#080, In Practice, Nov/Dec 2001

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT

IN PRACTICE

in this Issue

Providing the link between a healthy environment and a sound economy NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2001 NUMBER 80

Holistic Tinkering

by Ann Adams

A

s I began collecting stories for this issue, the phrase “good ideas” kept running through my mind. In search of a more provocative title, I began to question what made a good idea, good.

In pondering that question, I realized that judging an idea is a very personal matter. I suspect there are any number of ideas I’ve had that I thought were good that others have thought very poor. If I felt strongly that those ideas would help achieve an outcome I desired, without causing negative unintended consequences, then they were good ideas to me regardless of public opinion.

I also realized that ideas are really the beginnings of decisions. For example, if you have an idea for a carriage powered by a fossil fuel engine (the automobile), you may decide to create it, sell the idea, or tell no one about it.

Once you have an idea, you have to make a decision. They are inextricably linked.

So what’s the moral of the story? Only you can discern if an idea is good for you. People will give you their opinion or even share their own experience to keep you from repeating the same mistake they feel they made, but, ultimately, you make the decision about whether an idea is good or not. And I think it takes a tremendous amount of discipline to really examine your ideas and make conscious decisions about what to do with them. I also believe your life is richer for having done so.

How do I know? I’ve read the stories in this issue and looked at the common theme of people assessing their situation, thinking about what they wanted, and coming up with an idea to create the outcome they desired. It seems simple enough, but the path from want or need to idea to action can be tricky if you are on unfamiliar ground. It sometimes requires some holistic tinkering.

Experimental Wisdom Someone once said that there is no such

thing as a new story, just different variations of the same old stories. I think the same can be said of ideas. Ideas emerge because of wants and needs. We build on the ideas already out there and tinker with them to address our needs. In tinkering we move from an acceptance of outside knowledge to the greater wisdom of experience.

Ironically, the word tinkering has negative connotations because tinkers were itinerant tradespeople who worked on household utensils. Tinkering thus implies work done by someone who isn’t an expert and is working in an experimental manner. Compare this work to that of scientists and engineers working on important machinery or technology in a very controlled environment.

Yet I would trust a local “tinker” whom I knew and respected, and who was from my community, to come up with an idea that improved my life more than some expert who lived far from me and whose motives I didn’t know. I would trust such “tinkers” even more if they were managing holistically.

Take a look at the stories in this issue.

Each one tells a story of holistic tinkering, people improving their situations by a willingness to learn and experiment, to gain the insight of what makes an idea worth pursuing. Moreover, because these people have a bigger picture in mind that their community can embrace, they have gained allies who helped them achieve the outcomes they wanted to achieve.

And while people like the Reeds, the Howells, Wayne Burleson, and the Taylors might not be considered experts in the traditional sense of the word, they are developing practical solutions to problems that are currently stumping the experts in areas of resource management, land-use issues, community development, and sustainable agriculture. Not bad for a bunch of holistic tinkers.

Necessity is the mother of invention, and many Holistic Management practitioners have found that their ability to address a need has impro ved as they became clearer about what they wanted to achieve in the long run. This deer is part of a herd on the Reed Wildlife Ranch that is thriving because of sound resource management and a focus on habitat as well as economics. Read about the Reeds’ successes and learnings on page 2.

Hunting for Habitat Health Jim Reed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Infinite Possibilities—The Savory Center Website Ann Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

From Here to Eternity—Redefining Conservation Easements Jim & Daniela Howell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Clubs Are a New Neighborhood Glue Wayne Burleson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

LAND & LIVESTOCK— A special section of IN PRACTICE Brush Fire and Grazing in the Brittle Pampas Jim Howell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Special Land, Special Wool, Special People Jim Howell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Savory Center Annual Report . . . . . . .15 Savory Center Bulletin Board . . . . . . .16 Marketplace

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

The Allan Savory Center for Holistic Management

Hunting for Habitat Health

by Jim Reed

Ad definitum finem

The ALLAN SAVORY CENTER FOR HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. The center works to restore the vitality of communities and the natural resources on which they depend by advancing the practice of Holistic Management and coordinating its development worldwide.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Lois Trevino, Chair Rio de la Vista, Vice Chair Ann Adams, Secretary Manuel Casas, Treasurer Gary Rodgers Allan Savory

ADVISORY BOARD Robert Anderson, Chair, Corrales, NM Ron Brandes, New York, NY Sam Brown, Austin, TX Leslie Christian, Portland, OR Gretel Ehrlich, Gaviota, CA Clint Josey, Dallas, TX Christine Jurzykowski, Glen Rose, TX Doug McDaniel, Lostine, OR Guillermo Osuna, Coahuila, Mexico Bunker Sands, Dallas, TX York Schueller, Santa Barbara, CA Jim Shelton, Vinita, OK Richard Smith, Houston, TX

STAFF Shannon Horst, Executive Director; Kate Bradshaw, Associate Director; Allan Savory, Founding Director; Jody Butterfield, Co-Founder and Research and Educational Materials Coordinator ; Kelly Pasztor, Director of Educational Services; Andy Braman, Development Director; Ann Adams, Managing Editor, IN PRACTICE and Membership Support Coordinator Africa Centre for Holistic Management Private Bag 5950, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe tel: (263) (11) 213529; email: rogpachm@africaonline.co.zw Huggins Matanga, Director; Roger Parry, Manager, Regional Training Centre; Elias Ncube, Hwange Project Manager/Training Coordinator

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE (ISSN: 1098-8157) is published six times a year by The Allan Savory Center for Holistic Management, 1010 Tijeras NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102, 505/842-5252, fax: 505/843-7900; email: savorycenter@holisticmanagement.org.; website: www.holisticmanagement.org Copyright © 2001.

2 HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE #80

I’

m a third generation Reed family landowner of the Reed Ranch in north central Texas. When I became the sole owner in 1998, I began making my plans for diversification of the ranch assets and income base because I could see that the way it had been run wasn’t economically viable and would eventually lead to the ranch being sold. I wanted to make sure it was around for a fourth generation of Reeds, and I don’t think that would have happened if I hadn’t learned about Holistic Management.

Search and Engage When I first took over the family ranch, I searched for an agricultural model that I felt would work for me. I knew by talking to lots of local people and family members that the traditional agriculture model would not work!

In fact, most everybody I talked with advised me to sell the ranch as quickly as possible and enjoy the money. I almost gave up until I learned about Holistic Management on the Internet.

As I learned more about Holistic Management, I contacted HRM of Texas (the Texas branch), and then my wife, Judy, and I enrolled in a Holistic Management class taught by Certified Educator Peggy Sechrist.

Peggy’s introductory class was right on target for us and we’ve been practicing Holistic Management ever since.

Our ranch is about 1,780 acres (721 hectares) in size with about half the ranch in wetlands and the other half in hill land. The ranch had previously been primarily a cow/calf operation with close family members hunting recreationally for the past 60 years. Because of my primary interest in whitetail deer, I began conducting deer population census surveys back in 1993 with the help of wildlife biologists from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD).

This relationship with the TPWD has gone well over the years with many benefits.

While they have always been helpful, the relationship deepened considerably when I demonstrated that I had goals for my ranch and that I was concerned about income and habitat .

Back in 1994, we wrote a wildlife management plan under the guidance of the

local TPWD wildlife biologist. This plan was integrated with our holistic goal in 1997. Over the years I think both the TPWD and we have learned how our cow/calf operation can complement our wildlife management program and vice versa. I’m now aware that income potential and habitat go hand-in-hand on my ranch. Most of the ranchers I know locally appear to feel that habitat enhancement reduces rather than increases income.

This cooperative approach with TPWD has brought such things as extended hunting seasons for my ranch because we conduct a satisfactory number of habitat enhancement initiatives and wildlife census surveys, keep records, and report harvest numbers. My season is about double the number of days of what it is in other parts of the state, and this extended season helps make my hunting club popular.

“The changes in ranch management practices and quality of life are directly related to having created our holistic goal.”

We also received assistance from TPWD in matching wildlife resources with available food supply, special recognition (see Bulletin Board, page 16 ), helpful publications on management of wildlife habitat, forested wetlands and deer habitat partnership grants, and special help in determining herd sizes, frequency of harvest, and what the harvest mixture should be (i.e., how many buck and how many doe should be taken each year).

The TPWD’s willingness to work with private landowners may be somewhat different from the wildlife department in other states because a little over 95 percent of Texas is privately owned. Because of this, the TPWD recognizes how important it is to work with private landowners, and they do an excellent job at it.

But there was a tremendous jump with

this effort when we started managing holistically. Our holistic goal really got the TPWD wildlife biologists “turned on” and their efforts to help us increased tenfold. Not many landowners around these parts have developed goals for themselves, so TPWD saw our focus and objectives as an impressive aspect of our ranch, and it seemed they couldn’t do enough for us! It was great! Of course, all we were doing was using the ideas we had read about in Holistic Management .

Using Resources Effectively One of the biggest challenges early on was to balance the needs of our wildlife with our cow/calf operation. Although cattle and whitetail deer do not directly compete with one another for food supply, there is sufficient overlap (especially in times of stress, which can be caused by lack of rainfall or overpopulation of a particular species) that we have tried to ensure adequate forage when creating our grazing plans and in developing our land plan.

For example, we do not allow cattle in our forested areas during late summer or the winter months, because they would compete directly with wildlife for food. Although whitetail deer make a lot of use of browse and forbs, cattle do too at certain times of the year (especially when grasses are not readily available). However, because of the disturbance and new-growth created by the grazing cattle, the deer tend to follow the cattle around, and are seen frequently about two paddocks behind the cattle.

The situation gets even more complex because we also have commercial hunting of duck and feral hog as well as the deer. To balance out the different needs we plan how we can best use the impact of the wildlife (as well as cattle) on the habitat we manage.

For example, we use special mowing techniques to ensure an adequate cover of grasses, weeds and other plants in key fawning areas. However, we’re working on getting away from mowing altogether as we increase cattle numbers and decrease paddock sizes.

We also plant and re-establish native grasses for both cattle forage and wildlife cover (many are coming back now that

we’ve stopped continuously grazing). While we do some tilling and seeding, we plan to run the ranch with no equipment by the end of 2003, so we’re moving quickly to a point where equipment won’t be needed to establish more native grasses.

With these efforts we’ve been able to move toward our future landscape description by planned grazing that is sensitive to both cattle and wildlife. With our grazing planning we allow native grasses to mature in some paddocks, use others for wildlife cover, or create separate waterfowl habitat areas to increase food supply at certain times of year.

We’ve also used animal impact on the

Lastly, we’ve used other forms of animal impact to initiate pasture improvements, particularly feral hog rootings. Normally hog rootings are cussed and discussed by locals in these parts as a problem. But, we use their “work” as an opportunity to plant seed in these spots. I now call these spots my “hog disced” spots.

Feral hogs can survive just fine in their natural habitat and naturally disturb soil with their rooting. I don’t ever have to gas ‘em up and they never break down or have flat tires like a tractor can if I were to use that tool instead! We’ve now established some pretty good areas of healthy switchgrass in the areas the hogs have “disced” for us.

Listening to Nature

Judy and Jim Reed

marsh elder and ragweed early in the growing season to control its presence. Young marsh elder and ragweed provide good protein for cattle in their early stages of growth, but become unpalatable to cattle as they mature. In this way animal impact appears to be a better way to deal with these problem plants than pesticides, which damage our soil and water.

Through earth moving we’ve increased waterfowl and migratory bird habitat by reestablishing marshy, wet areas in pastures that we previously used only for grazing.

Likewise, we created wildlife corridors by noting where the animals normally congregate and enhancing those areas. The creation of wildlife corridors has worked beautifully, especially for whitetail deer. My feeling is that these corridors are also being used by a wide variety of species such as the cottontail and swamp rabbit, bobcat, groundnesting birds, and whole host of other species that need cover from predators.

We conduct our census surveys for whitetail deer using both night and day observations to achieve a more accurate count. The TPWD uses these figures to make harvest recommendations, and currently they are suggesting that we should be carrying less deer, so we’re trying to reduce the numbers.

We use the results of the night deer counts to determine the density of the herd. Back in 1994, the population density was about five acres per deer. Our most recent surveys now put the herd density at about 10 acres per deer, which is more in line with what this geographic area can support. Our current plans are to decrease the deer population even more to increase individual size, fawn survival rate, and antler development (important from both a species health indicator and economics).

The results of the daylight observations are used to calculate the buck/doe/fawn ratios. In 1994, our results showed that we were seeing about one buck to every 10 doe.

Now, this year’s preliminary figures are showing about one buck to every two doe (a sign of better deer management on our part).

We take our deer counts each summer.

We usually begin somewhere around the middle of July and finish by the end of August as this is the best time to achieve an accurate count (fawns are big enough to be seen and still have their spots so as not to be confused for does).

continued on page 4

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE • NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2001 3

Hunting for Habitat Health

any other way! A section of our holistic goal has to do with learning and sharing opportunities, and studying wildlife habitat continued from page 3 has taught us a lot. Likewise, learning how wildlife and cattle can be managed together The number of twins born to each doe has definitely produced an economic return. has also increased. Back in 1994, for every Wildlife is a part of all ranches. In order to three fawns there were 10 does. Now, based consider the whole, the wildlife must enter on this year’s preliminary figures, we have into the planning and monitoring. When six fawns for every 10 does. This increase in testing an activity, we reflect not just on a the number of twins and the fawn survival single species but take into consideration all rate is a good indicator that the habitat is the species that live on the ranch. finally catching up with the herd size.

This forces us to focus on the big picture, Listening to what nature is saying is one and creates opportunities to listen to all points of the best ways I know to make good of view, perceptions of what the real problem decisions. Nature already knows what needs is, and a sharing of the best solution for all to be done and will make decisions for us if concerned. In many cases, the we don’t do our part. The activity tested becomes more problem most of us have focused and sometimes even (including me) is deciding how changes in scope and content. to be quiet long enough, to What better formula for figure out what she’s telling us! success and to shift the old Hog Heaven agricultural paradigm?

If I hadn’t been managing On our ranch, there’s always holistically, I’d never have been sufficient numbers of thought of using hog rooting migratory birds, including high spots for seed bed populations of duck. My place is preparation or seen the directly under a fly-by zone, and benefits of diversity in the wetlands usually provide management of animal (cattle plenty of water and waterfowl and wildlife) habitat, native habitat. Like the deer hunting, Many of the ponds on the Reed Ranch show the Reeds’ success at grasses, and such. I also the duck hunting is great! enhancing biodiversity . would never have seen the We’ve had a hunting and benefits of planned grazing fishing club in operation on the I figure the hunting income makes up with cattle and its effect on wildlife (especially Reed Ranch since 1998. In the beginning, club about 25 percent of the ranch income. Of on whitetail deer) or been nearly as creative members usually focused on deer and duck, this, most comes from whitetail deer hunting in seeing alternative ways to using machinery although they occasionally took a feral hog. (about 60 percent of hunting income), with and technology. With Holistic Management, Because of the increased number of feral hog hunting second (making up about 30 I’m now learning how to utilize animals, hogs on my place and the potential damage percent); and the remaining 10 percent nature, and grasses to do many of the jobs I they can cause, I started a hog trapping coming from duck hunting. previously assumed could only be done with program in the fall of 1998. equipment. Lastly, I’d still be using pesticides I soon learned that the feral hog could be A Learning Community and herbicides and decreasing the health of used in many ways other than just trapping. the habitat by attacking the symptom and not The ranch also maintains a ranch calendar Since that time, the hog hunting on the Reed addressing the root cause. on our website, which is used by hunters to Ranch has become an asset. We usually don’t These changes in ranch management schedule hunts and see when hunting have to trap now, unless there’s an area on practices and quality of life are directly related opportunities are available. People mostly use the ranch that is being damaged to the point to having created our holistic goal and the ranch calendar if they are involved with where we have to consider repairs (i.e., following the Holistic Management™ Land my ranch in some way to find out what’s creating holes that will cause erosion or Planning and Grazing Planning processes. We being scheduled or what has happened damage vehicles). couldn’t have accomplished what we have recently. This creates a community We’ve now been able to balance the feral without Holistic Management. atmosphere for them. I also don’t think I hog population with hunting and trapping could manage the ranch efficiently without opportunities as well as having the meat as Jim and Judy Reed operate the Reed this community calendar. It’s an excellent an excellent food supply. Hogs in Texas can Wildlife Ranch near Corsicana, Texas. They management tool that’s available to anybody be hunted all the time, and we do! can be reached at jreed1@airmail.net. The with Internet capability.

The ranch has created a partnership with ranch website can be found at It has been an incredible experience a hog hunting website (www.texasboars.com) www.calsnet.net/jreed1. developing a wildlife ranch. I wouldn’t ranch that supplies many of the hunters who come

4 HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE #80

out on our monthly (sometime more frequent) hog hunts. These hog hunts are conducted at night, and hunters will regularly pull all-nighters in search of freeroaming feral hogs.

Hog meat is excellent, the hunting is excellent, and the income is excellent, and the hogs help us re-establish some of my native grasses by providing an excellent seed bed. It just doesn’t get any better than that!

Although I expect all the hunting income to increase in future years, I figure the hog hunting will exceed the deer hunting one day, primarily because hogs can be hunted all year round and the meat is easier to prepare than venison.

Infinite Possibilities— The Savory Center Website

by Ann Adams

A

pproximately two years ago the Savory Center invested in the development of our current website: www.holisticmanagement.org. Our old website had the basic information about Holistic Management, but we wanted to expand it to reflect the evolving nature of Holistic Management and the Holistic Management movement. At that time we averaged about 50 hits a week.

Today we have one of the largest educational websites for an organization our size with a great deal of free information about Holistic Management available to people around the world. We average 885 hits a day with many visitors coming back for more information. From March through June of 2001 we averaged about 4,000 visitors of which 957 visited more than once. While the majority of our visitors were from the U.S., 16 percent were international.

We are pleased that so many people have found our website useful and informative.

We have received comments from many practitioners that it is helpful to be able to point their friends or colleagues to a spot that offers such a wealth of knowledge for free.

For those of you who haven’t spent much time visiting our website, I thought I’d give you a little tour so you would know what is available to you.

A Cyber Tour Our homepage (www.holisticmanagement.org) provides a link to each of the key areas on our website: “About Holistic Management,” “About the Savory Center,” “Products and Services,” “Meet Our Clients,” “Projects and Programs,” and “New.” There is also a button for “Search,” which you can use to find information about a certain subject quickly.

For example, you can type in the word “brittleness” and the search engine will pull up any links on our website where that subject is discussed. The homepage also has a link to our site map that shows the architecture of our website.

Perhaps one of the most visited areas on our website is the On-Line Library. This section includes stories from IN PRACTICE, new

papers and presentations that we produced for current events and other publications, articles about Holistic Management, and the reference library where you can follow up references on such topics as setting a holistic goal, ecosystem processes, tools, testing questions, management guidelines, and testing procedures.

In About Holistic Management you will find much of the information we published in the IN PRACTICE Special Edition . The graphics of the water cycle, mineral cycle, energy flow, and community dynamics, as well as the Holistic Management™ model are all in there as well as explanations of the goal-setting process, the testing questions, management guidelines, and planning processes. This is the place to send someone who wants a basic understanding of how Holistic Management works. There is even a brief explanation of Holistic Management in Spanish.

In About the Savory Center you will learn about our history, who is involved, and how to contact them. Savory Center staff, Africa Centre staff, Certified Educators, those in our network, and links of interest are all in this section. There is also information about our for-profit subsidiary, Land Renewal, Inc, and its services, as well as some color photos of land reclamation projects. Because color doesn’t cost any more than black and white on the web, we are able to offer more color photos than we can in our print material. We hope to be adding more in the years to come.

Meet Our Clients offers some of the testimonials we have collected over the years on how Holistic Management has helped people. We would love to expand this section, so if you have a quote for us to include, please send it to us. We also want to add many more pictures, so if you have before and after pictures of your land, please send those in as well with information about how you achieved the outcomes shown in the photographs. We’ll scan the photos and return them to you.

Projects and Programs provides an overview of the past, current, and future

projects including the Kellogg projects in Washington and Colorado; the Matetsi Project, the Village Banking Initiative, and the Wildlife Management College in Zimbabwe; the Holistic Management™ Certified Educator Training Program; the National Learning Site in Idaho; and the Global Climate Change Project.

If you want to keep up with what’s happening around the world with Holistic Management, then visit the New section. We regularly update the online calendar that lists all Holistic Management events in the world that we are aware of. We also update our announcements and Certified Educators’ listings bimonthly. If you have an event you are sponsoring where you will be sharing Holistic Management with others, please let us know so we can put it on the Online Calendar.

The last section of our website is our Products and Services. This is where you can learn about all our products and order them online with our secure server. We also provide information about some of our speakers, as well as all the information about our training program, and services like process consulting.

Upcoming Features We are very excited about the possibilities of getting more information out about Holistic Management via our website. In particular, we hope to transfer some of our new print material to a PDF (Portable Document Format) that people will be able to easily read with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software.

We also hope to have an online database of Holistic Management™ Certified Educators and practitioners in which people can input their information and search other entries for more information exchange. Numerous Savory Center members have requested this service and we are working to meet that need.

If you have ideas that you think we should include in our website, please contact me at anna@holisticmanagement.org or 505/842-5252.

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE • NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2001 5

From Here to Eternity— Redefining Conservation Easements

by Jim and Daniela Ho well

O

ur family’s decision to donate a conservation easement on our Colorado mountain ranch did not come easily, but we were faced with the same dilemma facing thousands of family ranches across the West. Our land was valued way beyond its agricultural productive potential, and the estate taxes would have been impossible for our family to pay.

We love our little piece of the world and our hearts, history, and emotion are bound to it. We didn’t want to sell and move somewhere not pressured by urban development or “burdened” by high-priced scenery. We knew we couldn’t bury our heads in the sand and ignore reality, but what were our options?

Holistic Negotiations As we explored our options, we used our holistic goal to help us test each option as we discussed with family and met with professional advisors. Although we still had some reservations, we opted to donate a conservation easement to our community’s land trust, The Black Canyon Regional Land Trust (BCRLT). With that in place, we have a tremendous peace of mind regarding estate taxes.

The BCRLT worked with us diligently, and listened to our many questions and concerns, even thought at times it seemed we were speaking different languages, especially when we talked and discussed issues related to land management. But overall the dialogue was fluid and the whole process evolved smoothly.

At the onset of negotiating the easement, we knew we were going to face a challenge.

The challenge was to convey our values in a clear way at many levels. We dreaded the idea of having strangers, city-based environmentalists and conventionally trained agricultural professionals, telling us what to do and how to manage our land, monitoring in their own ways the outcomes of our management. We felt our privacy and our rights were somehow violated, like we were going to be in a public land management situation. We had been through that, and we did not want even a taste of it again.

On one level we felt we knew more about

6 HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE #80

Jim and Daniela Ho well with their daughter, Savanna.

our land and what to do with it, using our holistic goal, than anybody else on Earth (as arrogant as that may sound). How could we explain to this land trust that weeds to us could be good; that cattle can heal the land; that a trampled, severely grazed paddock could be a sign of change towards more effective ecosystem processes? Would they listen to us?

Would they allow us to do our thing? Would they understand?

They did listen; and overall, we think they understood. For example, they were willing to word the easement in a way that would leave ample room for us to do as we wished, to do “our thing” without any hassle from them.

They also wrote the document with no prejudices against any specific tool or land management practice.

The land trust, however, had to have some criteria to guide its monitoring and to ensure its members we would be good stewards of the land to which they were about to bind their name and reputation.

To that end, and for a better understanding of all parties involved of our commitment to move the land to a healthier state, we proposed attaching the future landscape description of our holistic goal to the conservation easement. The trust, surprisingly, was very supportive of the idea. The

document doesn’t delineate any time frame for achieving any landscape condition; it simply says that our management will, over time, lead to those conditions. With our biological monitoring, we can prove that we are moving in the desired direction or not. If not, we know we have to make changes to get back on track.

We don’t need any policing, since we police ourselves. We are planning, monitoring, controlling, and replanning for ourselves, our livelihood, our values, and our descendents, not for the land trust. The future resource base description keeps us all on the same page.

In our conservation easement we included three development envelopes on each of our two properties, in case we, or anyone in our families, decided to build a house on the ranch. We are glad we did that, although we wonder if we should have allowed for more development.

Since the signing of the document a couple of years ago, we have maintained and nurtured a good relationship with the land trust members. We keep them informed of our management decisions (usually by providing them with long-term management plans for our land as well as major infrastructure developments (ponds, irrigation, buildings, etc).

We have cooperated with them in whatever fashion they have needed, and in return, we’ve experienced none of our feared invasion of privacy and no land management restrictions at all. Moreover, they have been supportive and complimentary of our efforts.

Always Afterthoughts We still question our decision now and then. Will other more suitable options emerge, leaving us with just a restriction in the best case? Have we limited our children’s opportunities and free will by exercising ours? Will this document be respected in perpetuity? Will future land trust members and decisionmakers share and respect our views, and behave in the same way current members do? We may never have answers to these questions,.

When in doubt we look back, and we test our decision all over again. Ecologically, economically and socially, with all its unknowns, it still passes. It still takes us to where we want to go. Hopefully time will reassure us that we did the right thing for ourselves, our children, and the planet.

Jim and Daniela Ho well live near Montrose, Colorado and can be reached at: howelljd@montrose.net or 970/249-0353.

Clubs Are a New Neighborhood Glue

by Wayne Burleson Editor’s note: This article was first published in the April 2001 issue of Successful Farming. While Wayne presents a more open-ended version of management clubs than those that focus on people’s practice of Holistic Management, these management clubs can be a way for Holistic Management practitioners to not only strengthen their practice of Holistic Management, but also help others learn more about Holistic Management.

As Wayne notes in his article, he learned about management clubs from the Devon club, a longstanding Holistic Management club started

by Savory Center members, Dennis and Jean Wobeser. If you are new to Holistic Management and there are no other practitioners around, these types of management clubs can provide you with an ongoing learning community as you learn more about Holistic Management. If you are joining a management club that has already been formed, you will have to discern if the members are open-minded enough to incorporate your ideas into their structure.

We hope that urban dwellers, as well as rural dwellers, make use of the ideas in this article.

Y

ears ago, most agricultural endeavors depended upon neighbors helping neighbors. Nowadays, things like modern independence, competition, a better equipment line, off-farm jobs, financial stress, businesses, the Internet, and simple pride are robbing us of some of those old neighborly ways of helping each other and sharing ideas.

But there is a refreshing new emergence of like-minded folks who still want to get together to learn more, share information, and help each other out. They call their groups management clubs.

A management club usually is a local group of folks connected to a common and shared purpose. The focus can be selected by group members. For example, the group may want to develop a new beef marketing program, or a neighborhood biological weed control effort.

Other groups may be interested in sharing information about marketing wool, or growing specialty crops like garlic.

Starting a watershed restoration project is another idea. With all of the pressures for environmental awareness, positive agricultural groups are needed now more than ever. The idea is not to fight these proposed changes (that’s the blame-game way, which doesn’t work long-term),

but to work together with others to improve land management, provide cleaner water, and maintain profitable farm use.

Club topics may be diverse. The most important concept is that members of the group want to help each other in some way.

A Canadian Model

Wayne Burleson

We started our club, called Beartooth Management Club, six years ago. We patterned it after a successful Canadian group, the Devon Club. The Devon Club is composed of about 10 families (not all farmers) who have met once a month for more than 10 years. They’re very successful, offering a reliable support system that strengthens individuals and even helps each other out financially.

Beartooth Management Club has a broad agenda: part friendship, part support, part family, and part business. I think it works because we have an informal structure. One person is designated to keep us in touch, through phone calls, word of mouth, or sometimes a one-page newsletter.

We’ve conducted monthly meetings on many topics, including wolves in our backyards, beef taste testing, a land monitoring contest, marketing natural beef, beaver management, native plants, financial planning, tax advantages, equipment maintenance, goal setting, book exchanges, family peacemaking, ostrich farming, horse herd grazingjust to name a few.

Our club has the support of an organization called Alternative Energy Resources Organization (AERO). It helps Montana groups by providing start-up grant funds, educational seminars, and annual get-togethers.

Staying Power is Vital What keeps a management club going?

We have found from past experiences that the following ideas work: • A potluck meal each time is a big drawing card.

Our club’s host usually provides a main dish.

• Start each session with a grounding question, answered by each participant. Go beyond talking about the weather by asking, “What is new on your place?” or “How are things going for you?”

• Sit in a circle if you can; that way, everybody is of equal importance.

• Have the host present a topic of his or her choice.

• Rotate meeting places and help clean up after the meetings.

• Brainstorm interesting, meaningful topics

once each year.

• Bring the kids, but have a planned fun activity for them.

• After the group is established, invite special folks so you achieve diversity. Include folks in banking, tax specialists, urban businesses, and others whether they are connected to agriculture or not. Our group even has its own certified sleep therapist.

• Expect to receive the same energy and enthusiasm from the club as you put into it.

• Delegate one or two motivated members of the group to call folks and/or send out simple newsletters before each monthly meeting.

We’ve also found a few other keys to maintaining a successful management club. For instance, ours has a simple, glue-type mission statement. It simply says that we come together to share new ideas and help each other.

Another key is to have one or two people appointed to take on the leadership role with a servant’s attitude. Without that person looking out for others, things just don’t get done, and people lose interest.

Sometimes the discussions that take place will reveal personal situations. So by all means, respect the confidentiality of all group members involved.

Finally, be sure to make your meetings fun, so it’s worth the time and efforts of participants. Why not start today?

Farm and rural lifestyles face daily challenges.

Don’t just wave at your neighbor as you drive by. Stop in and share ideas. Starting a management club could be just the uplifting action needed to rescue a struggling family and help get a new project off the ground, headed in the right direction.

We need to get back to becoming more neighborly neighborhoods and work together for better solutions to the challenges we face.

Wayne Burleson is a Holistic Management Certified Educator from Absarokee, Montana.

He can be reached at rutbuster@montana.net.

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE • NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2001 7

LAND&LIVESTOCK A Special Section of

IN PRACTICE

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2001

#80

Focus on What You Want, Not What You Don’t Want

Brush, Fire, and Grazing in the Brittle Pampas The following is based on a report I recently wrote for Raul Macko, manager of Estancia Hucal, in the province of La Pampa, Argentina. In March 2001, during a ranch tour my wife, Daniela, and I led to Argentina (see “The Nonbrittle Pampas of Argentina” IN PRACTICE, July/August 2001), our tour group spent most of a day with Raul, and we spoke in depth about the challenges of ranching in the brushy calden zone of the Pampas. Calden is a brushy legume, very similar to the catclaw so common in the southwestern United States. There is a massive swath of calden-dominated country running northwest to southeast across the semi-arid Pampas. It grows primarily in coarse, drought-prone, sandy soils, and is typically associated with a mix of palatable and very nutritious perennial grasses, as well as an abundance of “paja” grasses.

The paja grasses are common throughout much of Argentina. In Spanish, paja means straw. The pajas are bunch grasses, and as the name implies, tend to be very low in quality and palatability once mature. Typical of robust bunch grasses, they are susceptible to overrest, eventually succumbing to a lack of sunlight reaching the growth points at the plant base. Like all such grasses, once they have a mass of old lignified material, they are less palatable than young plants. Since animals tend to be on the land for prolonged times, most shorter, less-fibrous grasses are overgrazed, leaving the coarse pajas to dominate huge tracts of country.

Raul is battling with how to deal with both the calden brush and the paja grasses that dominate his range. He is one of the most sincere and caring land managers we’ve had the pleasure of meeting.

He’s operating from the fire paradigm, believing that, for lack of anything else, fire is the only tool he has available to tackle these “problems.” During our visit, we touched on a few things he might be overlooking in his quest to improve his landscape. A few weeks

8

LAND & LIVESTOCK

IN PRACTICE #80

Overrested paja grasses with overgrazed, less-fibrous grasses in the spaces between. Brush in the background is calden.

before our visit, the ranch suffered a massive fire, which charred 60 percent of its 25,000 acres. Even though Raul is a believer in fire, he was visibly stressed by the totally exposed soil surface left in the fire’s wake, and the erosion starting to occur with the recent heavy rains. He was open to our ideas, and requested that we write a report describing our observations.

—Jim Howell

* * *

R

aul, the following are just ideas and observations based on my own experience in a variety of arid and semi-arid brittle environments. Don’t take what I say as a recipe or the truth—take it as some additional knowledge that may help you see your own situation from a different perspective and may help you meet your challenges more successfully.

Every ranch, family, and environment is different, and you and your staff are the only ones truly familiar with the particular features of Estancia Hucal, your culture, and what you value most. I am an outsider without an in-depth knowledge of your environment, but sometimes an outside perspective is necessary to see beyond current paradigms.

First of all, you seem focused on dealing with the brush and the paja grasses. You rightfully acknowledge that both, especially the brush, are detracting from your production and potentially threaten the viability of your entire operation. While I agree that they seem to be a problem and need to be dealt with, it’s also important to focus on what it is that you actually do want, instead of focusing primarily on what you don’t want. You don’t want the paja or the brush, but that’s where you’re focusing all your energy.

Clarifying Priorities

Effects of Fire

What is it that you actually do want ? If you can clearly identify that, your management decisions will take on a new focus. You will begin to create what you want instead of fighting what you don’t want. So before you do anything, you might examine your values and priorities for your family and people and the ranch that supports you. Describe how you want your lives and land to be, and base that 100 percent on what you do want and not on what you don’t want.

In Holistic Management we refer to this as a holistic goal.

This goal will then help guide you as you make management decisions. For example, the decision to burn or to run as many herds as you do could be weighed more clearly to see that both actions are actually taking your lifestyle, production, and landscape in the desired direction as described in your holistic goal.

Based on our discussions with you at Hucal, it seems that you would need the land to look something like the following: open grassland in a savanna-like setting with a diversity of warm- and cool-season perennial grasses and forbs, and a covered soil throughout the year leading to effectiveness of any rainfall you receive. Although I have simplified this, it will be close to the landscape you would begin to manage toward. The key to creating this situation will be managing for healthy, vibrant, cool- and warmseason grasses.

To deal with the paja grasses and the calden brush, you have been advised to burn every eight years. I believe this is only addressing the symptoms of a deeper problem and in the long run will only make your situation worse, especially if grazing management does not change. You admitted that calden is fire dependent. You also admitted (and showed us on the old aerial photo) that prior to the highway construction through the ranch, fires were infrequent, and brush density much less. Knowing that, you can see that burning is not a lasting solution. Remember, your focus is growing healthy, palatable perennial grasses, not reducing brush. Brush reduction may indeed be necessary at some time, but then it has to be done in conjunction with changes in management that will strengthen the health of the grassland and encourage many species of grasses and forbs. If paja grasses are not burned, I think you’ll find they will decrease or even die out as they are so firedependent. In short, because both calden and the pajas are fire dependent, I don’t think fire is the appropriate long-term tool to move your landscape toward your ideal.

You said that grazing soon after a burn will tend to weaken the pajas, since at that point they are palatable to cattle. This is true, not because you are grazing them at this time but because you are overgrazing them by having the cattle there too long. This you cannot avoid if you have many herds and few paddocks.

Overgrazing the fresh regrowth after the fire will draw from root reserves, weakening the plant. While you may feel this is good in terms of getting rid of paja grasses, remember you should not manage for what you don’t want. In this case, not only will your cattle overgraze the pajas, they will also overgraze the many other grasses you are trying to encourage. Once again, by focusing on what you don’t want (the pajas), you’re hurting what you do want (all the other grasses).

Overgrazing and Overrest

Currently, your native country is being used to hold your cattle while your Pasto Lloron paddocks recover (Note: Pasto Llorron is an introduced, very productive, drought-resistant perennial grass which is commonly planted as a supplemental grazing resource on areas that have been mechanically cleared of Calden brush ). Since you have so many herds and so few paddocks per herd, the grazing periods in your native paddocks are very long.

Perennial grasses are overgrazed any time that they are exposed to grazing for too long and/or reexposed to grazing before the roots have fully recovered following the previous grazing. This appears to be happening to most of your lower growing, less fibrous grasses. If the paja grasses are mature, and thus very fibrous, very few of them will be grazed. Most will be left ungrazed. If left like that, they will tend to die prematurely since they have to have leaves periodically removed to survive. They, in fact, would be dying from an excessive amount of rest, or overrest. If allowed to die from overrest, they could provide groundcovering litter, once trampled down, and improve the land for nature to fill the space with less fibrous grasses and forbs. So, if you can plan your grazing so that the less fibrous grasses can thrive, the paja grasses suddenly become a non-problem.

Instead, the soil covering material they provide is Raul Macko at home on actually an asset. If you allow your cattle to Estancia Hucal. overgraze less fibrous grasses, and then you burn to keep the pajas alive, they will take over—just as you are experiencing.

Planning the Grazing So, what can you do to foster a great variety of grass species? The only thing I know to do is to plan your grazing as we do with Holistic Management. This means that you plan to have the animals in the right area at the right time and for the right reasons so you can move your landscape and the ranch as a whole in the direction you desire. Through this plan you will ensure that you have sufficient paddocks per herd to enable your cattle to graze plants without overgrazing. This is done by having them on any piece of land for a few days followed by plenty of time for full recovery of all grazed plants. You will also ensure that you are managing the soil as well as the plants and that all areas get as much animal impact (trampling, dunging, urinating, etc.) as can be achieved, followed by good recovery time. Soil is as much a living organism as is any plant, and in environments such as yours, it needs careful treatment to build up tight plant spacing continued on page 10

IN PRACTICE • NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2001 LAND & LIVESTOCK

9

Brush, Fire, and Grazing in the Brittle Pampas continued from page 9

and good soil cover—both from living plants and from dead plant litter.

This means you need lots more paddocks than you currently have, and that you probably also need to run fewer herds, so that you have more paddocks per herd and larger herds. Since 60 percent of the ranch recently burned, I wouldn’t worry about implementing your controlled burning program on the other 40 percent yet.

I would focus on getting better control of the grazing on that 60 percent that did burn and is now more opened up. You have a great opportunity to manage the newly emerging grasses for their optimum health. Good planned grazing will soon show that the brush and paja encroachment, bad as they are, were only a symptom of too few animals for too long a time on the land.

Throughout the world in climates like yours this always results in healthy grassland shifting to woody plants and/or highly fibrous grasses, decreasing effectiveness of the rainfall (often evidenced by old timers complaining that “the rain is not what it used to be”), and increasing droughts and/or floods.

First Steps

Before you build any fence, I would encourage you to go through a detailed long-term land planning process, which will help you design the most effective paddock and water system layout for the ranch, and to make a construction schedule that will help prioritize which fences to build first. The land planning process developed by the Savory Center [for Holistic Management] is the only one I am aware of that is truly sound. It assumes that the time animals are on land is more crucial than soil and vegetation types, and it is tied to Holistic Management™ Financial Planning and Holistic Management™ Grazing Planning, both of which, I believe, are essential for sustained high profits.

Before you start to build any new fences, it would probably pay you to combine herds as much as possible. You already have quite a few paddocks on the ranch, and with fewer herds you would go a long way to being able to increase animal impact, shorten your grazing Fencing Basics periods and provide You can probably increase adequate recovery your level of paddocking periods. I wouldn’t quickly and cheaply. First, commence with this Calden skeletons in an area that had burned several years prior—and is no w you need a very strong lowincrease in grazing full of invigorated paja grasses and re-emerging calden plants. impedance fence charger, intensity until you have assuming you don’t already familiarized yourself with have one. One of the stronger Gallagher models will work. When the Savory Center’s grazing planning procedure. This procedure helps building your fences, consider using the brush (live and standing ensure that the dozens of factors influencing your grazing plan dead) as fence posts. Don’t worry about keeping all your fence (growth rates and recovery periods of plants, livestock performance, lines straight. The cattle won’t care, and the fence will hold wildlife factors, cattle moving logistics, water restrictions, etc.) are up better to wildlife pressure if it weaves in and out through the thoughtfully accounted for. If you attempt to increase the intensity brush. Where possible, use strong trees as corner posts, and in of your management without a procedure of this type, I warn you your fairly dry country you probably wouldn’t need to use that a wreck will be waiting to happen. insulators on the trees. A minimal permanent one-wire electric All this might run counter to prevailing paradigms in your area, fence layout would suffice. You could then use temporary electric and you will probably find plenty of opposition. Please, just take fencing to make smaller paddocks within each paddock. This this as another perspective from our experience and that of many increase in paddocking would bring much more flexibility to progressive ranchers we visit around the world in environments your grazing management. similar to yours. I hope it helps a little.

10

LAND & LIVESTOCK

IN PRACTICE #80

Pooginook - An Aussie Success Story

Special Land, Special Wool, Special People

by Jim Howell

I

n one of Australia’s many native aboriginal languages, “Pooginook” means “resting place.” Pooginook also happens to be the name of David and Gillian Taylor’s 36,000-acre (14,400 ha) property in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales, Australia. But after spending a day with the Taylors last April, it was hard to figure when the Taylors managed to fit much resting into their full and rewarding lives. David and Gill own and holistically manage one of Australia’s most sophisticated and respected registered Merino sheep operations.

Their enthusiasm for the wool industry is founded on years of a well-defined, careful breeding, and selection program that has placed them in prime position to capitalize on the growing demand for high quality wool.

They are equally excited about the changes they are seeing on their land since managing holistically. The changes have been so dramatic, in fact, that they hesitate to predict what the future may hold. The following story delves into the details of the Taylors’ wool and sheep enterprise, and highlights some of the ecological transitions they’ve witnessed on their land, including the management shifts that have led to those changes.

The Taylors trace their holistic journey back to 1995, when Holistic Management™ Certified Educator Bruce Ward ran one of his very first courses on Pooginook. The Pooginook story, however, goes back long before that, to 1912, when David’s family settled on the same land David and Gill manage today. Pooginook has always been devoted to the production of medium wool Merino breeding stock. Instead of selecting for fine wool animals, the fleeces of which fetch a premium price per kg but produce only a third to a half as much total wool as coarser-wooled animals, the Taylors chose instead to breed for an animal that produced a medium quality fleece, but a lot more of it.

As the years have gone by, however, and as selection has become more and more refined, the Taylors have arrived at the point where they are producing wool of both exceptional quality and high per-head yields.

The Wool Story Prior to visiting the Taylors, my wife, Daniela, and I, our daughter, Savanna, and our group of travelers had spent a week in New Zealand (on our New Zealand/Australian Down Under Farm and Ranch Tour), poking our heads into the woolsheds of some of the South Island’s superfine Merino wool producers. We came away from that week assuming that wool fineness, measured in microns, is the only ariable of wool quality that matters. The finer the diameter of individual wool fibers, the softer, stronger, and more luxurious the garments manufactured from those fibers. Most of us hesitate to buy woolen garments because they itch. That’s because those garments are manufactured with low quality, coarse wool. Fine-wool garments, on the other hand, are smooth and silk-like, and itching isn’t part of the wool-wearing experience. Wool with a micron of 18 or 19 is considered fine, and anything below that is superfine. We were at one place in the South Island high country producing some fleeces

as low as 13 microns.

Once we arrived at the Taylors, however, our knowledge of what makes a valuable fleece was greatly expanded. We learned that there is a lot more to wool quality than just fiber diameter. First of all, on a sheep whose fleece averages 18 microns, diameter of individual fibers might range from 10 to 50 microns. On Pooginook, the focus has been on breeding a narrow range, rather than a lower average. Given two fleeces that average the same diameter, the fleece with the narrowest range will be the superior performing fleece. For example, one of Pooginook’s sheep may average 20 microns, but because its fiber diameter range is 10 to 25 instead of 10 to 50, that fleece will perform like wool with an average diameter of 18. When sheep are selected for micron only, they get smaller, less hardy, and less fertile. As a result, a superfine Merino might only yield 2 to 3 kg (4.4 to 6.6 lbs.) of wool per year, whereas a Pooginook Merino will yield 6 to 8.5 kg (13.2 to 18.7 lbs.).

David and Gillian Taylor with their son Ro wan.

To select for a narrow fiber diameter range, the Taylors take a close look at several traits. One is depth of crimp. Crimp is the wave in the wool fiber. The deeper the crimp, the narrower the micron range tends to be. They also look at fiber alignment. The more aligned the fibers, the stronger they are, the better they take dye, etc. It just so happens that alignment is closely correlated with deep crimp.

The true measure of a quality fleece comes down to a value known as “spinning fineness diameter.” When wool is spun out, how does it perform? If it averages 20 microns, like much of Pooginook’s production, but handles like 18-micron wool, its actual spinning continued on page 12

IN PRACTICE • NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2001 LAND & LIVESTOCK

11

Special Land, Special Wool, Special People continued from page 11

fineness diameter is 18, and it should be valued as such. Twentymicron wool with a spinning fineness diameter of 18 will have a narrow micron range, deep crimp, and excellent alignment. As a result of their education and marketing efforts, the Taylors are receiving a premium for their product. At the time of our visit, run-of-the-mill 20-micron wool was bringing AUS$9/kg (US$2.25/lb.). Pooginook wool of the same diameter brings a 10 percent premium, minimum, and has brought up to a 30 percent premium. At 6 to 8.5 kg of wool per head, and a 20 percent premium, that’s US$36 to $48/head gross revenue.

Marketing the Wool The western United States might still be full of sheep if we could produce a product like Pooginook produces and generate that sort of money. The Rambouillet, which is a fine-wool Merino of French origin, is the dominant breed in the arid western US. The breed is valued for its ability to survive in tough conditions and still raise one or two lambs a year.

Pooginook markets 60 Jim Howell, front, and Jaime Bermudez percent of its wool to examining the wool quality of some on India, China, Japan, the Taylors’ elite herd sires.

France, Italy, and Korea. I don’t know much about wool marketing, but I’m assuming the United States could market to those countries as well, assuming we had the demanded product. With the importation of the sort of genetics produced by the Taylors, and with our base of Rambouillet sheep, it seems we could fairly easily upgrade our sheep to the point where it was not only finally worth it to shear them, it would be downright lucrative. I’m sure that’s oversimplified, but when you go to Australia and see what’s possible, it’s hard not to dream.

To assist their marketing efforts and to boost demand for their rams, the Taylors formed a group of 120 Australian woolgrowers in 1995 to work to promote the Pooginook Merino genetic brand. This effort was spearheaded by Gill and is called the Pooginook Wool Initiative. The group works closely with wool processors to differentiate the inherent characteristics of Pooginook-bred wool to the end user. They conduct production trials to create demand and establish alliances with manufacturers of woolen products, and

12

LAND & LIVESTOCK

IN PRACTICE #80

organize educational programs for growers that teach sound management, breeding, and wool preparation practices.

In addition to the above marketing efforts, Gill has also developed a line of special garments manufactured with Pooginook wool. About five bales of their annual production, or about 950 kg, go into this unique program, and it’s growing all the time. During our visit, they just happened to have a few beautiful sweaters available, and the women in our group snatched them up before the men knew what was happening.

Lots of Sheep, Lots Less Bare Ground Pooginook is home to 6,000 ewes, out of which they are currently producing about 6,500 lambs, or a lambing percentage of 108. The ewes are shorn once per year in October (late spring), and rams are shorn twice per year. If wool prices keep rising, they may go to shearing the ewes twice per year, since the increased production from twice-peryear shearing would more than cover the increased costs.

Weaning takes place in mid-September when lambs are 15 weeks of age. David makes his first cull at six months of age, and bands the culls for castration. He makes a second cut at 9 months, then a serious and final cut in August when the rams are 13- to 14-months old. He then sells them in September and October at 14-15 months. Out of 6,500 total lambs, half of which are rams, David sells 1,500 to 2,000 rams annually as herd sires.

In addition to looking at the actual wool quality of each animal, David looks for “a good soft face on the rams, and a nice straight topline.” From 150 to 200 of their elite rams are auctioned at their sale complex on the property, 120 more are auctioned on another property in Western Australia, and 1,400 or so are sold by private treaty on Pooginook.

Looking at the Land Traditionally, all the stock on Pooginook were continuously grazed on a year-round basis, and the deterioration of the property’s land and forage base, due to partial rest of the soil surface and overgrazing of plants, was gradual but incessant. David remembers significant areas of bare ground and horrendous dust storms. When Bruce Ward opened their eyes to the possibility that the degradation could not only come to a halt but could actually reverse, the Taylors, being keen native plant enthusiasts, were not just intrigued, they were genuinely excited.

They eventually went to visit some other Holistic Management practitioners in wetter, northern New South Wales.

They came home impressed by what they saw, but also concerned that all this planned grazing and animal impact stuff wouldn’t work in their much drier environment. Only 13 inches (325 mm) of precipitation falls on Pooginook in an average year. Usually a good part of that comes in the winter, and with their relatively mild temperatures, the resulting cool season annuals fill a big chunk of their annual forage demand. It can also rain in the summer, but with their extremely hot warm-season temperatures (commonly over 40 C, or 104 F, for several months of the year), unless the soil surface is well covered with litter, those summer rains often do little good due to high evaporation rates.

Since embarking on the development of their land plan, the commencement of well-conceived grazing plans, and the amalgamation of many small flocks into fewer bigger flocks, the Taylors have come a long way toward getting their soil covered and improving ecosystem

processes. Our visit in early fall came after an exceptionally good The consequences to animal performance were obviously not summer, and a pretty good winter before that. For being in a typically acceptable under such a scenario, so David, Gill, and their staff had semi-arid precipitation zone, the amount of forage they had on hand to back off and reassess. Due to the crowding problem, they’ve was astounding. Dormant cool- and warm-season perennial plants were determined that they can’t have more than two paddocks on a literally everywhere, with the soil surface between them covered in common watering point. They’ve also reduced flock size to no more decaying plant litter. than 1,500 ewes in a mob. This has greatly alleviated the watering As we toured the property, I told David I couldn’t imagine a more problem, although it has reduced paddock numbers and stock density, ideal soil surface condition, and he commented that “I never would and increased the length of grazing periods. have thought it was possible.” Skeptics would say it was just a result They’re still miles ahead of where they started, though, with only of the above-average rainfall. There’s no doubt that had a lot to do four mobs of roughly 1,500 ewes as opposed to 6,000 ewes spread out with what we were seeing, but all the rain in the world can fall on over much of the property. They nonetheless are determined to get a capped, exposed soil, and little or nothing will happen. back to the higher densities. At this point, the bottleneck is a still-toFavorable precipitation has to coincide with a soil surface well be-determined stock watering design that will accommodate big prepared to receive those rains for ecological improvement to happen flocks of fairly fragile Merino sheep. I’m sure they’d welcome in brittle environments. The any suggestions.

Taylors created that soil surface Even with this reduced condition, and planned their intensity of management, the grazing so that the released Taylor’s overall stocking rate has grasses could thrive, through the nearly doubled compared to the development of roughly 170 average of the area. They are paddocks on their original 45,000 currently running 3.8-5 DSE acres. They recently sold the (Dry Sheep Equivalent, about 10 western end of their place, so are of which equals a lactating cow) now down to about 140 paddocks per hectare (1.5-2 DSE/acre), on 36,000 acres, but still able to whereas the region’s average is run the same number of stock 2 to 2.5 DSE/hectare. Those due to more effective ecosystem farmers pushing a stocking rate processes and increased forage of 3 DSE/hectare are using high The Taylors, through controlling the timing of their grazing, are trying production. This level of levels of super phosphate to encourage the return of palatable woody browse species, such as subdivision, combined with herd fertilizer, while the Taylors these boree trees (dark clumps), and it’s working. and flock amalgamation and good apply none. So again, even grazing planning, were just as though they aren’t pushing responsible for the results we their densities to the extent were seeing as was the good rainy season. they would like, their per-acre production is nonetheless superior relative to the area’s average.

Bumps in the Road They’ve also realized that they have to give preferential treatment to their young sheep if they expect them to perform. Through the hot This story isn’t all roses, however, and the land restoration efforts at summer months, from November to March, instead of concentrating Pooginook are still ascending the learning curve. David and Gill were their weaners in large mobs out on the dry country, they are keeping initially so excited by the possibilities of holistic planned grazing that young stock flocks to no greater than 700 head, and managing them they went full bore ahead in their original development phase, in their 500 hectares (1,250 acres) of softer, flood-irrigated lucerne determined to achieve high stock densities and eliminate overgrazing. (alfalfa) paddocks.

Up until November, the weaned lambs do well The three-wire electric fences went up fast and furious (120 km, or on the native pasture, but as summer advances, forage protein and about 75 miles of it, to be exact) and stock density boomed. But as energy drop below levels adequate to maintain favorable growth on temperatures warmed up in the summer and as stock water demand the young animals. escalated, some major problems started to arise.

Flock size is restricted to 700 head due to watering restrictions on Their much larger mobs of sheep (up to 3,000 in a herd), of course, the irrigated country. They also have a problem with a stipa grass that had pretty substantial water needs compared to the former smaller produces an incredibly annoying seed. The seed burrows through the mobs. Much of the time, these larger flocks at higher density were wool and into the skin. The sheep gnaw at the wound, creating an in paddocks radiating off of a common cell center containing the open sore, which then becomes infested with fly larvae. Going to the watering point. In hot weather, David claims the sheep would cram lucerne paddocks with the lambs keeps this from occurring. themselves into the cell center, drawn by the cooler air coming off the The mature sheep are all put onto the third of the property that water. That would, in turn, block the gate into the cell center, so the doesn’t have the stipa grasses. They stay off the rest of the property rest of the sheep would form a tight bunch in the narrow strip of from the point that the seed starts to set and until a month after the pasture just outside the cell center, desperate to get a drink. Even as seeds fall.

As a result, the stipa-free area gets grazed at the same time the cooler afternoon and evening grazing hours came on, the sheep would refuse to spread out to the back of the paddock, since they remained so worried about being able to quench their thirst. continued on page 14

IN PRACTICE • NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2001 LAND & LIVESTOCK

13

Special Land, Special Wool, Special People continued from page 13

In the paddock with the remnant stand of old man saltbush and other native woody plants and trees. David says this is how their country looked before it was cleared by European settlers.

A Native Plant Comeback The Taylors are involved with a group called Learning From Farmers—12 producers spanning the vast Riverina region of the Murray River Catchment. This group is especially interested in managing for a diversity of native vegetation and fauna. The group formed with the goal of encouraging other farmers across the Murray Catchment to adopt sustainable native vegetation management by learning from the network’s 12 case study sites. On Pooginook, native vegetation of special concern includes a remnant 120-hectare (300-acre) patch of old man saltbush, mixed in with native eucalyptus trees, thorny saltbush, blue bush, lignum brush, and native perennial grasses. David says this patch represents the diversity that this country is capable of sustaining, and that it is indeed the native landscape of the region.

In addition to providing habitat niches for endangered Australian marsupials and adding diversity and complexity to the overall environment, these browse species are a valuable forage resource during the extended droughts, which are common in this part of Australia. The Taylors are therefore focused on managing for the spread and reestablishment of these woodier plant communities into their mostly open landscape. So far, the boree tree, a native acacia readily browsed by the stock, is making a great comeback across much of the property.

every year, which is a problem the Taylors so far haven’t figured out how to get around.

The Cattle Component In addition to all these sheep, Pooginook also runs 2,000 head of cattle. They own 400, and run the balance on adjistment (the Australian term for custom grazing). Due to the highly mineralized soils and the fact that the grasses never get excessively fibrous in their fairly arid environment, cattle perform fantastically on Pooginook. If the Taylors weren’t involved and invested in the Merino seedstock business to such an extent, David admits that cattle would be the class of livestock to use to move most effectively toward their desired future landscape description. They’re a whole lot easier to manage, better at cycling vegetation that has passed its most nutritious stage, hardier overall, and they don’t have to be shorn, so are a lot less work. The development of the Pooginook line of Merino seedstock and wool, however, is an integral form of production leading the Taylors toward their holistic goal, so they’ll be staying in the sheep business for a while.

The 2,000 cattle are managed in four herds, and they usually follow the sheep, cleaning up the ranker vegetation left by the more selective ovines. The cattle on adjistment bring AUS$3/week for a pair, and AUS$2/week for a yearling. Pooginook moves the cattle following their grazing plan, and musters on shipping days, but the owners of the cattle are responsible for everything else.

During the late winter/early spring lush (mid-August to midOctober), when growth rates are at their peak, the Taylors plan recovery periods of 50 days. As growth slows down into the summer, recovery periods are extended to 140 days, and remain that long for the rest of the year.

In addition to David and Gill, Pooginook keeps all these critters and all this country efficiently operating with the help of one manager, Robert Hughes, two station hands, and one sales manager, Pat Brown, who helps with the wool marketing.

14

LAND & LIVESTOCK

IN PRACTICE #80

Current year’s growth of warm-season perennial grass, with a nearly 100 percent litter-co vered soil in between plants.

Pooginook—again, the aboriginal definition is “resting place,” but the Taylors don’t seem to get a whole lot of rest. Their lives seem so full of activities, work, projects, and plans that it was difficult to figure how they could take a day off to spend with our tour group. But then again David and Gill have a peace of mind that comes from knowing they are on the right path, living their values, and doing work that is meaningful and satisfying. They are genuine experts in their field, and their expertise demands respect all around Australia. But they simultaneously welcome any new knowledge that may help advance their operation and lives toward greater social, economic, and ecological health. I think this curiosity, open-mindedness, and willingness to continue learning demand even more respect. I know if I were David or Gill, I’d sleep pretty well at night.

David and Gill Taylor can be reached at www.pooginook.com.

Jim and Daniela Ho well plan to visit Pooginook again, during their “Back Country Australia” ranch tour in March 2002. For more information, visit their website at www.scranchtours.com or see their ad in this issue of IN PRACTICE.

Savory Center Annual Report

A

s you can see from the pie charts, the Savory Center came National and International Projects pretty close to breaking even this year. What you might not • Seek funding and implement the Wildlife Management College see is that we improved our bottom line substantially from in Zimbabwe.

1999. We did this largely by cutting expenses across all program areas • Begin work on the National Learning Site in Idaho and secure to stabilize our finances. We also expanded the Savory Center's staff additional funding. and capabilities by adding an Associate Director to direct our financial • Identify and secure new partners and collaborations for the planning and budgetary compliance and a Development Director to Global Climate/Carbon Sequestration Project. expand our effort to secure foundation grants and private donations.

Some of the other significant outcomes from 2000 include: Outreach/Educational Materials • We developed a very focused strategic plan for 2001.

• Develop and produce new marketing materials to support our • We shifted the Savory Center's Training Program focus to outreach efforts and our expanded public relations efforts. increase revenues and provide more opportunities for regionally • Begin revising the Holistic Management workbook (the new funded training. handbook).

• Land Renewal, Inc. (LRI) secured more contracts and improved the inter-organizational structure between LRI and the Savory Center As you can see, we have set the bar high for 2001. We know that so that the Savory Center could begin receiving consistent income we will achieve our objectives with your help and support. To our from this for-profit subsidiaries. members, donors, and other supporters, we thank you for the trust • We secured funding from the following foundations: S.C. Johnson, you have placed in us with your commitment and money. We look National Fish & Wildlife, William & Flora Hewlett, Wray Trust, and forward to continuing to serve you and thank you for your The New Road Map Foundation. continued support.

• We received increased contributions from our annual appeal.

• We continued to diversify our land management service contracts to earn income for the Savory Center.

• We secured funding of more than $62,000 for the Africa Center and continued to expand the Village Banking initiative in Zimbabwe.

Revenue: $623,400

Savory Center Annual Report Fiscal Year 2000 (Audited)

From our 2001 Strategic Plan, we have begun to successfully complete the following key objectives for 2001 in key programs and services through monthly monitoring of that strategic plan:

Philanthropy • Develop and nurture an Advisory Fundraising Board to increase contributions.

• Implement an Annual Campaign to secure additional private donations.

Educational Materials 6% Learning Sites 3% Overviews/ Workshops 6%

Other 4%

Grants 7%

Training Education 27%

Newsletter 7% Restricted Philanthropy 10%

Unrestricted Philanthropy 30%

Training Program • Seek and secure funding for the new regionally focused Training Program.

• Establish a scholarship fund and develop a funding strategy.

• Develop and implement the Ranch and Rangeland Managers Training Program.

Regional Projects • Increase current LRI contracts with New Mexico State University • Successfully fund and implement a holistically-managed project on the Rio Puerco catchment.

Expenditures: $630,054 Professional Services 3%

Project Management 10%

Administrative/ Management 20%

Newsletter 6% Philanthropy/ Marketing 12% Learning Sites 4% Other/Interest 7% Grants Building/ Office 8% 1%

Educational Materials 8%

Training Education 21%

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE • NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2001 15

Savory Center Bulletin Board Ranch and Rangeland Program

T

he first session of the 2001 Holistic Management™ Training Program for Ranch and Rangeland Managers was a great success and we have begun plans for the 2002 Training Program. This year’s program will be held at a different holistically managed ranch in the Western U.S. for each of the four content sessions. A team of Holistic Management™ Certified Educators with ranching experience, and other practitioners with expertise in areas such as low-stress livestock handling, will facilitate each session.

The response from this year’s participants has been very encouraging and next year’s program promises to be as exciting. To apply for the 2002 Ranch and Rangeland Managers Program beginning August 2002, contact Kelly Pasztor or Ann Adams at 505/842-5252 or visit our website at www.holisticmanagement.org/wwo_rr.cfm?

There are limited seats available and qualified applicants are placed on a first come, first served basis.

Training Program at Full Capacity

T

he 2001 Holistic Management™ Certified Educator Training Program is filled to capacity and ready to begin on October 27 at the White Eagle Conference Center in Hamilton, NY. We selected 20 participants from a very diverse pool of applicants including 10 Cooperative Extension (CES) or Natural Resource Conservation Services (NRCS) educators from almost every state in the Northeastern U.S. The Savory Center is especially grateful to its partner on this effort, The South Central New York Regional Conservation District and their Executive Director, Phil Metzger. Together we obtained funding from Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NE SARE) for the CES and NRCS positions, as well as partial funding from the Cabbage Hill Farm Fund for five non-profit agricultural support representatives to train in this program.

We have begun accepting applications for the Western Region Program beginning in November 2002 and the North Central Region Program beginning December of 2002. There are limited seats available in these programs and qualified applicants are placed on a first come, first served basis.

You can find more detailed information about the Holistic Management™ Certified Educators Training Program and application

16 HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE #80

process on the Savory Center’s website at www.holisticmanagement.org/wwo_certed.cfm?

If you have any questions, please contact Kelly Pasztor or Ann Adams at 505/842-5252.

Reed Wildlife Ranch Wins Award

T

he Reed Wildlife Ranch owned by Jim and Judy Reed recently was awarded the Texas 2001 Lone Star Land Steward Award by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Division (TPWD) for their conservation efforts. Historically, both the native rangeland and valuable timber were depleted due to non-sustainable grazing and logging operations. Because the Reeds manage their ranch holistically, they have reversed this decline.

As part of their Holistic Management™ grazing plan, the Reeds manage their whitetail deer population and preserve their bottomland hardwoods using TPWD programs and services.

One of their long term objectives is to restore the native hardwood diversity by reintroducing a variety of oaks and other mast producing trees following thinning of lower quality elms and ashes.

Carl Frentress, TPWD Regional Waterfowl Biologist, reported the following land management accomplishments on the Reed Ranch: 1) Native herbaceous vegetation has flourished in the grazing paddocks. Several species are appearing after a long period of absence under previous land use. Other species are increasing in abundance and biomass.

Benefits are realized in more abundant and widespread forage for both livestock and deer.

Perhaps more importantly, the entire grassland community seems to be prospering.

2) The organic component of grassland soils is increasing.

3) Erosion from grazing lands is practically nonexistent. Run off is affected both in terms of reduced turbidity and better percolation.

4) The aesthetic qualities are being enhanced. This is particularly noticeable in the remarkable wildflower growth during spring and summer.

5) Vertebrate diversity is becoming more abundant and widely distributed because of habitat improvements that increase the number of niches and associated opportunities for food, water and shelter.

For more information about the Reed Ranch, see “Hunting for Habitat Health” on page 2.

Rural Legacy Foundation

T

he Savory Center’s Executive Director, Shannon Horst, has been asked to serve

on the Rural Legacy Foundation (RLF) board because other board members want to integrate Holistic Management with the estate planning they do to help ranch families.

RLF helps farm and ranch families purchase additional land and transfer the land to younger generations while establishing tax benefits through the purchase. RLF was created by agri-finance and agri-business professionals to provide an alternative for families to expand their operations and make it financially rewarding to transfer the land to their heirs.

The process is fairly simple, but requires a purchase by the Foundation and remainder lease to the younger generation.

Because Rural Legacy is a non-profit organization, the lessee creates a Conservation Plan—with help from the Foundation—that allows the Foundation to transfer the land over time and produce the tax savings for the family.

These Conservation Plan guidelines were designed with Holistic Management™ planning and monitoring in mind.

RLF is looking for additional transactions in Western states and eventually anywhere in the U.S. If you have been thinking about buying some more land for your farm or ranch, and you would like to explore this opportunity, contact Shannon Horst at 505/842-5252 or shannonh@holisticmanagement.org.

Yuma Proving Ground Progress

D

uring a blistering week in July, Land Renewal Inc. (LRI), a for-profit branch of the Savory Center, constructed 22 low-impact rock and rock gabion dams in an arroyo in Yuma, AZ. LRI is part of a team headed by NMSU that is studying “Phyto Extraction Technology in Arid Environments” at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground (YPG), and is responsible for developing simple and inexpensive sediment management technologies.

LRI’s overall goal is to develop and integrate remediation technologies to produce conditions for plant growth and to establish plants which can reduce soil contaminants in a low rainfall area (4 in/yr) by taking up certain elements and holding them within the plant structure.

Potential plants for phyto extraction use are being identified and tested with NMSU. Along with testing various sediment traps which it has designed, LRI is managing an “Animal Impact Test Plot” at YPG to test the feasibility of using animals to condition soils so that they support more plant growth. Arizona rancher and longtime Savory Center member, Rukin Jelks, will bring fifty head of cattle and fifty tons of hay to the one-acre test paddock for twelve days. LRI Project Manager, Craig

Leggett will oversee operations. NMSU has set up a weather monitoring station including soil temperature and moisture meters to track conditions inside and outside of the paddock.

The soil will be tested for any changes as well.

Strategic Planning Session

O

n September 10-11, 2001, a group of Savory Center members, staff, Certified Educators, Board of Directors, and Advisory Board met to begin to develop a three-year strategic plan for the Savory Center. Under the guidance of Executive Director, Shannon Horst, and an outside facilitator, Ron Chapman, this 35-member group worked both in large and small groups to determine the most effective way to spread the word about Holistic Management, make use of resources, identify markets and trends, and meet the current needs of members and Certified Educators.

Holistic Management Sales

W

e just received a report from Island Press that our book Holistic Management: A New Framework for Decision-Making continues to sell 150 copies per month routinely, while many of Island Press’ other titles have dropped off in sales with the economic downturn. Current lifetime sales of this second edition are 7,722 softcover and 500 hardcover.

The Fundacion para Fomentar el Manejo Holistico (The Foundation for the Promotion of Holistic Management) in Mexico continues to make headway on the preparation of a Spanish edition of the textbook. Most of the final translation is complete and is now in the hands of editors.

Holistic Management in the News

A

n article about the Savory Center and Holistic Management appeared in the July/August 2001 issue of the Lohas Journal, one of the premier sustainable business magazines.

An article about Dick and Judy Richardson titled, “Holistic Management: A way of life,” appeared in the June 25-29, 2001 issue of Farmer’s Weekly, a mainstream agricultural journal in South Africa.

An article by Allan Savory titled, “Drowning in Albuquerque?” appeared in the Fall 2001 issue of Range magazine, a special “Water in the West” issue.

Lastly, Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) recently published The New American Farmer: Profiles of Agricultural Innovation , a 160-page collection of in-depth interviews with farmers and ranchers across America. Included in this collection are a number of Holistic Management practitioners including Peggy and Richard Sechrist and Mark Frasier. You can download stories from SARE’s website at www.sare.org or you can buy it by calling SARE at 802/656-0484.

More from the Colorado Gathering

T

he Colorado Branch asked us to thank all the people who attended the Whole Land: Healthy People Gathering on July 27-29, 2001 at the Chico Basin Ranch near Colorado Springs, Colorado.

We have included a collage of photographs that represent the enthusiasm and learning that transpired over those three days, and the lyrics to a song composed by Tim Casswell to commemorate the event, which he performed at the closing ceremonies. This song is available on CD or cassette. See the back page for details.

Watt Casey, Jr.

Duke Phillips leads a tour of the Chico Basin Ranch

Watt Casey, Jr.

All the Time in the World Some people see things randomly, some see the pattern and the whole.

Some people live life randomly, some have a holistic goal.

Looking in your eyes, I just think of how All the time in the world and all we have is now.

The photosynthetic process is the source of all true wealth.

Seeing the land whole is the art of all true health.

The decision-making process is the key to knowing how All the time in the world and all we have is now.

Read the land and dream on what you want to get to.

Read the land and scheme on as far as it will let you.

Make three wishes and they are already true somehow All the time in the world and all we have is now.

Alan Carpenter leads grass identification workshop

Watt Casey, Jr.

What do you want? What do you see?

We will never understand the full complexity.

But this whole world is a process we all affect somehow All the time in the world and all we have is now.

Be the change you’re seeking, discover dreams and sail Beyond sight of the sure, undefeated when you fail.

The future’s like a tidal wave crashing across our bow, All the time in the world and all we have is now.

This is the greatest battle ever fought, it might be the last.

Nothing else has ever been so important or so vast.

And who is the leader? Those who take this sacred vow.

All the time in the world and all we have is now.

Tim Casswell

Tim Casswell singing his song at the closing ceremonies

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE • NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2001 17