Inglewood Farm— Healthy Land. Healthy Food. Healthy Lives.
In Practice a publication of Hollistic Management International
HMI educates people in regenerative agriculture for healthy land and thriving communities. STAFF Ann Adams. . . . . . . . . . . . Executive Director Kathy Harris. . . . . . . . . . . Program Director Mary Girsch-Bock. . . . . . Development Manager Carrie Stearns . . . . . . . . . Communications & Outreach Manager Valerie Grubbs. . . . . . . . . Accounting Manager Julie Fierro. . . . . . . . . . . . Education Manager Stephanie Von Ancken . . Program Manager Kimberly Barnett. . . . . . . Administrative Assistant
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Daniel Nuckols, Chair Walter Lynn, Vice-Chair Kelly Sidoryk, Past Board Chair Gerardo Bezanilla Avery Anderson-Sponholtz Kirrily Blomfield Kevin Boyer Jonathan Cobb Guy Glosson Wayne Knight Robert Potts Jim Shelton Sarah Williford
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 © 2018 Holistic Management® is a registered trademark of Holistic Management International
Bringing Organic Vegetable Production to Louisiana BY ANN ADAMS
“T
his was the place that we considered our family home,” said Elisabeth Keller, President of Inglewood Farm. Inglewood Farm is a 3,500-acre farm (1,800 of which is in cultivation) in Alexandria, Louisiana in central Louisiana. Elisabeth’s father bought it from his father-in-law in the 1940s. “My parents had moved off the farm by the time I was born,” says Elisabeth. “We lived in Arkansas and came here every few months and spent vacations here. My father was very involved with the business of the farm. I loved coming to the farm as a child and this was where I learned to milk cows, herd cattle, and ride horses. It was a very positive childhood experience for me and my five older siblings. We all enjoyed the farm and it was definitely a place of shared family experience. I now live on Inglewood as do two older family members and their husbands. Our parents lived here in retirement and died on the farm.” It was that sense of place and passion to bring sustainable agriculture to Louisiana that has driven Elisabeth and her family to turn a conventional farm in Louisiana to a collaborative regenerative farming effort with others in the local farming community as they develop multiple direct marketing ventures.
soybeans in rotations. “But, my personal interest for many years was how to farm sustainably and organically,” says Elisabeth. “In 2012 our family made a commitment to do just that and find more support and information about how to make that transition here in Louisiana. In 2012 we began the transition to organic certification and developing a vegetable business and phasing out farm leases with the local farmers who were farming conventionally. “Then in 2016 I was invited to the “Lead with Land Conference” put on by the Globetrotter Foundation. I didn’t know what to expect when I went to that gathering and that’s where I met Sallie Calhoun, the owner of Paicines Ranch and the philanthropist behind Globetrotter. I also met Kelly Mulville, the Paicines Ranch Manager. I had heard about Holistic Management and was vaguely familiar with Allan Savory. At “Lead with Land” we had conversation specifically and presentations about Holistic Management. I realized that the concepts clicked with me. It’s how I understand life and the world and it made sense—how to support natural processes with plants and animals. “I believe everything we do we have to have
Transitioning to Holistic Management
Inglewood Farm was a typical conventionally-managed farm through the 1990s, growing cotton like other farmers and, more recently, corn and
The next generation of the Keller family comes together to help with harvesting vegetables during a freeze as the mission for Inglewood Farm as an organic farm remains strong.
FEATURE STORIES
LAND & LIVESTOCK
NEWS & NETWORK
Inglewood Farm— Bringing Organic Vegetable Production to Louisiana
Cow Chip Ranch— Growing Healthy Food
Program Round Up.................................................. 18
Ferme Brylee— Transitioning a Small Diversified Farm in Quebec
Designing Regenerative Vegetable Production
ANN ADAMS................................................................................. 2
HEATHER SMITH THOMAS......................................................... 6
HEATHER SMITH THOMAS....................................................... 11 GRAEME HAND .........................................................................14
East Brook Farm— No-Till Vegetable Farming to Improve Ecosystem Processes
ELIZABETH MARKS...................................................................16
2 IN PRACTICE
h
July / August 2018
Board Chair............................................................. 19 Grapevine................................................................ 19 Certified Educators.................................................. 20 Market Place............................................................ 21 Development Corner............................................... 24
