at Austin Department of Integrative Biology Austin, TX 78712 512/471-4128 d.richardson@mail.utexas.edu Peggy Sechrist 25 Thunderbird Rd., Fredericksburg, TX 78624 830/990-2529 • sechrist@ktc.com Elizabeth Williams 4106 Avenue B, Austin, TX 78751-4220 512/323-2858 • e-liz@austin.rr.com WASHINGTON Craig Madsen P.O. Box 107, Edwall, WA 99008 509/236-2451 • madsen2fir@gotsky.com Sandra Matheson 228 E. Smith Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226 360/398-7866 • mathesonsm@verizon.net * Don Nelson Washington State University P.O. Box 646310, Pullman, WA 99164 509/335-2922 • nelsond@wsu.edu Maurice Robinette S. 16102 Wolfe Rd., Cheney, WA 99004 509/299-4942 • mlr@icehouse.net Doug Warnock 151 Cedar Cove Rd., Ellensburg, WA 98926 509/925-9127 • warnockd@elltel.net WEST VIRGINIA Fred Hays P.O. Box 241, Elkview, WV 25071 304/548-7117 sustainableresources@hotmail.com Steve Ritz HC 63, Box 2240, Romney, WV 26757 304/822-5818; 304/822-3020 steve.ritz@wv.usda.gov WISCONSIN Heather Flashinski 16294 250th St., Cadott, WI 54727 715/289-4896 amun0069@hotmail.com Andy Hager W. 3597 Pine Ave., Stetsonville, WI 54480-9559 715/678-2465 • ahager@tds.net Larry Johnson W886 State Road 92, Brooklyn, WI 53521 608/455-1685 • lpjohn@rconnect.com * Laura Paine Wisconsin DATCP P.O. Box 8911, Madison, WI 53708-8911 608/224-5120 (w) • 608/742-9682 (h) laura.paine@datcp.state.wi.us
INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA Judi Earl 73 Harding E, Guyra, NSW 2365 61-2-6779-2286 • judiearl@auzzie.net Mark Gardner P.O. Box 1395, Dubbo, NSW 2830 61-2-6882-0605 • mark.g@ozemail.com.au George Gundry Willeroo, Tarago, NSW 2580 61-2-4844-6223 • ggundry@bigpond.net.au Paul Griffiths P.O. Box 3045, North Turramura, NSW 2074, Sydney, NSW 61-29-1445-3975 • pgpres@geko.net.au Steve Hailstone 5 Lampert Rd., Crafers, SA 5152 61-4-1882-2212 • sh@internode.on.net Graeme Hand “Inverary” Caroona Lane, Branxholme, VIC 3302 61-3-5578-6272 • 61-4-1853-2130 gshand@hotkey.net.au Helen Lewis P.O. Box 1263, Warwick, QLD 4370 61-7-46617393 • 61-7-46670835 helen@insideoutmgt.com.au Brian Marshall P.O. Box 300, Guyra NSW 2365 61-2-6779-1927 • fax: 61-2-6779-1947 bkmrshl@northnet.com.au Jason Virtue Mary River Park 1588 Bruce Highway South, Gympie, QLD 4570 61-7-5483-5155 • jason@spiderweb.com.au Bruce Ward P.O. Box 103, Milsons Pt., NSW 1565 61-2-9929-5568 • fax: 61-2-9929-5569 blward@holisticresults.com.au Brian Wehlburg c/o “Sunnyholt”, Injune, QLD 4454 61-7-4626-7187 • brian@insideoutmgt.com.au CANADA Don Campbell Box 817 Meadow Lake, SK S9X 1Y6 306/236-6088 • doncampbell@sasktel.net Don and Randee Halladay Box 2, Site 2, RR 1 Rocky Mountain House, AB, T0M 1T0 403/729-2472 • donran@telusplanet.net Noel McNaughton 5704-144 St., Edmondton, AB, T6H 4H4 780/432-5492 • noel@mcnaughton.ca Len Pigott Box 222, Dysart, SK, SOH 1HO 306/432-4583 • JLPigott@sasktel.net Kelly Sidoryk Box 374, Lloydminster, AB, S9V 0Y4 403/875-4418 • hi-gain@telusplanet.net MEXICO Ivan Aguirre La Inmaculada Apdo. Postal 304, Hermosillo, Sonora 83000 tel/fax: 915-613-4282 • rancho_inmaculada@yahoo.com Elco Blanco-Madrid Hacienda de la Luz 1803 Fracc. Haciendas del Valle II , Chihuahua Chih., 31238 52-614-423-4413 (h) • 52-614-107-8960 (c) elco_blanco@hotmail.com Manuel Casas-Perez Calle Amarguva No. 61, Lomas Herradura Huixquilucan, Mexico City CP 52785 52-55-5291-3934 (hm) 52-55-54020090 (c) naturalezayvida@prodigy.net.mx
Jose Ramon “Moncho” Villar Av. Las Americas #1178 Fracc. Cumbres, Saltillo, Coahuila 25270 52-844-415-1557 • jrvillarm@prodigy.net.mx NAMIBIA Gero Diekmann P.O. Box 363, Okahandja 9000 264-62-518091 • nam00132@mweb.com.na Colin Nott P.O. Box 11977, Windhoek 264-61-228506 • canott@iafrica.com.na Wiebke Volkmann P.O. Box 182, Otavi 264-67-234-557 or 264-81-127-0081 • wiebke@mweb.com.na NEW ZEALAND John King P.O. Box 12011 Beckenham, Christchurch 8030 64-3-338-5506 • succession@clear.net.nz SOUTH AFRICA Sheldon Barnes P.O. Box 300, Kimberly 8300 barnesfarm@mweb.co.za Johan Blom P.O. Box 568, Graaf-Reinet 6280 27-49-891-0163 • johanblom@cybertrade.co.za Jozua Lambrechts P.O. Box 5070 Helderberg, Somerset West, Western Cape 7135 27-21-851-5669; 27-21-851-2430 (w) jozua@websurf.co.za Ian Mitchell-Innes P.O. Box 52, Elandslaagte 2900 27-36-421-1747 • blanerne@mweb.co.za Norman Neave P.O. Box 69, Mtubatuba 3935 27-084-2452/62 • norberyl@telkomsa.net Dick Richardson P.O. Box 1806, Vryburg 8600 tel/fax: 27-53-927-4367 • judy@wholeconcepts.co.za Colleen Todd P.O. Box 20, Bergbron 1712 27-82-335-3901 (cell) • colleen@lantic.net SPAIN Aspen Edge Apartado de Correos 19, 18420 Lanjaron, Granada (0034)-958-347-053 • aspen@holisticdecisions.com UNITED KINGDOM Philip Bubb 32 Dart Close, St. Ives, Cambridge, PE27 3JB 44-1480-496295 • philip.bubb@onetel.com ZAMBIA Mutizwa Mukute Pelum Zambia Office P.O. Box 36524, Lusaka 260-1-261119/261124/261118/263514 • pelum@kepa.org.zm ZIMBABWE Amanda Atwood 27 Rowland Square, Milton Park, Harare 263-23-233-760 • amandlazw@gmail.com Liberty Mabhena Spring Cabinet P.O. Box 853, Harare 263-4-210021/2 • 263-4-210577/8 • fax: 263-4-210273 Huggins Matanga Private Bag 5950, Victoria Falls 263-11-404-979 hmatanga@mweb.co.zw Elias Ncube P. Bag 5950, Victoria Falls 263-3-454519 achmcom@africaonline.co.zw
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Network Affiliates
There are several branch organizations or groups affiliated with Holistic Management in the U.S. and abroad (some publish their own newsletters.) We encourage you to contact the group closest to you:
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
U N I T E D S TAT E S ARIZONA HRM of Arizona Norm Lowe 2660 E. Hemberg, Flagstaff, AZ 86004 928/853-8554 • loweflag@msn.com CALIFORNIA Holistic Management of California Richard King 1675 Adobe Rd., Petaluma, CA 94954 707/769-1490; 707/794-8692 (w) richard.king@ca.usda.gov COLORADO Colorado Holistic Management P.O. Box 218, Lewis CO, 81327 www.coloradoholisticmanagement.org Cindy Dvergsten, webmaster • 970/882-4222 MONTANA Beartooth Management Club Wayne Burleson RT 1, Box 2780, Absarokee, MT 59001 406/328-6808 • rutbuster@montana.net
Central NY RC&D Phil Metzger 99 North Broad St., Norwich, NY 13815 607/334-3231, ext. 4 phil.metzger@ny.usda.gov
NEW YORK Billie Best Regional Farm & Food Project 295 Eighth St., Troy, NY 12180 518/271-0744 www.farmandfood.org billie@farmandfood.org
TEXAS HRM of Texas Peggy Cole, Executive Director 5 Limestone Trail, Wimberley, TX 78676 512-847-3822 pcole@hrm-texas.org • www.hrm-texas.org West Station for Holistic Management Peggy Maddox PO Box 694, Ozona, TX 76943 325-392-2292 • westgift@earthlink.net
NORTHWEST Managing Wholes Peter Donovan 501 South St., Enterprise, OR 97828 541/426-2145 • www.managingwholes.com OKLAHOMA Oklahoma Land Stewardship Alliance Charles Griffith, contact person Route 5, Box E44, Ardmore, OK 73401 580/223-7471 • cagriffith@brightok.net PENNSYLVANIA Northern Penn Network Jim Weaver, contact person 428 Copp Hollow Rd., Wellsboro, PA 16901 717/724-7788; jaweaver@epix.net
AUSTRALIA Judi Earl 73 Harding E., Guyra, NSW 2365 61-267-792286 judiearl@auzzie.net CANADA Don Campbell Box 817 Meadow Lake, SK S9X 1Y6 306/236-6088 doncampbell@sasktel.net MEXICO Fundacion para Fomentar el Manejo Holistico, A.C., Jose Ramon Villar, President Ave. Las Cumbres Saltillo Coahuila 25270 Phone: 52-844-415-1557 jrvillarm@prodigy.net.mx Elco Blanco-Madrid, Director of Education Hacienda de la Luz 1803 Fracc. Haciendas del Valle II Chihuahua, Chih. C.P. 31238 52-614-423-4413 (h) 52-614-107-8960 (c)
NAMIBIA Namibia Centre for Holistic Management Burkart Rust, contact person P.O. Box 23600, Windhoek 9000 tel: 264-62-503816 burkart@iway.na NEW ZEALAND John King P.O. Box 12011 Beckenham, Christchurch 8030 64-3-338-5506 succession@clear.net.nz SOUTH AFRICA Community Dynamics (Newsletter in English) Dick & Judy Richardson P.O. Box 1806, Vryburg 8600 tel/fax: 27-53-9274367 info@communitydynamics.net SPAIN Aspen Edge Apartado de Correos 19 18420 Lanjaron Granada (0034)-958-347-053 aspen@holisticdecisions.com
2007 COURSE OFFERINGS FEBRUARY
MARCH
Whole Farm Planning
Assessing Land Health & Production for Profit
Introduction to Holistic Management**
Holistic Biological Monitoring
February 15-17, 2007
March 19-20, 2007
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Circle Ranch, Van Horn, Texas* $450
Creating Healthy Profits Holistic Financial Planning February 17-19, 2007
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Albuquerque, New Mexico $450
Circle Ranch, Van Horn, Texas* $450
Whole Farm Planning
March 21-22, 2007
Introduction to Holistic Management**
Holistic Facility/Land Planning
Take the Introduction to Holistic Management & Holistic Financial Planning courses and save! February 15-19, 2007 Albuquerque, New Mexico Only $810 (a $90 savings)
March 23-24, 2007 Circle Ranch, Van Horn, Texas* $450
Holistic Management On The Land Package Take the Biological Monitoring and Grazing Planning and Land Planning courses and save! March 19-24, 2007
IN PRACTICE
October 30-November 1, 2007 Albuquerque, New Mexico $450
Creating Healthy Profits Holistic Financial Planning
October 30-November 1, 2007 Albuquerque, New Mexico $450
Increasing Pasture & Animal Production Holistic Grazing Planning
October 30-November 1, 2007 Albuquerque, New Mexico $450
Circle Ranch, Van Horn, Texas* Only $1,215 (a $135 savings)
To learn more about these courses or to book your spot: Call 505/842-5252 or Register online at: www.holisticmanagement.org! 20
OCTOBER
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January / February 2 0 07
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www.twinmountainfence.com N u m b e r 111
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HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT TRAINING & CONSULTING
By World Famous Dr. Grandin Originator of Curved Ranch Corrals The wide curved Lane makes filling the crowding tub easy. Includes detailed drawings for loading ramp, V chute, round crowd pen, dip vat, gates and hinges. Plus cell center layouts and layouts compatible with electronic sorting systems. Articles on cattle behavior. 27 corral layouts. $55. Low Stress Cattle Handling Video $59. Send checks/money order to:
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Kirk Gadzia has over 15 years experience conducting Holistic Management training sessions worldwide and assisting people on the land in solving real problems. With his hands-on, results-oriented approach, Kirk is uniquely qualified to help your organization achieve its goals. Introduction to Holistic Management Courses February 5-10, 2007 Albuquerque, New Mexico
Contact: Kirk Gadzia P.O. Box 1100 Bernalillo, NM 87004 kgadzia@msn.com www.resourcemanagementservices.com Ph: 505/867-4685 Fax: 505/867-9952
HANDS-ON AGRONOMY BASIC SOIL FERTILITY GUIDELINES
Now available on DVD
BUY THE DVD TODAY! Runs 80 minutes and covers the following topics: • Feeding and Balancing the Soil • The Albrecht System • Soil Testing • Considering Soil Test Results • Sulfur • Calcium, pH, and Liming • Potassium and Sodium • Nitrogen • Manures, Green Manures and $30 (postpaid to Compost • Micro-Nutrients • A System That Works
US addresses)
For consulting or educational services contact:
Kinsey’s Agricultural Services $30
297 County Highway 357, Charleston, Missouri 63834 Phone: 573-683-3880; Fax: 573-683-6227 Email: neal@kinseyag.com
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We accept credit card orders (Visa, MC)
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IN PRACTICE
January / February 2 0 07
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P.O. Box 218 Lewis CO 81327 USA
Cindy Dvergsten, a Holistic Management® Certified Educator, has 12 years experience in personal practice, training & facilitation of Holistic Management, and 25 years experience in resource management & agriculture. She offers customized solutions to family farms & ranches, communities and organizations worldwide.
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HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT MAIL ORDER EMPORIUM Subscribe to IN PRACTICE
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_ Gift Subscriptions (same prices as above). _ Special Edition: An Introduction to Holistic Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5 _ Audio Cassette Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$12 _ Compact Disk Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$14 _ Bulk subscriptions available. _ _
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_Aide Memoire for Grazing Planning May 2000, 46 pages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$15
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Books & Multimedia
_Early Warning Biological Monitoring—Rangelands and
Holistic Management: A New Framework for Decision-Making,
Grasslands January 1999, 32 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$14
_ Second Edition, by Allan Savory with Jody Butterfield. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30 _ Hardcover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $55 _ 15-set CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $99 _ One month rental of CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $35 _ Spanish Version (soft) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25 _ Holistic Management Handbook, by Butterfield, Bingham, Savory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25 _ At Home With Holistic Management, by Ann Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20 _ Holistic Management: A New Environmental Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10 _ Improving Whole Farm Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10 _ Video: Creating a Sustainable Civilization— _ _ _ _ _
An Introduction to Holistic Decision-Making, based on a lecture given by Allan Savory. (VHS/DVD/PAL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30 Stockmanship, by Steve Cote. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $35 The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook, by Shannon Hayes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25 The Oglin, by Dick Richardson & Rio de la Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25 Gardeners of Eden, by Dan Dagget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25 Video: Healing the Land Through Multi-Species Grazing (VHS/DVD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30
Software
_Land Planning—For The Rancher or Farmer Running Livestock January 1999, 36 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17
Planning Forms (All forms are padded - 25 sheets per pad) _Annual Income & Expense Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17 _Worksheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$ 7 _Livestock Production Worksheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17 _Control Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$ 5 _Grazing Plan & Control Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$15 MAKE A TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION Amount $_____________ Please designate program you would like us
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NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID ALBUQUERQUE, NM PERMIT NO 880
a publication of Holistic Management International 1010 Tijeras NW Albuquerque, NM 87102 USA return service requested
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