#113, In Practice, May/June 2007

healthy land. sustainable future.

May / June 2007 January / February 2006

Number 113 Number 105

Holistic Management in Australia

www.holisticmanagement.org www.holisticmanagement.org

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

AUSTRALIA

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rural New South Wales. The new office will he new year saw the founding of a new serve as the central contact point for enquiries, non-profit organization to take the distribution of materials and coordination of growth and development of Holistic training and other activities. HMI/A will act as Management to the next level in this the main marketing and promotion center for the country. Holistic Management International/ Australian Educators. We have developed an Australia (HMI/A) was established in January Australia specific logo consistent with that of HMI with the purpose “To spread the awareness and to advance the global promotion of the brand. practice of Holistic Management in Australia.”

Most energy in this initial phase will be The local Australian Certified Educator group directed towards reaching more farmers, graziers recognized the need for such an entity to and land managers and working with groups and effectively coordinate activities and send a clear organizations, which have the message to the community common goal of working to that they are united in their commitment to Over 6,000 people have been regenerate land and rural To achieve this, achieve their purpose. introduced to the principles communities. we have developed a range of The organization and the of Holistic Management products consistent with the structure established needs of the different groups, were developed to meet with approximately established a website, these collectively 5,000,000 hectares www.holisticmanagement.org.au identified needs.

We are fortunate to (12,500,000 acres) of land and are aiming to have a number have some of the most of on-farm demonstration sites now being managed experienced Educators in established across the country by holistically. the network operating in the the end of the year. The current region. Since Bruce Ward network of support groups will be and Brian Marshall first expanded and coordinated with brought Holistic Management to Australia in the aim to connect and continue to encourage a 1994, the Australian Certified Educator group greater number of practitioners. has grown to 10 highly motivated individuals The website will deliver up to date information and over 6,000 people have been introduced to on planned training and promotional activities, the principles of Holistic Management with profile the local Certified Educators and provide approximately 5,000,000 hectares (12,500,000 stories on how Holistic Management has helped acres) of land now being managed holistically. many Australians transform their lives, their HMI/A is committed to provide support to the land and their bank balance. The on-farm Educators and practitioners alike and continue sites will provide the opportunity for people to work to increase awareness of Holistic to attend annual field days to see and Management across the country. Additionally, experience Holistic Management in action.

Peter Holter, Chief Operating Officer of HMI in With the full support of all at HMI and the USA, will sit on the Board of Directors of the collective local Educator group, the new HMI/A to help support the new Australian effort organization is well on the way to creating an in every way. exciting future for Holistic Management in The HMI/A head office is located in Guyra, in Australia.

In 1994, Holistic Management came to Australia and it has grown in leaps and bounds since. The story of Chris and Margot Wright of “yerra binda” on page eight is the story of many Australians learning how to improve the health and productivity of the land and take agriculture to the next level in Australia.

FEATURE STORIES Eden Hope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Jason Virtue

Dark Clouds Have Silver Linings . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 George Gundry

A New Approach to Managing Roadsides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Brian Marshall

“yerra binda” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Judi Earl

LAND & LIVESTOCK Tussock Jumper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 John King

Reaping Free Sunshine & Dollars— Holistic Grazing Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Jim Howell

Getting the Most from Your Pastures . . . . . . . .17 Brian Wehlburg

NEWS & NETWORK Certified Educators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

healthy land. sustainable future.

Eden Hope– Keeping It Flexible

by Jason Virtue

Holistic Management International works to reverse the degradation of private and communal land used for agriculture and conservation, restore its health and productivity, and help create sustainable and viable livelihoods for the people who depend on it.

FOUNDERS Allan Savory

Jody Butterfield

STAFF Shannon Horst, Executive Director Peter Holter, Chief Operating Officer Bob Borgeson, Director of Finance, Accounting and Administration Jutta von Gontard, Director of Development Constance Neely, International Training Programs Director Craig Leggett, Director of Learning Sites Ann Adams, Managing Editor, IN PRACTICE and Director of Educational Products and Outreach Kelly Bee, Accountant Maryann West, Executive Assistant Donna Torrez, Customer Service Manager Marisa Mancini, 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 Andrea Malmberg 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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ow many of you would be willing to give up 60 percent of your income almost overnight, even if you knew it was what you needed to do to address a quality of life logjam? Such was the decision, Glenn and Therese Bunter and their children faced on their farm, Eden Hope.

Glenn was born and raised on his parent’s dairy farm next door to Eden Hope, which he purchased in 1987. Their farm is approximately 63 ha (159 acres) and is located in southeast Queensland, Australia. The climate is one of cool, dry winters and hot, humid and wet summers.

Rainfall is approximately 1000 mm (40 inches), mostly between November and May. Glenn and Therese learned about Holistic Management in 2000 when Certified Educator Brian Marshall conducted an eight-day program in Gympie at a time when the dairy industry was going through many changes. With Holistic Management, and organic production and biodynamics, Glenn and Therese have successfully weathered those changes in farming while keeping a close eye on quality of life.

Going Organic The dairy industry was deregulated in 2000 (a change that had been evident for at least 10 years). Both Glenn and Therese could see that some big changes were about to happen in the industry. With this in mind, they set about deciding how to handle this change. At this time they did consider actions such as closing the dairy and selling the farm or keeping the land and having beef instead of dairy cattle. They also thought of each getting a job in town and having the farm as a second income—Therese as an early childhood educator and Glenn as an automotive spray painter.

Instead, they came up with the idea of going organic. Their primary thinking behind this move was: 1) A fully organic product would create a niche market and help them cope with the changes brought about by deregulation.

2) Glenn was a having health problems from the chemicals used on the farm.

3) They wanted to improve the land and animal health and lower cost of production.

As a dairy farmer, Glenn was always looking at how he could do things better and make his farming enterprise more efficient and less expensive. They understood that when done

The Eden Hope label. correctly organic farming is much less expensive for more and better production.

Glenn and Therese began the process of converting their farm in late 1998, becoming organic in conversion in 1999 and achieving full organic status in 2002. Even though they thought someone would want their milk once they were certified organic, they had no idea of, or a defined plan of, how they would turn their milk into dollars or what their enterprise would look like.

Community Cowherd In early 2002 the Bunters attended a talk given by Sally Fallon from The Weston Price Foundation. Sally spoke of the benefits of raw foods, traditional diets, and the needs in the community for foods that are more nutritious and people friendly. Glenn and Therese saw the opportunity to direct market their soon to be organic products to meet a community need.

Brisbane is the state capital of Queensland with a population of over 1 million people about 150 km (90 miles) south of where Glenn and his family live. Each Sunday since 1999 there has been an organic-only produce market held in the suburb of Windsor. In July 2003 Glenn and Therese were invited to participate in this market as the only suppliers of raw milk. This invitation resulted in two days of frenetic activity to put a legal structure in place that would allow them to distribute their product to the public.

They found a unique way to comply with state laws that outlaw the sale of raw milk to people for

consumption. They adopted an arrangement as a way of managing the milk flow. When they once a day milking because Glenn had a back where people could buy a share in the cowherd. returned to once a day milking they began to injury, which limited the number of hours he This arrangement gave people access to the herd’s could work despite the demands of the enterprise. leave about 30 calves in the herd on the cows. production in return for paying a boarding and In November 2005, one customer who had And while Therese and Glenn’s two sons were management fee. A fee of $3.30 gave the been taking 1,500 quarts/liters a week stopped helping out where they could, there was just not shareholders two quarts/liters of raw milk with purchasing the Bunter’s milk. Glenn and Therese enough labor for the work required. no limit to shares purchased. immediately reduced the cows feed ration from The Bunters were aware that with once a day As a result of offering their product to people 4kg (9 lbs) of a grain and meal ration to 1kg milking, your volume production falls, but the just via the organic food market, the Bunters had (2.2lbs). This reduction in supplements reduced quality of milk solids actually increases, when a shareholder base of approximately 300 people the milk output from each cow. They still had compared to milking twice a day. Likewise, the within about three months. Their more milk that their human customers enterprise was distributing about 1,000 wanted, so there was more milk for the quarts/liters of raw milk a week, which pigs and the few calves they are keeping at the time represented about one day’s and raising as replacement animals. production out of seven.

Tough Calls Near the end of 2003, a change in state law stopped the distribution of the In mid 2005, because of the workload milk via the markets. However, they of both operating the farm and direct began distributing the milk from one marketing the milk, they decided to stop shareholder’s home in Brisbane. The milk supplying milk to the markets. Their was delivered to their home on a set day week consisted of travelling to and from from which all the shareholders collected the markets two days a week, bottling all their orders. of the milk themselves, and operating the As word spread about their product, farm with a herd of 100 cows, 30 calves, their customer base began to grow with and 40 pigs. Glenn was experiencing people making cheese, ice cream, and fatigue and was doing all the farm work. yogurt with the Bunters’ milk as well as His sons Trent and Dean were both other bottlers purchasing Eden Hope milk Glenn, Therese and workers at market, serving the hundreds concentrating on their high school for their milk label. These avenues helped of loyal customers who have not balked at price increases, studies. Therese was managing the house even out milk flow. and all of the paper work involved in a recognizing the value of the Bunters’ product.

In October 2004, state law changed farming operation. When their daughter again. They were able to begin distributing via the quantity of feed given to the cows above what the Ariel was born and they had difficulty finding markets again. In addition to the Brisbane market pasture provides is reduced as the cows are not people to help bottle the milk for the markets, on Saturday, they were now also distributing each being pushed for more production. Because the they decided to stop that enterprise.

Sunday at the Gold Cost, a tourist city of about Glenn travelled to the markets and explained cows are not being pushed, they generally have 500,000, 2.5 hours south of Gympie. to all the shareholders why they were stopping for better body condition and, therefore, better herd As a result of inquiries from their customers, the foreseeable future. All of the stakeholders were health. The machinery in the milking parlor is the Bunters started a small, two-sow pig herd. very supportive of the Bunters putting the family used less so there is less maintenance. Moreover, The pork enterprise came about as a way to utilize the people spend less time working in the form of first, and the customers could still source the milk excess milk and spoilt feed. No household waste either by travelling personally to the farm or milking and feeding and there is better effluent is fed to these pigs. Even putting excess milk creating a group to purchase the milk together. management. As the cows are only in the parlor through the pigs and selling it as pork, they were Glenn and Therese had assessed their situation once a day, more cow poo and urine is deposited still earning about three times as much money and used their holisticgoal to make this decision. out on the pasture rather that on the floor of the from the milk that the pigs consumed as they In testing the decision, they realized that selling milk parlor. The cows are still moved twice a day, would get for the milk if they sold it to the coop at the markets was not taking them in the a fresh paddock after the morning milking and a as they used to do. In this way the pigs were also direction of their holisticgoal. What makes their fresh paddock for the evening and night. a very effective way to utilize any surplus milk. decision particularly impressive is that the Their first try of once a day milking was markets represented 60 percent of their income, successful. However, the drought though the One-A-Day Milking yet they were genuinely happy and positive about winter in 2004 saw them go back to twice a day the decision they made. To date, they believe milking, mainly because of the demand for their Their enterprise now required Glenn and they have, in fact, lost most of the customers who milk. Also, the cows were getting two rations of Therese to manage the production and storage of the daily flow of milk. When they were producing grain a day to keep them in good condition. They they did supply at the markets. This represented milk for the milk co-op back in the ‘90s, the co-op went back to once a day milking in October 2004. about $10,000 in income a month. How many businesses can lose 60 percent of their business In this way the Bunters built flexibility into would take all the milk that they produced no their herd management and the export of milk off in two days and be happy that it is the right questions asked. With bottling and distributing course of action to take? the farm. They can mix and match parts of the their own product themselves, there was no way Since that decision, they began supplying enterprise to the demand for milk. When they to turn the excess milk into dollars. It was a case stopped going to the markets in July 2005, they of sell it or smell it. continued on page 4 began to leave the calves with the cows in the herd In mid 2003 they decided to experiment with N u m b e r 113

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Eden Hope

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about 400 quarts/liters of raw milk a week to a local group of shareholders. They bottle 1,000 quarts/liters on Mondays for a market on Tuesday about 50km (30 miles) away. A smaller market about 25km (15 miles) away consumes about 300 quarts/liters a week of raw milk. They have 1,200 quarts/liters a week via the “Eden Hope” label, and they are feeding more pigs, which consume about 1000 quarts/liters a week. The calves that stay in the cowherd individually consume about 5 quarts/liters of milk a day, and the daily ration of grain and meal supplements to the cows has been reduced, as Glenn now has a rough idea how much milk they need each week. In this way, they now plan the milk flow, rather than just push the cows for all the milk they can give. Working with the local bottling and processing plant, Glenn and Therese plan to over time increase the products from their farm under the “Eden Hope” label.

In the space of four years, this family has gone from a conventionally managed land and livestock base, supplying one customer (the coop) at a price set by the state government to producing and supplying raw and pasteurized milk to over 150 customers—over 1,000 at their peak in 2004— while producing fully organic dairy beef and pork.

They accomplished this while earning the price they used to get, with a growing family, increasing the health and diversity in the land, plants, animals, and themselves—in an industry where most saw no future. They also added to the local economy by employing a local woman who milked the cows three mornings a week.

When the Grass Doesn’t Grow But in January 2007 Glenn and Therese decided to close their dairy operation for six to 12 months for the following reasons: • The entire southeast part of the state of Queensland had been experiencing below average rainfall for the past three years; the last meaningful rains were November 2005.

This meant a major drop in grass production.

• While they had the ability to irrigate, the amount of irrigation water available to them had been limited.

• Until mid 2006, the herd was working as a once a day (morning) milking operation.

As winter 2006 came to a close and spring was staying dry, the decision was made to provide the replacement heifers and the dry cows with a morning and evening grain ration to help keep them in good condition.

• As the cattle on this farm are managed as one herd this meant getting the milkers in as well, so the decision was made to return to twice a day milking.

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The Eden Hope bottling facility.

• Since November 2005 the price of certified organic feed grain has risen from $250.00 per ton to $770.00 per ton.

The increase in the cost of production, caused largely by the drought, and the amount of work for the time available were the two factors prompting the decision to have a break for the dairy for a while.

After making the decision to close, Glenn had found a farmer who was willing to lease the herd so when conditions improved they could get their cows back and resume milking at home and begin again.

When the herd share shareholders and the CSA they sold milk to found out that they were closing, there was an overwhelmingly positive response from people with offers of support of all kinds—proof of the brand loyalty that Glenn and Therese had developed over the last seven years. No other dairy farm in a state of over four million people produces a certified organic and biodynamic raw and pasteurized milk.

Within two weeks of the decision to close, four inches of rain over two weeks changed the situation—as did the repeated offer of assistance from the CSA and the raw milk customers.

So as of March 2007 Glenn and Therese decided to keep the dairy open. They reduced the size of the herd to a much more comfortable 80 head, down from 120 lactating cows. They were able to use this reduction as an opportunity

to get rid of all the undesirable cows and keep those that Glenn considered the best cows for their farm. They plan to keep this herd size. After explaining to all of their milk customers why a price raise was necessary, they increased the price of the raw milk by 25 cents per liter ($1.12 AUS per gallon) in early February. This price increase did not meet any customer resistance; despite coming after a 20 cent per liter increase in September 2006. With the reduction in the herd size and the rain, grain usage fell from three tons to one ton per week—providing an immediate positive benefit to their bottom line.

The CSA wants Glenn to keep the dairy going as almost all of their members are buying either the raw or labelled pasteurized milk. Plans are well advanced to install a cold room so that the milk is available at the CSA distribution center all the time.

The current plan for the future is: • The greatest emphasis on the production and promotion of their label milk • Continue with raw milk • Continue with veal calves (as a milk flow management tool first and income from veal second) • No more pigs, as they are just too costly on time • A share farming family taking over the day to day management of the farm • The possibility of some milk going for

yogurt to a local yogurt maker • Excess milk going to their bottler for his product • The possibility of organic butter and cream As Glenn and Therese review their holisticgoal, their strategic plan is to be semi-retired in five years with the farm running itself, using two full time workers and other self-sufficient enterprises as part of the whole. They want to do no more than one full day on the farm so they can spend more time focusing on marketing their products.

As they look to the future and the challenges it may bring—increasing land prices versus land values, increasing demand for their product, a growing family, changing careers, getting older,

a growing local community, and the urbanization of farming areas—they know they need to keep refining their holisticgoal and testing actions and decisions towards it.

Therese and Glenn say that if it weren’t for Holistic Management they would not be farming today. Until they had written their holisticgoal on paper, they felt that they were not going anywhere.

As soon as they committed it to paper, things started to happen, and their lives began to change for the better.

Jason Virtue is a Certified Educator who lives in Gympie, Queensland. He can be reached at: 61-7-5483-5155 or jason@spiderweb.com.au

Liam fast asleep in the barn.

Dark Clouds Have Silver Linings

by George Gundry

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t would be safe to say, but risky to spell, that Mount Allianoyaniga provides a majestic backdrop to Willeroo. This typically rounded Australian peak, which takes on a blue haze of eucalyptus in the shimmering heat of a 35-degree Celcius (91 F) January day, is 3,000 feet above sea level and situated atop the Great Dividing Range. Walk into its bushland and you’ll be entranced by the tranquillity within, away from the frenzied wind that rushes up from the dry bed of Lake George, or Werriwa as it is known by the indigenous population. But that hushed calm can be instantly broken by the sudden raucous screech of hundreds of sulphur crested Cockatoos, taking fright and flight. The watchdogs of the bush!

The majority of Willeroo itself is not bushland. Far from it! It was my forbears who converted the grassy woodland with a ring-barking axe to one of a bland windswept landscape. The typical cycles of droughts, rabbits, and erratic commodity prices have put great pressures on this fragile entity over the years. However, there is change in this frenzied wind—lights going on all over the place, in the paddocks, in the office and home, but not without periods of despair and dark clouds.

March to May, with slow growth occurring during the winter. Dry land Lucerne (alfalfa) provides much needed high protein summer forage for young livestock, which up until 2006/2007 always managed to grow without rain, sourcing moisture from a water table 5-6.5 meters (15 to 20 feet) below.

For 98 years, sheep and wool production were the main enterprises, as we ran up to 13,000 Dry Sheep Equivalents. I devoted 26 years to a commercial 20 micron Merino sheep flock, spending many years selecting carefully for fleece weight, fineness and constitution.

In the Jaws of OJD In 1995, the incurable Ovine Johnes Disease (OJD) was ‘discovered’ in Australia, in a Merino flock some 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Willeroo.

Controversy abounded soon after, with claim and counterclaim that the disease had been in the country all the time, but that didn’t worry me. I considered it someone else’s problem! That was until May 16, 1996, when a

A Land of Wombats & Echnidas My wife, Erica, and I operate Willeroo, this 2,000-ha (5,000-acre) grazing property in the southern Tablelands of New South Wales, which has been in the family since 1894. We have one daughter, Charlotte, and two sons, Henry and Edward, all of whom have careers in agriculture or the environment.

The Willeroo soils are predominately granite, with gentle undulation to the shores of Lake George. Native grass species include Themida, Microleana, Danthonia and Bothrocloa, nourished by a 700-mm (28-inch) average rainfall. Kangaroos, wombats, echidnas and deadly Tiger snakes abound as does a diverse range of bird life. A visitor to Willeroo will be awakened by either the gentle warble of the Magpies or the deafening clarion of those White Cockatoos.

Extensive shelter belt trees have been established since 1984 to reforest this bland, harsh landscape. Roughly 75 percent of the land is arable, of which 1,100 ha (2,750 acres) has been sown to introduced pasture species such as phalaris, fescue and rye grass. There are potentially two distinct fast growth periods in this area: In spring from September to December and

Cattle grazing is George Gundry’s silver lining after a devastating experience of Ovine Johnes Disease with his sheep herd. Holistic Management helped him find a way out. continued on page 6 N u m b e r 113

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Dark Clouds Have Silver Linings routine check of a flock of ewes identified two individuals who seemed out of sorts, at the tail of the mob, scouring a little. A lab test confirmed it was OJD—a disease causing severe emaciation, dehydration and slow lingering death. It is spread by fecal contamination of the soil, requiring months of quarantine to decontaminate. There is no cure for affected sheep.

Erica and I were devastated, thinking that our livelihood was under threat, and we felt like pariahs in the district. As a period of intense political activity about this sheep disease evolved, I became active with other sheep producers now with flocks similarly diagnosed. Much anger abounded in the community, much blame was apportioned, while losses from the disease escalated at Willeroo. Routine musters for shearing, drenching, etc. were accompanied by the euthanasia of numerous prized ewes and wethers. I refused to allow others to perform this task, but it began to wear thin after a while!

A Way Out During this bleak time, the Holistic Management principles came to the rescue. As we continued to try to figure out what to do, the Holistic Management testing questions helped us determine a way out. As we explored our options we decided to test if we could weather this period and keep the sheep or sell our sheep and buy cattle.

Cause & Effect—The problem was a dying flock. The root cause of that problem was a contaminated soil that affected the sheep but wouldn’t affect the cattle. I could not prevent new infection. Once the disease was present, a flock dispersal and 12 months quarantine were the only measure to remove it. Buying cattle would allow me to avoid the 12 months quarantine.

Social Weak Link—The family expressed sympathy towards my declining quality of life, and sadness to see well bred sheep being sold, but they were unflinching in their support of a switch to cattle as a way out of this situation.

Biological Weak Link—In this case the biological weak link pointed us to the need for a vaccination, which wasn’t available to us in Australia. The lack of this form of preventative strategy meant sheep losses would continue to occur while cattle wouldn’t be affected by the “contaminated” soil.

Financial Weak Link—The weak link in our chain of production was product conversion due to ill thrift and mortalities. Losses escalated to 12 percent in two years, on top of the normal rate of 4 percent in the ewe flock and 2 percent in the wether flock. These factors began to affect 6

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reproduction rates so there would be severe ramifications for my selection program. Healthy cattle would address this product conversion weak link.

Source of Money to purchase cattle would be the abattoir prices for the sheep, which were good. I wouldn’t need to borrow. Likewise, source of energy passed as did the use of money and energy, because this was an investment.

Marginal Reaction—I had always needed another full-time employee when running a sheep The Gundry family (from left to right, George, Henry, Edward, enterprise as time and money spent on sheep husbandry is more Charlotte, and Erica. than beef cattle. I considered that I would be able to manage a beef herd on my We now run 480 cows and only 320 sheep, own, with some casual help at branding and taking on agisted (custom grazing) cattle when drenching time. circumstances allow. For me, there are many signs Gross Profit Analysis—Of the two enterprises, that I am moving towards my goals of healthy would cattle or sheep contribute the most towards land, a profitable business and a fulfilling life (as covering overhead costs? This question was described in my holisticgoal): complicated by the need to quarantine the land • Native pastures have held up under the for 12 months before replacing the flock with pressure of enterprise change, and some exotic ‘clean’ sheep. Therefore, choosing sheep over species are in decline. Undesirable competitors cattle would mean there would be no production require less and less dollars of labor to suppress, and income for that duration. and a recent heavy rain storm has failed to fill the Sustainability—My holisticgoal stated clearly stock watering dams—an indication of an that I should be regarded as a responsible improved water cycle. community member, by not putting others at risk, • Profit has increased because maintenance and that the land should be healthy. The presence costs are considerably lower. Repairs to fences and of a disease, transferable by water, was very vehicles are down, and fodder costs have not been undesirable, and untenable, so the presence of incurred since 1991! healthy livestock (cattle) moved me towards my • Out of hardship can come renewed energy future resource base. and fresh experiences. I am certainly busier, but Society and culture—I felt crushed by the making decisions in a different way, and receiving circumstances, by the suffering of animals, and by invaluable support from Erica, Charlotte, Henry, overall stress, but the Holistic Management and Edward along the way. I am enjoying my life. process seemed to give me the confidence to The silver lining within this dark period was proceed. I had experience with cattle and looked the escape from the jaws of despondency to a new forward to expanding the enterprise. Meanwhile, era of learning and challenge. I was able to turn a anger and frustration enveloped the sheep misfortune into an opportunity, and a new self breeding community out beyond the farm gate, awareness into an entirely fresh perspective on the which meant I could concentrate my energies on role of land steward. establishing a productive beef herd.

In this period of low rainfall and possible The decision was made to disperse the flock in climate change, this story may be a never-ending favor of cattle. It took two years to do so, and I was story of living on the edge. But the heartdeeply affected by a feeling of loss during this wrenching experiences of the last decade may period. Meanwhile, more and more neighboring have provided me some powerful insight and flocks became infected. We watched from the process to survive. sidelines as grief, denial and anger came close to overwhelming some of our friends. However, I George Gundry is a Certified Educator became aware that I had come close to ‘becoming who lives in Tarago, New South Wales . what I did’ and that giving up sheep could have He can be reached at: 61-2-4844-6223 or destroyed my reason for “being.” ggundry@bigpond.net.au.

A New Approach to Managing Roadsides

by Brian Marshall

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xposure to Holistic Management changes the way you drive down the road. You just look at land differently now! You notice the variation in roadside vegetation and compare it with adjoining property over the fence. You recognize the effect of brittleness, identify plant species, overgrazed or overrested plants, the use of fire or technology (mowing or spraying), evidence of soil erosion, etc. … all at highway speed.

Knowledge of the ecosystem processes, tools to manipulate biodiversity, the brittleness scale and the carbon cycle allow us to reason why plants and soil are in a particular state and consider how this land could be “improved” if management decisions were tested toward a holisticgoal.

In the state of New South Wales, Shire Councils and Rural Land Protection Boards (RLPB) “manage” this land, and we landholders are rated and levied to pay for it. Road verges are occasionally mowed, noxious weeds are supposed to be sprayed (often the same patches year after year) and fire is rarely intentionally used as a tool.

Grazing permits are issued to owners of traveling livestock with the objectives of walking animals to another location and/or providing grazing to livestock along the “stock routes” in times of feed shortage. Widespread, prolonged drought in Eastern Australia has again forced thousands of cattle and sheep onto our stock routes, but this land is not being managed holistically.

Human induced climate change is finally in the news. People are debating the merits of carbon credits and trading. Sound grassland management is being promoted and recognized as effective carbon sequestration. If the symptoms of declining biodiversity were better understood, and the tools of grazing, animal impact and rest applied to reverse the predominant partial and total resting of plants and soil on roadsides everywhere, a valuable community resource could be much better utilized and the expenses of local bureaucracy greatly reduced. RLPB’s and Shire Councils could even make some money and demonstrate to the traveling public an example of, and commitment to, Holistic Management.

We could effectively manage the roads of any local government area by creating a policy that positively recognizes community, profit and healthy land, and how the roadsides offer an opportunity to create those things we want. In brief, the key components of this policy would be: • Livestock needing to utilize public roads

440 cattle grazing roadside verge outside Brian’s property.

must conform to a grazing plan for the shire road network.

• Owners of stock wishing to use the roads must pay to join the herd (or “mob”) and accept compulsory electronic tagging as primary ownership identification. Management tags, fire brands and/or paint branding could assist identification. The agistment (or “custom grazing”) rate is varied by the Shire in order to always attract sufficient stock numbers to adequately manage roadside under varying seasonal conditions.

• The mob must be maintained at high density. Drovers who could be contractors or Council staff, the owners of the livestock (or employees), receive some training and have ownership in the Shire’s or RLPB’s holisticgoal or the objectives of the policy. Two people, plus a few good dogs and some portable electric fencing, could handle a large mob most of the time.

• Water (and nutritional supplement if required) would be moved with the mob in a shire water truck, which could be fitted with bolt-on or towable steel water trough(s). Overnight temporary fencing and water could be planned using all the factors of a well developed grazing plan, plus an evolving future land plan that facilitates large numbers of livestock regularly grazing roadsides. Provision of stock water for filling trucks and overnight enclosures would be a priority.

• Road use regulations must be revised and implemented by the Roads & Traffic Authority so traffic gives way to this mob at all times.

Warning signs, flashing lights and enforced reduced speed limit signs must be appropriately positioned and moved.

• Only one or two large mobs would be on the road in the whole shire. The livestock are generally quiet after a few days—particularly at high density with good planning providing

feed and water.

• Adjoining landholders along roadsides would be obligated to maintain fences. Drovers would check gates, tape off entry ramps (cattle guards), etc.

This plan could work, and we would save a great deal of government money while providing additional opportunities for profit. Moreover, the roadsides would be in better health. But it is critical that we demand this kind of service at the grassroots. Ask your shire, county or local government area officials to consider this option.

If you are a livestock producer, volunteer your services so that others can see how such an enterprise serves everyone—and makes the roadside verge something of which to be proud.

Brian Marshall is a Certified Educator who lives near Guyra, New South Wales.

He can be reached at: 61-2-6779-1927 or bkmrshl@bigpond.com

On right side of fence, cattle have grazed a roadside verge at high animal impact.

This type of treatment could actually improve land health unlike herbicide spraying.

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“yerra binda”– New Growth in New South Wales

by Judi Earl

I

n the language of the local Aborigines, the Kamilaroi people, “yerra binda” means new growth, and has truly represented a new beginning for Chris and Margot Wright. The Wright family was one of the first to settle in this region of Northeastern New South Wales, and Chris, the fourth generation to uphold this tradition, has a strong bond with the landscape, heritage and community. Both Chris and Margot work in conjunction with their neighbors to share resources and exchange ideas, but it wasn’t until they really began practicing Holistic Management that they were able to step outside the conventional management box and focus on long-term sustainability.

A History of Understocking “yerra binda” was originally part of their larger family property comprising almost 2,000 ha (4,940 acres) on which Chris had been managing cattle and sheep for 34 years. In 1999, a decision to downsize resulted in selling part of this land and re-investing in off-farm property.

As owners of “yerra binda,” an 894-ha (2,208-acre) property, the Wrights have been running cattle on 650ha (1,606 acres) of its rolling hills at a 1,233 m (4,070 ft) elevation, receiving 813 mm (32 inches). Some 500 ha (1,235 acres) was previously sown to introduced species and 150 ha (371 acres) is predominantly native country.

Ten years ago, the property was divided into 13 paddocks, but prior to this, the area was continually grazed by livestock. Under the current situation, with the use of temporary fencing, there is now potential to have up to 100 subdivision paddocks. For a 25 year period from the 1970s, the stocking rate ranged from 8 and 9 DSE (Dry Sheep Equivalent)/ha at its highest, to 3.5 DSE/ha at its lowest, during the severe drought of the 1980s. The stocking rate during 2004-2005 was between 4.5 and 5 DSE/ha, equivalent to 1 SAU/3 ha (1 SAU/ 7.5 acres), which represents significant understocking. Chris conservatively estimates that the property could easily carry 7.5 to 8 DSE/ha (1 SAU/5 acres) annually.

With this year’s excellent growth conditions, pasture production improved and the stocking rate has increased to 14 DSE/ha (1 SAU/2.3 acres). Ultimately, with the current annual average rainfall, the potential stocking rate for 8

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“yerra binda” is closer to 20 DSE/ha (1 SAU/1.88 acres).

Time for a Change Chris and Margot have always been interested in conservation issues and were becoming increasingly concerned with the level of tree decline and the loss of native vegetation. Although realizing the need to change the way they managed the land, they were still firmly rooted in the high performance, high chemical input, pasture paradigm. After attending a presentation

by Allan Savory in 1994, they began considering a new way of management. In 1995, Chris completed the first Holistic Management training program in Australia, but it still took a few years for them to wean themselves from their previous approach to land management.

High applications of fertilizer applied annually were producing good short-terms results, and with the absence of monitoring they were unable to assess the benefit or otherwise of their management. However, the economic returns were not as good as expected as pasture development and fertilizer remained the major component of their expense budget. Even with increased awareness of the perils of overgrazing, pastures were still not adequately used and so the expected potential production was not being achieved. Some neighbors practicing conventional methods also created added pressure and doubts, particularly where those who had claimed that Holistic Management was a silver bullet were not getting the improvements they had expected.

It was only when they had refined their holisticgoal and gained proficiency in testing their decisions that Chris and Margot began to realize the extent of the detrimental effect of their conventional management on the long-term sustainability of “yerra binda.” This process also highlighted that they were not producing the social and economic outcomes they wanted either.

Their life was tied to the land with little time for recreation, family, and friends. The inconsistency of farming income created high levels of stress and constant cash-flow problems.

But they saw results in the drought of 2002.

Rain fell at last and provided sufficient runoff to fill all the neighbors’ dams almost overnight.

However, the high levels of ground cover and the increased infiltration of water into the soil profile at “yerra binda” meant that most of their dams

Margot and Chris in their organic garden, which provides them herbs and vegetables at the door. remained at lower levels. Within days their ‘high input’ neighbors experienced severe toxic algal blooms in almost every dam on their properties.

At “yerra binda”, the water in dams remained clear and clean with no algal blooms. In fact, several neighbors asked to place stock on agistment on their property.

Profitable Infrastructure Critical to the successful implementation of holistically planned grazing was a large project to establish a water reticulation system, to enable the aggregation of stock. In the initial stages of planning and sub-dividing paddocks, Chris quickly identified that the weak link was going to be water quality if dams were to provide the water. During a two-year period, Chris installed the first phase of the watering system across two thirds of “yerra binda.”

Water was reticulated across the property from tanks located on high points on the property. The water was pumped to the tanks and gravity fed to specific lines. Risers located at strategic intervals enabled portable troughs to be plugged into the line to supply stock at points across the property.

The performance criteria was that the volume of delivery should be such that eight cows drinking from a three-meter (yard) trough at the end of the line at the same time should never be able to empty it. This provided a great deal of flexibility in the placement of temporary electric fences.

The 13 paddocks that originally existed were subdivided over a six-year period into the 30 permanent paddocks of today. Within each paddock, semi-permanent single electric wire fence is used to confine stock to smaller areas

the time walking in the bush. Even the farm dogs have become redundant! There are no emotional ties to the current herd and once the critical date is reached stock are sold.

Through identifying the desire for a stable cash flow in their holisticgoal, they decided to buy two investment properties. This has resulted in more off-farm income and mitigated the impact of the vagaries of the animal market.

Pasture Improvement The annual sale of weaner cattle provides With the adoption of holistic planned grazing, a lump sum income and the distribution is carefully planned through out the year. They have plant density and diversity improved quickly and also taken a tempered approach to increasing dramatically. There has also been an increase in stock numbers. The current lower stocking rates desirable perennial grasses as well as red and have been justified by zero inputs, provided that white clover. Feed utilization has improved and the resources base is not adversely affected. can be managed far more effectively using the Chris and Margot credit their practice of temporary fencing.

Holistic Management with reducing input costs by around 70 percent.

While annual income has reduced by around 15 percent, largely due to “yerra binda” being understocked, profit has increased significantly and credits in the farm forage bank (what Chris calls his practice of leaving residual pasture and soil building activities) have risen dramatically in the past ten years.

Chris and Margot’s perceptions Reduction of Work Load have changed dramatically since their initial training when they realised how “yerra binda” is primarily a detrimental their previous approach breeding cattle operation, where the to land management had been, and sale of all weaner calves in April ensures Strategic placement of the water trough allows the use of animal the impact that had on the social and annual turnover. As the land improves, impact to control isolated patches of less desirable species. economic aspects of their life. The they may eventually move to feeder More than 500 head had been watering here for 2 days. greatest change has been the way in steers. But with the current cost of which they now view the primary function of Prior to their Holistic Management training, cattle, it is not economically viable at present. grazing animals—as land improvers!

Chris and Margot had initiated the formation The aim has been to minimize input cost at all The process of change has also altered of Wongwibinda Landcare Group for the purpose times. In 2005 a total 250 head of weaners were sold at an average weight of 390 kgs (858lbs). This of controlling the spread of Matrush (Lomandra paradigms, allowed freedom for lateral thinking and given them the confidence to move away filiformis). At the time, there were only two represents an average daily weight gain of almost from the influence of conventional thinking. solutions—chemical or mechanical. However, 1.3 kg/head/day. Chris reckoned these were the They feel one of the greatest advantages of Holistic when their thinking changed, so did their best weaners ever produced on “yerra binda”!

Management is the wide range of interest it management, with the result that the Matrush is The July/August calving period ensures stimulates when new and exciting possibilities being replaced with desirable grasses and clover. problems such as Akabane (an arboviral disease are explored.

Monitoring pastures has provided Chris and spread by Culicoides midges) and Infectious They realize that Holistic Management is not Margot with an insight into just how dynamic Keratoconjunctivitis (known colloquially as the silver bullet they first thought it was and nature really is. Their awareness and ‘pink-eye’) are avoided. The movement of stock that their life management will require constant understanding of the importance of the four slows right down from autumn until October planning, monitoring, controlling, and ecosystem processes to the function and and stock are then run at increased density replanning to achieve the results they want. productive potential of their land is always with shorter recovery periods during the summer However, they are dedicated to improving the improving, and they are constantly looking for period to maximize plant recovery and animal overall health and species diversity of their indications of change and areas which may performance. resource base and continue to work creatively require specific attention. They have realized Holistic grazing planning has also reduced to achieve this. Already they are thrilled to be the value of working with nature, and destructive the workload and the stress associated with feed seeing the significant biological improvement practices such as cultivation and herbicide shortages. Although stock are moved frequently, and take pride in the fact that their decisions application have ceased. they are easily managed and Chris and Margot and actions have made this possible. are spending more time away from the farm.

Stabilizing Cash Flow They can leave friends and family to blow the Judi Earl is a Certified Educator who lives whistle and move the animals. Instead of When Chris and Margot sold off part of the endlessly chipping thistles, they are leaving their original family farm, there was some concern that in Guyra, New South Wales. She can be reached at: judi@holisticmanagement.org.au. animals to do that work for them, and enjoying “yerra binda” might not be financially viable. and within these, electric tape may be used as required to increase stock density, improve pasture utilization, and provide greater flexibility and control of the grazing process. With the tape, the paddock division may be constructed in about 20 minutes using the system set up on Chris’ quad bike. The fencing arrangement is also flexible and can be adapted to seasonal conditions.

In conjunction with their neighbors and Wongwibinda Landcare Group, Chris and Margot have initiated a project to link the catchments on their respective properties. Their desire to create wildlife corridors has been reflected in their Land Plan. Since that time, 14,000 trees have been planted and 4 km (2.4 miles) of riparian area has been fenced to better control stock movement. Another 70 ha (173 acres) has been fenced to connect remnants and control stock. Another 240 ha (592 acres) lies within the Guy Fawkes National Park and is home to a number of endangered species.

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& Tussock Jumper–

Custodian of a Diverse Landscape

by John King

N

ew Zealanders seldom consider history when making decisions about their land, but that’s not the case for Edward and Penny Aitken. In New Zealand, a tussock jumper is another word for cowboy or jackaroo, and the Aitkens are about the greenest tussock jumpers you’ll find—green in that they care deeply about the health of the land. They aren’t the only ones with an eye on their land.

Edward reports, “Farming activities are being increasingly scrutinized by councils and the public in general. Farmers have to justify the sustainability of their operations.” So the challenge they face is the public perception that grazing is bad for the iconic tussock grassland they manage.

But, their activities prove grazing can benefit the tussocks while maintaining a profitable farming operation.

per night.

In 1999 the Aitkens started the mussel farm in partnership with a business friend. It initially involved a shoreline survey, to ensure it wouldn’t upset local wildlife, and weekly testing of the water for sanitation reasons.

The shellfish feed on the rich ocean currents that sweep around the Peninsula. Harvesting involves a comprehensive regime of testing for bacteria, heavy metals, bio-toxins, and phytoplanktons as mandated by the European Economic Community and United States Food & Drug Administration guidelines. The export mussels go all over the world, including the U.S. Craigforth overwinters 3,800 high performance Romney ewes, 900 ewe hoggets, and around 600 mainly Angus cattle. Their stock manager, Reagan Senior, oversees much of the day to day operation of the farm.

Diversity of Over the past 3-4 years the ewes have lambed Property & Enterprises around 140 percent, an effort they are happy Edward and Penny own and operate with—but they have their sights set on 150 Craigforth, an 1,100-ha (2,750-acre) hill percent. Calving is about 95 percent. They country property near the coastal village of usually sell store lambs early summer, and Pigeon Bay on the northern coast of Banks this season they successfully tried an on-farm Peninsula, an hour east from Christchurch. sale in November 2006 in which they sold a The property covers a range of brittleness. third of their lambs. “It was to take advantage Edward Aitken—tussock jumper.

Rainfall measures 850mm (34 inches) at the of higher prices on the early market and Holmes Bay homestead (sea level) and the higher parts of the property to help de-stock the property,” says Edward. drops to 500mm (20 inches) at the point country on the coast, a distance of The extreme climatic variability, coupled with the hilly landscape, 8 kilometers (5 miles). The property suffers from drying northwest winds makes Craigforth a fickle property. Management focuses on capturing the creating brittle northern slopes prone to erosion and sour southern slopes whirlwind of spring growth before destocking rapidly to cope with the where native bush is regenerating. There are two Queen Elizabeth II Trust summer dry. The Catch 22 is the brittle northern hill faces. These pastures covenants covering 12 ha (30 acres) of remnant Matai (Black Pine) forest. need the most attention, but are great lambing areas because they shelter Edward’s grandfather, a stock market and insurance broker, bought the stock from strong southerly storms in the spring. two original farm blocks in 1939 and 1944. Over the next 50 years Edward Few supplements are used. However, small amounts of hay and balage and his father, Bill, added three adjacent properties to the farm, making it are in reserve, and some barley if required for some sheep. There is no hay or one of three left in Holmes Bay. The farm has around 80 paddocks, and they silage-making machinery or any medium-sized tractors. This season they will divide some blocks (cells) further until the property has 90. The average wrapped some balage, but the property is generally unsuitable for making paddock size is around 14 ha (35 acres). Other commercial enterprises hay or silage, and it is expensive transporting it to the farm. Other than utes include a 30-ha (75-acre) marine Green Lipped Mussel farm on the shore of (pickup), the largest machine Edward has on the property is a 1950s grey Craigforth and rent from a coastal cottage retreat starting at NZ$80 for two TEA tractor with all of 30 horsepower.

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Stirring the Top Story Droughts greatly influence Craigforth’s performance, and these events can happen every four years in 10. The drought of 88/89 brought home the reality of their situation, as the business didn’t make money for two years.

The pasture damage hampered production into the ‘90s when prices were low and the Aitkens began questioning the performance of the business.

“We had stagnated. Profits were low, and we needed outside help to stir the top story,” as Edward puts it.

From 2000 till 2003, they hosted the local Monitor Farm Program, a New Zealand wide programme that provides a community focal point for conventional progressive farming. Edward enjoyed the robust discussion and wealth of ideas the opportunity brought. They began investing in pasture and cranked up their operation by direct drilling the 120 ha (300 acres) flatter contours of the hills with mixed herbal pastures including sub clover, white clovers, chicory, AR1 ryegrasses (no endophyte), cocksfoot, and tall fescue.

On the drier northern country they increased the tall fescue; on the shady southern slopes they planted more ryegrass. At a cost of NZ$400/ha (US$113/acre), they returned $1,000/ha ($283/acre) in their first year— an over 50% profit increase. The wintering carrying capacity on the developed paddocks rose from 6 NZSU/ha (1.2 SAU/acre) to 20 NZSU/ha (4 SAU/acre), tripling the productivity over the winter months. Edward believes double drilling on the driest areas would improve the coverage of plants and increase production further.

They also improved the stock water for the property. Along with three neighboring properties, they developed a community stock water system to improve stock management. Although the property has 60 stock dams, they rely on winter recharge to get through the spring and summer. Dry winters spell disaster. The water scheme strengthened their ability to utilize the increased pasture production and retain higher stock numbers in the spring, thereby stabilizing income.

Since leaving the monitor farm program they’ve wound down fertilizer inputs. The move to spreading lime in the last year has already had results, “The animals are looking much better this year,” says Edward. “The property needs 5 tonnes per hectare (2 tons per acre), but that would not be cost effective.” Like their situation with hay, the cost of transporting and applying lime is an expensive exercise, and they will concentrate their efforts on the areas with the greatest return.

Edward and Penny attended Holistic Management training with Bruce Ward in 2000. They found the course stimulating and a number of principles made sense to their operation. On country that had been set stocked for 100 years or more, the change to planning moves and thinking about recovery periods were scary leaps forward. “The hoof and tooth and spelling on light country switched on a light,” says Edward. “It was in line with what I’d been observing.”

The tussock country is a great monitoring device. Like many farmers on the Peninsula, the Aitkens noticed overgrazing tussocks led to their disappearance. Conservationists are quick to point out the impact of overgrazing in the tussock country, but are blind to the fact that cocksfoot (orchard grass) smothers tussocks when resting land from grazing. While all grasses are important for pastoral farming, the challenge is finding a balance between grazing and rest to allow the tussock grasses to thrive while making a living from the land.

The Silver Tussock The volcanic and clay soils of Banks Peninsula are highly fertile and have become home to a native New Zealand grass capable of competing with introduced species; the silver tussock. More aggressive than the smaller fescue tussock, but having finer leaves than the larger snow tussock, the silver tussock has pride and place in the Canterbury landscape.

The strong tussock grassland resulted from Polynesian burning 500-600 years ago and sheep and cattle grazing over the past 150 years. Tussocks struggled to establish on land European settlers cleared and burned. It was heavier country and suited the introduction of aggressive exotic grasses that overwhelmed the native species. In the 1850s, the fertility of Banks Peninsula spawned an industry hand harvesting cocksfoot that grew prolifically on the steep hillsides. It employed at least 500 people, and along with milling timber, was the backbone of the local economy.

This is what the tussocks look like in the strong country before grazing commences.

This is the immediate aftermath of the cows opening up the tussocks.

The silver tussock grows in an upright tuft much like a rush and creates a pedestal, lifting the crown off the ground. However, the new growth is always on the inside of the plant, therefore grazing and trampling removes much of the dead material before the plant chokes itself.

How tussock communities sustained themselves prior to arrival of Europeans is still a mystery. In 1850 Lady Charlotte Godley observed the space between the tussock crowns was bare, not because the tussocks were so dense they shaded out the sunlight, but because the few native grasses were not strong enough to compete with the tussock. Yet without grazing mammals, tussocks thrived. Fire invigorates them, and it is likely local Maori burned the tussock grasslands several times.

There are also theories suggesting that various birds similar to the Takahe, a tussock grazing ground bird found in Fiordland National Park, could have played a vital role in sustaining the tussock communities.

Large birds like the Moa could have had a trampling role and helped remove the dead leaves from the outside of the tussock.

A Tussock Grazing Regime The Aitkens divide their property into thirds; the point country on the coast has the least rainfall, the middle country has clay-based soils, and the top country is characterised by volcanic soils. The middle country is home to the strong tussock grasslands.

With the increased production, tussock management became an issue.

“With a little fertilizer and spelling, they grew, especially on the shady southern slopes where they form a canopy and block out the sun,” says Edward. When the country becomes 70 percent dominant with tussock, the canopy blocks sunlight to the soil surface and grass production drops.

“The problem isn’t that they get too thick, it’s that they get too big,” continued on page 12 N u m b e r 113

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Tussock Jumper

continued from page eleven

explains Edward. The Aitkens are looking for about 20 percent tussocks or around 1 every two square meters (yards) as this provides plenty of ground for grasses while still ensuring the sheltering benefits of the tussocks. Yet when tussocks are fenced off from grazing animals, they eventually disappear from the aggressive growth of cocksfoot. As Edward puts it, “Tussocks like a good thrashing. That’s why they survive under grazing.”

Sheep barely eat tussock, even in mobs of 2,000, and cannot be strip grazed on tussock. Electric fences readily short on dense, damp tussock. Cattle are the best tool for opening up tussock country, but they can be destructive.

They will pull the tussocks out of the ground, if they can’t chew through them, particularly when it gets dry.

The best time to use cattle as a tool on tussock country is in the winter.

To improve pasture in their strong tussock country the Aitkens winter 170 cows on four day breaks at a stock density of 85/ha (34/acre).

What they don’t eat, they trample. Trampling loosens the dead material so it can compost on the soil surface and reinvigorates the tussock.

This approach every four years maintains the numbers of tussocks, but reduces their size to allow more light on the soil surface, stimulating more grass. If they did this every year the tussocks would disappear very quickly.

Grazing for Animal Performance The top country, reaching 450m (1,500 ft), is colder and more humid than the lower coastal country. These fertile volcanic soils never needed developing through cultivation. The Atikens tend to graze this country much harder during the summer months because the soils are stronger and it has a lower brittleness than the point country. However, the top country does dry off like the point country, but later into the dry. It has a strategic role in buffering the feed supply/demand requirements.

There are three critical feed periods for the property, growing ewe lambs replacements over the summer, flushing ewes for mating mid-late summer, then feed for weaning calves into the autumn. Therefore, much of the grazing planning during the summer focuses on maintaining pasture quality and quantity at the top of the farm to achieve these goals.

The exceptional growth of the 2006-2007 summer produced high pasture covers ensuring feed well into February and March. To maintain the higher pasture cover, mobs were organized into leader/follower regimes, e.g., ewe lambs, followed by heifers, followed by adult steers or cows. The growth rates allowed a recovery time of three weeks before the lambs returned.

This regime allowed enough feed to flush the ewes for mating when they became the priority.

The cattle keep seedheads under control and maintain ryegrass in its vegetative state. They either follow behind or, if the grass is too high, graze in front of the ewe lambs. Sometimes cattle move through mobs of set stocked sheep to achieve the same outcome. The weaned calves graze the top country and then move down the farm as the winter draws closer.

The primary role of the cows is to clean up pastures over the winter to promote growth in the spring.

When ewe mating finishes in early May, the Aitkens spell all the improved pastures on the contours to recover, then strip graze with yearling cattle over the winter because these pastures have the highest quality feed. It also helps groom them for lambing in August.

Once pregnancy scanning is over, there are three ewe mobs at this time moving through other parts of the property. The ewes are loosely organized 12

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Cattle grazing tussocks at a stock density of 85/ha (34/acre).

This photo shows the effect of rest on tussock populations. The circle denotes an area where cocksfoot is out competing the tussock. This area is an old stock dam, and probably the extra fertility aids the cocksfoot's aggressiveness. into their own grazing blocks (cells) over the winter months prior to lambing and are moved during this period. If feed is tight, the adult steers fend for themselves in a block with saved feed.

They are the mob with the greatest flexibility.

Lambing occurs over three months following 17-day cycles. The first mob of 1,200 ewes lambs early July to catch spring market premiums. They go to the warmer point country near the coast. The main mob lambs in mid-August where the multiple-bearing ewes lamb on the improved pastures, whereas the singles go into the larger blocks with hillsides and gullies.

During this time, the ewe hoggets will graze the top paddocks while other lambing mobs are spread across the lower country out of the weather.

Finally, the ewe hoggets lamb in September. Most New Zealand hill country farmers set stock sheep for three months during lambing, as moving ewes with multiple lambs on hill country is too difficult.

Depending on the season, the point country is destocked over the summer months as the animals are used to maintain the pasture quality further up the farm. Sometimes during a dry summer the ewes are flushed with grain prior to mating on the point country. However, the grain feeding of ewes often damages the pasture and is a last resort.

Holistic planned grazing sensitized the Aitkens to the need for recovery periods, particularly for the brittle northern faces. “I try not to have the sheep grazing the drier slopes over the summer months,” says Edward.

“They graze the grasses too low, and we get bare soil.” Although they do not use the planning process and grazing chart, they plan their grazing with many more things in mind than before, particularly looking after the pastures and soil on the lighter point country.

The Aitkens manage a careful balance between operating a profitable farm and maintaining a Canterbury icon. Edward believes the future for them involves more fencing and water to improve pasture utilization. It will also involve more planting of riparian strips, shelterbelts, and amenity areas.

This will tie in with further expansion of their tourism business as they take advantage of their coastal situation and the diversity of their landscape.

John King is a Certified Educator and lives in Christchurch, New Zealand. He can be reached at: 64-3-338-5506 or succession@clear.net.nz.

Reaping Free Sunshine & Dollars—

Holistic Grazing Planning

by Jim Howell

R

unning livestock on grass is a complex, insatiably interesting business, and coordinating this complexity toward a clearly articulated higher end (holisticgoal) is immensely satisfying. We grapple with a myriad of variables. First and foremost, we have to be profitable. That means our livestock have to produce—which means our females have to breed back and then raise healthy calves and lambs and kids. In the process of doing all that, we have to make sure that all the breeding and birthing and gathering and selling happens in a stress free manner, which means our livestock not only have to be handled right, but have to breed and birth at the right time of the year, and on the right spot on the ranch.

And, just as critically, as ranchers and farmers, our primary input is sunshine. It is the only free lunch. As grassland managers, we are primed to capitalize on this extraordinary deal. So, not only do we need to obtain optimal performance from our livestock, we also have to orchestrate this dance to ensure plants aren’t overgrazed or overrested, bare ground is healing over, and riparian areas stay lush and healthy, thereby maximizing our capture of solar energy. If we value the huge diversity of life beyond our livestock, we have to make sure the movements of our domestic animals enhance the likelihood of survival and reproductive success of the wild species with which we share our landscapes.

And, once in a while, it’s nice to take a day off. “Getting it right” is never easy. Without Holistic Management® Grazing Planning, I wouldn’t even try.

environment in which the holistic grazing planning was originally developed, but that didn’t stop me. Again, without any entrenched habits, and without anybody telling me it “couldn’t be done,” I sat down with the grazing planning guide and forms and just did it.

And that is the theme of this article: I’ve seen folks make lots of excuses for bypassing the grazing planning procedure, especially in non-brittle environments. Reasons are many, but usually take on a ring similar to one of the following: 1) I run too many herds and it’s too hard to make all the numbers work; 2) My growing conditions change too rapidly and my plan becomes obsolete before I even get started; 3) My situation is not that complicated and the grazing planning just confuses things; 4) My situation is too complex and the grazing planning procedure is too simple to handle all my variables; 5) I know my land and don’t need a bunch of numbers telling me when to move cows; 6) I plan my grazing, but don’t use the charts.

In this article I’m going to attempt to refute these excuses and give some practical steps to help adapt the grazing planning procedure to any situation where livestock is out on the land, and hopefully illuminate how valuable holistic grazing planning can be.

As ranchers and farmers, our primary input is sunshine. It is the only free lunch.

Grazing Geek I came across Holistic Management and holistic grazing planning back when I was really young and naïve. I didn’t have any entrenched habits or deep-set paradigms. I just knew I loved both livestock and the land, and was passionate about nurturing both, but didn’t know how to do it. When I started reading about Savory and his work in the late ‘80s, and after eventually coming across the first textbook in July of 1990, I knew I’d happened across some highly useful insights—insights that, given my blank slate, I quickly took to heart.

After devouring the textbook multiple times, finishing college in New Zealand, and moving back to Colorado, I ordered the original workbook and all of the various planning sheets. By that time I was working as a lonesome cowboy on the top of a plateau in western Colorado.

My social options were limited, so I’d come back in from riding all day and study the workbook and write up make-believe grazing plans. As my wife, Daniela, likes to point out, I was a real nerd. I’ve since been referred to as a “grazing geek.” Fair enough.

By the next year, in early 1993, I had landed a job managing a grassbased dairy in east Texas, about 70 miles east of Dallas. It was a complex operation, with close to 900 cows. It was my first chance to actually create and implement real life grazing plans. This was in a non-brittle, 40-inch precipitation environment, with rainfall spread year round. Mild winters meant we could grow cool-season annual grasses and legumes from November to May, and the balance of the year was filled in by an explosion of perennial coastal Bermuda grass. It wasn’t the classic seasonal rainfall brittle

Peace of Mind First, there are some features of grazing planning, and the grazing planning chart in particular, that are extremely useful no matter what the grazing context. One is the actual layout of the chart. Vertically, we have a list of paddocks (or pastures or camps or fields, depending on your cultural proclivities), and next to these paddocks we have a column in which to list their sizes. Just getting your paddocks listed and inventoried is insightful for some of us, since we often aren’t even totally conscious of the pasture and paddock resources we have available. I was just doing this at a dairy a few months ago, where we’ve recently launched into grazing planning. Simply going through the step of sitting down with a map and listing the existing paddocks made us realize that there were more grazeable nooks and crannies (which we could count as paddocks) than we would have otherwise considered.

On the horizontal axis we have time, all the way down to narrow little columns that represent individual days. By simply writing in the months at the top of these columns (the current chart has room for 7 months, but by cutting and pasting, it’s possible to add as much time as needed, given the planning window under consideration), we immediately have a very valuable, two-dimensional chart displaying area and time.

Simply looking at your pasture and paddock inventory within the context of the coming growing season months (or dormant season months, or the following year, or whatever you want) is immediately enlightening to lots of folks. Even without taking one more step in the grazing planning process, you could now plot the movements of multiple herds across your land throughout your planning period. continued on page 14 N u m b e r 113

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Holistic Grazing Planning Compared to “imagining” how it might all work out, this simple step immediately would lend peace of mind, which is the core benefit of having area and time laid out in the first place. Instead of “hoping” you’ll get to winter (or back to spring), you would now have a plan that would show you how it could potentially all work out in time and space. And, you’d have something to monitor toward. In case it’s not working out, you know straight away and can replan accordingly. By shooting from the hip, it’s tough to know how far off the mark we are.

Of course, in the process of doing such a simple and rudimentary plan, the likelihood of accurate planning is a long ways from what it could be.

That’s where the following steps come in. Where (area) and when (time) you plan to place your animals can and should be influenced by lots of factors.

Remember, this is holistic planned grazing, and we’re interested in the integrity of the whole. Where do we have to start the season given elevation and snowpack, or location of shipping/receiving corrals, or presence of early surface water, or branding or calving needs, or early poisonous plant problems, or next month’s vacation, etc., etc.? Over the course of the planning period, when can the animals not be in certain areas or paddocks?

If you can get these sorts of considerations and events plotted down on the chart, with easy-to-decipher color-coding (again, all these things can be plotted within the dimensions of area and time), the prospect of a more workable, practical plan starts to materialize.

You now have sufficient information to start plotting moves with more intelligence. As a hypothetical example (and with the relevant information laid out on the chart), you might decide to use dormant grass in the timber early in the season before open pasture growth takes off, then move fast through the country with the ponds that dry up by June, then slow down through the best summer pastures during breeding, then go to the weaning paddock, wean and stick the weaners on the creek pasture till sale day, then go back with cows for a fall graze in the forest, then to the paddock next to the house during deer season, then back to the pond pastures after fall moisture, and then back to regrowth on the summer pastures till the snow flies.

Believe me, having all that plotted down on a grazing chart and posted on the refrigerator or office wall (wherever you’ll see it every day) will bring a lot of peace of mind. It’s a lot easier than keeping all those variables in your head. Actually, when you sit down and really think about all the factors that influence when and where your livestock need to be, it’s impossible to keep track of it all in your head.

continued from page thirteen

Improving Animal Performance But you can still do more. If you only complete the above steps before plotting moves, you’ll probably find that your grazing periods are educated guesses based on past experience or gut feel. You haven’t consciously gone through one of the most valuable steps of the grazing planning, which is rating the productivity of individual paddocks. The idea is to spread out grazing pressure uniformly between your various paddocks (thereby keeping plane of nutrition, and animal performance, as uniform as possible), staying only as long as necessary in each.

If this step isn’t completed, the chance that you’ll stay too long in the poorer pastures, or not long enough in the better pastures, increases hugely.

The result is unnecessary livestock stress and less than ideal effects on the land. This is the first step that requires a little number crunching. I’ve found that ranchers and farmers, while they might have no problem sitting down with a calculator to tally a profit or figure a return on their investment, often have an allergic reaction when asked to crunch the pasture productivity numbers.

I think this is due to the fact that deciding when and where to move livestock, for the most part and for most livestock managers, has always been considered to be in the realm of art rather than science. For some reason, there is pride in the “art” of shooting from the hip, and disdain for a little objective math. I’ve seen attention spans wane and eyes glaze over as ranchers “tediously” multiply acres times the per acre “quality rating” to get the “relative quality rating.” They ask, “Okay, what’s that number I calculated again?” I explain it’s just a number with no units that describes how good one pasture is relative to another, and frowns of skepticism usually result. Eventually, though, as we continue with the next steps in the planning, the numbers become practical again, and if I do my job right, skepticism fades and enthusiasm takes over. Instead of being a meaningless, tedious task, calculating relative quality ratings becomes fun (but, then again, I’m a grazing geek).

Making It Work for You

This is where things start to get a little more complicated. It’s not that they’re complicated, but trying to explain these next points is tough to do in black and white verse. It’s a lot easier to sit down with the grazing chart and do it for real, but I’ll try anyway. Once you have a good handle on how productive all paddocks are relative to each other, something needs to be done with these numbers, and this is where recovery periods enter the picture. A handful of simple formulas incorporate relative paddock productivities, average paddock productivity, average grazing periods, and minimum and maximum recovery periods to result in the actual grazing period for each paddock.

This is the one part of the grazing planning procedure where lots of case-specific adaptation can be done. I think that many people Sandcrest Dairy, a certified organic operation in Portales, New Mexico, is beginning to use holistic grazing get to this point, realize that they planning to ensure optimal milk production and ever-increasing ecological and animal health. do need to adapt the process to their 14

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feed doesn’t hurt us. The cows still get fat and the calves really pop. situation, but then aren’t clear how to do that, give up, and claim grazing So, in this situation, say an irrigated pasture’s grazing period (which, planning doesn’t work for them. I’ll give a few examples of what I mean again, is total days of grazing in this case) is 15 days. We’ll split that period here, but don’t expect this to be an exhaustive survey. There are potentially into 2 periods, and plan for more days in the second period than the first, lots of ways to skin this cat. Hopefully, with the following examples of how again to graze lighter early to leave the higher residual—say 6 days early, to adjust, you’ll be able to get creative and figure out how to tweak things and 9 days late. Between those two periods, we simply need to find sufficient for your own highly specific situation. If you do, it will be worth it. grazing between the balance of the irrigated paddocks and the dryland First, the grazing planning process assumes that all paddocks within paddocks to ensure we get at least a cell are more or less the same in 70 days of recovery. We then do terms of regrowth potential. In the same thing for the balance reality, this often isn’t the case. of the irrigated paddocks.

When we decide on a recovery Here’s another example from period, this reality needs to be the previously mentioned dairy. taken into consideration, because We have one grazing cell that if we calculate our grazing periods contains, again, both dryland and based on the recovery periods irrigated paddocks. The dryland needed for the slowest growing paddocks have an abundance paddocks, then the more of cool season weeds that need to productive paddocks, with greater be topped off early (April), but capacity for regrowth, will they can be grazed again in the potentially over-recover, lose summer when the warm-season, significant quality (especially in active, native perennials have had non-brittle environments), and a chance to grow. The irrigated actually trap less sunlight than paddocks are planted in cooltheir potential.

We have this situation here in Adel Ranch, near Cascade, Montana, is a massive tract of incredible country season annuals and, typically, situated in a highly diverse landscape. The Hibbard family, owners for over can be grazed at least three times Colorado, where we include both 100 years, run several thousand beef cattle, including brood cow and between April and the end of July. high altitude irrigated meadows yearling operations, both commercial range and purebred sheep operations, Just as in the example above, and upland, dryland range paddocks in the same grazing cell. an extensive elk, mule deer, whitetail deer, and pronghorn hunting enterprise, we used the relative paddock and a sprawling haying operation. Their country ranges from steep timbered productivities to calculate a total The dryland paddocks can only mountains, to amazingly productive rolling hills, to lush riparian zones, to number of days each paddock handle one grazing period over would be grazed over the course of the course of our growing season, both irrigated and dryland hay meadows, to flat plains grasslands used for our planning period, and used the but the irrigated meadows can be winter grazing. The level of complexity is ideally suited to the creative grazed twice, once early at turnout, application of holistic planned grazing, which brings peace of mind and order total length of the planning period to the seeming chaos. as our “recovery period” in the and again late in the fall. The calculation. We then “split” these irrigated meadows also produce total grazing periods into two grazing periods for the dryland paddocks, six to seven times the volume of forage per acre over the course of the two with the same number of grazing days harvested in each grazing period. grazing periods.

With the irrigated paddocks, the grazing period was split into three, with the When we calculate our grazing periods for each pasture (dryland and first two periods planned to be shorter (when growth is faster) than the third. irrigated), we use the sum of last year’s harvest data (adjusted for specific We estimated that with the dryland paddocks, at least 60 days would have conditions of the current year) for each pasture, to elapse between the early weed grazing and the second perennial grass and use as our recovery period the length of the entire growing/grazing grazing, and that at least 30 days would have to elapse between the first season. After plugging in the right numbers into the right formulas, the two grazings of the irrigated paddocks, and at least 45 between the second result is the total days of grazing we expect to harvest from each paddock, and third. and those numbers are recorded in the actual grazing period column.

That might all sound really confusing, but armed with the chart, With the dryland paddocks, this total number of days is harvested over the and with these calculated numbers, the actual grazing periods can then be course of just one grazing period, but the irrigated harvest comes in two plotted, respecting all of these grazing and recovery periods, and it actually grazing periods.

We know that the irrigated land needs at least 70 days to recover from the works out pretty slick. Similar types of adaptations can be made for many grazing situations. first grazing period. We also have learned to graze lightly in the first grazing period. This results in much more abundant, but lower quality regrowth, by fall—70 days later. We intentionally create this higher volume/lower quality Fast Growth Frustration regrowth to discourage the elk from congregating on these paddocks. If we In non-brittle, productive country that’s not irrigated, a frequent excuse graze to a low residual early in the season, the recovering forage serves as an for not doing the planning is that conditions change so fast that the plan is elk magnet throughout the summer, and our grass on hand by fall suffers obsolete before starting. That’s an exaggeration, of course, but I understand tremendously, as does the vigor of the individual plants themselves. If we the point. If you’re in an area with a nine-month growing season, the graze lightly and leave a high residual, the elk still show up, but make much likelihood that nine months of plotted pasture moves will be the way the plan less of a dent in fall grazing. Since we’re running cows and calves and not continued on page 16 trying to get 3 lb. (1.4 kg) of daily gain on yearlings, this lower quality fall N u m b e r 113

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Holistic Grazing Planning

continued from page fifteen

actually works out is basically zero.

Things will change, and sequence and timing of moves will have to change. But you can only erase all those moves and replot them so many times before the process starts to seem silly.

But, here’s why planning still makes sense. First, “the plan” is not just the sequence of plotted moves; it is all those other things you’ve done up to the step of plotting the moves: 1) which group of paddocks (cell) will be allocated to which herd, These cattle, which are managed in one herd in a single grazing cell incorporating both the author’s ranch 2) all of the relevant and the adjacent neighboring ranch, migrate between irrigated meadows and upland slopes from May to management considerations for that October. Here they are on their second grazing period of the season back down on a fully recovered irrigated cell, paddock. Adaptation of the grazing planning process to these specific conditions ensures excellent coordination 3) the rating of each paddock not only between the varying recovery periods of irrigated and dryland paddocks, but many other factors relative to each other, and as well, including hunting seasons, elk calving, irrigation schedules, and frequent trips away from the 4) the calculation of a range of ranch by the manager. grazing periods for each paddock, based on a range of recovery periods All of these considerations constitute the heart of the plan and most of the much easier to respect a multitude of management considerations and work of actually creating the plan. Plotting the moves is just the last step necessary plant recovery periods if you’re just managing one herd and not prior to implementation and monitoring. juggling multiple herds within a cell. But, even if you decide that there’s no At the dairy I managed in east Texas back in the early ‘90s, I would have way of not managing multiple herds within a cell, all of the above points still my plan all laid out, with all the aforementioned information, but would apply. You might need to get a little creative to figure out how to make it all only have about 6 weeks of moves plotted at any one time. Based on soil work, but the planning process will still yield the valuable benefits of having moisture and season of the year, I could predict growth rates fairly well, your season clearly planned within the dimensions of time and space. required recovery periods, and, therefore, necessary grazing periods. I would When doing the planning, keeping the end in mind helps maintain focus then plot in the moves. After three or four weeks, I would then look beyond and commitment. Remember, we’re managing toward a triple bottom line, the point to which I had previously plotted the moves—say another three and that plan encompasses a lot more than just cows and plant growth. And, weeks or so—and plot in the moves based on how conditions were economically speaking, I haven’t come across anything in the livestock developing, whether or not I needed to drop out paddocks for silage or industry that gives more bang for the buck. As stated above, “our primary haymaking, etc. So, I pretty well always had between three to six weeks input is sunshine. It is the only free lunch, and as grassland managers, we plotted out ahead of me. Again, though, the nuts-and-bolts of my plan, with are primed to capitalize on this extraordinary deal.” all relevant management considerations and the relative paddock qualities Good grazing planning results in more sunshine captured as high quality and actual grazing periods (based on a range of recovery periods) figured forage. In many cases, the combination of grazing planning and high stock out, was what guided me. That was the plan. The sequence of moves was just density also hugely increases the country our livestock efficiently access. I the final detail. work with ranchers who, prior to amalgamating herds, developing a little water, and building a few new fences, frequently barely accessed 50 percent of Dancing with Herds their ranches (due to long grazing periods and widely dispersed cattle at low stock density). When they start to plan, they effectively double the sizes of Another frequently cited reason to skip the planning is complications their ranches, and often with very little additional investment. resulting from too many herds. Yep, running too many herds complicates I don’t care how obsessed you are with fancy bulls or AI, keeping track of things, and also greatly reduces the productivity of your land. Multiple herds weaning weights and birth weights, putting up exceptional hay, using the means you’ve got fewer paddocks per herd, which lengthens grazing periods best wormers and fly tags, or whatever gimmick that all the experts say you relative to recovery periods, which results in lots less captured sunshine.

Multiple herds stretch out labor resources, and if tight control of grazing and have to do—nothing pays like doubling the size of your ranch. Lots of times all it takes is sitting down with chart and guide and going through the steps. recovery periods is desired, necessitate lots and lots of paddocks. On many If you’re in the grass-based livestock business, all that other stuff is just places, that’s just not feasible or desirable. recreation. Get your cows to the top of the ridge and into those far corners.

So, to simplify things, I always look for ways to amalgamate herds first.

Keep your grazing periods short and your recovery periods optimal. Use your To improve graze/trample to recovery ratios, that’s usually a lot easier and grass. Improve your land. If you do, you’ll both cut costs and increase much more economically rewarding than building fence. Once you’ve got turnover (animals to sell). And when that happens, you can’t help but make number of herds down to the bare minimum, the next way to simplify life is a lot of money (and, one of these days, we will get paid for ecosystem by allocating certain paddocks to each herd. In effect, you’ll designate a services). Do the planning—no excuses. collection of paddocks that will serve as a grazing cell for each herd. It’s 16

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Getting The Most from Your Pastures–

Changing Plant Structure

by Brian Wehlburg

I

with game ranching in Zimbabwe supported this —at the beginning of n our continual hunt for better productivity, the marginal reaction the season there was a large amount of movement in wild herds, with test has led us down a road that appears to be yielding some good groups of sable, zebra and wildebeest moving in and out of areas very results, the thinking behind which I wish to share with you. quickly. I guess, like most changes, the hardest bit was getting our minds To achieve a better plane of nutrition for our cattle, we had been around the change. focusing on improving species composition and creating tighter plant Having spent much time and effort putting in fences to increase spacing. Our annual monitoring was indicating that we were moving in the stock density, the thought of leaving the gates open, as we did not have this direction with soil cover changing from a low 36 percent to over time to move the stock several times a day, seemed counter-productive.

80 percent in three years and a steady rise in our number of stock days However, the excitement of the stock produced by, I surmise, the conditions of feed produced per hectare underpinning that improvement. of weather and fresh growth produced ample impact as the herd moved A third component, that of changing the structure of the existing plants, excitedly over the ground, chipping at any new soil crusts formed by the was tossed into the equation. We felt that a noticeable improvement in the hard rain. Behind the herd, things looked good— just about 100 percent species composition would take a few years and that tighter plant spacing of plants had been nipped, regardless of species, edible or not! Any bare soil can be achieved relatively quickly; however, changing plant structure could had been fluffed up with hoof action be an even faster process. Indeed, to conserve moisture and aid infiltration we often noticed that grazed plants of the future storms. turned into leafier balls of photosynthetic We had to change our monitoring potential than ungrazed adjacent plants a bit and tried to focus on individual that grew taller, and more lignified, plants, choosing a spread of fastrendering less nutrition. Our better and slow-growing types rather than species such as silk sorghum (sorghum a complete mix of plants in a cage. spp.) and green panic (panicum The preferred types such as the silk and maximum), if left ungrazed, very panic showed the most dramatic growth, quickly run to tall lignified plants virtually regaining their previous plant the stock avoid. volume in three days, whilst the slower Obviously, the time to affect this species took up to eight days. change had to be at the very start of This explosive growth did not last the growing season when all plants that long and was very dependent on appear to be palatable, but, more the humidity following the rainfall importantly, when the volume produced event—it probably lasted no more from each individual plant is very small, than four to five days, unless we were meaning that more plants will be grazed lucky enough to get a follow up fall of and, therefore, affected. To illustrate this rain. In effect, what this has meant for point consider that a couple of days after us is we have grazed up to 50 percent the start of the season we often require a of our paddocks before plant growth feed square of 30m x 30m (100 ft x 100 has dictated to us to slow down. This ft) to supply 10 kg (22 lb) of dry matter.

Panicum Maximum before being grazed (above left), results in a huge number of plants At our present plant spacing of 54mm immediately after graze (above right), having their apical dominance removed (2 inches) this relates to each animal 3 days after being grazed (lower left), and very early, stimulating multiple tillering grazing over 308,000 plants per day.

31 days after being grazed (lower right). from the bunch type grasses which, in With the explosive growth that turn, has lead to leafier, more palatable grasses even of the traditionally normally occurs at the beginning of the season, the size of square needed less palatable species; these are then far more likely to be eaten in to feed one animal very quickly reduces to a 7m x 7m (24 ft X 24 ft) square succeeding grazing periods. in three to four weeks. At this point, the stock are only grazing over 16,800 I suppose, in hindsight, we had been guilty of falling into the trap plants to get gut fill, which is only just over 5 percent of the number of of monitoring results. Having adjusted our minimum recovery period to plants visited a few weeks previously. Obviously, to keep the stock happy 30 days, we were monitoring to ensure plants had recovered after and get around as many plants as possible at the start of the season 30 days even though within that period recovery may have been would require extremely short grazing periods. We queried whether the much quicker. stock would handle this continual moving and whether we could cope with the required management.

Brian Wehlburg is a Certified Educator who lives in Well, the animals showed that it was not a problem for them, and, in Injune, Queensland. He can be reached at 61-7-4626-7187 hindsight, we had all seen domestic stock pacing the paddocks, eager to or brian@insideoutsidemgt.com.au. move at the smell of those first thunderstorms. My personal experiences N u m b e r 113

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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.

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UNITED STATES WASHINGTON Sandra Matheson 228 E. Smith Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226 360/398-7866 mathesonsm@verizon.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 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 * Laura Paine Wisconsin DATCP, N893 Kranz Rd. Columbus, WI 53925 608/224-5120 (w) • 920/623-4407 (h) laura.paine@datcp.state.wi.us

INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA Judi Earl 73 Harding E, Guyra, NSW 2365 61-2-6779-2286 judi@holisticmanagement.org.au Mark Gardner P.O. Box 1395, Dubbo, NSW 2830 61-2-6884-4401 mark.g@ozemail.com.au Paul Griffiths P.O. Box 3045, North Turramura, NSW 2074, Sydney, NSW 61-2-9144-3975 pgpres@geko.net.au

INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA Steve Hailstone “Niwajiri,” 5 Lampert Rd., Crafers, SA 5152 61-4-1882-2212; sh@internode.on.net Helen Lewis P.O. Box 1263, Warwick, QLD 4370 61-7-46617393 61-7-46670835 helen@insideoutsidemgt.com.au Brian Marshall P.O. Box 300, Guyra NSW 2365 61-2-6779-1927 fax: 61-2-6779-1947 bkmrshl@bigpond.com 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@the-farm-business-gym.com Brian Wehlburg c/o “Sunnyholt”, Injune, QLD 4454 61-7-4626-7187 brian@insideoutsidemgt.com.au

CANADA Don Campbell Box 817 Meadow Lake, SK S9X 1Y6 306/236-6088 doncampbell@sasktel.net Len Pigott Box 222, Dysart, SK, SOH 1HO 306/432-4583 JLPigott@sasktel.net Kelly Sidoryk P.O. Box 374, Lloydminster, AB S9V 0Y4 780/875-9806 (h) 780/875-4418 (c) kjsidoryk@yahoo.ca

MEXICO

George Gundry Willeroo, Tarago, NSW 2580 61-2-4844-6223 ggundry@bigpond.net.au

Ivan A. Aguirre Ibarra P.O. Box 304 Hermosillo, Sonora 83000 522-637-935-2804 (c) rancho_inmaculada@yahoo.com.mx

Graeme Hand 150 Caroona Lane, Branxholme, VIC 3302 61-3-5578-6272 (h); 61-4-0996-4466 (c) graemeh@bordernet.com.au

Arturo Mora Benitez San Juan Bosco 169 Fracc., La Misión Celaya, Guanajuato 38016 52-461-615-7632 jams@prodigy.net.mx

NEW ZEALAND

MEXICO

John King P.O. Box 12011, Beckenham, Christchurch 8242 64-3-338-5506 succession@clear.net.nz

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 Miguel Aguirre Camacho SAGARPA Delegación Estatal en Tlaxcala Libramiento Poniente Número 2 Colonia Unitlax, San Diego Metepec Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala 90110 52-246-465-0700 Adrian Vega Lopez Calle Norte 80 #5913 Col. Gertrudis Sanchez, 2a. Sección Delegación Gustavo A. Madero, México, D.F. 07890 Jorge Efrain Morales Martinez Calle Primero de Mayo #578-A Col. Centro Histórico, Morelia, Michoacán, 58000 52-443-317-4389 Jose Angel Montaño Morales Calle Samuel Arias #111 Fraccionamiento Forjadores de Pachuca Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo 42083 Alejandro Miranda Sanchez Calle Cerro Macuiltepec No 23 Col. Campestre Churubusco, Delegación Coyoacán México, D.F. 04200 Jose Ramon “Moncho” Villar Av. Las Americas #1178 Fracc. Cumbres Saltillo, Coahuila 25270 52-844-415-1557 jrvillarm@prodigy.net.mx Silverio Rojas Villegas SAGARPA Avenida Irrigación s/n, Col. Monte de Camargo Celaya, Guanajuato, 38030 52-461-612-0305

SOUTH AFRICA 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 Dick Richardson P.O. Box 1806, Vryburg 8600 tel/fax: 27-53-927-4367 Dickson@wam.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 philipbubb@onetel.com

ZIMBABWE NAMIBIA Gero Diekmann Ecoso Dynamics CC P.O. Box 363, Okahandja 264-62-518-091 (h) 264-612-51861 (w) 264-812-440-501 (c) dero@mweb.com.na Colin Nott P.O. Box 11977, Windhoek 264-61-225085 canott@iafrica.com.na Wiebke Volkmann P.O. Box 182, Otavi 264-67-234-557 or 264-81-127-0081 wiebke@mweb.com.na

Amanda Atwood 27 Rowland Square, Milton Park, Harare 263-23-233-760 amandlazw@gmail.com Huggins Matanga Africa Centre for Holistic Management P. Bag 5950, Victoria Falls 263-13-42199 (w) 263-11-404-979 (c) hmatanga@mweb.co.zw Elias Ncube Africa Centre for Holistic Management P. Bag 5950, Victoria Falls 263-13-42199 (w) 263-11-214-584 (c) achmcom@africaonline.co.zw

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NATIONWIDE DISTRIBUTION San Angelo, Texas

Proudly serving Holistic Management Practitioners since 1978!

En Mexico: Tele y fax: 1-800-640-3156 20

IN PRACTICE

May / June 2 0 07

800 527-0990

www.twinmountainfence.com

Holistic Management Training & Support Australia-wide

Seth Wilner

Brian Marshall is a ‘hands on’ grazier and Certified Educator who enjoys his work supporting rural families and groups in their practice of Holistic Management.

• 12 years experience as a CE • Prefers on-property training • FarmBis accredited in Qld, NT & WA

WILL TRAVEL ANYWHERE, OR, YOU COME TO GUYRA Brian Marshall, 61 2 6779 1927 “Tara” PO Box 300 Guyra, NSW 2365 Australia bkmrshl@bigpond.com

THE

SETH HAS OVER 10 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH FARMERS AND FARM FAMILIES As a Certified Educator and a New Hampshire Cooperative Extension Educator, Seth offers effective, hands-on, practical consulting and training in: • PROGRAM EVALUATION • VISION AND VALUES CLARIFICATION • FINANCIAL PLANNING • BUSINESS PLANNING • WHOLE FARM PLANNING • BUDGETING • GOALSETTING • CONFLICT RESOLUTION To learn more about these consulting and training opportunities, contact Seth at: seth.wilner@unh.edu • 603/863-4497

Handmade Products from HMI Project Sites Kenyan Beadwork Mexican Blankets Zimbabwean Baskets Visit our online store at www.holisticmanagement.org TODAY! PHONE ORDERS CALL:

505/842-5252

2007

Ultra High Stock Density Event L EARN THE ‘HOWS AND WHYS’ OF HIGH STOCK DENSITY FROM TRUE WORLD EXPERTS OF THE SUBJECT. The event will feature: Allan Savory, founder of Holistic Management and first to verbalize stock density and animal impact; Chad Peterson, Nebraska’s ultra high stock density grazier; and Neil Dennis, Canada’s ultra high stock density grazier.

ALLAN SAVORY

Seminar: Friday, June 29 at the Black Horse Inn in Creighton, Nebraska Pasture Walk: Saturday, June 30 at Chad Peterson’s Ranch, south of Newport, Nebraska

Chad Peterson’s livestock on his ranch.

Seminar - $60 • Pasture Walk - $60 Grassfed Beef Social - $15 All Three Events - $100 ➤ 20% DIS CO UN T FO R PA ID RE GI ST RATIO NS BY MAY 1. ➤ 50% DIS CO UN T FO R SE CO ND FA MI LY OR RA NC H ME MB ER .

Check our website at www.knox.unl.edu as details develop, or call Terry Gompert at 402/288-5611.

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THE MARKETPLACE CORRAL DESIGNS

Dick RICHARDSON

Kirk Gadzia Certified Educator

Dick consults and offers Holistic Management courses and workshops in and around South Africa and has extensive international experience. His practical experience and success makes his programs highly effective and valuable.

By World Famous Dr. Grandin Originator of Curved Ranch Corrals The wide curved Lane makes filling the crowding tub easy.

Read

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:

THE

OGLIN A story book that teaches Holistic Management principles.

IT’S A REALLY GREAT READ!

GRANDIN LIVESTOCK SYSTEMS 2918 Silver Plume Dr., Unit C-3 Fort Collins, CO 80526

For more information on The Oglin or learning opportunities, contact Dick at dickson@wam.co.za or (+27) 0829346139.

MICRONUTRIENTS FOR PASTURE FERTILITY

970/229-0703 www.grandin.com

Introduction to Holistic Management Courses February 4-9, 2008 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

BASIC SOIL FERTILITY GUIDELINES

Or visit our website! www.kinseyag.com IN PRACTICE

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.

HANDS-ON AGRONOMY

Certain micronutrients, or trace elements, should always be considered and tested for in the soil and supplied if shown to be required in order to grow the best pasture and provide better livestock production.

Zinc and boron have been previously considered and both are very important to pasture and hay production. Grass needs zinc for adequate moisture absorption. When zinc is sufficiently supplied, it is possible to grow more grass on the same amount of rainfall. On the test we use, that minimum for zinc is 6 ppm.

Any soil that has less will come up short in both yield and nutrition.The minimum level will vary from one soil testing company to another, so do not try to apply this level indiscriminately as the correct reading for a test run by another lab.

Boron is necessary for nitrogen conversion.Those pastures that have less than 0.8 ppm will not receive full benefit from any nitrogen source, including that supplied by legumes in the pasture mix.Test for and properly add boron when the supply in the soil is shown to be inadequate.

Manganese, which increases seed germination, is another important trace element that is missing in some pasture soils. It helps plants develop and grow off faster. If your pastures have trouble standing up to normal foot traffic, the grass is always too short or if they seem to grow too slowly be sure to test for adequate manganese. Inadequate manganese in the soil increases foot and breeding problems for livestock. From our analysis, a minimum of 40 ppm Mn is required for pastures. In terms of plant quality, raising manganese to optimal levels helps increase carotene and vitamin C content. The ideal level begins at 125 ppm, but few pastures achieve such levels without applying significant amounts of additional manganese in a form that will build the levels in the soil. Although there are those who will try to convince growers otherwise, pure manganese sulfate is still the best

22

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT TRAINING & CONSULTING

May / June 2 0 07

and most effective way to build needed manganese in the soil.

Copper should also be included in soil tests as a very necessary nutrient for pastures. Where too much nitrogen is applied for the amount of growth or tonnage produced, expect copper problems. Even though excessive molybdenum can cause copper deficiency, even more often it is an excessive use of nitrogen and/or phosphorous that ties up available copper in the soil. This is of special concern on fodder-type crops. Sufficient copper helps increase protein content in all crops, and increases protein conversion in the animal. It is needed, along with adequate potassium and manganese for stalk strength and resilience in plants, and reduces problems with bone and muscle inflammation in livestock. The minimum desired level on the test we use is 2 ppm, with 5-10 ppm being considered ideal when all other nutrients are present in optimum amounts.

Cobalt should also be considered where any form of feed for livestock will be grown. It is needed in animals for proper digestion and tends to be lacking in many soils that are tested for growing pasture, hay or forage.

And remember this important point once you have applied needed micronutrients, it takes time to see the full benefits they will provide. It will be three years after the levels are satisfied before the full effects will be seen on the livestock.

For consulting or educational services contact:

Kinsey’s Agricultural Services 297 County Highway 357, Charleston, Missouri 63834 Phone: 573-683-3880; Fax: 573-683-6227 Email: neal@kinseyag.com Credit card orders (Visa, MC):KAS Sales, 800-621-2738 or Fax: 573-683-6227

THE MARKETPLACE Start Using Holistic Management Today!

Join Our Distance Learning Program Stay At Home – All You Need Is A Phone

Apply What You Learn As You Learn With Our Hands On Approach, Step

by Step Workbook And Personalized Mentoring. Enjoy Flexible Scheduling.

Choose to Work Independently or In Small Groups. Get Started Now.

Fight global warming by supporting the restoration of healthy grassland soils that remove billions of tons of carbon from the atmosphere.

Help pastoralists, ranchers and farmers restore land and repair the ecosystem while achieving greater sustainability, productivity, and profit.

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Realize Immediate Benefits Find More Details On The Web at www.wholenewconcepts.com

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Offered By Whole New Concepts, LLC 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.

Support the work of Holistic Management International with your tax-deductible donation.

Call 1-505/842-5252 or visit www.holisticmanagement.org today!

Together, we can make a difference!

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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

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 TO ORDER

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