#159, In Practice, January/February 2015

In Practice a publication of Holistic Management International

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2015

NUMBER 159

W W W. H O L I S T I C M A N A G E M E N T. O R G

~ INSIDE THIS ISSUE ~

Growing Opportunities From the Executive Director

BY BRYAN WEECH

t is an amazing opportunity to manage natural resources, to stand at an edge of a pasture or crop field and watch nature in all its wonder. This is a privilege that rightfully stirs passions within many of us. However, we live in an age in which the challenges to feed a growing population are combining with the challenges of increasingly volatile weather.

Bryan Weech Issues such as drought make planning and decision making more necessary and more important not only for each of us individually as farmers and ranchers, but with ramifications that touch environmental, financial and social implications.

Holistic Management and the mission of HMI, to educate people to manage land for a sustainable future, is more important today than ever. Who knew 30 years ago when HMI was founded of the critical issues we would be facing today? Thankfully, visionaries saw the need and formed the Center for Holistic Resource Management which became Holistic Management International. Holistic Management is the decision-making framework that is creating solutions for individual farmers and ranchers as well as society as a whole. We now face a future in which we must address the dual challenges of improving agricultural quality of life while feeding a growing population as we preserve nature and reverse the trend of resource depletion. In no small way solutions to these issues, which are some of society’s greatest challenges, will be met by individual farmers and ranchers using Holistic Decision-Making.

As HMI has evolved over the years, we’ve worked with a lot of different people around the world. Our 30 years of helping people learn and practice Holistic Management was cause for celebration, which we did recently at the 2014 Rendezous with our friends at the Dixon Water Foundation. I know many of you reading this article were lucky enough to be in attendance. It was a wonderful event marked with tremendous presentations and discussions, field tours and perhaps most significantly the opportunity for the HMI community to renew old friendships and make new ones.

A theme that I hear from people everywhere I go is a sense that HMI is in a better position to accomplish our mission, and a renewed desire from our community to reconnect. I am convinced that our mission is absolutely critical and is needed today even more then it was 30 years ago when visionaries such as Allan Savory founded this organization.

The future is bright for HMI because the mission is critically needed. In the coming weeks and months we intend to reconnect with the Holistic Management community—the practitioners, Certified Educators, stakeholders, and supporters around the world with the purpose of building an even stronger community that welcomes new friends and advances our important mission of helping people manage land for a sustainable future.

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FEATURE STORIES

Whether growing a family business or a cooperative of producers, it’s critical to be aware of opportunities and how to make the most of them. Learn about the Mora Growers Cooperative on page 4.

Opportunity is Calling— Will You Seize It?

DON CAMPBELL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Grassroots of Grazing— Can Pasture Really Compete with Row Crops?

JIM GERRISH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Growing a Community’s Self-Sufficiency— Los de Mora Local Growers’ Cooperative

ANN ADAMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

The Key to Increasing Profit No One Talks About

Land & Livestock

DAVE PRATT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Herondale Farm— Adapting Planned Grazing for the Cold Northeast

HEATHER SMITH THOMAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Shady Maple Farm— Growing Hair Sheep & Good Soils

HEATHER SMITH THOMAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Documenting Improved Land Performance with Sheep— An NRCS Study

HEATHER SMITH THOMAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Chico Basin Ranch— Conservation Ranching in Colorado

News & Network

HEATHER SMITH THOMAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

From the Board Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 OpEd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Grapevine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Development Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Certified Educators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Opportunity is Calling—

Will You Seize It?

BY DON CAMPBELL

In Practice a publication of Holistic Management International

Holistic Management International exists to educate people to manage land for a sustainable future.

STAFF

Bryan Weech . . . . . . Executive Director Kelly Curtis. . . . . . . . Financial Director

Ann Adams. . . . . . . . Managing Editor, IN PRACTICE and Program Director Sandy Langelier. . . . Director, Communications and Outreach

Peggy Cole . . . . . . . . Program Manager, Texas Mary Girsch-Bock . . Grants Manager

Carrie Stearns . . . . . Communications & Outreach Manager

Valerie Grubbs . . . . . Accountant / Customer Service Assistant Julie Fierro . . . . . . . . Education Manager

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Kelly Sidoryk, Chair

Ben Bartlett Laura Gill Clint Josey Walter Lynn Jim Parker

Kevin Boyer Guy Glosson Wayne Knight Danny Nuckols 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 © 2015

2 IN PRACTICE

e have experienced a very strong run up in cattle prices in the last year. The magnitude of the increase and the short time frame that it has occurred in is unprecedented.

There are many factors that affect the price of cattle. My personal opinion is that the main factor influencing prices is the decline in cow numbers. This is the direct result of 10 years of low prices at the cow calf level.

The normal response to higher prices is to have a herd rebuilding stage. This time I think the response will be different. The higher prices this time will encourage a further herd reduction. This will occur for several reasons: One is the increasing age of our producers.

Two is the fact that we have lost a generation of young producers as a direct result of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy). Third is that there is a very low level of confidence in the cow calf sector. This also is a direct result of the BSE years. It will take 4 or 5 good years to rebuild producer confidence. I think any rebuilding will be minimal until confidence returns to the cow calf sector.

The cattle business is changing. We are living in new times. We are sailing in uncharted waters. Now is the time to bear down and manage to the very best of our ability.

Producers who sell calves (the largest number of producers) will see something like a 70% increase in income in the fall of 2014 compared to the fall of 2013. This increase in income will come from the rise in calf prices and the rise in butcher cow prices. The increase is most welcome and is badly needed as we have just come through the 10 most difficult years in the last 50 or 60 years.

We are all being presented with a wonderful opportunity to manage our businesses wisely and to benefit from our increased income. Let me give you an example. A producer with 200 cows will have about a $100,000 increase in income this year.

Income will rise by over $500 per cow. Have you taken the time to figure out how much your income will rise this year?

For most of us this will be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

It would be a terrible tragedy to squander this opportunity. Now is the time to bear down and improve our management. One of the easiest things to do in good times is to let our

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January / February 2015

cost of production rise. When we do this, we don’t really benefit from the higher prices. We allow someone else to benefit.

My Suggestions:

1. Do a strict financial plan yourself. Make sure that most or all of your increased income becomes PROFIT. 2. Do a strict financial plan with a friend or neighbor. Make sure that most or all of your increased income becomes PROFIT.

3. If you need help hire one of our Certified Educators to help you do a strict financial plan.

Make sure that most or all of your increased income becomes PROFIT. 4. Take action now!!! Financial planning is not urgent but it is important.

I am confident in recommending our Certified Educators. They are all talented, motivated and knowledgeable in financial planning. All of our Certified Educators would like to help you be more successful.

Will the Certified Educators charge you?

Yes, they are operating a business. They wouldn’t be much use to you if they didn’t make a profit in their own business. Will the cost of the Certified Educators be an expense?

NO!!!! It will be an investment!!!!

If you use the services of a Certified Educators you will not only plan for a profit this year you will increase your confidence, knowledge and skills. This can motivate you to plan for a profit each and every year. In my personal experience the ability and willingness to do a financial plan has made me hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Remember we are experiencing a once in a lifetime opportunity. The status quo is not acceptable. We need to improve our management so that we will benefit from the good times.

I sincerely invite you to give these ideas serious consideration.

Don Campbell is a Holistic Management Certified Educator and Rancher from near Meadowlake, Saskatchewan, Canada. Contact Don at: doncampbell@sasktel.net.

Grassroots of Grazing—

Can Pasture Really Compete with Row Crops?

BY JIM GERRISH

arlier this year I had a ranch client in the Sand Hills region of Nebraska who was contemplating buying a couple of pivots for pasture-finishing his cattle and was wondering if grazing could be competitive with growing crops on irrigated land. That actually put two questions on the table: 1) Can pasture compete with crops on high value land? and, 2) What is the land-based cost per animal unit day (AUD) in different environments and production scenarios?

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Most pastures in the US are producing less than 1/3rd to ½ of their potential. In many cases it may be only 20%.

Both of these are questions I have dealt with many times in the past in both general and specific terms. Here are some considerations on the first question concerning pasture competing with row crops on high value land. There are going to be three factors determining relative profitability: 1) pasture yield/acre, 2) value of the product being produced, and 3) cost of production.

Let’s start with pasture yield. Most pastures in the US are producing less than 1/3rd to ½ of their potential. In many cases it may be only 20% . Comparing highly managed cropping systems to poorly managed pasture will always lead farmers to the conclusion that they should be farming everything they can.

However, if we make the comparison between well-managed row crops and pasture, it is no longer a foregone conclusion that the land should be cropped.

Using yield estimates for pasture and crops from the USDA Web Soil Survey and my observations of yields around the US, I have found that in general for each 30 bushels of corn production potential the same acre of ground should be able to produce at least one ton of harvested perennial forage. For example, land producing 180 bushels of corn should be able to produce a harvested yield of at least 6 tons/acre of grass-legume pasture.

What we most often find is that acre is

producing only 2-3 tons of forage because of ineffective grazing management. Hence the conclusion that crops are more profitable than pasture. However, there are people out there who are raising and harvesting 6 tons per acre on that land because they manage their land with the same focus as a crop farmer trying to optimize yield per acre. The next question is how does that forage yield convert to animal yield?

Let’s start with something with a good feed conversion opportunity. Taking a 500 lb weanling to an 800 lb feeder with an ADG throughout the period of 2 lbs/day has a feed conversion rate of about 7 lbs forage/lb of gain in the 5-6 cwt range and 11 lbs forage/lb gain in the 7-8 cwt range. If we call the average 9 lbs, then that six tons of forage has the potential for producing about 1200 lbs of gain per acre.

Current value of gain for this weight change in stockers is running about $1.40/lb. A 1200 lbs/acre beef yield with a value of $1.40/lb is a gross income/acre of $1680. Not too shabby.

Our 180 bu/acre corn yield would need to be worth $9.33/bu to earn the same gross income.

Even at its peak, corn was not that high. At today’s $3.40/bu, the corn crop has a gross value of $612/acre. At this point the corn farmer is going to say, ‘Yeah, but I’m growing 300 bu/acre!’. Okay, 300 bu/acre at $3.40 is $1020/acre. Let’s make corn be $7/bushel again and the gross income jumps up to a very impressive $2100/acre.

But if the land can produce 300 bushels of corn, it should be producing 10 tons of pasture and so the competing pasture yield should also be going up. We could continue to chase the relative yield conversation around and around in circles, but we’re going to come to the same conclusion: pasture managed as effectively as row crop operations has very competitive yield potential.

We just used commodity stockers as our example of a pasture product. What if the product is premium priced pasture-finished beef or lamb? Or value-added dairy products? With high value products, the advantages of pasture on premium priced land increases even more.

When I first came to the University of Missouri-Forage Systems Research Center in 1981, my basic assignment was to make beef cattle competitive with soybeans on marginal North Missouri farmland. After being there and working with managed grazing for just a few years, my conclusion was why on earth would

anyone want to grow row crops on any of this land when pasture could be so much more profitable.

Here I am 33 years later asking the same question because the basic relationships have never changed over that time period.

Effectively managed pasture is more profitable on just about any class of land compared to commodity row crops.

Vegetable production and premium priced row crops will beat pasture in some cases, but commodity grain virtually never will. The one downside of prime farmland is grazing doesn’t work that well on some of the very heavy soils, so farming those might be a better idea.

Why isn’t this apparent to most farmers?

I think there are two big reasons. First is they simply don’t understand how to manage pasture effectively and second is they still think about gross income and not net margin most of the time. The third piece of the profit equation is cost of production and that is where net margin really favors pasture over row crops on most land.

Last summer when I was doing a pasture walk series in Iowa, there was always the corn conversation running in the background. Corn was worth $3.40/bu and the breakeven cost of production was $4.20/bu. Taking our 180 bu crop, the cost per acre would be about $756/acre. I cannot even begin to comprehend how I could begin to spend that much in any sort of a perennial pasture setting.

A 1,200 lbs/acre beef yield with a value of $1.40/lb is a gross income/acre of $1,680. Not too shabby.

What’s the difference? Row crop production is built on iron and oil. Pasture production is built on capturing solar energy, an effective water cycle, dynamic mineral cycling, and biodiversity. There is far more net margin potential managing things you can control compared to relying on purchased inputs over which you have no control.

Reprinted with permission from the author. This article first appeared in The Stockman GrassFarmer.

Number 159

IN PRACTICE 3

Growing a Community’s Self-Sufficiency—

Los de Mora Local Growers’ Cooperative

BY ANN ADAMS

ive years ago Veronica Serna was pondering what she was going to do in her retirement from her current job as Los de Moras Local Growers’ Cooperative is the Director of providing marketing and Counseling Services at Luna Community business support for 35 growers in the Mora, College in Las Vegas, New Mexico. When a New Mexico area. friend and colleague, Roger Gonzales, asked her what her plans were, she said she thought she’d do some gardening as she had always enjoyed that activity. Her grandparents had a small farm where they raised livestock, fruit, and corn near Mora, New Mexico, which is near where Veronica and her husband, Michael, live.

Roger told her that there was a new Livestock Grower’s Association forming and there was opportunity to expand her gardening interest into an income if she was interested. The Association had gotten some funding from Heifer International and there was some training available to learn about how to improve soil health without chemicals and how to improve production.

Veronica decided it was time to start learning before she actually retired from her job.

From the Livestock Grower’s Association emerged the Los de Mora Local Growers’ Cooperative, a cohort of 35 growers who are committed to learning as a community how to grow more of their own food as well as marketing the excess to their community in an effort to increase the community’s self-sufficiency and access to healthy food. The Cooperative seeks to secure resources to assist in the production of processing and packaging in a region currently underserved and lacking sustainable economic options. Little did Veronica know how busy and rewarding the work of growing and marketing the food the community grows could be.

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One Step At a Time

As more of the growers in the Mora Grower’s Cooperative began to produce more product, the Cooperative knew it was time to look at local markets to take the excess. As more of the producers began to sell their product to outside markets, more of the community members became interested in also making use of the opportunity.

Roger knew it was time to get more training in

4 IN PRACTICE

members know what wholesale price they can pay for the grower’s produce.

At this point, the Cooperative has decided not to add any more markets until they have more committed producers. “We don’t want to burn out,” says Veronica. “There are opportunities out there. We need to look at them collectively and see how they benefit the Cooperative.”

Each month, the Executive Board meets to address any management issues and develop agenda items for the quarterly membership meetings. At these meetings the membership votes on which markets to try to get into and discuss who is going to be producing what

business planning for these producers so they could determine how much they wanted to grow and what they were capable of so that the marketing arm of the Cooperative would better know how many markets they needed to sell the produce. In the winter of 2014, they brought HMI in to teach their Whole Farm/Ranch Business Planning series to a cohort of 20 producers. Cindy Dvergsten taught most of this training which covers goal setting, on-farm/ranch decisionmaking, financial planning, business planning, and marketing planning.

“The HMI training really helped us learn the importance of keeping records, particularly labor. Before, we would grow whatever we felt like. Now, we are getting clear about what pays for that time,” says Veronica. It was this kind of clarity that helped some growers learn how to treat their business as a business and not a hobby and make the extra effort to create income from their farming.

A number of the Cooperative members put up hoop houses to grow Veronica’s hoop house in full production produce in. These hoop houses are necessary to make the most effective use products. “It’s really been rewarding to help the of resources in this arid and cold climate. community realize their potential and to help Veronica put up a hoop house and says it has people make use of their land with very little already paid for itself. She mostly sells loose tools,” says Veronica. “People didn’t realize the greens and gets 3 cuttings from each bed before demand that was out there for these kinds of she replants. She has found that with this system products. With more growers using hoop houses, and drip irrigation on a timer is a very low we’ve been able to show others in the community maintenance system. She can also stagger just how much produce can be grown even in plantings to meet market demands for certain types of produce. She is researching what are the small spaces.”

“The training was helpful for all of us. It taught quality products she wants to produce to sustain us how to include the necessary people in the the farm between lettuce harvests. She is trying decision making,” says Veronica. “In my family we some winter crops for the first time as well to are having meetings now about making decisions, extend her farm into four seasons.

Currently the Cooperative is selling to groceries and restaurants in Taos, Espanola, Dixon, and Las Vegas, as well as some of the local farmer’s markets. All of the members take turns with the marketing whether it is calling restaurants or taking a turn at a farmer’s market to sell the Cooperative’s produce. Currently the setup is that all produce sold through the Cooperative is subject to a 10% commission to support the Cooperative. Each member sets their own price when selling at a farmer’s market. The Cooperative negotiates Veronica and neighbor Jenny Brizal looking over certain contracts with the restaurants production in hoop house. and grocery stores and then lets the

January / February 2015

like whether to lease a pasture or not. We use the process to identify markets and to decide which tasks we need to do next. Before it was more like a dictatorship. Our sons are now more engaged in the business. They brought up how they had been feeling which gave us an opportunity to explain some of the background, like the financial situation. Now we let them see the full financial picture and then we split the profit with them afterwards since they are helping with the work.

It’s been a learning curve for all of us, but it’s been rewarding to know that they are interested.”

As the Cooperative’s efforts grow to meet the demand for healthy local produce, there will be more opportunity for Veronica’s family as well as other community members. Veronica is excited about the possibility of selling the family’s cattle as grassfed beef with their own label rather than taking the cattle to the sale barn. Likewise, she is in the process of working with a local restaurant to

The Key to Increasing Profit No One Talks About

BY DAVE PRATT

of the total costs in most ranch businesses, yet it t a recent workshop, I told the audience is pretty rare to hear anyone discuss them. that if they looked in any farming or Historically, ranchers have focused on increasing ranching publication, they would find the productivity of our cows and calves (you’ll articles about cutting feed costs and improving production efficiency, but they wouldn’t notice this is not one of the three secrets).

A recent article in one well-known beef find anything about reducing land, labor and industry publication is typical of the prevailing other overhead costs. wisdom. It claims that there are four key factors There are two reasons for that. First, no one that determine profit: controlling feed costs, stands to make any money when you cut managing reproduction, planned marketing and overheads (except you). Second, most people optimizing performance. believe that overhead costs are “fixed.” At the Each of these so-called “keys” focuses on Ranching For Profit School, we contend that improving gross there is no such thing as margin, but none will a fixed cost. help reduce overhead Clients around the costs or do anything to world have increased increase turnover. profit by radically Since overhead costs reducing their overheads, account for most of the proving that overheads costs on most ranches, don’t have to be “fixed.” and most ranches work That’s an essential well below economies paradigm shift if you want of scale for the labor to ranch for profit. and equipment they There are only three Dave Pratt outlines expense and the relation have, reducing ways that any business, to overhead costs. overheads and including yours, can increasing turnover are increase profit. We call at least as important as improving gross margin. them “the three secrets.” They are: In the workshop, I flipped through a popular 1. Reduce overhead costs (land, labor and beef industry magazine and asked the audience administrative costs) to identify what the ads were encouraging them 2. Improve gross margin per unit (the to do besides spend money. economic efficiency of production) There were ads for vaccines, wormers, 3. Increase turnover (the total volume supplements, ear tags, bull sales and DNA produced by the business) testing (all direct costs). These things won’t help Overhead costs are those costs that don’t us carry more cattle. They help us make each change much as livestock numbers change. animal more productive, but they don’t help us Most overheads fall into one of two categories: reduce overheads. In fact, since inputting these land or labor. inputs takes labor, equipment and facilities, they Any costs related to land (e.g., repairs to increase our overheads. fences, corrals or pipelines and water troughs, One reason people believe overhead costs leases, etc.) are land overheads. Likewise, are fixed is because changing them often any costs related to labor (e.g., salaries and requires structural change in the operation. benefits, vehicles and equipment costs, etc.) are Examples of structural change include replacing labor overheads. haymaking with stockpiling and grazing forages, Overhead costs account for 60 to 80 percent PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVE PRATT

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use their commercial kitchen to make some value-added products like coleslaw and broccoli mix. “We want the farm to be something that both of us can work on in our retirement,” say Veronica. “We also want it to be something that Miguel and Julio can fall back on. By making data-driven decisions and adding value, we can grow our farm with very little investment.” That sounds like a recipe for family and community self-sufficiency. synchronizing the production schedule of a cowherd to get it in synch with the forage cycle or shifting from year-round enterprises to seasonal enterprises.

People are quick to look at the reduction in input costs that accompany these changes.

But most people realize even bigger reductions in the overhead costs no longer needed to input the inputs.

When we think about ways to cut our overheads, we need to consider turnover and gross margins per unit too. If your gross margin is negative, it doesn’t matter how low your overheads are, you will lose money. If the gross margin per unit is high, we may still lose money if we don’t have enough units (turnover) to cover our overheads, even if the overheads are low.

It is pretty hard to pay for a pickup and a cowboy with 100 cows, even if the gross margin per unit is good. It’s a lot easier with 500 cows.

We’d probably still only need one pickup and one employee with 500 cows (although it may be a different employee).

If we have machinery or labor with unutilized capacity, we’d be better off finding ways to increase turnover to reach economies of scale.

But if you are serious about increasing profit, cutting overheads needs to be on the table too.

Some agricultural economists are uncomfortable with our contention that there is no such thing as a fixed cost. Responding to an article I wrote on the topic, one university economist offered his services to “set me straight.” In response to the same article, one of our Australian alumni wrote, “That was close to the best bit of advice I’ve read.”

The approach we take to assessing the economic and financial health of businesses is unconventional. It isn’t intended for accountants, the IRS or academics. It’s for people who want to make a sustainable profit from farming and ranching.

Dave Pratt has taught the Ranching For Profit School and the Executive Link program for more than 20 years. This article was reprinted by permission of author and previously printed in Progressive Cattlemen.

Number 159

IN PRACTICE 5

LIVESTOCK

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Herondale Farm—

Adapting Planned Grazing for the Cold Northeast

BY HEATHER SMITH THOMAS

erry Peele, farming near Ancramdale, New York, started his current operation about 11 years ago. He named the farm Herondale because there were so many herons in the region and they like to nest and feed on a wetland that is part of the property.

“I was doing some rotation grazing from the beginning but it wasn’t Holistic Management for the first several years.

Then I started reading about Holistic Management and that version of grazing, so I went to a course that Jerry Peele and guard dog, Reba. was taught by Ian Mitchell Innes at Greg Judy’s place.

That helped me understand it better and allowed me to focus on it. Then I started to implement what I had learned through the course. It was a learning curve because I live in a very different environment with harder winters than the farm where I saw the program,” he says.

“I also had different soil types, different grasses, so it took a year or two to put things into practice in my environment. I’ve been actively following Holistic Management principles for about the last 5 or 6 years.

My operation has grown a bit since then, as well. Originally I had about 50 breeding cows and now I have about 100. I also finish steers in a 100% grass finish program,” says Peele.

Most of his cattle are Murray Grey, but he also has about 15 British Whites. They do very well in the grassfed program. “I currently have about 450 acres fenced and manage a total of 600 acres. The unfenced portion I use for hay. In addition to the cattle, I have 95 ewes, which are White Dover.” He basically uses the same grazing principles for those, as well.

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Direct Marketing Demand

Peele also sells 100% grassfed lamb and finishes them on his farm.

“I have a small store on the farm which is open every weekend of the year, and it is busy during the summer and fall but not as much during the winter. “I supply meat to customers through a meat CSA (Community 6

Land & Livestock

January / February 2015

Supported Agriculture); people get a membership and sign up for monthly delivery of meat. I also raise pigs and chickens so my customers get a good variety of meats and I have a good selection regarding what I put in their shares each month. This ensures that all the product that I raise can be marketed through this program,” he says.

“I also sell a lot of ground beef to restaurants. I direct market everything; I don’t sell anything through distributors or any third parties. I am either selling direct to restaurants or direct retail. I don’t sell prime cuts to restaurants. A fair percentage of my ground beef that I don’t use for my retail customers goes to restaurants and they use it for their high end grassfed hamburger. There is a premium for that, and people really enjoy it. I have 6 or 7 restaurants who are regular customers and they need a lot of ground beef,” says Peele.

Seasonal Grazing Strategies

Most of the year his cattle are pastured and moved together as one herd. “During calving and breeding, however, I usually run two groups.

Once the cows are finished with breeding season—July and half of August—I go back to having just one herd. It’s better if the steers aren’t pastured with them when the cows are in heat. This is also the time of year we have the most grass so it works out nicely to have the flexibility for two groups,” he explains.

“The pastures really didn’t green up until well into May this year. The real flush is in May-June and into July. We run the cattle as one herd for about 9 months of the year and have two groups for 3 months. The sheep graze separately. They don’t run with the cattle because they are on a separate 65-acre property that is very well fenced (7-feet high) around the perimeter. The person who originally owned it fenced it for goats. I simply set up temporary fencing for the pasture moves,” he says.

He runs a Great Pyrenees guard dog (named Reba) with the sheep.

The sheep graze on the 65-acre piece for summer and fall and then he brings them back to his property for winter. They are more vulnerable to coyotes during winter but the dog protects them very well.

“I don’t run the sheep with the cows. I started to, initially, but it didn’t seem to work out very well. I now have the sheep follow the cattle during the fall and winter grazing but I don’t run them together,” he says.

The Whole Picture

Holistic Management has helped him with the entire operation. “I do full budget financial planning at the beginning of each year. I split it into the different meat production units and treat it as four businesses—beef, sheep, pigs and chickens—in terms of production. I plan all the overheads spread across the whole operation. The revenue side of it comes from predicted distribution, the certain number of members I

focus—taking care of the meat sales and either have or need to have each year in the retail customers and making sure all the CSA membership and the volumes that I have orders are done correctly and delivered. I do to move through restaurants. I try to plan out a bit of everything myself; I am involved day monthly cash flows through the year,” to day with the livestock but also have some he says. contact with all of my customers—restaurants “The next thing I do is the managed and retail,” he says. grazing plan—looking at where I will have the Before he started farming he had a career cows and the sheep, and whether I am in investment management. “I did that for 25 running two herds or one, and how that is years, and then retired and decided to farm. I going to work. My property is about 250 acres grew up in England and had some interest in but only about 140 of that is usable for agriculture as a teenager, helping out on pasture. The rest of the fenced land that I other people’s farms. My wife is an American, have is all leased. Some of it is contiguous and we moved to the states and were living in and some is not. I can move the cattle down New York,” he says. the road to some properties and have to truck After being in the finance business for so them to others. That all has to be planned and long, he felt like doing something very timed around calving season, and the different—and more physical. “It was time to numbers I want to have in each group, etc. make a move, and I found a place where it So this is a detailed planning effort, to make could work. The farm is only 110 miles north sure I am set up for the grazing season,” of New York City, so we are fortunate in being says Peele. close to a very big market. It’s open country “I haven’t been able to graze year round here because of the snow and ice storms.

Herondale Farm grazes chickens, pigs, sheep, and here, with lots of farms around us. It’s a good Quite a bit of my property is prone to flooding cattle to maximize resources and improve soil health. farming community here, with an equipment supply company—whatever we need to if it’s a wet winter or a wet spring. I do farm—and yet we have a very good market purchase some stored feed in the form of close by. The local market and New York market takes care of more than I balage and hay to feed during 3 months of the year—mid to late January can produce,” he says. through mid-April. I plan for that, cost-wise, and how many animals I plan “The challenge for me is still to extend my grazing season. I still on overwintering. Given that I am finishing the calves, it takes more hay haven’t figured out how to get 12 months of the year out of this climate than a typical beef operation, to overwinter the animals that will be and environment. I was attracted to the whole system because I could finished the following year. This is a larger number than most beef see it would be an economic boon to not have to buy or make stored operations have to accommodate.” feed, but I haven’t totally succeeded,” says Peele.

The sheep are easier because he does not overwinter any lambs.

He has made progress in that direction however, cutting down the They are harvested in the same year—born in April and harvested in November through January at mature weight. “They never have to be fed. length of time he has to feed cattle. “At one point, before I started Holistic This is different from the beef because it takes at least 18 months to finish Management, it was 6 months of pasture and 6 months of feeding, so now I am going in a better direction.” Having reduced his feed needs in them and a lot of them are more like 20 to 24 months to be properly half, Jerry now has an even more profitable business for an ever finished as grassfed,” he explains. increasing demand for grassfed beef. With Holistic Planned Grazing and “A big part of what I’ve gotten from Holistic Management is watching Financial Planning, the opportunities for Herondale Farm will only how the grazing is done, and also the importance of the planning. This continue to grow. helps me get through the whole year, month by month. You have to be flexible, according to different weather patterns, etc. but it really does help in a big way.”

Growing Opportunities

Jerry has 3 children—2 sons and a daughter. “My oldest son last year started a business that is sort of an adjunct to the farm. He is not working with me on the farm, but he started a cured meat business. Much of it is meat that we raise on the farm, and he is doing very well with this. My other children are not involved with the farm on a day to day basis, but they have helped quite a bit over the past several years. One is pursuing a career in literature and the other is in theater. But they have all been involved in helping move the farm from step to step, benefiting from this experience as they grew up.”

Peele has one full-time employee. “He helps mainly with managing all the livestock. His wife helps part-time with the livestock; they have small children so she helps mainly when the children are in school. I also have someone who helps organize the CSA and runs the store. The marketing and distribution is a business in itself and takes a certain skill set and

With cold snow winters, Jerry has experimented with winter bale grazing.

He has reduced his hay needs down to 3 months out of the year.

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Shady Maple Farm –

Growing Hair Sheep & Good Soils

BY HEATHER SMITH THOMAS

avid Sturman is enjoying the challenges of improving the soil and pastures on a small farm near St. Ignatius, Montana— after a varied career that includes shoeing horses, railroading, horse logging and fish habitat restoration. He enjoys the challenge of learning new skills and implementing them and has found that Holistic Management is a natural addition to his toolbox for improving soils and raising healthy animals.

D

Starting a Farm

One reason Sturman settled in St. Ignatius is because this area of western Montana is a great place to farm, with the second longest The Sturman family (left to right): David, Ely, Tracy, and Lina. growing season in the state. He bought the original homestead (a real fixer-upper at a price he could afford) and 44 acres in 2003 and has been working on the land ever since.

One benefit is the irrigation. “The old Soil Conservation Service rebackward quite a bit for a while. By contrast my wife and I eased into it contoured this place in 1963 with a D-8 Cat. In some places the soil is and were more able to adapt and learn as we go. We are still doing that really good and in other places it’s down to subsoil. They put Ashley today,” he says.

Creek through a 10-inch mainline, so the whole property is now gravity sprinkler irrigated with a wheel line and hand line,” Sturman says. That Creating a Diversified Portfolio was in 1963, and they wouldn’t be able to do that today.

“My wife worked for the National Center for Appropriate Technology.

Sturman met his wife, Tracy Mumma, in 1992, dating her for 4 years They dispense alternative information on building, energy, etc. and as he worked his horse logging jobs. “She came and logged with me and alternative agriculture. My wife told me about things like mob grazing and we were able to save a lot of money, which eventually enabled us to buy I thought that was very interesting. At first I was quite skeptical, thinking our place here at St. Ignatius in 2003,” he explains. David and Tracy now that this kind of idea was a bit like people thinking rain follows the plow, have two children—Ely is 9, and Lina is 7. during the homestead era. After a while, however, I began to think there When he started farming, Sturman didn’t have any farm background, but considers this an asset rather than a drawback—not having traditional might be something to it,” he says.

Four years ago David started doing rotational ideas to overcome. “I am now 58 years old and grazing, working toward mob grazing. “At first we people ask me when I’m going to retire, and I tell were only moving the animals once a week, then 2 them I’ve just begun, just warming up. We started “We’ve seen a 900% years ago we ramped it up to full-blown mob trying to fix up the fields and fences and thought increase in production.” grazing (versus MIG—managed intensive we were doing great, cutting costs by using grazing). This last year we were definitely doing horses,” says Sturman. mob grazing with the sheep,” says Sturman.

He also started dabbling in sheep, and blames “We are still learning, and one of the things recommended to us was this on a Christmas gift. “My wife gave me a Gene Logsden book, All to have a flerd—grazing all the livestock together. I thought, no way is that Flesh is Grass. I thought that raising sheep sounded really cool. I had doing to work, but after a while decided to try it. We had a heifer calf and sheared sheep in the past; I’d attended a one-week sheep shearing we put her in with the sheep. They did fine so now we have 4 cow-calf school, but then decided I didn’t want to do ballet with reluctant partners pairs that are currently off the farm, but we plan to integrate them into the (unwilling sheep!). Hair sheep sounded more enticing because I wouldn’t flerd as well. We are easing into this,” he explains. have to shear them or dock tails.”

The plan is to raise some beef, like sheep, for local customers, 100% These sheep seemed to be the right kind for their farm, with less labor grassfed, with no grain products. “This will be another learning curve, but involved. They also eat a wider variety of plants than wool sheep. “With we will work on that. My uncle was a stockbroker all of his life and he hair sheep you get the advantage of goats without having goats!” he recommended having a diversified stock portfolio, so we are going to says. have a more diversified portfolio! We also have chickens, for our own He began raising hair sheep in a roundabout way, as a spinoff of the use,” says Sturman. horse logging. “I went out to help on a horselogging job, and the guy Everything is movable as the animals graze around the farm. “We use whose place we went to was raising purebred Katahdin sheep. I thought, this is the answer! I wound up buying about 6 head in 2006. Now we have chicken tractors to move the chickens. The cold frames and greenhouse are on rails and portable. I like the idea of how working with Mother 48 bred ewes, 5 or 6 rams, and about 14 sheep left over from last year Nature can take, and also heal.” The animals utilize the plants, and help that we still need to sell. Each year, until last year we kept the female the land become more productive. lambs to increase the herd, working into sheep gradually,” he says.

“We are seeing this, as we progress. The smaller field to the east is “This was a more cautious approach than some people down the road where we started with the mob grazing, and now the grass won’t stop who were new at farming and just jumped right in. They had to go 8

Land & Livestock

January / February 2015

growing!” That pasture has had the benefit of natural fertilizer with the manure, urine and the trampling effect to help create soil nutrients from the litter, and plenty of rest so the plants can grow again.

“I was kidding Ben Montgomery, the grazing person at NRCS, about how the grass just kept growing. I checked one area and found that one week’s growth was 3.5 to 6.5 inches of new growth. It actually wears a person out walking through that field because the grass is so thick and tall! Now I don’t have to be so diligent about getting water to it from the hand lines because the soil retains moisture so much longer than it used to,” he says.

“Last year was the first year we had full-blown mob grazing on our biggest field. Ben said that in this area there’s usually about a 3 to 4 year period before you really see the difference, after things get rolling. We’ve got a ways to go, with the big field, but it will be great if we can eventually get to 7 tons of forage per acre there,” says Sturman.

“This mob grazing is fun. The animals greet me every time I go out there, and are ready to move. This makes it really easy. When I tell people about it they don’t really understand, because they think in terms of working and then playing on the weekends. With us, we are playing all the time because we enjoy what we are doing,” says Sturman.

A Holistic Management Introduction

Predator Challenges

As well as weather challenges, Sturman also has to deal with predators—large predators. “We’ve had bears here; we live in grizzly country. They are a threat to our sheep. At first we tried barbed-wire fence but that didn’t deter the bears. We talked with the tribal fish and game folks and they told us all we needed was 0.8 joules electric fencing. That’s a pretty small charger and not much factor for error if there’s a short. So I got a 2 joule solar charger and I still thought it wasn’t adequate so now we have a 12 joule charger. This one, for now, is just plugged into the house until we can afford the solar panels,” he says.

Sturman has dealt with bear/fence encounters and continues to work on design. “I suspect that every year we will have some predator challenges. Our perimeter fence is poor; it’s just a 4-strand barbed wire fence, which is not adequate. I am working with a nonprofit group in Missoula (Predators and People) for some grant money to put up a 7-wire electric fence. We run out of money every time I come up with an idea for fencing. I go for it and then do a little more homework and realize we’re not quite there yet! Finally I called Ben and Justin Morris (our NRCS support) and they laid out the very best fence for me for predator control. I am afraid we’ll have to search for the grants to help us accomplish this. The recommended fence is 7-wire positive/negative staggered from the ground up to chest high. With the 12 joule charger it can easily handle any weed contact,” he explains. This would keep out any animal that might touch it.

“We have the usual predators like coyotes, but the grizzlies are a bigger problem. “We have a Great Pyrenees guard dog, which we like to think helps matters with predator control,” he says.

“On a different scale, we also have vole and mice problems. We put up perches for predatory birds and have had far fewer bare spots in our big field,” he says.

Sturman and his wife learned more about Holistic Management when Greg Judy came to St. Ignatius last year. “He came to the Amish community building to give a two-day workshop. The first day was classroom work. The second day was spent going out into the field. The group spent a half-day at our place and the other half day at an Amish cattle operation about 2 miles away,” he says.

“We had about 85 people here and it was very interesting. Greg liked what was happening on our farm and had some words of advice for me. I am humble enough that I accept any and all advice, whether or not I act on it. He definitely shed more light on several things,” says Sturman.

“He advised us to integrate the cattle with the sheep. On his place he takes this idea to the maximum; he puts in the horses, pigs, etc. I am still working up to putting the horses with our livestock and haven’t done it yet. I’ve had some founder problems in the past with my work horses when they have feed that’s too lush, even if it’s hay. I know their gut works a little differently than most saddle horses,” he says.

“I do, however, want to get our chicken coops more mobile, using something I could pull with a horse so I could just follow the chickens behind the sheep and cattle.”

Greg Judy also had some words of advice regarding water concerns. “For better or worse, our irrigation goes year round and winter freezing is hard on the risers. We just pay for the water and we can leave hoses running; even at 31 below zero this winter the water flowed,” says Sturman.

“We were new farm owners and still trying to sort thing out. We’ve learned a lot over the years. It’s a constant learning curve and it Sheep are moved 2-3 times a day to achieve a stock density of almost 60,000 lbs/acre. hasn’t stopped,” says Sturman.

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are now in year number 2. “They basically pay us to move the sheep, in a rotation grazing. Going from zero moving to what we are doing now, we’ve seen a 900% increase in production, with rotation of the flock in the big field.”

“For control of noxious weeds, the sheep are wonderful! Earlier, we had a one-acre field on which we could have made small square bales of houndstongue because it was so thick. Now, we just see a couple of those weeds in that field. We also bought a scythe. We are into low-tech weed control. It seems like if you get too high-tech, pretty soon the technology owns you,” he says.

“We also had drainfield woes. Part of what you have to do to satisfy the state when you put in a new drainfield is that you have to dig a test hole. The backhoe dug down 8 feet deep for the hole and we discovered that there were grass roots clear down there. Ben and Justin were ecstatic and jumping up and down like little kids at a candy store. So something Sheep have transitioned easily to this greater stock density which David achieves good is happening with our pastures, with the roots through using electric netting. He uses a 12 joule charger for predator protection going that deep.” (including grizzlies).

“Having very little farming background, I read a lot, and go to seminars. Ben has a library of educational grazing material that a person can check out for free, Direct Market Lambs and I do a lot of reading at night. Ben and Justin are wonderful people and very patient with us as we learn. They know when to nudge and While Sturman has been focusing on healthy soil and predator when to ease off. They’ve been a wealth of knowledge.” protection, he also is exploring the challenges of direct marketing meat.

Sturman tries to do things holistically and naturally. “In raising our “We direct market our lambs and do it the old fashioned way by word of sheep, we use no grain, and no man-made chemicals for parasite mouth. We sell everything from meat to starter flocks. The next level that control.

We use garlic, diatomaceous earth and wormwood, but we also we need to obtain is a nearby state or USDA certified butcher. Our reduce the parasite load with our pasture rotations—moving the animals custom butcher is just one mile away, but recently he’s thrown in the away from their manure. Now with the flerd, the multiple species will towel as far as getting state certified,” says Sturman. help, too.” The worms are host specific and will not complete their life For custom butchering, lack of certification isn’t a problem. “If cycle in the wrong host. Having chickens will also help a lot. They someone wants to buy a lamb, it is completely within the law for me to do them the favor of slaughtering the lamb on our place, cutting its throat and scratch and peck through the manure to find fly larvae and grubs, and in doing so scatter the manure enough that some of the worm eggs/larvae slaughtering the lamb. Then I put it in the back of my truck and drive it dry out and don’t survive. over to the butcher a mile away and he takes care of it from there.”

Sturman uses a mineral from Grass Range, Montana. “Basically the The nearest state inspected butcher is 110 miles round trip. “That will person selling it is mining an ancient seabed. He mixes that with make it harder to pencil out. If we are close to the butcher I can charge Redman’s salt from Utah. Two years ago when I put our sheep out in my customers a little less. Our prices are very competitive compared to the big field for just a short while for rotation, they were consuming 3 Costco or Safeway. But it will cost more if I have to take the meat that far, with diesel at $4.02 a gallon. I am working on another avenue. If I take 10 quarts of mineral per day. Now we are down to 2 quarts per day; they are not eating as much. We like to think we are re-mineralizing the soil, at a time, he can store that many at his place, because he has a meat because nothing else has changed,” he says. depot license. This would make it more doable,” he says.

“One spot on our place was literally a creek bottom at an earlier “I wish there was a different name for these sheep than hair sheep, time, until they worked it over with a D-8. It was pretty barren with not compared to wool sheep. The meat tastes so different. This is the much growing there. For son and daughter activity we spread red biggest obstacle to attracting new customers. People will say they’ve had clover seed a few years back. This year the clover was up to my lamb in the past and it was horrible—chewy and gnarly. If I can just get crotch in some places; it was really tall! The sheep eat it and don’t get some of our meat into their mouths, they usually say, ‘Wow!’ and they like washy; their manure is fine,” says Sturman. “When we had the Greg it. So it takes word of mouth—literally and figuratively,” says Sturman.

Judy tour here, everyone was just blown away by how well the clover “We now have lamb in two grocery stores, and we have 80 new lambs had grown.” this year.”

“I know our farming venture is small potatoes compared to what people like Greg Judy and Neil Dennis are doing, but we are just doing Improving the Soil it on a micro-scale. We are seeing the change-over, with more orchardgrass and timothy, and lots of red clover,” he says. With root While the lamb is a solid product for Shady Maple Farm, Sturman systems 8-feet deep, it looks like Shady Maple Farm will be growing continues to focus on the main crop—healthy soil. The farm has been more lambs for the local food market for years to come. under a CSP (Conservation Stewardship Program) for 5 years and they 10

Land & Livestock

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Documenting Improved Land Performance with Sheep—

An NRCS Study

BY HEATHER SMITH THOMAS

“Before David started moving twice a day, his forage production was probably about 2.5 tons per acre, on his irrigated pastures.

After two years of improvement using the sheep as a tool… his production is up around 5 tons per acre on some pastures.”

ustin Morris, Pasture Specialist at the Missoula, Montana NRCS office, has been working with David Sturman and Shady Maple Farm for the past 2 years and has been able to document the land productivity improvement on that farm, including a 100% forage production improvement in 2 years.

“In 2013 he fed very little hay in the fall and didn’t start feeding a full Justin says that David started with a pretty good rotational system. daily ration of hay until about the first week of January 2014. So he has “He was moving his sheep about once every 3 or 4 days. He has the seen a tremendous improvement.”

Premier braided netting, to help with predator control. He had been doing “He’s also trying to make more timely moves with his irrigation system. alright with his pasture rotation but not seeing much change yet in forage Better management of his irrigation is part of the reason for the increase production improvement,” says Morris. in forage production, but I would say that 75 to 80% of the reason is that “He came to one of the workshops that I put on in early 2012, where his grazing management is allowing better recovery. He’s not overgrazing we talked about High Stock Density Grazing (HSDG), and doing daily by staying in any one spot too long, or rotating around too fast and moves or even twice daily. It piqued his interest because he has such a coming back to the original paddock too quickly before the plants have small farm,” says Morris. recovered,” says Morris.

“We visited with him and talked about the merits of increasing the “One of the things I’ve emphasized with the land owners I’m working stocking density, getting the sheep on a smaller area for shorter time with in Montana, is that if they don’t have plant recovery (at least 30 days periods. This would give him more options for increasing the recovery of recovery between grazings during the growing season on irrigated time for the pastures, on his whole farm. It made sense to him and in early May in 2012 he went to daily moves with the sheep. Over the past 2 pasture) then there is really no point in pursuing more intensive forms of pasture management. What good is a rotation if you don’t have the years he’s been doing twice-daily moves, and for a short period last year recovery needed for the plants?” was doing 3 times a day.”

“When I do a livestock/forage balance we’re finding out that the What is now happening on the land is very encouraging, and David smaller operators are generally overstocked worse than the larger has been sticking with it. “He has implemented high density grazing for 2 ranches. The small places may only have pasture for 3 or 4 months and years on his irrigated pasture and the stock density has been getting up have to feed hay for 8 or 9 months.” They have limited space and have to to about 55,000 to 60,000 pounds live weight per acre. This is become very creative and change their pasture management to increase considerably higher than anyone else in his region is doing,” says Morris.

“We have photos that show the trample effect from the sheep. I’d seen the pasture production and turn that situation around.

“They have more limitations than a larger farm, because they are good trampling done with cattle but I’d never seen it done with sheep. operating on a postage stamp, yet they also have some advantages in When you look at this, with the stock density he has, when the sheep that they can intensify their management and get around their whole come out of a paddock there may be only a couple of plants sticking up; the rest are lying flat,” says Morris. “It was like someone had taken a roller place a lot easier. If they want to move their livestock once or twice a day, they can do it, even if they don’t have a 4-wheeler,” he says. It’s all within and rolled the grass flat. The sheep did a phenomenal job of trampling. I walking distance. was able to reach down and pull the plants up, observing a lot of forage still there as litter.

“Before David started implementing HSDG and moving twice a day, his forage production was probably about 2.5 tons per acre, on his irrigated pastures. After two years of improvement using the sheep as a tool, we can safely say that now his production is up around 5 tons per acre on some pastures; he’s been able to double the amount of forage produced on his pastures. A 100% increase is pretty amazing. Prior to 2012 he usually had to start feeding hay September 1st. Then in 2012 after implementing HSDG for one growing season, his hay feeding didn’t start until November 1st. This is a 2-month gain, and he was ecstatic because he’d never As can be seen in these pictures, the Shady Maple Farm sheep have done a great job of trampling the been able to graze that late in the fall grass to feed the soil. The grass is now mulch and the grass is still quite tall despite being pushed to the before,” says Morris. ground. This additional carbon will feed organic matter into the soil.

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Chico Basin Ranch—

Conservation Ranching in Colorado

BY HEATHER SMITH THOMAS

fficient grazing has improved the land and pasture on the Chico Basin Ranch, an 87,000-acre ranch near Colorado Springs, owned by the state of Colorado and managed under a unique lease by Ranchlands—an agriculture-based business that specializes in the management of large ranches.

Duke Phillips has a 25-year lease to run cattle on this ranch. “I am 15 years into this lease; I moved my family here in November of 1999. This part of the country has been in a serious drought for many years. I went to Allan Savory’s school in the early 1980’s when he was still with Stan Parsons and Allan is one of my heroes. I have been using his philosophy in my work ever since—for more than 30 years,” says Phillips.

“Allan Savory has always been a big inspiration to me, since he has been a person who has always looked outside the box, and beyond the common, standard way of doing things. I learned about grazing from him, and also learned how to look at the land in a completely different way,” says Phillips. It has been this influence that has helped Duke build a profitable ranch in challenging times.

E

Cattle as Tool & Profit

Improved rangeland health is part of the necessary outcomes for the Chico Basin Ranch as cattle are used both for profit and as a land reclamation tool.

“I was raised in Mexico and have been ranching all my life, in Florida, Texas, New Mexico and Oregon, and worked in Australia for a year.

Cattle are the backbone of this operation. Everything that we do here is paid for by the work that we do with grazing; we have a fairly diversified business, but the cattle are the backbone of the whole. They are the economic providers and the main tool that we use for achieving major conservation goals and values,” he says.

“We do that by putting as many as 2,000 to 3,000 head of yearlings/cows together and moving them in a pattern that I call a migration around the entire ranch. We try not to return to a pasture until all the plants have recovered, so we try to rest every plant during the grazing season for the full cycle. It is important to provide enough rest so the plants that are grazed will regenerate enough root matter during the recovery period to go beyond what they had before they were grazed,” he explains.

“Rest is a primary tool that we use, along with portable fencing to divide up the pastures to enable us to increase herd densities, especially in areas that need more herd impact to create more organic material on the ground. We have systems where we can put up 5 miles of fence in half a day. We have all our cattle trained to respect a single strand of electric fence,” he says.

“During drought we try to put all the cattle together into one herd. At other times we may not do that because we might have 2-year-old heifers that need to be separate from the main herd. But the more severe the drought, the more we focus on putting every single animal into one herd and move that herd around the pastures,” says Phillips.

“We no longer wean our calves. We just leave the heifer calves on the cows and they self-wean—usually when the weather gets really cold. The steers stay on the cows until January/February when we wean and sell them,” he says.

“The heifers are growthier on this program and have higher conception rates, and also calve easier. They are more efficient grazers, learning from their mothers. This is a wonderful change that we’ve made 12

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in our cattle management, even though it’s contrary to standard practices,” he says.

This last year, even though it was dry, he stopped feeding a high protein supplement, and the cows did very well on just mineral and a 5% protein supplement tub. “We’ll see what our conception rates are. We expect them to be normal, and if that’s the case, this will be a major change in our bottom line,” he says.

Multi-Dimensional Ranch

Duke uses Beefmaster bulls. “I worked for Lasaters for 10 years and brought a small herd of Beefmaster cattle with me when I started leasing this ranch. That herd has grown now, and all the bulls we use are our own. We use a lot of the Lasater philosophy of cattle breeding—basically survival of the fittest. For example, if a cow loses a calf to a coyote, we ship the cow; we don’t shoot the coyote. Or if a cow becomes anemic or does poorly because of lice infestation or some other pest, we ship the cow; we don’t spray the entire herd, or any of the cattle,” he says.

“When it comes to grazing practices we are very progressive, and we also look at land as a multi-dimensional resource to leverage and provide more flexibility. Multiple enterprises help with flexibility. Conservation is only as good as your business is. If you get a dry time of year or a dry phase, you are then able to destock before you stress the land, because you have other revenue,” he says.

This ranch has a guest operation for people who want a working ranch vacation. “We have 2 guest rooms in our home. People stay here and come to the headquarters in the mornings to work with us. It’s not a dude ranch. People judge the success of their experience here by how much they contribute toward the work that was accomplished that day. In our program, we don’t shepherd people around but create opportunities for them to participate and learn about ranching,” he explains.

“We have a very strong education program, with about 2,000 kids that come through it every year. We have a full-time educator and we don’t charge any of the kids for this experience, except for the groups that come to spend the night and need more attention. Most of the kids come out here for about 6 hours and we have programs that revolve around grazing, nature, natural history, human history, etc. We also have workshops for adults and for kids on livestock grazing, plant identification,

art, roping, herding, animal husbandry and horsemanship throughout the year. We have artist weekends when we invite artists to come out and paint or draw and then have a big show in the fall to show their work from that time spent here. The important thing for us is building bridges with people from town,” says Phillips.

“People who live in urban communities tend to fall away from nature.

We invite people to the art show and get all kinds of people coming to look at art. They talk to the artists and this is a really good way to share ideas and dispel some of the theories and myths about ranchers. We also have concerts in the summer that attract 500-600 people to come to our ranch,” he says.

The Phillips family are part of Lasater Grassland Beef, a meat company that markets a grass-fed meat product from the cattle. They also have a hunting and fishing enterprise as part of the diversity. “We have birds that we put into fly pens and release for hunters. We also have a leather store and make and repair all our own gear. We don’t make saddles, but we fix everything. We are upscaling this work to create a line of leather goods for the consumer. Those products are marketed under Ranchlandsmercantile.com.”

“We also have a ranch management service where we manage ranches for people, and information about this can be seen at Ranchlands.com. There are so many absentee owners that are buying some of the larger ranches. These owners include government entities and conservancy groups who are buying these ranches but don’t know much about managing a ranch—which can be tricky. We try to find partners who want to work together and manage lands from a conservation standpoint and to help maintain communities. Ranches have always been economic centers for rural communities,” he explains.

“We also operate another ranch, the 110,000-acre Zapata Ranch near Alamosa, Colorado, near the Sand Dune National Park. This ranch also serves as a training ground and school for future ranchers. It is owned by the Nature Conservancy and managed through a partnership with Ranchlands. The Zapata ranch is a cattle operation but includes a 50,000-acre portion that supports a herd of 2,000 bison. It also has a larger guest operation with a lodge,” says Phillips.

“We didn’t know anything about bison until about 7 years ago. One herd runs as a wild herd in the 50,000-acre pasture, and we have another herd of 450 bison that we move in a migratory fashion like we

do with cattle. This gives a good comparison of how bison and cattle graze,” he says.

A Bigger Mission

“A big part of who we are and what we do is mission driven. It goes beyond just ranching. It’s part of what we do to try to ‘save the world’ so to speak, as well as diversifying our business. We have a ranch managers’ guild which consists of a 2-year program to train young people who come here for that program. They have to be on a career path for ranching or land management. Underneath them are interns who are usually here for 6 months. Many of them are young adventure-seekers like kids just out of college or people who are traveling. They report to their apprentices and those apprentices report to the foreman or ranch manager. At the end of 2 years we either place them on a ranch that we are managing or find them a job commensurate with the level of experience they’ve gained,” says Phillips.

“We work with the Nature Conservancy very closely, along with Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory and other non-traditional groups. We have a bird banding station on the ranch that is here twice a year. We have a bird list and birding enterprise and over 300 birds on our list now,” he says.

“We have a film crew of 2 to 3 people who are always filming what we are doing. In order to successfully move ranching into the next century, not only do we have to be very good at what we do, but we have to be able to communicate it to the outside world. I think ranchers are the best solution for implementing large-scale conservation in the West because they live on the land and depend on it, with roots and history going deep.

Conservation has always been important to ranchers, but today with the public’s growing awareness and concern for ecologic woes, conservation has become a product—just like beef—that ranchers produce. We post monthly videos on our website Ranchlands Review, and photograph galleries, articles, a blog, etc. so people can see what we are doing, and understand the reasons behind what we do,” he explains.

“We want to grow our business. People are becoming interested in what we are doing. We are helping other ranchers right now—ranchers who have asked us to come look at their places and provide strategic advice. We are also talking to ranchers about managing their ranches, taking our model and duplicating it on other properties. Our apprentices have gotten really good jobs on other ranches, but we’d like to be able to put them on another ranch that we manage. That would be ideal, and this is part of our goal in having a training program for them,” says Phillips. “It’s all about people, and good relationships.”

Into the Future

At the Chico Basin Ranch it’s a family affair with a number of Duke’s family helping with managing the ranch.

Duke and his wife, Janet, do much of the work running the various enterprises. “I have a 27-yearold daughter, Tess who is married and has our first grandchild, named Woods. She and her husband, David Leach, are both working in the business. My son Duke IV is 26 and also works full-time in the business. I have 2 other daughters; Julie is 22 years old and is a teacher and 17-year-old Grace is a senior in high school,” he says.

“My wife takes reservations for our visitors and does everything else that’s needing done. I have lots of good help!” The children helped with everything, CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

Number 159

Land & Livestock

13

The Future of Animal Agriculture

BY BRYAN WEECH

wo recent events have created an opportunity to reflect on important issues affecting the future of animal agriculture.

The first is a recently published National Geographic article entitled “Carnivore’s Dilemma,” by Robert Kunzig. You can read that article online at the National Geographic website at: http://on.natgeo.com/1tCae9x.

The second is the recent release of the “Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Beef” by the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef which you can learn more about online at: http://grsbeef.org/DRAFTprinciples. Both occurrences highlight both the complexity of and the increasing attention to sustainability within meat production. The good news is that HMI is in a great position to contribute to the continuous improvement of the sustainability of production agriculture.

In the case of the National Geographic article, the discussion focuses on the extensive list of challenges, and the consequences and complexity of meat production (heavy emphasis on beef production). While some in our community emphasize the negative aspects of “big agriculture”, an honest assessment must also recognize the positive contributions as well, such as increased efficiencies that contribute to producing more food with the same land base. However, there are serious issues that need to be addressed, such as a dependency on inputs and their consequences on the environment. The article, although short on conclusions and recommendations, not necessarily a bad thing considering the source, does a fair job of pointing out the range of issues and both the

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negative and positive implications. I recommend anyone interested in the sustainability of animal agriculture to read the article.

The second event was the release of the much anticipated Principles and Criteria of Sustainable Beef by the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef.

Curiously, until the recent release of these principles and criteria there hasn’t been a broadly accepted definition or understanding of what constitutes sustainable beef. The definition, which was developed by a multi-stakeholder group, is a major accomplishment. The interesting aspect of the Principles and Criteria is that they were developed using a consensus building process that included input from across the beef value chain and with input from all major beef producing areas around the world….a truly ambitious undertaking that is unprecedented in both scope and scale. The implications of this bold step toward creating a broadly accepted baseline understanding of beef sustainability is that the discussion will soon shift from “what is sustainable beef” (current) to “how do we produce sustainable beef” (future). This is where HMI is in an important position with our network to help shape the future understanding on how sustainability is accomplished. With our mission of ‘educating people to manage land for a sustainable future’, HMI is wellpositioned to contribute to the upcoming dialogue.

So what does all this mean? Although few are talking about it, I suggest that sustainability self-assessment will become an increasing focal point in which various groups and organization will begin to partner. We need to answer questions such as: What is an adequate self-assessment of an operation’s sustainability? Where does one find an assessment? How is a self-assessment done? These questions will provide a great discussion in the months to come. HMI’s Holistic Management Certified Educator network could be an important delivery system for the next steps of sustainability. As an organization HMI will strive to create value by positioning ourselves to contribute to the upcoming discussions and opportunities to shape the world to manage land for a sustainable future.

From the Board Chair

Chico Basin Ranch continued from page thirteen

growing up—raising and training the horses, working with the cows. Both girls still come home on their breaks and on the weekends and are here during the summer.

“We all make a good team, when working cattle. You never have to say anything; you just know how the other person thinks and what they will be doing, holding up their end of it.”

With a young grandchild, Duke and Janet are entering a new phase, ready to enjoy grandparenting. “This is really special,” he says.

Duke Phillips has demonstrated that a passion for and commitment to profitable ranching, conservation, and education at the Chico Basin Ranch can result in a host of positive outcomes. Between his growing family and the various intern and apprentice programs, the ranches that Duke is involved it will provide opportunities for the next generation of ranchers to emerge and take the management reins in the not to distance future of ranching.

To learn more about these ranches, readers can go to websites like Ranchlands.com, ChicoBasinRanch.com, Zranch.org, Ranchlandsmercantile.com, and BoxTcowboys.com.

Ranchlands Review is a multimedia magazine that has a daily blog from the ranches being managed.

14

Land & Livestock

January / February 2015

BY KELLY SIDORYK

n the 30-year history of Holistic Management, what stands out for me is the people and relationships. Many of those relationships were developed at the annual get-togethers that used to be held.

Since this year marked HMI’s 30th anniversary, HMI’s staff and Board decided it was a great time to hold another gathering or Rendezvous. Board member, Clint Josey and his wife Betty were gracious enough to host the event on the Dixon Water Foundation Leo Ranch, near Decatur, Texas along with the opening of their new Living Pavilion. Over 150 people gathered for two days of learning, growing and connecting. There were a number of great speakers and sessions.

The Board was pleased to lead a process of gathering input from participants on the future direction of the organization. This small group session prompted great discussion and HMI is working through the feedback as we begin building out our strategic plan through 2019. HMI would like feedback from all our network, so please go to the following link to access the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8B79DFF. It will only take a few minutes to complete. Once HMI has compiled the results we will share them on our website and in IN PRACTICE. The Board would like to acknowledge the staff for all the work they put into organizing the event, as well as the many other sponsors and volunteers that helped support the Rendezvous. It is so great to be part of the enthusiasm and excitement as we embark on the next 30 years.

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people programs projects N E W S F R O M H O L I S T I C M A N AG E M E N T I N T E R N AT I O N A L

New Board Members

he annual HMI Board meeting was held in November prior to HMI’s 30th anniversary celebration as part of HMI’s 2014 Rendezvous.

This meeting was an exciting time as board members from around the world came to continue work on HMI’s strategic plan as well as participate in the Rendezvous. Going off the board was Sallie Calhoun, Gail Hammack, Ron Chapman, and Zizi Fritz. We want to acknowledge their hard work to make HMI a better organization in support of our mission.

Thank you all for you efforts!

We also want to introduce our new board members. They were all able to attend the Rendezvous and get to know members of the HMI community.

Kevin Boyer lives with his nine year-old son on a 1.5 acre homestead in Marin County, California.

He works as a Program Associate in the Ecological Agriculture program of the 11th Hour Kevin Boyer Project of the Schmidt Family Foundation. As the lead for the foundation’s Regenerative Rangelands program Kevin understands what a powerful tool Holistic Management can be for land managers. In fact, many of his Regenerative Rangelands partners use Holistic Management to regenerate their land, restore healthy water cycles and sequester carbon in the soil where it is most helpful. Kevin is pleased to be invited to join the board of such an effective and historic organization and hopes he can support HMI in its national and international grassroots focus in the years to come.

Walter Lynn, Jr is CPA from Springfield, Illinois.

He has 2 children Abby and Chris.

Abby lives in Columbus, Ohio; she Walter Lynn, Jr. works with high

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school students with autism, focusing on teaching academic, social, and independent living skills. Chris works with a company in Nashville, Tennessee that provides data services to the financial sector. Walter owned his own CPA firm for over 30 years, concentrating on farm and ranch clients.

The firm provided accounting and tax services.

He sold his firm in January 2014 and he is presently consulting with his firm purchaser.

His family is presently involved in central Illinois farming.

Walter has a connection with HMI that is originally through a Stockman Grass Farmer conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. Walter’s name was drawn for a free HRM seminar at that meeting. He has a keen interest in grazing livestock and the related positive impact on farm or ranch soils. Soils are a huge part of the triple bottom line that is part of HMI’s mission.

Guy Glosson is a long-time Holistic Management practitioner and Certified Educator.

He has been repeatedly recognized for outstanding land stewardship and livestock handling. He Guy Glossom has over 30 years of experience in Holistic Management, low-stress livestock handling and consulting to farmers and ranchers. Down to earth, with an engaging style, Guy has coached hundreds of people in his successful management methods. Under his holistic approach to land stewardship, he has enhanced the fertility and profitability of the ranch where he has been a manager for the past 26 years. In 2011, he was recognized for his success with the award for Outstanding Leadership in Ranching from the Quivira Coalition, an organization dedicated to bringing together ranchers, environmentalists, scientists and public land stewards in the American West.

Mesquite Grove Ranch, under Guy’s management, received the prestigious Lone Star Land Steward Award from Texas Parks and Wildlife.

HMI FSA National Vendor

HMI is pleased to announce that we have been approved by The Farm Service Agency (FSA) as a national vendor for their borrower training courses. The FSA has a number of loan programs for farmers and ranchers that need to borrow money to start, expand, sustain, or make changes to their businesses. To better qualify for many of the FSA’s loan programs, applicants may need to take training courses in order gain skills necessary for farm/ranch production or financial management. If you reside in one of the following states, you can use HMI’s training to satisfy FSA borrower training: • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Maine • Massachusetts • New Hampshire • New Mexico • Oregon • Rhode Island • Texas • Vermont To learn more, go to HMI’s FSA webpage at: http://holisticmanagement.org/fsa-approvedborrow-training-courses/

Texas Quail Award

We are so proud of Holistic Management practitioners and HMI supporters Deborah Clark and Emry Birdwell of the Birdwell/Clark Ranch in Texas. They have been awarded the 2014 University of North Texas (UNT) Quail Keystone Ranch Award. The award honors ranchers who participate in UNT Quail research, implement quail management practices and demonstrate improvement in quail population numbers, and host UNT Quail field days or educational events for the North Texas region. As a matter of fact, Deborah and Emry hosted one of HMI’s Cows & Quail programs last year. Here’s an excerpt from an article Matt Kelton of the Pioneer Sentinel wrote.

“Deborah Clark and Emry Birdwell manage the 14,200-acre Birdwell and Clark Ranch east of Henrietta. Clark and Birdwell focus on wildlife sustainability and sustainable grazing through holistic management practices, and have seen a 452% improvement in bobwhite quail populations on their land this fall.”

Congratulations Deborah and Emry!!!

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IN PRACTICE 15

time to learn from one another.

After lunch, we got out on the land with Dixon Ranches General Manager Robbie Tuggle and Lisa Bellows showing us biological monitoring areas and cover crop experiments. We then went to the 2014 Rendezvous Recap handling facilities to watch Certified Educator Guy Glosson demonstrate The Holistic Management Rendezvous 2014 kicked off on Friday, low-stress livestock handling.

November 7th to a standing room only crowd at the beautiful new Josey In the evening was HMI’s 30th Pavilion on the Dixon Foundation’s Leo Ranch near Decatur, Texas. We Anniversary Celebration. HMI’s new are proud to have co-hosted the event with the Dixon Water Foundation.

Executive Director, Bryan Weech, Together we welcomed folks – from around Texas, the U.S. and beyond. introduced our next segment which That evening’s program included Richard Teague, Associate Director focused on international Holistic & Professor in the Sustainable Rangeland Management Program and Management practitioners. Canada’s Texas A&M AgriLife Research discussing research needs, Tenna Florian, Kelly Sidoryk, Wayne Knight from Architect of Lake/Flato LEED certified Architecture presenting on the South Africa, Dr. Ben Bartlett from building of the Josey Pavilion, and Courtney White, Founder and Creative Michigan and Rob Rutherford from HMI Board member, Wayne Knight Director of the Quivira Coalition discussing the work of sequestering California each talked about what is talked about Holistic Management carbon in agriculture and how to get more happening with Holistic Management practices in South Africa as well as people doing good management practices. in their locale and what they had facilitating small group work.

The Dixon Water Foundation also treated us seen in their travels. Long-time HMI to a gala dinner featuring grass-fed roasted board members Jim Parker and Clint Josey were also recognized for their lamb, which had been raised on the ranch. long-time service to HMI. There were also presentations by some of the On Saturday we all came back for HMI’s Beginning Women Farmer Certified Educator Trainees who shared their Open Gate: Dixon Water Foundation Leo experience from that program.

Ranch Day. Dr. Lisa Bellows of North Central We closed out the evening with a fantastic performance by Kristyn Texas College who has worked with the Leo Harris, the 2014 Academy of Western Artists Western Female Performer Ranch, along with Leo Ranch staff, shared of the Year. how the Leo Ranch is using Holistic On Sunday we switched locations for our Open Gate: Running High Dr. Lisa Bellows shared Management as well as the results they are Ranch Day. Gary and Sue Price told about growing water as a crop on the Leo Ranch’s Holistic getting. We then stepped through a practice their 77 Ranch in Blooming Grove, Texas. Then Dr. Richard Teague gave Management process. decision test in small groups so people had a presentation of the biological benefits of Holistic Planned Grazing and the research statistics to prove it. Holistic Management Certified Peggy Sechrist had a giant grazing planning chart she used to explain the Fun and Funds for HMI when Fertilizer Falls actual process for those new to the concepts.

After While Holistic Management practitioners are Mitchell two prizes: the custom cover crop lunch, we aware of the fertilizer value of animal scat, the seed mix ($200 worth) from Green Cover got out on Chicken Sheeet Bingo game at HMI’s 2014 Seed, donated by Jonathan and Kaylyn the land for Rendezvous elevated the value of chicken poop Cobb, and the compost tea brewer made a tour of the to an even higher status. At the recent gathering and donated by CD Pounds. With that Running in North Central Texas, this focus on natural High Ranch. chicken fertilizer parlayed into a fun game that shee•et (shē’ it) n.

Ranch earned donations to HMI totaling $975.

1. Texas slang for manure, owner Jerry Participants bet on a chance to win some excrement.

Addison great prizes by betting on which square the oriented us 2. An exclamation expressing chickens would “mark” on the playing field Jerry Addison shares his management to the land excitement and fun (bed sheet) marked with 36 squares. practices with the group. and the Lucky square #17 netted Pam Gayler practices. same first dropping, Nancy Sanders also Deborah Clark taught us how to set up a won the framed ranch drawing by Dave monitoring transect and let folks experience Celella. The second dung deposit on monitoring the land. Then Jerry demonstrated square #15 awarded Bryan Weech a low-stress livestock handling using an ATV to two-night stay at beautiful Montesino move 400 cows to new pasture.

Ranch in the Texas Hill country. Dawn In between all of these events the 20 plus Rejebian, with square #7, won the stained Holistic Management Certified Educators and glass horse artwork donated by Lauri those in training met early each morning to discuss Celella. Many thanks to the generous prize opportunities for collaboration, explore ways of donors and to Robby Tuggle for supplying improving programming, and network. the chickens.

—Kathy Harris

Grapevine

continued from page fifteen

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16 IN PRACTICE

January / February 2015

DEVELOPMENT CORNER Open Gate Update

HMI was super busy this last fall with 3 Open Gates. Here’s the update on all the learning. For more information about the participant response and evaluation of the program, visit HMI’s blog at www.holisticmanagement.org.

Bar Lazy S Ranch Day

HMI was excited to offer an Open Gate almost in our backyard in collaboration with the Bar Lazy S Ranch. The focus on this Open Gate was determining an effective product mix for the economic and quality of life needs determined by each individual small producer. Virginia Smith, owner and manager of the Bar Lazy S Ranch was on hand to share to share her experiences in exploring a number of different enterprises and the pros and cons of each for her.

The 20 participants also took a tour of the 10-acre ranch located near the town of Los Lunas, to see what the landscape on the ranch was and listen to Virginia’s desired outcomes for her ranch as well as the 125 square miles of the San Clemente Land Grant. Virginia talked about how she saw her small property integrating into an effort to revitalize the opportunity for local food production in this area. To that end she has been involved in developing the Rio Puerco Rangeland Trust and the Association de San Clemente.

As part of the ranch tour, New Mexico State University Etymologist, Tessa Grasswitz, and USDA NRCS educator, Dave Dreesen, shared with participants the key species for pollinator habitat.

In the afternoon, it was time for some enterprise analysis. Ann Adams led the participants through an example of how to determine profitability of a milk goat enterprise.

From there participants broke into teams focused on a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) venture, a cow/calf enterprise, and an egg layer enterprise, to work through the numbers and explore the profitability of each enterprise.

This exercise was Ecosystem health indicators and pollinator followed by a habitat was the focus in the afternoon. marketing discussion led by Robin Seydel of La Montanita Coop in Albuquerque. She talked about the key marketing issues that she has seen producers face as well as the opportunities available through the Coop as a distributor and as a microloan entity.

Throughout the day there was much discussion of the various USDA tools and programs helpful to small, diversified farmers including Farm Service Agency microloans, NRCS EQIP hoophouse and organic

transition help, and the NRCS soil survey maps. When the participants broke into groups to discuss some land planning ideas for the Bar Lazy S concepts like soil water holding capacity and land productivity became critical pieces of information.

Small group enterprise analysis work Participants looked at water harvesting ideas to reduce water run off as well as the optimal enterprise mix to stack functions and how to maximize the tool of animal impact for land reclamation.

HMI would like to thank Virginia Smith for sharing her ranch for the Day and the Thornburg Foundation for its support of this event. We would also like to thank our sponsors: Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District, New Mexico State University, and La Montanita Coop.

Mimms Ranch Open Gate

In the middle of September 39 people gathered at Dixon Ranches Mimms Unit near Marfa, Texas for an Open Gate learning day. While the warmth inside the house kept everyone comfortable, a set of short talks gave everyone the background they needed for the afternoon’s lessons.

Dixon Water Foundation president Robert Potts gave a little history of Dixon Water Foundation and its acquisition of Mimm’s Ranch so that they could ranch in a dry, brittle environment and thus prove the effectiveness of the Holistic Management Whole Farm/Ranch planning system they utilize on their Texas ranches.

Ranch manager Casey Wade talked about the goals of the ranch and the objectives of the grazing program in improving the soil and forage. He showed a large map of the ranch with the permanent fencing marked. Each of those 30 paddocks can be strip grazed with temporary electric fence to provide the cattle daily moves to fresh pasture. In response to a question about the time all that moving Dixon Water Foundation president Robert Potts, takes, Casey said he right, helps participants see what the dart landed merely has to stand at on in a pasture monitoring exercise. the gate, blow a whistle and get out of their way.

Casey also explained that the cattle need to be trained to an electric fence. He does this by putting a strip of hot wire near the water so cows and calves need to walk around it to get to water. The cows know but the calves need to be in there a few days to be sure all have tested the wire and received their training.

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Development Corner continued from page seventeen

Dr. Bonnie Warnock from Sul Ross had a fascinating report on the research done before and after the big “Rock House” fire that hit in the midst of 2011’s drought. Results show recovery is just now where it was before the fire.

Holistic Management Certified Educator, Dr. Lisa Bellows talked about Holistic Management practices on the Dixon Ranches.

After lunch Casey proved his whistle story by opening a gate to a large pasture of calving cows. He blew the whistle. Cows and calves loped in from every direction to go through the gate into fresh pasture.

Lisa Bellows and Dixon Program Director, Melissa Bookhout, showed the group how biological monitoring is done on the Dixon Ranches.

Bonnie Warnock demonstrated some additional techniques for monitoring along a measuring tape transect and with a pvc square within which percentages of cover and bare ground are noted. Photo points were also discussed. Participants tried out the Holistic Management dart throwing method. Lastly, forage inventory methods were discussed, with several ways to judge how long the available forage might support an animal unit.

Our thanks to the Dixon Water Foundation for their generous support of this program and for North Central Texas College and Sul Ross University for their participation.

Montesino Ranch Day

The October 25th Open Gate at Montesino Ranch was an amazing exploration of mutual aid among people, plants, soil and water systems.

HMI Program Manager Peggy Cole welcomed the group and explained the various HMI programs in service to our mission to educate people to manage land for a sustainable future. Peggy Sechrist facilitated the day and opened with a short talk about the role of Holistic Management in creating a well-functioning water cycle necessary for the resilience needed to withstand drought.

Betsy Ross was her always dynamic self in teaching the microbial balance by having the participants play the roles of bacteria and fungi,

Betsy Ross leads a discussion on Bermuda grass in the garden

microbial balance, while Pam talked about the various enterprises at the Ranch. The market garden at the farm is operated by Sam Woodward. Peach and fig orchards and blackberries dot the 9-acre farm. Gueststays in the studios and the event Participants participate in the search for production add river life in the Blanco River income, as does hunting and the grass-fed beef operation, all managed by Pam. Chickens, eggs, a kitchen garden and recreational hike and bike trails have been added primarily to enhance the guest experience of local, organic foods and clean country activity. Sheep and goats have been added to the beef operation as meat and as landscaping tools. Scenic but rustic buildings provide an atmosphere of functional beauty.

Tracy Litle showed a few slides of her Faith Hollow Ranch in south Texas, demonstrating the improvement over the past 3 years since she began her practice of Holistic Management. Livestock and compost tea have made great strides in turning her “Thorn Forest” into beautiful grassland.

After lunch the focus was on water. Lauri Celella used the rainfall simulator to emphasize the benefits of deep-rooted grasses in optimizing the water cycle. Biodiversity adds variety to the depth and place in the food web of the various root structures. Litter eases the raindrops’ fall and protects from evaporation.

The group of 70 participants walked down to the river for a lesson in assessing water health by identifying the macro invertebrates and their ability to live in polluted waters. Lindsay Sansom from Meadows Center for Water and the Environment explained the food web in rivers and streams and had participants go fishing for critters to identify (participants found that the Blanco River hosts pollution-sensitive organisms, which means it is a clean environment).

NRCS plant specialist Ricky Linnex gave a short talk about riparian function and the best vegetation for stream bank stability. He answered questions about NRCS programs to aid in riparian management. Peggy Sechrist led a discussion about the take-aways from the day.

Participants agreed it was another great day of learning.

Thanks to the Dixon Water Foundation for their generous support and to the Meadows Center for Water, Sustainable Texas, and the NRCS for their participation.

California Whole Farm/Ranch Business Planning Series reacting to management decisions by dying or thriving (dramatically!).

The results on the remaining web of life were obvious – we need all in balance to create a resilient landscape.

Betsy joined ranch manager Pam Mitchell Gayler on a tour of the ranch, describing the role of the weeds relative to soil needs and the 18 IN PRACTICE

January / February 2015

From the northern to southern ends of California, a very diverse group of farmers/ranchers attended the HMI Whole Farm/Ranch Business Planning workshop at TomKat Ranch in Pescadero, California starting in September and concluding in mid-October taught by a team of Certified Educators including Richard King, Rob Rutherford, and Calley Hastings. Limited to 30 participants, the workshop was sold out. The five sessions covered whole farm/ranch goal setting and decision-making as

well as financial planning, marketing, and business planning with time built in to learn the process, work on exercises leading toward a sound financial plan for the coming year, and learn from each other as well as the instructors.

DEVELOPMENT The Holistic Management framework for decision-making includes CORNER successfully managing income and expenses as well as building healthy land and fostering effective relationships among the people involved. In this workshop participants learned a step-by-step financial planning process that helps people who raise products or provide services from the land be successful at living the kind of life they value. They also learned that holistic financial planning includes successfully managing their human relationships as well as their money.

For the Marketing and Business Planning sessions, Calley Hastings used her family’s farm business as an example. She shared how the family has made decisions along the way and used their holistic goal to guide them as they have grown from a small diversified farm to a goat dairy producing goat’s milk caramel sauces for national distribution.

Building on this example, farmers then reflected on marketing decisions in their own businesses and ran those decisions through the Holistic Management testing questions.

Additional time was spent looking at key components of a marketing plan and how each aspect, like understanding your demographics and thinking about your competition, help to inform your overall marketing strategies and budget. The marketing plan is just one element to the business plan, which can help guide how your business grows and can be used to leverage capital for your Calley Hastings presenting on Holistic Marketing business. On the and Business Planning second day, participants looked at a sample business plan and went through each component to understand what was involved. They worked in small groups to understand each aspect of the plan and then presented to the whole group using the sample business plan along with an example from their own farms.

Overall the farmers involved in these sessions were exposed not only to effective marketing techniques and strategies, but more importantly, ways to think through how you develop a marketing plan for you business that is based on solid information and sound decision making. They also saw how a business plan weaves together many of the elements they had been working on in the previous classes and helps provide a road map for your business to follow. While every farmer brought something different to the table, they all left with lots more questions and ideas from their fellow classmates on how to move forward with their farms.

Participants ranged from those who are direct marketing through farmer’s markets, farm store, etc. to others who are selling through commercial channels. Many described this series as a ‘great’ or ‘awesome’ workshop. There seemed to be a lot of excitement about the

Rob Rutherford leads a small group discussion on marketing and business decisions.

potential within the group to stay in touch and engage in further conversations and learning.

Our thanks to the TomKat Ranch for providing a great location and for being gracious hosts. Also, thanks to the Christiano Family Fund, an advised fund of the Community Foundation for San Benito County, for providing funding for this program, and to the San Francisco Foundation, a donor-advised fund, for funding scholarships.

KYSU Grazing Course

On October 16th, Kentucky State University (KYSU) Research and Demonstration Farm in Frankfort, Kentucky offered a Holistic Management® Grazing Planning course taught by Holistic Management Certified Educator Joshua Dukart. Ken Andries of KYSU contracted with HMI to deliver this programming as part of KYSU’s “Third Thursday Thing” series. This event drew 68 participants who learned about Holistic Planned Grazing. In addition KYSU shared some of the grazing trials they are experimenting with at the Demonstration Farm. Several participants mentioned they hope that a longer program is offered at a later date to allow more intensive training in this subject.

The day focused predominantly on grazing principles, although participants were given the HMI Grazing Planning Manual and both paper and electronic grazing planning forms to help them in their grazing planning. Joshua shared his experience with these grazing principles and there was opportunity for others in the group to share their experiences and knowledge to further the networking portion of this event.

Weaned goat kids on grazing demonstration plot.

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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.

Tim McGaffic

MISSISSIPPI

Sullivan *610Preston Ed Sullivan Lane NE, Meadville, MS 39653

P.O. Box 1903, Cave Creek, AZ 85331 808/936-5749 • tim@timmcgaffic.com

Lee Altier

prestons@telepak.net 601/384-5310 (h) • 601/835-6124 (c)

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

Nelson *11728DonShafer Ave.

Red Bluff, CA 96080-8994 208/301-5066 • nelson-don1@hotmail.com

Rob Rutherford

4757 Bridgecreek Rd., San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 805/544-5781 (h) • 805/550-4858 (c) robrutherford@gmail.com

Roland Kroos

MONTANA

4926 Itana Circle, Bozeman, MT 59715 406/522-3862 • 406/581-3038 (c) kroosing@msn.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

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.

COLORADO

Cindy Dvergsten

Katie Miller

22755 E. Garrett Rd., Calhan, CO 80808-9170 970/310-0852 heritagebellefarms@gmail.com

IOWA

& Erin Wilson *4375Torray 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

MICHIGAN

20 IN PRACTICE

“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

Brian Wehlburg

Pine Scrub Creek, Kindee, NSW 2446 61-2-6587-4353 (h) • 61 04087 404 431 (c) brian@insideoutsidemgt.com.au

CANADA

Box 817 Meadow Lake, SK S0X 1Y6 306/236-6088 • doncampbell@sasktel.net

*3421MaeCedarRoseAve.Petrehn S, Minneapolis, MN 55407 913/707-7723 (c) treadearthintometaphor@gmail.com

Judi Earl

AUSTRALIA

Don Campbell

1113 Klondike Ave, Petoskey, MI 49770 231/347-7162 (h) • 231/881-2784 (c) ldyer3913@gmail.com

MINNESOTA

*350 Troy Road, Marlborough, NH 03455

603-876-4562, kkerman@phoenixfarm.org 24 Main Street, Newport, NH 03773 603/863-4497 (h) • 603/863-9200 (w) seth.wilner@unh.edu

Ann Adams

NEW MEXICO

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

Jeff Goebel

NORTH DAKOTA Joshua Dukart

2539 Clover Place, Bismarck, ND 58503 701/870-1184 • Joshua_dukart@yahoo.com

SOUTH DAKOTA Randal Holmquist

*4870 Cliff Drive, Rapid City, SD 57702 605/730-0550 • randy@zhvalley.com

Lisa Bellows

TEXAS

*North Central Texas College

1525 W. California St. Gainesville, TX 76240-4636 940/736-3996 (c) • 940/668-7731 ext. 4346 (o) lbellows@nctc.edu

Guy Glosson

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

Peggy Sechrist

1033 N. Gabaldon Rd., Belen, NM 87002 541/610-7084 • goebel@aboutlistening.com

106 Thunderbird Ranch Road Fredericksburg, TX 78624 830/456-5587 (c) • peggysechrist@gmail.com

NEW YORK Craig Leggett

VERMONT Calley Hastings

6143 SR 9, Chestertown, NY 12817 518/494-2324 (h) • 970/946-1771 (c) craigrleggett@gmail.com

Erica Frenay *Shelterbelt Farm

200 Creamery Rd., Brooktondale, NY 14817 607/539-1179 (h) • 604/342-3771 (c) info@shelterbeltfarm.com

Elizabeth Marks

787 Kibbee Rd., Brookfield, VT 05036 802/279-3893 • Calley.hastings@gmail.com

WASHINGTON Sandra Matheson

228 E. Smith Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226 360/220-5103 • sandym@mathesonfarms.com

WISCONSIN Laura Paine

P.O. Box 185, Austerlitz, NY 12017 518/567-9476 • Elizabeth.marks@ny.usda.gov

Phillip Metzger

120 Thompson Creek Rd., Norwich, NY 13815 607/316-4182 • pmetzger17@gmail.com

Southwest Badger Resource Conservation & 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

*

I N T E R N AT I O N A L

17702 County Rd. 23, Dolores, CO 81323 970/882-4222 • wnc@gobrainstorm.net

Larry Dyer

NEW HAMPSHIRE Kate Kerman

Seth Wilner

U N I T E D S TAT E S ARIZONA

*

These associate educators provide educational services to their communities and peer groups.

Linda & Ralph Corcoran

Box 36, Langbank, SK S0G 2X0 306/532-4778 • rlcorcoran@sasktel.net

Guichon *BoxAllison 10, Quilchena, BC V0E 2R0

250/378-9734 • allisonguichon@gmail.com

January / February 2015

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

Grapevine

continued from page sixteen

Field day participants get their hands dirty as they explore monitoring techniques

Before we start planning for our next Rendezvous, we’d like to thank all the volunteers that made this event possible, as well as our co-host and sponsors.

• Sustainable Growth Texas • The Dixon Water Foundation • Texas Wildlife • Keystone Foods • MicroLife • Green Cover Seeed • Montesino Ranch • Texas Range Minerals • CD Pounds • Fertrell • Connemara Conservancy • Highland Soil and Water Conservation District

Evaluations from this event showed the following results for people managing over 286,960 acres.

Outcome

% of Participants

Ability to analyze ecosystem health

80%

Intention to create or modify written management plans

84%

Intention to complete or modify biological monitoring process

85%

Would recommend this event to others

97%

ntention to create or modify written grazing plan Increased confidence in decision testing

Experienced ranchers share their experiences with folks new to Holistic Management

76%

Increased confidence in planning grazing to cover soil

Expanded network as a result of event Overall satisfaction of program

68% 62%

96%

97%

THE MARKETPLACE

l Services, Inc. KINSEY Agricultura

?

E R U T S A P E S N E D NUTRIENT-

How many animals truly receive feed that has been grown with correct nutrients added to the soil?

95+% of all pasture and hay soils we test do not have the fertility required to provide the animals that eat it with even close to good nutrition. What about yours?

You can only manage what you correctly measure. Soil test as soon as conditions permit to add lime or other needed nutrients for pasture and hay crops.

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 • info@kinseyag.com

Soil test as soon as conditions permit to add lime or other needed nutrients for pasture and hay crops.

Number 159

IN PRACTICE 21

THE MARKETPLACE

V IR T UAL LY

IN DE S T RUC T I BL B Fiberglas ss Sucke ker Rod Posts FLEXIBLE, DEP E ENDA ABLE, DURABLE !

- NON-CONDUCTIVE, NO INSULAT TORS NEEDED - CUSTOM LENGTHS AND HOLE SPA PAC CINGS - WORKS W/ COT TER PINS OR TORSION SPRINGS

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2015 DATES!!!!

CORRAL DESIGNS

Holistic Management Trainings

Learn from anywhere on the planet

Jan. 26-31, 2015 Albuquerque, New Mexico with instructor Kirk Gadzia

Introduction to Holistic Management Jan. 26-28: $495 Advanced Training Session

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

(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

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

HMI’s Getting Started Online Learning Series

January / February 2015

970/229-0703 www.grandin.com

No matter where you live, you can start learning Holistic Management without having to fly or drive to a workshop.

We offer two learning series you can access directly from your home operation.

$199/class

• Holistic Land Planning registration starts January 5

• Holistic Grazing Planning

starts March 2 • Introduction to Holistic Management starts March 19

To learn more and register go to: holisticmanagement.org/trainingprograms/getting-started/

THE MARKETPLACE

Insight. Advice. Priceless.

New from ACRES U.S.A .

Western E H T E V SA Canadian Holistic E DAT Management

A Holistic Ve et’s Prescription for a Healthy Herd

Conference February 15 – 17, 2015

RICHARD J. HOLLIDAY, DVM & JIM HELFTER

Manitou Springs and Danceland, Manitou, Saskatchewan

Learn to heal your cattle by treatin ng t h e cause and not the sym mptoms.

Keynotes David Irvine • Linda Edgecombe

˞˦ˢ˥ˤ ˒ ǢŸ¯ǼOŸɚsNj ˒ ˠˣˣ Ƽ ¶sǣ ˒ ̱ˡ˟ʳ˟˟

Jodie Griffin – Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture

The Art & Science of Shepherding

Producer Panel Arlette and Allen Seib • Sam and Janine Covlin Sue and Richard Dubruin

MICHEL MEURET & FRED PROVENZA, EDS.

Introductory and Advanced Tracks in Holistic Management by Holistic Management Certified Educators

Discover how traditional herding methods are more fitting to many landscapes than even the most progressive rotational grazing and moveable feencing systems.

Lots of time for networking and socializing!

˞˦ˢ˟˧ ˒ ǢŸ¯ǼOŸɚsNj ˒ ˣˢˣ Ƽ ¶sǣ ˒ ̱ˢ˟ʳ˟˟

1-800-355-5313ÊUÊwww..acresusa.com

HMI GRAZING PLANNING SOFTWARE UPGRADE NEW FEATURES INCLUDE:

More information to follow in IN PRACTICE and on the HMI website

The HMI Grazing Planning Software is an electronic version of the Holistic Management Grazing Plan and Control Chart.

This software tool does all the grazing planning calculations for as many as 100 paddocks.

• Easy calculations to determine SAUs • Auto-fill functions for closed plan eady given “This tool has alr urn beyond • Account for multiple herds us a many fold ret we l investment and tia ini r ou • Added ability to identify exclusion use it.” to n gu be t jus ve ha periods and paddocks needing — Arnold Mattson, nch, rvices Bra special attention Agri-Environment Se ood Canada Agriculture and Agri-F • Compares estimated SAUs with planned peak SAUs • Grazing Manual hyperlink TO LEARN MORE OR references for each step for TO ORDER CALL: ease of reference HMI at 505/842-5252 or go to our online store at • New Livestock and Land www.holisticmanagement.org/store/ Performance worksheet

$

20

$

100

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.

To order call 505/842-5252 or visit www.holisticmanagement.org

Number 159

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 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 Financial Planning, August 2012, 58 pages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . $17

___ 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

I would like to make a Tax Deductible Donation

In the amount of $_____________. Please designate the program you would like

us to apply contribution toward ________________________________________

Questions? 505/842-5252 or hmi@holisticmanagement.org

Indicate quantity on line next to item, make sure your shipping address is correct, mail this page (or a copy) and your check or money order payable in U.S. funds from a U.S. bank, OR your credit card number and expiration date to: Holistic Management International, 5941 Jefferson St. NE, Suite B, Albuquerque, NM 87109.

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For online ordering, visit our secure website at: www.holisticmanagement.org.

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