In Practice a publication of Holistic Management International
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W W W. H O L I S T I C M A N A G E M E N T. O R G
HMI Annual Report 2013
~ INSIDE THIS ISSUE ~
Dear HMI Community,
Testing Questions
2013 was an exciting year for HMI. We continued serving our community with existing programs like Beginning Farmers & Ranchers: Women in the Northeast and Texas and we rolled out new programs like our Open Gate learning series. These programs, as well as our other offers serve to motivate, connect, support, and train farmers and ranchers through the practice of Holistic Management®, a Whole Farm/Ranch Planning System.
Partnering for Success
Our work continues to make a meaningful difference in the lives of agricultural producers and the health and productivity of land worldwide. It also sustains the local food movement by helping small farmers and ranchers and the rural communities that depend on them to grow healthy food for a growing consumer base. Many Holistic Management practitioners are successfully managing during challenging times—droughts, changing marketing conditions, and increased input costs. And they are able to weather these storms due to the training they have received from HMI.
Community Support from the Ground Up
The HMI board and staff continue to be grateful for the generous support of our network in both time and money. In fact, fundraising dollars increased by 20% from 2012. This is a direct result of the support of our community in a host of ways. HMI would also like to thank our major grantors for their support of our educational programs, including USDA/NIFA Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Program, Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, The Dixon Water Foundation, CHS Foundation, Clif Bar Foundation, Farm Aid, and Simply Organic. While we closed out the year with a $169,629 loss, due predominantly to a non-cash loss associated with the depreciation and depletion associated with mineral rights activity (and unrealized loss on investments), our current and long-term assets remain strong. Our increased focus on results-driven programming has us well poised to take advantage of new funding opportunities in the future.
2014 - Celebrating 30 Years
As we celebrate our 30th anniversary, opportunities continue to open up, and it is an exciting time to be part of such a great organization. There will undoubtedly be more change as we go, since “Change is the only constant.” But as an organization, HMI will continue to reach out to our network to build the relationships necessary to encourage the practice Holistic Management. We look forward to working together with all of you in 2014!
Ann Adams Interim CEO
Kelly Sidoryk Board Chair CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
For many holistic managers the Holistic Management testing questions really help bring clarity to the decision-making process in the context of their holistic goal. This kind of prioritizing is essential for reducing stress and increasing effectiveness in on-farm or onranch decision-making. To learn more about how the testing questions helped Deborah Clark, turn to page 8.
FEATURE STORIES
Flourishing Agricultural Communities
Annual Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Dandelion Fields Farm— Farming Holistically on a Small Scale
HEATHER SMITH THOMAS . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Windy Oaks Agricultural Enterprises— The Next Generation
KAY BARNES ALLEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
To Build or Not to Build? Applying the Seven Testing Questions
DEBORAH CLARK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
News & Network Land & Livestock
As an organization we continue to find interest, funding, and collaboration from a wide variety of partners. In 2013 we had over 78 collaborating organizations that helped us with our Open Gate program. Over 64 organizations assisted us with our successful Beginning Farmers & Ranchers: Women in the Northeast and Texas program. With the help of Holistic Management Certified Educators we trained over 10,000 people in 2013 and influenced over 5 million acres. Along with our collaborators, HMI was able to provide 103 workshop events in 2013.
Jack and Teresa Southworth— Ranching in Eastern Oregon
HEATHER SMITH THOMAS . . . . . . . . . . . 10
The Wofford Ranch— Grazing Management in a Dry Climate
HEATHER SMITH THOMAS . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Development Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Certified Educators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
HMI Annual Report 2013
In Practice a publication of Holistic Management International
Holistic Management International exists to educate people to manage land for a sustainable future. STAFF Kelly Curtis. . . . . . . . Chief Financial Officer
Ann Adams. . . . . . . . Managing Editor, IN PRACTICE and Director, Community Services, Interim CEO Sandy Langelier. . . . Director, Communications and Outreach
Peggy Cole . . . . . . . . Program Manager, Texas Mary Girsch-Bock . . Grants Manager
Carrie Nelson . . . . . . Store Manager / Customer Support
Valerie Grubbs . . . . . Accountant / Customer Service Assistant Julie Kare . . . . . . . . . Instructional Design Specialist
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Kelly Sidoryk, Chair Sallie Calhoun, Past Board Chair
Ron Chapman Zizi Fritz Laura Gill Gail Hammack Clint Josey Wayne Knight Danny Nuckols Jim Parker Jim Shelton
HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT In Practice (ISSN: 1098-8157) is published six times a year by:
Holistic Management International 5941 Jefferson St. NE, Suite B Albuquerque, NM 87109
505/842-5252, fax: 505/843-7900; email: hmi@holisticmanagement.org.; website: www.holisticmanagement.org Copyright Š 2014
2 IN PRACTICE
July / August 2014
Summarized Statement of Activities
continued from page one
Revenues Professional services Educational programs Grants Publications Gas royalties Contributions Investment Income Partnership & trust income Miscellaneous income Net realized gains on sale of investments Unrealized gain/(loss) on investments Total revenues
2013
2012
1,200 64,206 264,635 54,203 638,128 156,551 92,498 79,433 6,139 45,930 (53,944) 1,348,979
21,395 54,373 328,191 49,405 523,442 204,216 53,728 47,209 661 34,265 1,316,885
Expenses Professional services Educational programs Beginning farmers programs Publications Outreach Gas royalties Fundraising Administration Total expenses Change in Net Assets
1,957 390,877 205,498 70,829 83,916 222,133 96,274 447,124 1,518,608 (169,629)
9,874 363,115 257,411 53,775 92,041 242,427 117,422 439,328 1,575,393 (258,508)
Assets Cash and cash equivalents Investments Accounts receivable Prepaid expenses Unconditional promises to give Inventory Property and equipment, net Unconditional promises to give - long term Other Stock in closely held companies Mineral interest, net Total Assets
246,044 1,847,741 169,809 23,680 7,250 7,824 51,880 9,500 3,000 501,245 1,314,565 4,182,538
207,777 1,860,034 124,732 16,741 2,000 9,413 180,653 2,000 3,000 530,811 1,415,677 4,352,838
21,232 22,418 13,029 56,679
17,323 24,284 15,743 57,350
2,774,255 1,351,604 4,125,859 4,182,538
2,885,453 1,410,035 4,295,488 4,352,838
Summarized Statement of Financial Position
Liabilities Accounts payable Accrued liabilities Deferred revenue Total Net Assets Unrestricted Temporarily restricted Total Total Liabilities and Net Assets
Funders It is always with great pleasure that we acknowledge the many individuals and organizations whose support is the lifeblood of our mission and our community. Stewards ($50,000+) Dixon Water Foundation Sallie Calhoun - The Christiano Family Fund, an advised fund of The Community Foundation for San Benito County The Dixon Water Foundation USDA/NIFA BFRDP Guardians ($10,000+) Jim & Carol Parker Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Protectors ($5,000+) Alexia M. Leuschen Charitable Foundation CHS Foundation Clif Bar Family Foundation Farm Aid Farm Credit Bank of Texas Genevieve Duncan Keepers ($2,500+) Catherine Semrod Joy Law Katherine Dickson Ron Chapman Simply Organic Patrons ($1,000+) Alison Worcester Amy & Joseph Morel Armando J. Flocchini III Azilia Ventures Christopher & Laura Gill Dick & Jeannie McNear Don & Randee Halladay Durham Ranches, Inc. Emry Birdwell & Deborah Clark Gary & Mary Cox Harry Duncan Campbell, Jr. Ulupalakua Ranch Zizi Fritz Sustainers ($500+) Ann Beeghly Brad Fahrmeier Chrys Beal Florin Baci Frank Hayes Gail Hammack & Doug McDaniel Jack & Zera Varian Jewish Community Foundation Linda Meuth Lowell & Mary Forman
Margaret Hillenbrand Mary Boutwell Mary N. Adams Mayette Johnston Roby Wallace Roy Purcell Signe Ostby The Community Foundation of San Benito County Wells Fargo Supporters ($250+) Ben & Denise Bartlett Björn Fallström Howard J. Porter, Jr. Jack & Theresa Southworth Jaye Henneke Jeff Mattocks Jennifer Munster Kent Reid Mike Eisenstat Nancy Levi PNM Resources Richard Teague Friends (<$250) Agee Smith Alan & Joy Wallace Aleatha Scholer Anita Ramos & Reid Folsom Ann Adams Art & Sally Roane Art McElroy Barbara Bailer Barbara Scaife Ben Berlinger Betsy Ross Billie Meyers Brad Wind Bradley Ward Brady Randall Brian Russ Byron & Wayne Eatinger Candace Burns Carl D Warrick Carl Hathcock Carrie Stearns Charles & Jennifer Sands Charles Tindell, Jr. Christine Everett Christoffel Den Biggelaar Clifford Hawbaker Cornelis Tromp Daniel White Dave & Tina Southward David & Carol Cusack Denise Bostdorff & Daniel O’Rourke Dennis Mills Diana Speer Don Youngbauer Dorothea Sotiros Doug & Kim Wiley Duane Hilborn Duane Sand Edwin Waters Elaine Zabor
Elise Gignac Ellen Kemper Erika Tebbens G. Rodes Genevieve Cran George Whitten Gerda Hyde Gerry & Pat Stratelak Gonzalo Palomo Guijarro Heather & Mark Flashinski Ian Finch Ian Hosken Jacqueline Fahey James F. Dudley James McCollum Jason Klinge Jean Paul Jeff & Denise Hunewill Jennifer Peotter Jeremy & Jodi Peake Jeremy Rodrigues Jesse Raynor Jim & Barbara Long Jim Cecil Jim Rackley Joan and Blaine Harris Joan Kelleher Joe & Peggy Maddox Joe Williams John & Sally Fairbairn John C & Rosalyn G Phillips John Wernette Joseph Whiteside Julie Fierro Julie Sloan Justin & Lisa Jessop Justin Peeler Karen Ansell Karin Illes Kelli & Bill Parker Ken Gallard Ken Tager Kim Pophal Larry Johnson Laura Lutz Lawrence & Lynn Levine Lou & Susan Preston Louis Hagener Lowry McAllen M.K. & Veronica Campbell Maggie Knight Malcolm Teggins Mark & Wendy Pratt Mark D. Boland Mary Ellen Gonzales Mary Girsch-Bock Matt Parrack & Jaci Bertrand Maximiano Pablos Blazquez Michael & Susan Ahlers Michael Podolny Michael Sands & Betsy Dietel Mickey Steward Milton Suthers Molly Baldrige Nikolaus Horster
Norman & Gail Lowe Otto Bischel Pam Walker Patrick Crawford Peggy Sechrist Pete Ferrell Preston Sullivan Ravindra Potnuru Rich & Anne Morris Richard Steele Rita Talbot Robert & Melinda Copper Robert Parker Rodney Walkden Sally Wellborn & William Gallagher Samuel Kirk Sandra West Sandy Langelier Scott & Stacy Alsworth Scott Sims & Family Sharon May Smith Held Smoketree Land and Wildlife LLC Snow-McElligott Stephanie Cloutier Steve & Leslie Dorrance Susan Courtney Tina & Mike Jacobs Tom Peshock Watt Casey Wayne Knight Weston Neiman A special thanks to the following organizations & people who have graciously supported our programs. Adelante Consulting Services Alameda RC & D Alger County Conservation District American Farmers and Ranchers Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural America (ATTRA) Area Farm & Food Link (VT) Badgerland Financial Berkshire Grown Brigantino Irrigation Capital Farm Credit Central Coast Rangelands Coalition Central New York RC & D Cibolo Nature Center Claunch-Pinto SWCD Columbia County Land and Water Conservation Columbia County UW Extension Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (MA) Connecticut Department of Agriculture Connecticut Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) Contra Costa Water District Cornell University Cooperative Extension CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
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IN PRACTICE 3
Funders continued from page three Cornelsen Ranch Creekside Meadows Farm Dairymaster Parlors Dallas Farmers Market DeRuyter Farm and Garden Cooperative Devine Gardens Vermicompost Eastern Connecticut RC&D Edible Austin (TX) Farm & Ranch Freedom Alliance Farm Bureau Financial Services Farmers & Merchants National Bank Fertrell Greene Ranch Greenstone Farm Credit Services Hill Country Alliance Johnson Sausage Shoppe Kelley Meats King’s Mark RC&D (CT) KTS Farm La Montanita Coop Land for Good Leftcoast Grassfed Beef Live Auctions TV Livestock & Grazing Supply Log Cabin Livestock Farm Madison Soil and Water Conservation District Maine Agricultural Mediation Service Maine Farm Service Agency (FSA) Maine Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA)
Maine Organic Farming and Gardening Association Manzano Mountain Arts Council Massachusetts Department of Agriculture Massachusetts Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) Mesteno Draw Ranch Michigan State University AgBio Research Michigan State University Extension Morris Beef National Center for Appropriate Technology Native Prairies Association of Texas Natural Resource Conservation Services (NRCS) Nevill Fence New Connecticut Farmer Alliance New Hampshire Department of Agriculture New Hampshire Farm Bureau New Hampshire Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) New Hampshire Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) New Hampshire Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) NM Land Link Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance
Dandelion Fields Farm– rin Pearson has raised animals all her life and has been farming with her husband since 2002 near Castleton, Virginia. She began using Holistic Management principles beginning in 2011. “I have always been environmentally sensitive and involved with NRCS since 2003. This farm has been chemical-free since we’ve owned it. I now have a cow and steer operation, raise meat chickens (and sell eggs on a small scale) and we also have horses, and goats for milk and brush control,” she says. Her farm is small, just 32 acres, but something she can readily manage raising multiple species of livestock. “I can do it mostly by myself, with help from Heather, my 12-yearold daughter, my husband Marvin, and son Clayton helping with things like hay and grain deliveries and building projects.”
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Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association Texas Department of Agriculture Texas - Mexico Border Coalition Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Texas Riparian Association Texas Sheep & Goat Raisers Texas Wildlife Association The Center for Environmental Research The Intervale Center (VT) Tioga County Planning TomKat Educational Foundation TRM International (TX) University of California Extension University of Connecticut Extension University of Maine Cooperative Extension University of Massachusetts University of New Hampshire Extension University of Texas Pan American University of Vermont Vermont Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) Wholeshare.com Wimberley Valley Watershed Association Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Women’s Agricultural Network Connecticut Women’s Agricultural Network - Maine Women’s Agricultural Network Vermont
you see other alternatives and keep an open mind when making decisions, and teaches a person to be a little more flexible. These are things that many of us really need.” “I’m not using as many of the worksheets as I did Exploring Options in the beginning, but I Erin took a course in monitor my pasture Holistic Management growth, and move my when HMI offered a pilot animals. That has been project in her area in 2011. the best thing, for me— She was grateful for the really intensifying the one-year free program. “I grazing. I was doing was very pleased to be in rotational grazing before, the group, enjoyed it, and but it was based on local benefitted greatly from it. Erin Pearson NRCS guidelines. Those The group has gone on guidelines had me using with this program, and my life has gone a little four big pastures but now I have more than bit different direction now, but it got me quadrupled that—depending on the year, the started—and I feel very lucky about that,” season, and grass growth,” says Pearson. says Pearson. “I am much more flexible than I used to be, “The HMI program can help people a lot, with this. Whenever something challenging even just in the decision-making aspect, comes up I just deal with it and don’t get as whether or not they are on a farm. It can help worried about it, because I now know that
Farming Holistically on a Small Scale By HEATHER SMITH THOMAS
North American Hair Sheep Association North Country RC&D (NH) Northeast Food & Farm Network NY GLCI NY Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) Oklahoma Land Stewardship Alliance Paicines Ranch Paine Family Farm Phil Metzger Pines & Prairies Land Trust (TX) Pomponio Ranch Ranney Ranch Richard King Riparian Network River Systems Institute (TX) Rocky Mountain Farmer’s Union Rural Texas Innovators San Benito Working Landscapes Group Santa Clara County Open Space Authority Seth Wilner Simple Soil Solutions LLC Small and Beginning Farmers of New Hampshire Southeast Massachusetts Agricultural Partnership Southern NH RC&D Southwest Grassfed Livestock Alliance Spring Creek Ranch – Texas Sustainable Food Center (TX) Sustainable Growth – Texas Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Texas Agricultural Land Trust
She buys the extra calves from local dairies. fertility—adding nutrients from the litter of any whatever I’ve done or haven’t done, I can fix it. wasted hay and the manure from the animals “They are predominantly Jersey steers that I It’s easier to just go with the flow and be more buy when they are a couple days old, and then I grouped around the bales. “This is another relaxed and not as rigid,” she says. thing that we’ve completely changed, in how graft them onto the nurse cows. The Jersey “I actually need to go back to the testing we do things. The NRCS recommendations steers are wonderful. They don’t produce a question sheet right now because I have a were having me take all the animals off all the large amount of beef and I have to keep them couple of new issues I need to figure out. I fields during winter, and put them in a drylot. close to three years to get haven’t been mowing any them big enough to sell as So my poor horses were stuck in a one-acre of my pastures since I lot for several months—usually January beef, but they don’t cost started using Holistic me much. They are cheap through April. The idea was that the animals Management, and we’ve would damage the fields. The NRCS does to buy, and I don’t feed had a bunch of young pine great work, and is a wonderful help for farmers milk replacer, and hardly trees expanding into one any grain. They are raised to start with more environmentally friendly of my really nice fields. on pasture and a little hay, process. The NRCS was a stepping stone for I’ve been trying to hold off so they don’t cost much to where I am now, and they have great, on mowing it, hoping to passionate and knowledgeable people working raise.” She sells them as get adequate fencing to for them,” says Pearson. freezer beef to people hold the goats so they Erin and Clayton and Heather and dogs “With what we learned in the Holistic locally, who hear about it could eat the trees off, but on a day off. Management course, however, I put the hay through word of mouth, the trees are getting out in the fields for them to eat. I move the and she plans to expand ahead of us. I was waiting, animals through the pastures. In earlier years I this part of her program with a few more nurse and my husband kept saying we just need to had all that grass out there in the fall that was cows and calves in the future. mow it. Finally I agreed that it needed to be just sitting there through the winter, and all the Selling the meat to friends and neighbors mowed,” she says. manure going to waste in the small lots! It has worked very well. “They love the meat. “We have some other fields that are being makes more sense to have the animals Jersey meat is tender and tasty. Jersey steers invaded by pine trees also, so I need to figure leaving their manure on the pastures. I don’t may not be a volume product (these steers that out. Building the perimeter fence is my have any equipment to don’t grow as big in a biggest goal this year. We’ve had old fences haul the manure back out feedlot and that’s why they around the place for 10 years, enough to hold to those fields, so I try to the horses and cows as long as they have food, aren’t worth much to sell just keep the manure out as feeder calves) but it’s water and salt; they haven’t pressed the there,” she says. certainly a quality makeshift fences. But I have other species I “I would love to do product,” says Pearson. want to integrate into the grazing. We already even tighter stock density “I am now have poultry and goats, and we have guardian in the winter, to put more experimenting with dogs with the goats—so I need our perimeter manure and hay litter on crossbreeding in my fences to be dog-proof in order to move all the the pastures, but I’ve had Jersey cows, to get a little animals,” she says. hardier nurse cow. The Holistic Management has helped Erin Erin enjoys raising a variety of animals a hard time doing it this winter with the frozen address these kinds of challenges and prioritize Jersey cows are great but on Dandelion Fields Farm including ground, ice and snow, they put so much into their decisions. “I have always tried to do everything pastured poultry. moving the electric ‘natural’ and do what’s best for the environment milk that they lose weight. fences. But I think we’re I don’t like to feed a lot of grain so I am looking as well as the animals. I want to help improve making progress just having the animals out at doing some crossbreeding, to not have the land,” she explains. “The testing questions on the pastures, spreading their manure and straight Jersey cows,” she says. worksheets have helped me think things the hay litter, rather than having them locked through and be able to more clearly see if up off the pastures. It’s been a big change, something is a negative or a positive or whether Hay for Soil Health and I do think the fields already show it. You it will actually be beneficial,” she says. It’s easy Little by little, Pearson is getting her can see that the grass is more vibrant; you can to get into a rut or habit of doing things a certain challenges resolved. “I have it all down to where see the carbon is there, the different color of way and it may take a process like this to open it is getting easier, labor-wise. We feed hay the grass, and different species coming in— our eyes to different possibilities. once a week instead of every day. We simply not just from seeds in the hay but also just put round bales out in the pasture and all the from not mowing, and allowing it to grow,” Creating a Niche Product animals self-feed. I try to figure out how much Pearson says. they need for a week. Usually we put out extra Currently Erin has 2 nurse cows raising “I am enjoying working toward better hay if it’s going to storm, so we don’t have to do pastures, constantly changing what I’ve been calves, with another cow soon to calve. “The anything during the storm, but we messed up first time I bred the cows I borrowed a bull. doing, and re-evaluating what I want to do. during one storm this past winter and didn’t Then last year I bought a young bull to breed Holistic Management helps me try to have the hay ready—and we were out there them, and then butchered him for beef. This determine whether something makes sense or with the tractor in all the snow,” she recalls. year I am keeping a young Jersey bull just long not. I am still in that process.” The bales are placed in different areas enough to breed the cows and then I will around the pasture, and this has helped the soil castrate him,” she says. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 Number 156
IN PRACTICE 5
Farming Holistically on a Small Scale continued from page five
springtime lush grass, and founder. Now, however, it works out really well between using the grazing muzzles and the lane, and I’ve had no problems, and have been able to graze the horses almost all year round. I take the horses off pasture during the night or whenever I need to, and they have hay instead. If I have some fat, easy keepers they just go out with their muzzles,” she says.
Integrating Horses
Erin’s horses are pastured with the other livestock. “I keep them mainly with my big steers. I do have to occasionally manage the horses differently, with a grazing muzzle, or use a lane they can be in for part of the day. If the grass is really lush and I have a couple of fat horses, I put those in a really long lane that has round bales on one end A Great Way and their salt and water at of Life the other end. They get “I love being a farmer, exercise because they enjoying nature, and a have to move from one end closeness with the Earth to the other. I also use hayand animals,” says limiting netting on the Pearson. “I believe this round bales to slow down way of life keeps me their consumption, but Erin raises Jersey calves she buys grounded and has they have free choice hay if cheaply from local dairies and raises provided many life and when they need it,” them for the local niche beef market. lessons for myself and my she explains. children. They have “I used to be a full-time farrier, and now I am a natural trimmer. I do a lot witnessed reproduction, birth, life and death. My husband gets to remember and enjoy his of founder rehabilitation, and founder connection to his early life on a farm and prevention. I had pastured my horses with the memories of his father. He gets to take a break cows before, but I often worried about the
from his work and be outside appreciating the beauty of the farm and the animals.” Her children know where real food comes from, and the work that goes into being a farmer, even though it’s on a small scale. “My kids have learned, and are still learning, lessons about hard work, putting other creatures ahead of themselves, and many other lessons too numerous to mention,” she says. “My children have seen us figure out problems on the fly and learning how to make do with whatever materials or resources we have on hand to make things work. We are continually problem-solving. These experiences and lessons will serve my children well wherever they go and whatever they end up doing as adults. I also believe that the experiences and memories of life on a farm will be treasured as they grow up, as these experiences are becoming rarer for this generation. They will understand how special this life is, and was, when they are grown.” With Erin’s passion for farming and her willingness to question management practices to improve land health and profitability, Dandelion Fields Farm will continue to provide the quality of life that Erin and her family want for years to come.
Windy Oaks Agricultural Enterprises—
The Next Generation BY KAY BARNES ALLEN
hen I was asked to write an article for HMI’s IN PRACTICE journal, I was humbled, a bit anxious, and quite excited to share the amazing tranformations I’ve witnessed at our family property in Van Zandt County, Texas. My sisters and I inherited the land 3 years ago on the death of my father, John Oliver Barnes. I live 3 ½ hours away in Austin, with my 16 year old son and my husband, a banker, who commutes between Austin and Houston. My sisters and I are fortunate to have a part-time ranch manager who does the heavy lifting in our operations. Our family’s generational transfer happened suddenly, though not unexpectedly. Although my siblings and I drew lots to determine which of us would inherit which properties before my mother’s death in 2009, my dad retained absolute control of his 700+ acre beef operation until the day he died in April, 2011. My 2 sisters and I own our properties separately, though we
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maintain a joint account and cooperate with our operations and equipment when it is mutually beneficial. Our community is an agricultural one, and we are grateful for this opportunity to play a part in our family’s generational commitment to Texas agriculture, having been in continuous operation since receiving a land grant from the Republic of Texas in 1839. My dad lived 90 healthful and productive years as a full time rancher with an off-farm job. He held a BS in Agriculture and an MS in Agricultural Education, and was a conservationist at heart. He managed to do all things in moderation, and
With more paddock development comes improved herd management and improved forages.
though he kept pace with new developments in the field of agriculture, he never fully let go of the old ways. My sisters and I inherited a successful cattle operation which was continuously grazed, commercially fertilized, with beeves finishing their journey on grain in a west Texas feed yard.
Initial Changes
In the summer of 2011, two months after dad’s death, I attended Texas A&M’s first ever Grassfed Beef Short Course where Betsy Ross, of Sustainable Growth Texas, and Jon Taggart, of Burgandy Beef, presented. I thank God for timely interventions, as these two individuals have shaped my beliefs and practices. Here’s some of the management changes we’ve begun. 1) I cut my cow herd by half, and I sold my dad’s Charolais bulls. 2) I went off commercial fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides cold turkey, and replaced them with Betsy Ross’ soil treatments. 3) I attended all of the seminars offered by The Stockman Grass Farmer in Jackson, Mississippi, to learn the ropes of grass farming. 4) I subdivided my pastures with electric fencing to create more paddocks. I now have 21 paddocks on 2 properties, and move the animals every 3 days. I also added 6 ponds to my existing 5 to create 11 total, with at least 1 pond accessible from each paddock. 5) My sisters and I joined the Grassfed Livestock Alliance, to whom we sell our finished steers and heifers at around 26 months of age. 6) I have broadcast annual ryegrass, winter small grains, and/or clover each fall. 7) I attended a 60-hour course sponsored by Holistic Management International and funded by the USDA called Beginning Women Farmers & Ranchers of Texas, for women who have been in agriculture for <10 years. Wow! That was life-altering, and my head is still spinning from all I learned. Through this group of women agriculturalists I am able to combine what I know and get a holistic view of my task. I have learned how to implement the following: • Measure the forage available in a space and therefore size my paddocks and time my moves more efficiently • Create a grazing plan based on real forage and real animals so I can distribute tasks and land use to avoid overlaps and duplications • Evaluate my income and expenditures in order to create a financial plan based on solving my most debilitating problems first and spending my money where it will have the greatest impact
toward accomplishing my goals
• Use a decision-making matrix which
requires me to evaluate my options in relation to my goals and prevents me from going off on a tangent At this point my Holistic Goal is: • To restore enduring health and vitality to the soil and biology I control, including flora, fauna, minerals, organic matter, and the substances and systems which support them. • To provide healthy, tasty and high quality food products to consumers in Texas in a sustainably humane manner, respecting the unique requirements of all species. • To generate enough income to support my husband and myself comfortably in our retirement. • To create a beautiful, healthy, vibrant haven for ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren, with enough work to keep us busy, without exhausting ourselves; a gathering place for our family with plenty of healthy adventures at hand, but also peace, quiet and rest. As a result of HMI’s training, I now have a big picture of where I want to go and what I want to accomplish in my agricultural operation, as well as a realistic plan to get there.
grassfed and humanely raised beef to Whole Foods markets. I’m also actively researching other animals to add to the ranch to aid in its restoration. Bees, guineas, turkeys, and chickens are my first candidates for experimentation. Eventually I’d like a few sheep and/or goats to balance the grazing, and pigs to condition my forest. We have our challenges of course. Mine are goatweed, goatweed, and goatweed. Betsy Ross has taught me that they appear to fill a niche created by mineral deficiencies in my soil, and it is my job to balance it, or at least enable nature to balance it. I’m working on it.... There is no way I could have managed to get my feet under me in this expansion of my role as wife/mother/school teacher to include a viable “ranches” (aka a female rancher) without the Grace of God and my parents in heaven heaping wisdom upon the foolish, as well as all the support and sharing from my mentors. HMI’s Beginning Women Farmers and Ranchers program has put the legs and muscle to my goals and enables me to successfully move out of the dream stage into reality. In February I sold my first batch of 13 grassfed, organic, humanely raised beeves to Whole Foods via the Grassfed Livestock Alliance and received a check equal to half my annual teacher’s salary. I’m on my way!
Future Opportunities
Although there is plenty of surface water available for livestock watering, I want to develop a watering system to keep my cattle out of the ponds and their manure and urine on the pastures. I have culled again and am set stocking the remaining herd in a sacrifice paddock for approximately 30-45 days in order to give my spring lush forage time to firmly establish itself before turning the livestock back on pasture to resume moves. (Late March-early May). I have also used my neighbor’s Brangus bull the last 2 years, and hope to borrow/lease again this year. Once my cow herd and calving are in sync with nature and each other, I hope to purchase a red Angus bull. I am keeping my calves to finish and sell to the Grassfed Livestock Alliance which supplies certified
Kay has invested in more pond development (doubling the number of ponds) so each paddock has a water source. Number 156
IN PRACTICE 7
To Build or Not to Build?
Applying the Seven Testing Questions BY DEBORAH CLARK
s a participant in the Holistic Management® Certified Educator program, I find immense satisfaction and freedom working through the processes, exercises, and modules with my “educator” hat on rather than my “practitioner” hat. The “practitioner” hat often feels like the filming of a reality show; there is drama, accountability, cameras rolling, tension, human interaction, and the constant pressure that the “show must go on”. With my “educator” hat on, the processes take on a life of their own; there is fluidity, creativity, day-dreaming, imagination. The experience often results in a constructive yet cavalier, precocious, and surprising outcome. This was the case when I applied the seven Holistic Management Testing Questions to the decision to “build our own riding/roping arena or simply use our neighbor’s arena”.
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hunting occur only after the current ranch project receives attention. It all makes for a less than desirable environment to visit. And I wonder why our adult children are not expressing a desire to return to the ranch. This workaholic attitude flies in the face of an important aspect of my personal holistic goal: to provide a warm and welcoming ranch environment for my family and friends to enjoy and perhaps want to return to and carry on. Building the arena would be a visible symbol of our willingness and desire to nurture family participation in all-things-roping and riding. Friends could come to the ranch and enjoy summer evenings roping and honing skills. Our son-in-law, Slick Robison, team roper and horse trainer, would be able to continue to train his horses when he comes to the ranch to work cattle. Our grandchildren could learn to rope on their favorite horses, and Emry would have a place to jumpstart an old passion of team roping. These are all tangible experiences that would help us change our workaholic habits, address the root cause and move me toward my personal holistic goal. Building our own arena passes the Root Cause testing question.
Social Weak Link:
Are there any social concerns regarding the building of the arena that would point towards a Social Weak Link? Yes perhaps. Our neighbor, Brent Durham, is in the process of building an arena at the prodding of Emry Birwell and Deborah Clark ranch near Henrietta, Emry. The plan was for Emry to supply Texas and have hosted field days at their ranch for HMI. the steers and our neighbor to supply the arena. Brent might feel slighted that we Root Cause chose to proceed with our own project. On the Does the action of building our own arena other hand, he might be relieved that he doesn’t address the root cause of the problem? I had to have to build the arena to support our interests. first ask myself if there was a problem that It is most important to have a conversation with needed addressing. Well, of course. My Brent to assure him that building our own arena husband, Emry Birdwell, and I are workaholics. is a way for me to honor my holistic goal. I want Our workaholic behavior is a combination of to take the opportunity to share these holistic inherited legacy, necessity, and the simple fact practices with Brent; he is part of my learning that we enjoy work. But our workaholic community and is most receptive to learning behavior has become an addiction. Ranch work more about Holistic Management. It’s most always comes first even at the expense of time important that I give him a chance to voice his with family and friends. Holiday gatherings are concerns or relief! In another social context, planned around moving or doctoring the steers; our son-in-law and his friends will be delighted travel is planned around the cattle cycle; even with a new arena at the ranch and Emry will enjoyable ranch activities like riding, roping, or have his own arena to practice and teach his 8 IN PRACTICE
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grandchildren to rope. Once again, these are anticipated outcomes that address very important aspects of my holistic goal. On the one hand, building our own arena definitely passes the Social Weak Link question but until I have that talk with Brent I can’t emphatically declare that it passes this question.
Biological Weak Link
Would building the arena address a Biological Weak Link? I didn’t find this question to be applicable to the decision at hand.
Financial Weak Link
Would building the arena address the weakest link in the chain of production? No, I don’t think it does. We are a stocker operation. The weak link at present is in resource conversion due to impacts of drought. Building an arena does not address that issue. In this case, the decision fails the Financial Weak Link question.
Comparing Options
Which action gives “the biggest bang for the buck” toward my holistic goal: building our own arena or using the neighbor’s? Building our own arena definitely moves me closer to my holistic goal for all the reasons previously described: being accessible to family and friends, having fun, providing opportunities for the next generation, and spending quality time with Emry. That last benefit was a significant realization for me. If we simply “borrow” Brent’s arena, I would not spend much time there; the activity would be more for Emry’s enjoyment and less of a family activity. This is a significant revelation. On a financial note, using Brent’s arena would be less expensive because we wouldn’t be investing in the construction costs although we would be supplying the steers. After doing some research, the cost of building an arena is not cost prohibitive. It also adds attractive infrastructure that in a small way contributes to the value of the ranch. Based on these two thoughts, building our own arena provides the biggest bang for the buck and passes the Comparing Options question.
Gross Profit Analysis
Which enterprises contribute the most to covering the fixed costs of the business? To justify the cost of building an arena, I considered a new enterprise that would include hosting ropings at the ranch. After brief consideration, I determined that the liability exposure and
insurance, promotion, and time required were counter to my holistic goal. Using Brent’s arena would be a neutral cost with the exception of supplying the steers. This question, Gross Profit Analysis, is not applicable to the decision under consideration.
personal Vision Statement reads in part like this: “I live a balanced life making time for faith, family, friends and community.” There is no doubt that the building of our own arena supports the underpinning of these very important aspects of my holistic goal: family time, enticement for the next generation, enjoying the wonderful resources we have. If I place value on our ranching lifestyle, I need to engage in behaviors that promote this lifestyle to family as well as the Having future generations enjoy the ranch is a critical piece of Emry and Deborah’s pubic and our industry. holistic goal. Enjoying what we have mitigates burnout and lessens the Input Analysis possibility of making bad decisions resulting Is the energy/money used in this action from workaholic addictions. Taking time to derived from the most appropriate source in enjoy the resources we have, to do so with the terms of my holistic goal? Will the way the next generation and our friends will help me to energy or money used lead towards my holistic stay fresh, committed, and able to make wise goal? The contractor that I would approach to decisions when needed and supports that piece build our arena also works as a day hand at of my Vision Statement that says “I remain the ranch; he is a person of many talents and focused, hardworking, disciplined, opendoes quality work. I want to keep good folks minded, and accessible”. Yes, building our own like Scot engaged in our ranch activities. I arena passes the Vision Analysis question. have also learned that Slick, our son in law, has lots of material left over from building his Gut Check arena; he wants to sell it at an attractive price. How do I feel about this decision? I feel it just makes sense and is aligned with my excited, eager, grounded, and hopeful. Again, holistic goal to use these resources that are the decision to build our own arena passes the locally available. Gut Check question. The money to build the arena could come Remember that this was an exercise I did from one of two sources: our operating note or with my “educator” hat on in the context of my our investments. If paid for out of the operating personal holistic goal. It wasn’t one that I did in note, there will be interest charges but it will be the context of the ranch or a shared holistic goal a one-time investment. Taking the money from with Emry. I knew he was committed to using the investments simply reduces the savings in Brent’s arena when finished and was content these accounts. Taking the money from with supplying the steers. Understanding his investments seems to me to convey a stronger viewpoint, I asked him to review this homework commitment to the arena and avoids added assignment and prefaced that I wrote it in interest expense. The cost of the roping steers context of my personal goals. is part of our annual cattle purchase and bears An amazing development occurred following no impact on our overall plan. Given these his review. He stated that I had “done good considerations, building our own arena passes work” and asked when we were going to get the Input Analysis question. started on our own arena! With a little prodding Emry admitted that he had begun to consider Vision Analysis the possibility of building our own arena. He Does this action lead toward or away from just couldn’t find a good financial argument to the vision articulated in my holistic goal? My support that decision. But when he read what
the Seven Testing Questions revealed in my homework assignment and that overwhelmingly the “revelations” supported my holistic goal of providing a warm and welcoming ranch environment for our family and friends, he indicated that he reached the same conclusion “for all the things I said”! This conversation led to a reworking of our combined ranch holistic goal which now reads in part “We have accomplished our goals and continue to be active and hardworking. The ranch is a place where our family, friends, and community come to joyfully participate in ranch activities and explore the benefits of holistic management.”
Monitoring
Because I thought I was simply finishing a homework assignment I didn’t consider any monitoring until after Emry supported the decision to build our own arena. Now Early Warning Signs regarding the outcome of the arena construction include: 1) construction costs that exceed the budget 2) our neighbor’s feelings. Unintended Consequences include: 1) budget overruns 2) not making this a family project; leaving someone out and 3) disagreements about scope and size. I am proceeding with a cautious approach regarding budget, getting Emry’s approval for final design and builder, including Slick’s opinions about design, and talking with our neighbor, Brent. We are also asking other family members if they have any input. I had that much needed conversation with Brent. He did express some concern that he had moved too slowly and we were anxious about the project. When I explained how we came to the decision to build our own arena through the application of the Seven Testing Questions, he was immediately relieved. And as life sometimes provides the unexpected, his son, a professional team roper is moving to the ranch, and will make full use of his arena! I’m confident that steers, horses, and ropers will move freely back and forth between our ranches and new arenas! I learned that applying the Seven Testing Questions doesn’t have to play out like a reality show. Rather, applying the Seven Testing Questions in a neutral environment without emotion, demands, or taking sides, provides an environment for invigorating thought and unbiased analysis which often leads to surprising conclusions; all of which supports honoring and fulfilling our holistic goals. Deborah Clark is a trainee in HMI’s Certified Educator Program and ranches near Henrietta, Texas. She can be reached at: deborahclark90@sbcglobal.net. Number 156
IN PRACTICE 9
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Jack and Teresa Southworth—
Ranching in Eastern Oregon BY HEATHER SMITH THOMAS
astern Oregon is a challenging environment for raising cattle; some years there are more months of winter than summer. Jack and Teresa Southworth have a ranch on the high desert—on the south side of the Strawberry Mountains in Bear Valley near Seneca, Oregon in a high, flat valley. “Our ranch was first homesteaded in 1885 by my grandfather,” says Jack. “He used it as a place to grow hay for the oxen he used at his sawmill. My grandfather then decided to make it into a cattle ranch. His question, which he never stopped asking, was, ‘Can I make a living here?’ because no one ever had.”
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From Conventional to Holistic
Jack’s grandparents had 3 boys that grew up on the ranch, and put them all through college. “I think that was the definition of success for my grandfather: he started with nothing, and educated his sons, and then one of them—my father—took over the ranch from my grandfather,” says Jack. “My father was a World War II veteran, and he came back to the ranch with a very scientific background. He thought that with enough machinery, equipment, calculation, scientific research and new technology, we could solve all the problems. He felt there were ways to conquer the challenges of ranching, whether with scours boluses or growth implants or a new variety of grass. This was the thinking of that day, and it worked for him
The Southworth Ranch Team: Lft to Rt: Connor Smith, Clay Hughet, Brad Smith, Matt Mitchek, Ken Harvey, Teresa and Jack Southworth, and Ed Newton. 10
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because energy was relatively cheap, land was relatively cheap, and he could use new technologies to gradually improve the ranch. In his own way, he and my mother were successful, as well,” Jack says. “In 1978 when Teresa and I took over the ranch, we (and my parents) bought some additional ground and all of a sudden we were a million dollars in debt, with 15% interest rates. It was killing us but we didn’t know what to do,” he says. In 1984 Jack and Teresa went to Albuquerque and took a week-long class from Allan Savory. “That was our first exposure to Holistic Management. I did not hear the part about setting goals, but what I did hear was the part about economic analysis—and gross margin analysis—and how to figure out whether we should be in the cow-calf business or the yearling business. We learned more about how to manage our grass, and whether we should build some additional fence. I heard all that, but I went about it without a goal in mind,” he says. The economic analysis was enough to help them start turning a corner. They were able to reduce their debt and increase their cow herd. “Eventually we also made a three-part goal. I think that’s when we really transformed the ranch, because we realized it wasn’t just about measuring success through profit. All of a sudden it became measuring success by how well we achieved our quality of life goal, our production goal, and our landscape goal,” he says. “Our quality of life goal is to achieve a sense of satisfaction and self worth from living on and being involved with this ranch. The purpose of the ranch is to allow each of us—the owners and the people who work here— to achieve our personal goals. Our production goal is to make a profit from the sale of cattle and timber from the ranch. Our landscape goal is a dense stand of perennial grasses with decaying litter between the plants (to increase soil fertility). We want our streams lined with willow, stocked with beaver, and good habitat for fish. We want our timberland to be a mosaic of openings and thickets, and want it to be a forest of old growth and young trees of different species, but mostly ponderosa pine,” says Jack. “After we assembled that goal, all of a sudden we had a vision to manage toward. As a result we’ve been able to reduce our debt and manage for quality of life as well as a profit, while achieving or heading toward the landscape goal that we believe will sustain us in the future.” It really helps to have the big picture in mind. “It’s interesting, on this ranch, to compare the different generations. My grandfather started with nothing on the landscape—with no fences, no infrastructure whatsoever and made a living here. My dad used the post World War II technology to bring about success a different way. By the mid1980s we knew we needed a different way of doing things because what worked for my grandfather and what worked for my dad was no longer workable for us. I think the Holistic Management and having a three-part goal has brought about a transformation on this ranch that is working for the current generation. I don’t know what is going to work for the future, but
The Southworths run an Angus herd with some Tarentais and are now bringing some Simmental into the mix. it is certainly a satisfying thing trying to achieve our three-part goal (Holistic Goal),” says Jack. The Southworths use that goal to keep Jack and their 4 employees headed in the right direction. “We meet at the shop every morning. The first day of the month we talk about our plans for the month. The first day of the week we talk about the week, and each day we assess our plans for the important things we need to accomplish—not only for that day but for this month or this week. This helps us keep in mind our priorities,” says Jack. “Our ranch is like every other ranch. We have emergencies that could consume us and take all our time if we let them. The trick is to do those things that make a long-term difference—whether building a fence, improving an irrigation system, reseeding some poor producing range to crested wheat and alfalfa—the things that improve the productivity of our ranch. If we don’t plan for these, and say we’re going to get them done on certain dates, they won’t get done because emergencies would consume us.”
Improving Genetics
The Southworths run an Angus herd with some Tarentais and are now bringing some Simmental into the mix. They use an artificial insemination (AI) program on their best producing cows and grow their own bulls. This works well, raising bulls with the genetics they want, acclimated to their own conditions and harsh environment. “The nice thing about raising our
Jack likes to graze yearlings on the sub-irrigated crested wheatgrass pastures so he can ship them at 900 pounds in the fall.
own bulls is that it doesn’t bother us to cull one if he isn’t quite doing the job we want him to do. By contrast if you’ve spent $5,000 for a bull and he’s lying under a tree in the shade instead of breeding cows, this is frustrating but you still feel he must be a good bull because you paid $5,000 for him,” says Jack. “We use Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) a lot in our cattle selection. We’ve taken the EPDs of the Angus herd and by consulting with Dan Drake in northern California we tailored those EPDs for what we want—for an animal that we think works here. We want a moderate framed animal, moderate milk (not high or low), and a fertile animal. We want below average birthweight and above average yearling weight,” he explains. “When you go to an AI catalog and look for below average birthweight, this eliminates half the bulls. Then you ask for below average birthweight with above average yearling weight and this eliminates another quarter of the bulls. If you then ask for moderate milk and moderate frame (frame score 6 or less) this eliminates about 95% of the bulls because a moderate frame is hard to find,” he says. “It is very exciting for us when we find bulls that are curve-benders that will work in our environment and still provide us with genetics that are successful. We are part of the Country Natural Beef Coop. Having cattle that are moderate size with above average yearling weight really works well for us in that program,” says Jack. “We also try to treat our cattle in a quiet, low-stress manner. This is all part of being fair to them and treating them with respect, and I can’t imagine raising cattle in any other way,” he says. Humane handling pays off in many ways because the cattle are trusting and calm, easier to work with, they gain better, and it makes good sense for the animals and for the owners. “We use a computerized system that enables us to use the best cows in our AI program,” he says. Genetic improvement and selection has helped create a herd of animals that fit their environment very well. “Our cows average about 1,250 pounds and we expect them to have a calf every year without assistance. They milk moderately well and breed back on time, with no excuses. We’ve found that bad luck is the most heritable of all traits!” Too many people think that loss of her calf, or the cow calving late or coming up open was just an odd situation and they give her another chance. But that cow will often find a way to lose her calf another year as well. The quickest way to perpetuate problems is to give cows a second chance.
Effective Grazing Management
Besides really focusing on efficient cattle genetics, Jack also focuses on getting adequate recovery for his grasses. “We have long winters and don’t turn out until the first week in May,” says Jack. “We graze until about Thanksgiving. So we’re feeding hay for about 5 months and we don’t turn out on grass until the perennial grass plants have 3 ½ new leaves. We use some crested wheatgrass which is ready for grazing a little quicker than the native species.” When the cattle are first turned out, the plan is to allow them to bite the plants just once and then move on, giving those early grasses a chance to recover. “In order to do that, we have a lot of pastures. We usually try to have pastures no bigger than 160 acres in size, and sometimes we’ll crossfence those. If we move the cattle every 3 to 5 days this helps the grass recover. It’s not just the light grazing, but having enough pastures (and the stocking rate adjusted enough), to give adequate recovery time,” Jack explains. Recovery time is the key. “Most people keep thinking about days of recovery time, but here in the intermountain West it’s not about the number of days, but rather the number of days of growing season. We only grow CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
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The Wofford Ranch—
Grazing Management in a Dry Climate BY HEATHER SMITH THOMAS
ost stockmen using intensive grazing systems are in relatively humid climates or use irrigated pastures, but a few are trying these methods on arid rangelands. It has to be done a bit differently because of the harsher, more brittle environment but many of the principles are still the same. Gary Wofford, a rancher near Pueblo, Colorado, has been using Holistic Management and a dry-land version of mob grazing and says it has changed his situation dramatically. He feels that the greatest potential for improving soils and grass production is in the West, where some areas have suffered damage from overgrazing. These areas have a huge potential for increasing productivity by changing the grazing management to allow longer recovery time for the plants.
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Restoring Productivity
“When I bought my ranch (10 sections of land) in March 2006, it had been grazed conventionally (season-long grazing) for its entire existence. The recommended stocking rate in 2006 (by NRCS) was 125 cow/calf pairs year round. For the first couple years I grazed 120-150 pairs until I got the fencing and water sources partially developed in the summer of 2008 to be able to rotate my pastures and graze them more intensively for shorter periods. Then in 2010 and 2011 I was running the equivalent of 500 pairs year round,” he says. “This is about 4 times the recommended stocking rate, and the grass has improved phenomenally. The NRCS was thrilled. I was thrilled. I think that almost any ranch in the West that has been conventionally grazed can double the stocking rate after the first year of management change, and double it again over the next couple of years. The potential is incredible,” says Wofford. For him, being able to quadruple his cattle numbers was like buying one ranch while getting the benefit of what most people would do with 4 ranches. “It’s like getting 3 ranches to graze for free. My cost of gain on yearlings, or cost to produce a calf in a cow/calf operation is about ¼ of what it was in the past, on this ranch,” he says. He hasn’t fed any hay to his cattle for several years. He feels that with well-planned grazing, there is no need for winter feed—especially in his
region where snow doesn’t get too deep. “One form of increasing the effective stocking rate is to keep cattle numbers the same and eliminate winter feeding, just by having ample grass for winter grazing. Then, after the costs of running cattle are lower, a person can increase the stocking rate. I recently saw an estimate that 70% of cost of production on the average cow/calf operation is for winter feed, and this cost can often be eliminated,” he says. Ranching became his fulltime job. He worked in town, as a doctor (Internal Medicine), for 20 years, but closed his practice in December of 2008 after he realized he could make a living ranching. “The traditional thinking in our area is that you can’t purchase a ranch at market price, finance it 90% like I did, and make the mortgage payments from the cattle operation alone,” he says. Many ranches in the West have someone working in town to support or pay for the ranch. “Yet most ranches could be self-sustaining. Vicky and Gary Wofford are the team that makes Most of the their ranch profitable. ranchers working in town would love to quit that job and be on the ranch full time, if it would support them, and it will—with different management,” he says. Wofford increased production on his 10 sections of land by putting a water source in the center of each section, and dividing each one into 4 smaller pastures with permanent electric fencing. “I now have 42 permanent pastures to utilize for grazing management. Having this many pastures allows flexibility to graze for the benefit of animal performance and for the health of the grass.” This is the balance that must be achieved on a daily basis, to sustain good grass production. Wofford feels that most conventionally managed ranches are only concerned with animal performance and have damaged the grass significantly. Originally his ranch had only 2 water sources—a creek on the western border and one stock tank on the eastern side, utilizing well water. The cattle didn’t want to walk 2 miles to water, and overgrazed the areas near the water sources while underutilizing some of the forage at the far corners. By putting a water source in each section, he was able to more uniformly use the pasture, and halt the overuse of certain areas. “Many ranchers spend a lot of time and energy taking hay to cattle, when all they really need to do is take the cows to the grass, and give the grass a chance to be more productive,” he says.
Peer to Peer Learning
Despite years of drought, Gary has been able to keep his ranch productive enough to pay the mortgage by making effective use of the rains that do come (July 2010). 12
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“The main reason I purchased this ranch in the first place was because I had a herd of cows that needed pasture. I had been leasing another man’s place. It was really dry one year and we ran out of grass in the fall. There was no way we were going to make it through the winter. I had to do something, and tried to find grass to lease. I found this ranch that was available, and when I began purchasing it I called a friend who was doing holistic grazing management. I told him that if I owned a ranch myself I wanted to do things correctly, from the beginning. I asked him what I should read,” says Wofford.
The friend told him to read Savory’s work, and all of Greg Judy’s writings. “We talked about this all the time and I learned a lot from my friend. It helps if you can find someone who is doing this kind of grazing, and pick their brain constantly. My friend has been doing this for 30 or 40 years and is way ahead of everyone else. If you are a beginner I would highly recommend reading Savory, Judy, and maybe a couple of Allan Nation’s books, and go to a conference,” he says. “Go to an Ian Mitchell-Innes conference or to one of those types of learning experiences where you can actually sit and talk, and ask questions that pertain to your specific situation. There are many things you won’t be able to get out of a book.” Someone who has had some experience in your type of climate, terrain or situation can help you a lot more. A conference where you can share ideas and questions is the best learning tool. “I went to one of Ian’s conferences at Greg Judy’s place in Gary works to get as much tramping of his bunch grasses to build soil health. He 2008 and then I hosted one here at my place in 2011. I also esays don’t give up as it may take a couple of years to really see the effect. mail Ian periodically to ask questions,” says Wofford. It was tremendously helpful to have someone to ask. “The most important thing is to find someone in your area who is doing “People in the East think the water supply has to be nearby for cattle intensive grazing. One of the problems I had was that there was almost to do well. Jim Gerrish’s book, for instance, says that in an ideal pasture no one doing it out here. The friend who got me headed this direction was the cattle should never be more than 800 feet from water. My cows have actually doing a pretty good job of it, but he’s on leased land. Since he never been that close to water,” says Wofford. Most cows on western doesn’t own it he hesitates to put in much infrastructure that he may not rangelands travel at least half a mile to a mile or more to water. be able to use very long. He put some in, on a 10-year lease, thinking Another piece of advice: don’t go broke investing in the infrastructure. he’d get his money back on it after 10 years and he probably could have. “Try to use what you already have, like Ian uses the river. All he had to do He was there about 7 or 8 years and lost the lease,” says Wofford. was put in a little bit of fence.” Rather than get in too deep too fast—and “There are a few people in eastern Colorado who have a partial never catch up in paying for the facilities—it’s often better to do a little bit program going, and are doing a great job, but there aren’t people near me at a time as you can afford it. You can gradually pay for more that I can go to for ideas. E-mail discussion groups are a great thing if you improvements as the productivity of your pastures increases. are in a good group. You can throw out any question and people will try to “Test plots are a great idea for people who want to prove to help you answer it,” he says. themselves that it will work on their place, before they jump in. If you have a 2- or 3-acre Lessons Learned pen or trap, put all your cattle in that small “I recently saw an estimate that area for a day and then pull them off and “If a person is getting started and wanting 70% of cost of production on don’t let them go back in there for a year, and to design a grazing system, my suggestion is see what it does. Then compare it to your for them to get advice from a bunch of the average cow/calf operation other pastures. If you do that for 2 or 3 years different people regarding how they would row, you will kick yourself for not doing is for winter feed, and this cost inthea whole design it. If I had it to do over again, I am not place immediately!” he says. sure I would do it a lot differently, but I would Intensively grazing one small area, and can often be eliminated.” certainly think hard about the way Ian has his being very aggressive with it, can show what place laid out, in South Africa. He has a river that will do for the grass. The proper acreage down one border of his property, so that’s his for the herd will vary with your climate, terrain, plants, number of cattle, water supply. He has long, skinny pastures running from the river to the etc. “Give them one day’s worth of grass—whatever amount of pasture opposite border. Each pasture has running water, which is as natural as it that might be. If there is not enough grass there for the herd, just leave gets, and the pastures are long and narrow which increases the trampling them half a day. Then pull them out and go somewhere else. But give that tremendously compared to wider or square pastures,” says Wofford. piece a year’s rest after the grazing/trampling and then see what it looks “I could have almost done the same thing. I have a creek on the west like. If you are not convinced after one year, do it again. You will be border of my place and almost could have laid it out that way. I’ve convinced after 2 or 3 years. Test plots are a wonderful tool,” he says. calculated the cost of the system and if I could have taken the water “In the last conference I attended with Ian, one of the women in the system money and applied it to fencing, I could have spent the same group asked: ‘There are so many things to consider, how do you actually amount of money and had long narrow pastures with natural water. The get started?’ What Ian says over and over again is to start with what you problem with my place is that it’s 3 or 4 miles to the other border, which have and work toward what you want. If you are eventually wanting 40 or would mean a long ways to go to water,” he says. 50 pastures and don’t have money to do all that, cut your place up into 5 Range cattle will go a long distance to water; in some regions they will pastures that have water. This will give you better utilization and go several miles to water, drink once a day—lounging around for awhile improvement than you had before, and you haven’t spent a lot of money after drinking—and then graze back out in the evening. They’ll spend the doing it.” A person can just keep doing beneficial increments. night somewhere out where they’ve grazed, graze through the morning “You might have to put a water system in by the time you do more, but and then come back in to water midday. A good range cow will do fine in CONTINUED ON PAGE 14 this situation. Number 156
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Grazing Management in a Dry Climate continued from page thirteen
by then you know what you are aiming at. The more permanent infrastructure you put in, the less flexible you can be in the future. So it’s a good idea to only do a little bit the first year—like the 4 or 5 pastures— and the next year cut them in half. If you then look at it and say, ‘I wish I’d done it another way,’ you probably can do it another way at that point.” This is better than putting everything in at once and then realizing you should have put some of the fences in another place or the water in a different location. It’s not a bad idea to do it over several years.
Efficient Systems
“I really like what Ian has been doing with his cattle. He moves them into a new pasture through a gate by the water. So to go graze they have to walk out away from the water. What he’s been doing the past few years is to move them into the new pasture right at dark and he has it crossfenced so they just have 2 or 3 acres that first night. They spend the night there, walking over the grass, trampling it and pooping all over it. In the morning he goes out and opens the gate and lets them have the whole pasture. He says that those small inclusion zones are always the greenest grass on the ranch. Those are the places the cows run to immediately, when they get a choice,” says Wofford. A person could also put these on the far end, if you wanted to better utilize the end of the pasture away from the water. “Cows don’t need water overnight, if they have good water during the day. In that instance you’d bring them in the opposite end from the water and pen them up in a small area, to let them out in the morning. Improving that end of the pasture would provide the attraction at the far end, and the next time you let them in on the water end they’d want to go to the best grass at the far end and trample everything even better,” he says. Long narrow pastures have some great advantages over short wide pastures. “Everybody needs to do more trampling. You can never have too much. The more trampling the better—and that comes with pasture design, pasture shape and stock density. The higher the stock density, the more the cattle are going to trample. And the longer and skinnier the pastures, the more they have to walk over the grass and the more they will trample. Long, skinny pastures are also much easier to divide with a temporary fence. If the pasture is a mile wide it’s a pain to subdivide. If you only have to put up 200 feet it’s a breeze,” says Wofford. “There are countless ways to design a grazing system, to fit your own place, to accomplish what you want to accomplish.” Once you know the basic principles you can look at your place with an eye to how you might tweak a certain idea or type of system to best adapt it to your own terrain and water availability.
Creating a Drought Plan
Part of the plan in mob grazing and Holistic Management is being able to adjust for drought. “You have to be flexible enough to do this, to make it work,” says Wofford. After 3 years of severe drought he destocked—to rest the grass—but was able to graze through the first 2 dry years because of his innovative grazing management. “For a drought plan, in a dry region, you need to always have at least a couple months’ reserve grass that you don’t plan to use except in an emergency. In our area, you should have a winter stocking rate low enough to get you through at least until mid-June—just in case the spring rain comes late. This gives us 2 more months later than we expect the grass to turn green. If it rains early and the grass grows early you can leave more residual grass to bank, or bring in stockers to run with your 14
Land & Livestock
July / August 2014
cattle or keep more heifers, or sell fewer cows. You have many options,” he says. If you wait until there’s a drought to try to figure out what to do, you will be in exactly the same situation everyone else is, and either have to buy expensive hay or sell cattle when the market is down due to the glut of cattle coming off drought-stricken ranches. “So one of the goals is to predict early on when there might be a drought, and then reduce your stocking rate before everyone else does,” says Wofford. “Monitoring is a huge issue. Watch your rainfall patterns. There are formulas that describe how to predict a drought. In some of Savory’s Holistic Management courses he gives formulas where you can plug in the average rainfall and actual rainfall and it will give you the odds of having a drought in the next month or in three months or whatever. This gives you more chance to destock early,” he says. “If you destock more than you needed to you can just bank the grass. If you have too much you can always increase your stocking rate again or keep a bunch of grass until there is a drought. If you have a lot of brown grass and everyone is dumping their cows you can stock up, or rent pasture to people who are looking for feed,” he says. Currently Wofford is watching the weather trends and waiting for a good time to restock. “After 3 years of drought, a lot of the grass in our area is so damaged that it died. Even though we got some rain in July 2013 and got good growth on the grass that was still alive, some did not respond. I was not planning to restock until next spring. I wanted to let it grow more and I think it will be a lot healthier than if we graze it this winter.” It needs more time to recover. Gary worked as a doctor for “In 2012 we got about 5 inches of 20 years, but closed his moisture for the year. Our annual average is practice in December of about 12 inches. In 2008 after he realized he 2011 we were about 4 inches behind could make a living ranching. average, and in 2013 we got about 6 or 7 inches. In essence we are a year behind in total moisture, for the last several years. It will take awhile to catch up,” he explains. In pastures where some of the grass has died, time will heal this loss. “The seed is there; all it needs is moisture. This is a big point that people need to realize; there is no shortage of seed. Mother Nature has this problem covered. I’ve seen some estimates stating that topsoil is about 80% seed. It is just waiting for the right environmental conditions to encourage it to grow. You don’t need to add seed; it’s already there.”
Healthier Grass & Soil
Wofford says that when he started improving his pastures with longer rest periods, his neighbors’ grass was only 2 inches tall. “By allowing my grass to fully recover prior to being grazed again, the cows were grazing plants a foot tall or taller. This alone created many times more forage than the ranchers around me had,” he explains. The grass and soil is also healthier. By allowing grass to fully recover prior to grazing, it’s much taller, and shades the ground. Most of the moisture that comes as rain or snow is retained, rather than running off or evaporating. “Wet ground is no longer exposed to the hot sun and wind. The grass roots are stronger and longer and sequester more carbon into the soil. For each unit of carbon added to soil, you retain 12 units of water,” he says. Taller grass plants not only hold more moisture, but also allow more plant matter to be trampled onto the soil surface when a small area is
As is evidenced in this picture from October 2011, Gary has been able to keep standing forage to better protect the soil from heat and wind as well as trap snow in the winter. grazed by a large herd. This acts as mulch and further increases water retention and slows down evaporation, and the water cycle is improved. “One of the things I made note of the last few years is that whatever the cattle don’t eat, you want them to trample down onto the ground as much as possible, to create litter. In a wet environment like Missouri where it rains a lot, trampled forage decays quickly and it’s turned quickly into good soil. If your grass is 3 feet tall and so thick you can’t walk through it, it’s easy to put some down on the ground. But in our dry environment grass is sparse and we don’t get any decay. It has to be mechanically broken down by hoof action instead,” he says. “Since it never decays, it becomes a cumulative effect. The first year I tried mob grazing I was disappointed in the scanty amount of litter (since our dry bunch grass clumps are many inches or even many feet apart). But the second year I realized it wasn’t that bad. The third year, I thought, ‘Wow, this is looking a lot better!’ It has to build up. Eventually the litter breaks down, but it never decays,” explains Wofford. “In dry climates you shouldn’t become discouraged the first several years, because if you are laying down any litter at all, it will accumulate and eventually help the land. The more litter you have, the more good it will do. We don’t have thick, tall grass, like they do in the eastern part of the U.S.” The dry West has some very different parameters. “We can’t control or change/increase the amount of rain we get on our ranches, but we can utilize every drop of rain that falls on them. By improving the water cycle, we can improve the effectiveness of whatever amount of water we get as rain. Lack of rainfall is usually the limiting factor to growing grass in the West. Think how your ranch would respond to twice as much rain as what it normally gets,” he says. All of these factors are more dramatic in the West than in the East where the climate is more humid to begin with. “I don’t know that the taller grass in the East shades the ground that much more at 3 feet tall than when it is 2 feet tall; there is not the same potential for improvement,” says Wofford. “A dry year is a good time to evaluate your program to see if you are making progress. On a wet year, it’s easy to have an optimistic outlook on things, but when you go through some really dry years you find out if you are doing it correctly.” As grass plants grow taller, with stronger root systems, they are healthier and more drought resistant. “Most of my neighbors had nothing but dry, brown grass during the dry summer of 2011, while I had green grass growing longer. When I looked back at my records, we had received less than 4 inches of rain from July 1, 2010 through July 1, 2011. Most of my neighbors were already destocking and I maintained my same
stocking rate through that year,” he says. In spite of drought that year, his grazing capacity remained high. “In 2010, if you adjusted steer to cow ratio (since the ranch was pasturing yearlings), the grazing capacity worked out to be about 600 cows year round. We had a severe drought through 2011 and pastured the equivalent of 500 cows year round—which was really good. All our neighbors were cutting their herds in half or more,” he says. “The continued drought in 2011 did not affect my bottom line and I was still able to make my mortgage payments—which I would not have been able to do with reduction in cattle numbers.” Even though the summer of 2013 was also dry and Wofford destocked and rested his pastures, they will recover more readily when the rain finally comes again—because they were not overgrazed.
Landscaping with Livestock
Improving soil health and giving plants full recovery also helps to keep winter precipitation. The ranch got a foot of snow in December 2011 and when it melted there was water standing on the ground for a month. Wofford didn’t have to feed any hay, even with the snow, because the wind blows it around; the snow is only 3 or 4 inches deep in some places and 2 to 3 feet deep in other places; it’s never uniform. “The wind is your friend, especially if your neighbors don’t have any grass and you do. The snow blows off your neighbors’ places and your grass catches it all.” The plants catch the snow and have more moisture to utilize when it melts. “Even if the middle of the ranch is eaten down a little farther than you want, if the perimeter is still tall, you will catch all the snow blowing in, and also catch it before it blows off,” says Wofford. Ian Mitchell-Innes, in South Africa, has a similar philosophy regarding fire prevention on his pastures. “In a conference several years ago he mentioned that all his neighbors burn their pastures—which is a horrible waste. He wants a big firebreak around his perimeter so he puts all his cows right on his border and moves them around it, letting his cows create the firebreak for him. This is the exact opposite of what I do, to catch the snow. He wants a heavily grazed boundary so his neighbors’ fires don’t spread onto his property. This is part of the philosophy of letting the cows do all the work. Don’t mow a firebreak; just let the cows graze it heavily in the right places,” he says.
Creating a Team
All of this innovative work and commitment to making the ranch a viable economic business is not just the work of Gary. Gary and his wife Vicky are a good team, in making this program work. “Allan Savory makes a good point, in one of his books. He says that before you start a new kind of management program, you need to make sure ahead of time that everyone involved is in agreement on it. If you want to do something different and your wife doesn’t really want to try it, it’s not going to work very well. You need to have common goals. It’s nice to sit down together and plan/write your goals and look at them whenever you need to—to remember where you are headed,” says Wofford. “My wife is working in town right now, but whenever she’s here on the ranch she is helping me, and very supportive of what I am trying to do. It does have to be a team effort, with everyone involved, especially if there CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
Number 156
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Grazing Management in a Dry Climate continued from page fifteen
are kids still helping with the ranch. If the kids don’t want to do it, you are not going to force them into it.”
Feed Efficient Cattle
To create a profitable ranch Wofford is also focusing on the feed efficiency of his cattle. “Research is coming up with new Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) for feed efficiency. Kit Pharo is about the only seedstock producer who has been selecting for feed efficiency for many years, and most of his bulls are in the top 1 or 2% of the breed. If you can get cows and bulls that are feed efficient you can double your stocking rate. Pharo is always telling people that smaller cows will always produce more pounds of beef per unit of land than larger cows, and the calves will bring more per pound when you sell them,” says Wofford. “It’s a lot more profitable to sell a thousand 400-pound calves than 500 800-pound calves because the price per pound is so much higher for the
Ranching in Eastern Oregon continued from page eleven
grass for about 3 months and that means 9 months that it’s not growing. If we graze a plant hard on the 15th of July—near the last day of the growing season— it will require almost a full year to recover and be ready to be grazed again.” After you get into the heat of summer, the cool season grasses are done growing. “We like to graze crested wheatgrass in the spring and then our cows and calves go to Forest range in the summer. Our yearlings stay on crested wheatgrass in sub-irrigated meadows and gain very well. We like to ship 900-pound yearlings to the feedlot the end of August. In the fall our cows graze meadow aftermath, and then we feed hay through the winter,” he says.
Reducing Winter Feed Costs
Winters are long, with much of the grass covered by snow after November and remain snow-covered until late February. “Since we are in a high, flat valley (about 4,600 feet in elevation), we are one of the coldest places in Oregon. We’ve had a record low temperature of 54 below zero. Our elevation by western standards isn’t really very high but for Oregon it is pretty high. This makes it necessary to feed hay in the winter; the snow may vary from 6 inches to a couple feet, depending on the year.” It’s difficult for cattle to graze through that much snow, so hay is fed every winter. “One thing we are doing to reduce hay costs is using rakebunched hay for the cattle to eat in the fall and early winter. We use a bunch rake, following the swather, to make piles of hay. It keeps better—retaining more color and nutrients than hay in windrows—and is easier for cows to find and eat in the snow,” Jack says. This saves on some of the haying and labor costs, eliminating the need for baling, hauling and stacking, or hauling it back out to the cattle. This provides feed for the cows through fall and into the winter, but through most of the winter they are fed big round bales put up on the ranch. “We put up most of our hay and then buy a little alfalfa hay as a protein supplement,” he says. He prefers feeding alfalfa rather than using protein tubs. With tubs
16 IN PRACTICE
July / August 2014
lighter calves. A thousand-pound cow eats about half of what a 1400pound cow eats. So you can increase your stocking rate by 40% just by using 1000-pound cows instead of 1400-pound cows,” he says. The smaller cow will usually wean off a higher percent of her body weight in the calf she produces, compared to the larger cow. “If she is eating less, and producing a higher percent of her own body weight in weaned calf, she’s doing a better job than the bigger cow.” Wofford has clear evidence of the key management decisions that have made a difference in land health and profitability for his ranch. “The first thing is high density grazing because this makes the biggest difference. You can easily double your stocking rate, if not more, in 2 to 3 years. The second thing is cow size and feed efficiency. The third suggestion is a look at heavy-milking versus moderate-milking cows. The moderate-milking cow is about 30 to 40% more efficient. If you can adjust cow size and select toward moderate-milking cows you can increase stocking rate by 61% right there. The fourth thing is to calve in synch with nature—whenever the deer in your region are having their fawns. If it’s June, then that’s when you should be calving,” he says. With these key practices Gary Wofford has been able to make ranching in the arid West a profitable business—no small feat in this day and age. or blocks some of the more timid animals don’t get enough, while the bossier animals always get more than their share. “I want to treat our cattle fairly and enable them to all have equal access to quality feed to meet their nutritional needs. Feeding hay, making sure pastures are in good shape, taking hay and forage samples, making sure we have the right mineral mix for our environment, etc. are all important aspects of raising cattle,” Jack says.
Dependency on Public Land
Even with smart use of deeded land, in eastern Oregon the cattle industry is very dependent on public land grazing to sustain ranching. “Our society is now saying other uses of public land might be more important than cattle grazing,” says Jack. Some voices are claiming that other uses are more important. “In order to continue grazing, we need to do a really good job. These public lands are crucial to our year-round viability. Without them we simply don’t have the balance and diversity of grazing to allow us to be economically viable,” says Jack. Most ranches don’t have adequate grazing on the home place; the cattle need to be somewhere else on summer pasture so that hay can be grown on the privately owned acres, for winter feed. Land values keep going up and it’s harder to purchase land. “Even if we continue grazing on public lands, it is getting harder to expand or make room for the next generation when land prices or so high that the cost of a ranch is ten times what cows can pay for.” It’s harder and harder for young people to get started in ranching unless they have a lot of help. “If my grandfather could hear me say that, however, he’d probably tell me that this is nothing new. He had a stagecoach stop, a general store, a post office and did some freighting in order to make enough money to get the ranch on its feet. He’d say, ‘Get used to it, kid’.” Times were tough then, too—just a little different in the details. A person has to be determined, innovative, and a little bit lucky, to make it work. “But I think our society is also beginning to recognize the importance of the stewardship that ranchers provide. We are not out to rape and pillage the landscape. We see cattle as a tool to create a healthier and more diverse landscape,” says Jack.
DEVELOPMENT CORNER NM Ranching Summit a Success
A beautiful spring day was the setting for the New Mexico Policy Maker Day hosted by HMI and the Ranney Ranch near Corona, New Mexico and supported by the Thornburg Nancy Ranney (right) and Melvin Johnson Foundation. (center) discuss the ranch practices on the Representatives Ranney Ranch that have improved ranch from federal and productivity and profitability. state agencies, along with local NGOs met with ranchers to discuss innovative strategies that increase water availability to the land, increase biodiversity and improve ranch profitability as well as possible incentive programs to encourage good land management practices. To get links to the summary or the handout developed for this program, go to our blog at: http://bit.ly/1fUbSPg. Ranney Ranch owner, Nancy Ranney, and Ranch Manager, Melvin Johnson outlined some of the challenges the ranch has faced over the years – as well as solutions they have implemented. We then toured the ranch to see and learn first-hand how the land, the livestock, and the ranch have profited from planned grazing and improved financial management, as well as various land improvement projects they have implemented. Key management practices that have helped are: • Clearing invasive juniper and cholla for increased water infiltration and grass production • Proper road construction and runoff management together to retain and spread rainfall on the land not channeled down roads and arroyos • Improved fencing and water development to improve pasture utilization and plant recovery times • Increased plant productivity and diversity through increased, short-term animal impact. • Direct marketing weaned calves as grassfed beef to maximize profit/calf These practices have allowed the ranch to cut cost of supplemental feed by more than $25,000/year while increasing average calf weights by 100 lbs. Further, Nancy and Melvin estimate that the planned grazing program and road Tom Sidwell shares his ranching construction has increased practices and observations with their soil moisture by more state policy makers. than 1.5 million gallons/acre.
Additional talks by Laurie Bower from the Southwest Grassfed Livestock Alliance and Holistic Management practitioners Tom Sidwell and Sid Goodloe completed the presentations before we began a brainstorming session facilitated by Holistic Management Certified Educator & HMI Interim CEO, Ann Adams. Participants noted that this was an educational and productive program and a great start to working collaboratively in the future on ways to improve the ranching industry in New Mexico. We thank all the organizations for their participation and a special thanks to the Thornburg Foundation for funding this program.
2014 Texas Beginning Women Farmer Program Results
HMI’s 2014 Beginning Women Farmer Program, funded by the USDA/NIFA Beginning Farmer/Rancher Development Program, has been going full steam through the winter and spring with some states beginning to wrap up. The Texas program coordinated by HMI’s Program Manager, Peggy Cole, completed all 10 sessions by the end of February. Lead instructor was Certified Educator Peggy Sechrist and mentors for the program were Tracy Litle, Lauri Celella, Kathy Harris, Pam Mitchell, Lauren Bradbury, and Katherine Napper. We’ve been busy entering the data and crunching the numbers. For the full report, go to the HMI blog to read more. Here’s what we’ve learned from our 32 Texas participants who graduated: Demographics • 22 are currently farming • The average years of farming was 4 years (range: 1 – 10 years) • The average acres under production was 253 acres under production (range: 0.5 – 1900 acres) • The average age was 52 years old (range: 28 to 67 years old) • The race the participants reported was: 21 Anglo, 2 Hispanic, and 1 Native American, and 2 other • The types of farm operations were as follows: • Cattle/Cow/Calf (13), Vegetable/Fruit/Produce (13), Poultry (4), Dairy (2), Lamb (6), Goat (1), Pecans (1), Hay (1), Sorghum (1), Aquaponic (1), Agritourism (2). • The total customers of all participants: Retail – Average 52 (total 623); Wholesale – Average 2 (total 19) • Increased net income as a result of this training 71% • Intend to keep farming 100% • Overall satisfaction with program 100% CONTINUED ON PAGE 18
Number 156
IN PRACTICE 17
DEVELOPMENT CORNER continued from page seventeen Participant Behavior Change
% of Participants 96
Post-Program Outcome Changes
% of Participants Experiencing Improvement
Created a Holistic Goal/Whole Farm Plan
93
Satisfaction with Time Management
96
Developed a Business Plan Outline
89
Forged Relationships That Positively Impacted You
Created a Land Plan
Engaged in Biological Monitoring Created a Holistic Financial Plan Developed a Marketing Plan Created a Grazing Plan
100
Satisfaction with Ability to Determine Needed Profit
96
Satisfaction with Quality of Life
89
Satisfaction with Communication
Satisfaction with Ability to Make Complex Decisions
86
79
Post Session Impacts
Participant Experiencing the Following Human Resources
% of Participants
Better Ability to Determine Resources Available to You
100
Improved Decision Making
100
New Policies and Systems Implemented
96
Improved Communications on the Farm More Efficient Use of Resources Better Relationships
Increased Efficiency of Farm Chores as a Result of Land Planning Financial Resources/Business Management New or Improved Record Keeping Systems
Enhanced Understanding of Your Farm Finances
100 96
96 75
Improved Environmental Conditions on Your Farm
Improved Ability to Determine Appropriate Management to Address an Environmental Issue
43 96
89
86
86
Less Stress for Animals
79
79
Greater efficiencies realized
68
75 71
New Mexico Whole Farm/Ranch Business Planning
In March HMI completed our Whole Farm/Ranch Business Planning program with 25 participants involved through the Los de Mora Local Growers Cooperative near Mora, New Mexico. The 2nd module was financial planningâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;particularly gross profit analysis, enterprise investment analysis, determining net worth, and mapping out a cash forecast. Ann Adams and Cindy Dvergsten were the instructors for this module. Evaluation of this session showed that participants experienced a significant knowledge increase in identifying logjams July / August 2014
Improved Understanding of Your Farmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ecosystem
43
75
Improved ability to effectively market products
18 IN PRACTICE
Natural Resources
57
Improved Ability to Manage Animals
96
82
Improved ability to receive desired price for your products/services
Increased Net Worth
% of Participants
96
Improved Strategies for More Effective Reinvestment in the Business
Improved Business Systems
Increased Farm Profits
93
93
85
93
Improved ability to discern most appropriate market channels
Reduced Farm Expenses
93
Achievement of Environmental Goals in Your Land Plan
Improved ability to determine most effective enterprises Improved Ability to Prioritize Expenses
Participant Experiencing the Following
96
Improved Environmental Conditions as a Result of Land Planning
79
Desired Change in Species Composition
75
Enhanced Land Production as a Result of Land Planning
71
Increased Forage Production
64
Reduction in Feed Costs
61
Longer Grazing Seasons
54
Reduction of Overgrazed Plants Less Stress for Farmers Improved Herd Health
75
68 64
61
and how to create a profit, as well as how to prioritize and cut expenses. Farm Credit and Rocky Mountain Farmers Union provided partial support for this module. Key results were:
Whole Farm Financial Planning Results
Knowledge/Confidence Increase
Identifying logjams and adverse factors on your farm Getting the profit you need from your farm
Prioritizing and cutting farm expenses to guide reinvestment in your farm Monitoring Financial Plan
Determining your farmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s projected revenue
% Increase
84
Your ability to develop a business plan for your farm
85
76
75
How to increase farm net worth
55
Intended Behavior Change
Intend to complete or modify a financial plan for your farm
Record keeping
Determining profit upfront and capping expenses Using the annual income and expense template Involving decision makers in financial planning
% of Participants 94
Identifying resources to assist you in developing a business/strategic plan
100
100
100
Promoting your farm products
94
Understanding your competition
90
How to develop a Marketing Plan
90
Pricing your products
61
Enterprise assessment
50
Satisfaction with Instructor
Developing a business/strategic plan
100
61
67
56
Satisfaction with Session
100
78
Prioritizing and cutting expenses Participant Satisfaction
Your ability to use your holistic goal to guide your business/strategic plan
100
Implementing important strategic systems and projects on your farm
56
Monitoring the annual income and expense template
100 100
Your ability to implement systems and projects to move you toward your whole farm goal
53
% Increase
Your knowledge about where to turn for resources to assist in developing a business/strategic plan for your farm
Your ability to use your financial plan to determine viable markets for your farm
67
Strategically reinvesting in your farm Entering financial data regularly
Knowledge/Confidence Increase
97
73
Determining viable profitable enterprises for your farm
Whole Farm Marketing and Business Planning
Understanding of how your whole farm goal and financial plan help you develop a marketing plan that fits your farm
Developing a whole farm financial plan Assessing the cash flow of your plan
knowledge increase in identifying marketing and business strategies that will help them improve business profitability. Key outcomes were:
Your attitude towards the value of having a business/strategic plan to guide your farm
56
How your marketing outreach reflects your whole farm goal
56
Developing a marketing plan that meets your farm needs and goals
90
How to use your financial plan to profitably price your products/services
90
How to effectively promote your products/services
The final session was on marketing and business planning including how to do market survey, determine market demographics, complete a competition analysis, determine appropriate markets, develop SMART goals, and develop the outline of a business plan within the context of whole farm planning. Cindy Dvergsten was the instructor for this module. Evaluation of this session showed that participants experienced a significant
Assessing your competition to understand your farm strengths
Intended Behavior Change
Intend to complete or modify a marketing plan for your farm Intend to complete or modify a business plan for your farm
Do you intend to change management practices as a result of this session?
Do you intend to change any marketing practices as a result of this session? Participant Satisfaction Satisfaction with Session
94
94
91 90
83 80
80
72
% of Participants 100
100 90 56 90
Satisfaction with Instructor
90
Participants had the opportunity for additional feedback on their business and marketing plans for the month of April with a final graduation ceremony on May 15th as part of the Growerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cooperative Annual meeting. 21 participants graduated from the program. Our thanks to the Thornburg Foundation for their grant in support of this series. Participants have opportunity to learn from each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experience with cost of production and marketing as part of this program. Number 156
IN PRACTICE 19
Certified
Educators
The following Certified Educators listed have been trained to teach and coach individuals in Holistic Management. 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 and to seek out opportunities for staying current with the latest developments in Holistic Management.
U N I T E D S TAT E S Tim McGaffic
ARIZONA
Roland Kroos
P.O. Box 1903, Cave Creek, AZ 85331 808/936-5749 • tim@timmcgaffic.com
Lee Altier
MONTANA
4926 Itana Circle, Bozeman, MT 59715 406/522-3862 • 406/581-3038 (c) kroosing@msn.com
CALIFORNIA
College of Agriculture, CSU 400 West First St., Chico, CA 95929-0310 laltier@csuchico.edu • 530/636-2525
Owen Hablutzel
4235 W. 63rd St., Los Angeles, CA 90043 310/567-6862 • go2owen@gmail.com
Richard King
Poppy Hill Farm, 1675 Adobe Rd., Petaluma, CA 94954 rking1675@gmail.com • 707/217-2308 (c)
Mulville *P.O.Kelly Box 23, Paicines, CA 95043
707/431-8060 • kmulville@gmail.com
◆ Rob Rutherford
4757 Bridgecreek Rd., San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 805/544-5781 (h) • 805/550-4858 (c) robrutherford@gmail.com
Montagne *P.O.Cliff Box 173120, MSU, Dept of Land
Resources and Environmental Science, Bozeman, MT 59717 406/599-7755 (c) montagne@montana.edu
NEBRASKA
Paul Swanson
5155 West 12th St., Hastings, NE 68901 402/463-8507 • 402/705-1241 (c) swanson5155@windstream.net
Ralph Tate
1109 Timber Dr., Papillion, NE 68046 402/932-3405 • Tater2d2@cox.net
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Kerman *350Kate Troy Road, Marlborough, NH 03455
603-876-4562, kkerman@phoenixfarm.org
◆ Seth Wilner
COLORADO
Cindy Dvergsten
17702 County Rd. 23, Dolores, CO 81323 970/882-4222 • wnc@gobrainstorm.net
24 Main Street, Newport, NH 03773 603/863-4497 (h) • 603/863-9200 (w) seth.wilner@unh.edu
Katie Miller
22755 E. Garrett Rd., Calhan, CO 80808-9170 970/310-0852 • heritagebellefarms@gmail.com
IOWA
*
Torray & Erin Wilson
4375 Pierce Ave., Paullina, IA 51046-7401 712/448-3870 • wilsonee3@gmail.com
MAINE
Vivianne Holmes
239 E Buckfield Rd., Buckfield, ME 04220-4209 207/336-2484 • vholmes@maine.edu
Larry Dyer
MICHIGAN
Judi Earl
AUSTRALIA
“Glen Orton” Coolatai, NSW 2402 +61 4 09 151 969 (c) • judi@aimsag.com.au
Graeme Hand
150 Caroona Lane, Branxholme, VIC 3302 61-3-5578-6272 (h), 61-4-1853-2130 (c) graeme.hand@bigpond.com
Dick Richardson
Frogmore, Boorowa NSW 2586 61-0-263853217 (w) • 61-0-263856224 (h) 61-0-429069001 (c) • dick@hanaminno.com.au Pine Scrub Creek, Kindee, NSW 2446 61-2-6587-4353 (h) • 61 04087 404 431 (c) brian@insideoutsidemgt.com.au
MINNESOTA
*3421MaeCedarRoseAve.Petrehn S, Minneapolis, MN 55407 913/707-7723 (c) treadearthintometaphor@gmail.com
MISSISSIPPI
prestons@telepak.net 601/384-5310 (h) • 601/835-6124 (c)
20 IN PRACTICE
Don Campbell
CANADA
Box 817 Meadow Lake, SK S0X 1Y6 306/236-6088 • doncampbell@sasktel.net
Linda & Ralph Corcoran
Sullivan *610Preston Ed Sullivan Lane NE, Meadville, MS 39653
*
Management instruction on behalf of the institutions they represent.
These associate educators provide educational services to their communities and peer groups.
NEW MEXICO ◆ Ann Adams
Holistic Management International 5941 Jefferson St. NE, Suite B Albuquerque, NM 87109 • 505/842-5252 anna@holisticmanagement.org
Kirk Gadzia
P.O. Box 1100, Bernalillo, NM 87004 505/867-4685 • 505/263-8677 (c) kirk@rmsgadzia.com
NEW YORK Craig Leggett
6143 SR 9, Chestertown, NY 12817 518/494-2324 (h) • 970/946-1771 (c) craigrleggett@gmail.com
Erica Frenay *Shelterbelt Farm
For more information about or application forms for the HMI’s Certified Educator Training Programs, contact Ann Adams or visit our website: www.holisticmanagement.org. SOUTH DAKOTA Randal Holmquist
*25267 Holmquist Rd.
Reliance, SD 57569 605/473-5356 • randy@zhvalley.com
Guy Glosson
TEXAS
6717 Hwy. 380, Snyder, TX 79549 806/237-2554 • glosson@caprock-spur.com
Peggy Maddox
P.O. Box 694, Ozona, TX 76943-0694 325/392-2292 • 325/226-3042 (c) westgift@hughes.net
Sechrist *106Peggy Thunderbird Ranch Road
Fredericksburg, TX 78624 830/456-5587 (c) • peggysechrist@gmail.com
VERMONT Calley Hastings
200 Creamery Rd., Brooktondale, NY 14817 607/539-1179 (h) • 604/342-3771 (c) info@shelterbeltfarm.com
787 Kibbee Rd., Brookfield, VT 05036 802/279-3893 • Calley.hastings@gmail.com
P.O. Box 185, Austerlitz, NY 12017 518/567-9476 • Elizabeth.marks@ny.usda.gov
WASHINGTON Sandra Matheson
120 Thompson Creek Rd., Norwich, NY 13815 607/316-4182 • pmetzger17@gmail.com
◆ Don Nelson
Elizabeth Marks Phillip Metzger
NORTH DAKOTA Joshua Dukart
2539 Clover Place, Bismarck, ND 58503 701/870-1184 • Joshua_dukart@yahoo.com
228 E. Smith Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226 360/220-5103 • sandym@mathesonfarms.com
Washington State University 121 Clark Hall, Pullman, WA 99164-6310 509/335-2922 • nelsond@wsu.edu
WISCONSIN Laura Paine
*Southwest Badger Resource Conservation &
52 NW Macleay Blvd, Portland, OR 97210 541/610-7084 • goebel@aboutlistening.com
Development Council N893 Kranz Rd., Columbus, WI 53925 608/732-1202 (w) • 920/623-4407 (h) 608/338-9039 (c) • laura.paine@swbadger.org
Blain Hjertaas
Usiel Seuakouje Kandjii
Jeff Goebel
OREGON
I N T E R N AT I O N A L
Brian Wehlburg
1113 Klondike Ave, Petoskey, MI 49770 231/347-7162 (h) • 231/881-2784 (c) ldyer3913@gmail.com
◆ These educators provide Holistic
Box 36, Langbank, SK S0G 2X0 306/532-4778 • rlcorcoran@sasktel.net
Allison Guichon
*Box 10, Quilchena, BC V0E 2R0
250/378-9734 • allisonguichon@gmail.com
July / August 2014
Box 760, Redvers, Saskatchewan SOC 2HO 306/452-3882 • 306/452-7723 (c) bhjer@sasktel.net
Brian Luce
RR #4, Ponoka, AB T4J 1R4 403/783-6518 • lucends@cciwireless.ca
Tony McQuail
86016 Creek Line, RR#1, Lucknow, ON N0G 2H0 519/528-2493 • mcqufarm@hurontel.on.ca
Pigott *BoxLen 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) sidorykk@yahoo.ca
KENYA Christine C. Jost
International Livestock Research Institute Box 30677, Nairobi 00100 254-736-715-417 (c) • c.jost@cgiar.org
NAMIBIA Wiebke Volkmann
P.O. Box 9285, Windhoek 264-61-225183 or 264-81-127-0081 wiebke@afol.com.na
P.O. Box 23319, Windhoek 9000 264-812840426 (c) • 264-61-244028 (h) kandjiiu@gmail.com
NEW ZEALAND
John King
*P.O. Box 12011, Beckenham
Christchurch 8242 64-276-737-885 • john@succession.co.nz
SOUTH AFRICA Wayne Knight
Solar Addicts, P.O. Box 537 Mokopane, 0600 South Africa 27-0-15-491-5286 +27 87 5500 255 (h) • +27 82 805 3274 (c) wayne@theknights.za.net
Sheldon Barnes
P.O. Box 300, Kimberley 8300 +27 82 948 2585 (c); +27 866 369 362 (f) barnesfarm@mweb.co.za
UNITED KINGDOM Philip Bubb
*32 Dart Close, St. Ives
Cambridge, PE27 3JB 44-1480-496-2925 (h) • +44 7837 405483 (w) pjbubb99@gmail.com
Book Review
by ANN ADAMS
Grass, Soil, Hope: A Journey through Carbon Country
by COURTNEY WHITE • Chelsea Green 2014
M
ore people are learning about the importance of effective agricultural practices to improve land health. But many of those people have yet to make the connection between the vital importance of improving the carbon cycle. There may still be people arguing about the levels of CO2 in the air and what we should do about it, but when you start talking about carbon in the soil, most people are in agreement that increasing soil carbon levels creates a host of benefits. In Grass, Soil, and Hope, Courtney White looks at the major issues facing humanity, issues like global hunger, water scarcity, environmental stress, economic stability, and climate change in the context of soil health. As agricultural producers we know how important soil health is. This is still a new concept for many folks who see soil as dirt that just needs some chemicals and you are ready to grow plants. What Courtney does in his title, Grass, Soil, and Hope, is make the linkages very clear between the soil (as a living medium teeming with life) and the grass that can bring so many positive ecosystem services that can resolve the intractable issues we face. Readers of IN PRACTICE may recognize some of the stories in this book, but there are many you may not have heard before. If you are interested in case studies of producers who are excellent examples of people improving soil health through no-till farming, composting, and livestock practices that improve natural habitat and biodiversity, as well as other practices like induced meandering and creative marketing to take the food produced from these practices to market at a price that pays the
producer well, then you will find this book a treasure trove of ideas. If you are not a fan of climate change arguments, you may want to skip the prologue in which Courtney makes the case for why we should care about CO2 levels. The chapters that follow have information for everyone on either side of the climate change issue. If you care about improved soil function and agricultural practice, that is the heart of this book (and the hope it brings to a burgeoning world population that needs more healthy food). Stories of holistically managed ranches like the Sidwell’s JX Ranch and the work done by Gregg Simonds and Rick Danvir on the Deseret Ranch gives clear evidence of how improved livestock grazing practices can make a difference. Likewise stories about cover crop, no-till farming, and pasture cropping, as demonstrated by Dorn Cox, Gail Fuller, and Colin Seis, are all examples of how farming and ranching improves soil health and builds resilient landscapes. What land practices does Courtney hone in on? 1. Planned grazing 2. Active restoration of riparian and wetland areas 3. Removal of woody vegetation 4. Conservation of open spaces 5. No-till farming 6. Building long-term resilience More data would definitely be helpful to quantify which practices bring which results to encourage more agricultural producers to change practices and reap the benefits. As Courtney points out, no one is “immune” to the carbon cycle. We’d might as well understand it and use it to our advantage. To purchase this book, visit www.chelseagreen.com
THE MARKETPLACE
INTRODUCTION TO SOIL FERTILITY
This workshop utilizes 100 soil tests employing the Albrecht System to establish the desired formula and calculate needed nutrient requirements for top production and quality.
Determining & Calculating Needed Nutrients
— DAY 1 —
Toowoomba, Queensland • July 28-30 Contact: David von Pein • Phone: +61 07 46357065 or e-mail: dvp3@bigpond.com
Working with Soil Tests, pH and Liming
— DAY 2 —
Deniliquin, Victoria • August 11-13 Contact: Brian Crockart • Phone: +61 0427129004 or e-mail: brian@crcagri.com.au
Building Fertility with Major Nutrients
For consulting or educational services contact:
Kinsey Agricultural Services, Inc. 297 County Highway 357 Charleston, Missouri 63834
Ph: 573/683-3880, Fax: 573/683-6227 www.kinseyag.com • neal@kinseyag.com
WE ACCEPT CREDIT CARD ORDERS (VISA, MC)
— DAY 3 — Working with Micronutrients
Number 156
IN PRACTICE 21
THE MARKETPLACE
2015 DATES!!!!
CORRAL DESIGNS
Holistic Management Trainings
Kids On the Land, Inc. A unique environmental program designed to teach children about the region where they live, connecting them to the land and a more sustainable future.
Jan. 26-31, 2015 Albuquerque, New Mexico with instructor Kirk Gadzia
Introduction to Holistic Management Jan. 26-28: $495 Advanced Training Session (Requires prior attendance at intro session.)
Jan. 29-31: $495 Comprehensive Holistic Management Training Jan. 26-31: $895 5HPHPEHU SURĹ? WDEOH DJULFXOWXUH LV QRW DERXW ZRUNLQJ KDUGHUÄą LWÄłV DERXW PDNLQJ EHWWHU GHFLVLRQV
Pasture Scene Investigation
By World Famous Dr. Grandin Originator of Curved Ranch Corrals The wide curved Lane makes filling the crowding tub easy. Includes detailed drawings for loading ramp, V chute, round crowd pen, dip vat, gates and hinges. Plus cell center layouts and layouts compatible with electronic sorting systems. Articles on cattle behavior. 27 corral layouts. $55. Low Stress Cattle Handling Video $59. Send checks/money order to:
www.rmsgadzia.com
GRANDIN LIVESTOCK SYSTEMS
Kirk L. Gadzia, Certified Educator
2918 Silver Plume Dr., Unit C-3 Fort Collins, CO 80526
Information and Registration:
Resource Management Services, LLC Bernalillo, NM ~ 505.263.8677 kirk@rmsgadzia.com
22 IN PRACTICE
July / August 2014
970/229-0703 www.grandin.com
Kids On the Land is ready for an appearance in your school district. Peggy Maddox can come help your host landowner and school get started. â&#x20AC;˘ Make a donation â&#x20AC;˘ Offer your land as a site for a KOL program â&#x20AC;˘ Become a volunteer Executive Director â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Peggy Maddox P.O. Box 694, Ozona, Texas 76943 325/392-2292 peggy@kidsontheland.org http://kidsontheland.org
THE MARKETPLACE
Holistic Management Rendezvous 2014 November 7-9, 2014
E SAVE TH DATE
Dixon Water Foundation Leo Ranch Decatur, Texas Co-hosted by HMI and Dixon Water Foundation
This unique event will include the Josey Pavilion Grand Opening, HMI’s 30th Anniversary Celebration, and two Open Gate Ranch Days. Along the way we’ll also enjoy lots of delicious local cuisine and some great music and entertainment.
Lots of speakers and presenters including: Courtney White, Dr. Richard Teague, Peggy Sechrist, Dr. Lisa Bellows, Rob Rutherford, Wayne Knight, Kelly Sidoryk, Dr. Ben Bartlett, Jerry Addison, Sue and Gary Price, Robby Tuggle, and Deborah Birdwell-Clark.
Registration opens in July. Stay tuned!
Larry Dyer Ecological
Owen Hablutzel CERTIFIED EDUCATOR
310-567-6862 • go2owen@gmail.com
Agriculture Consulting
Helping farms and communities through the holistic lens of an ecologist Educational Programs Group Process Facilitation • Group and Individual Consultation • •
Specializing in: • Organic vegetable production • Season extension • Passive solar greenhouse management • Local food systems • Whole Farm Planning with Holistic Management® 1113 Klondike Ave., Petoskey, MI 49770 231-347-7162 • 231-881-2784 (cell) ldyer3913@gmail.com
Whole Systems Design, Consultation and Education
20
$
At Home with Holistic Management
As a Holistic Management Certified Educator, mediator, and mother, Ann Adams has created a workbook that helps individuals and families easily understand Holistic Management and put it into practice.
• Integrated whole farm/ranch planning • Keyline Design/Permaculture Design • Resilience Development • Tailored Workshops and Speaking • International Experience
Group Facilitation
• Individual/Groups • Open Space Technology (groups 5 – 2,000) • Strategic Planning and Visioning • Consensus Workshops
Let’s discover solutions together!
To order call 505/842-5252 or visit www.holisticmanagement.org
Number 156
IN PRACTICE 23
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID ALBUQUERQUE, NM PERMIT NO 880
a publication of Holistic Management International 5941 Jefferson St. NE, Suite B Albuquerque, NM 87109 USA return service requested
please send address corrections before moving so that we do not incur unnecessary postal fees
Holistic Management Mail Order Emporium
Subscribe to IN PRACTICE, a bimonthly journal for Holistic Management practicioners
___ One-year Subscription . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $35 U.S. ($40 International)
___ Two-year Subscription . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $65 U.S. ($70 International) ___ Three-year Subscription . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $95 U.S. ($105 International) ___ Gift Subscription. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Same Prices As Above) ___ Back Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5/each
___ Back Issues Collection CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25 FREE DOWNLOADS of many of HMI’s educational materials are now available on HMI’s website, http://www.holisticmanagement.org. Click on the Free Downloads link on the homepage to learn more.
Books and Multimedia
■
■
___ Grazing Planning Software (single-user license) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $100 ___ Upgrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . electronic $30, hardcopy $45
Pocket Cards
___ Holistic Management® Framework and Testing Questions, March 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4
Planning and Monitoring Guides
___ Introduction to Holistic Management, August 2012, 128 pages . . . . $25 ___ Holistic Financial Planning, August 2012, 58 pages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . $17
___ Holistic Management: A New Framework for Decision-Making, Second Edition, by Allan Savory with Jody Butterfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $60 ___ Spanish Version (soft). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $40 ___ Holistic Management Handbook, by Butterfield, Bingham, Savory. . . $40 ___ At Home With Holistic Management, by Ann Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20 ___ Holistic Management: A New Environmental Intelligence . . . . . . . . $10 ___ How to Not Grow Broke Ranching by Walt Davis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30 ___ Video: Creating a Sustainable Civilization—An Introduction to Holistic Decision-Making, based on a lecture given by Allan Savory (DVD) . . . $30 ___ Spanish Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30 ___ Stockmanship, by Steve Cote. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $35 ___ Comeback Farms, by Greg Judy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $32 ___ The Oglin, by Dick Richardson & Rio de la Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15 ___ Gardeners of Eden, by Dan Dagget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25 ___ Video: Healing the Land Through Multi-Species Grazing (DVD) . . . $30 ___ PBS Video: The First Millimeter: Healing the Earth (DVD) . . . . . . . . $25 ___ The Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook by Richard Wiswall . . $34.95 ___ How Stella Saved the Farm, by Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $19.99 ___ The Dirty Life, by Kristin Kimball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15
TO ORDER:
Software
___ Holistic Grazing Planning, August 2012, 63 pages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $17
___ Holistic Biological Monitoring—Croplands August 2012, 26 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15
___ Holistic Biological Monitoring— Rangelands and Grasslands, August 2012, 59 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . $17
___ Holistic Land Planning, August 2012, 31 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15
Planning Forms
___ Annual Income & Expense Plan, padded, 25 sheets/pad . . . . . . . . . . $17
___ Worksheet, padded, 25 sheets/pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7
___ Livestock Production Worksheet, padded, 25 sheets/pad . . . . . . . . . $17
___ Grazing Plan & Control Chart, padded, 25 sheets/pad . . . . . . . . . . . . $17
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us to apply contribution toward ________________________________________
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