#122 In Practice NOV/DEC 2008

healthy land. sustainable future. / DECEMBER2006 2008 NOVEMBER/ February January

NUMBER105 122 Number

The Role of Holistic Management International

by Ben Bartlett

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was visiting with a Certified Educator friend the other day, and he asked one of those simple but challenging questions, “I have my training in Holistic Management, why do I need HMI anymore?” In considering that question, I realized I saw HMI in a way similar to the analogy of the ecosystem as a house or room. When you stand on the outside you can look in via the water cycle, or energy flow, or community dynamics, or the mineral cycle window. Your perspective from your view may start out as a water issue, but when you look inside, you realize that your view is just part of the whole ecosystem, the whole.

When people look at HMI, the “office in Albuquerque,” they/we all look in through our “window” as a practitioner, or as a Certified Educator, or as staff/board member, or as a donor.

A Holistic Management practitioner, a shepherd in Australia, a rancher in Canada, a corn farmer in Iowa, a dairy farmer in Vermont is really interested in how HMI, via Certified Educators, IN PRACTICE, educational materials, outreach and workshops, can help them be successful on the land and manage holistically.

Isn’t that where it all starts, with the practitioner being successful land stewards?

The Certified Educators in our network want to share the insights of Holistic Management, and HMI can help and support that network of activity. I believe that HMI is needed for the next generation of teachers and practitioners, but we all contribute to its ability to succeed by the work we do within this larger whole.

The staff and Board at HMI practice Holistic Management in running the business and never lose sight of why HMI exists in the first place. Donors want a healthy landscape or to see children in Africa with plenty to eat and to know their generosity is moving the world one step closer to a sustainable future. HMI can be the home organization that write grants,

WWW.HOLISTICMANAGEMENT.ORG www.holisticmanagement.org

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

25th ANNIVERSARY

CELEBRATION develops and supports educators and practitioners and provides the leadership to partner with other organizations to move toward a more healthy and sustainable landscape.

Our perspective of HMI is dependent on our role in this network, but the “whole” is the same for all of us. It’s really easy to forget that we all have the same basic goal of a healthy land that provides a sustainable future for all people. HMI is the whole of us, practitioners, Certified Educators, staff and donors, who believe a better future is possible with Holistic Management. We are excited that you are on the team and look forward to working with you to create that sustainable future. If you have any questions or comments on how we can serve this network better, please feel free to contact me at bartle18@msu.edu or 906/439-5880.

Join HMI and HMI Texas in Abilene, Texas on March 5-7, 2009 to celebrate HMI’s 25th Anniversary and learn about Carbon Sequestration, Keyline Plowing, Estate Planning, and much more.

SEE PAGE 17 FOR MORE DETAILS.

FEATURE STORIES Twelve Keys To Better Family Relationships DAVID IRVINE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Not Resisting the Resistance TONY MALMBERG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Why Holistic Management?

TONY MALMBERG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

HMI Board Chair

Measuring the Successes of Holistic Management FRANK ARAGONA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Certified Educator Training— It’s Not Just a Job, It’s an Adventure

Subscription Rates Change Due to increased printing and shipping costs, we will be raising our subscription rates for the first time since we went to a bi-monthly publication. As always, our electronic version is still available at $20/year for U.S. or international.

For more information, contact us at 505/842-5252 or email us at hmi@holisticmanagement.org.

See back page for new rates.

KELLY BONEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Rocks, Farming, Love & Loyalty TOM FRANTZEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

LAND and LIVESTOCK More on Mob Grazing— From Arizona to Zimbabwe JIM HOWELL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Building Soil With “Wasted” Grass GREG JUDY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

NEWS and NETWORK PBS Documentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 The Whole is Greater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Certified Educators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

healthy land. sustainable future.

Twelve Keys To Better Family Relationships

by David Irvine

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

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ears ago, I learned from Certified Educator Don Campbell that my business is a tool to create what matters most in my life. Remembering this perspective has kept me running my business, rather than having my business run me. As a family in business, I know that what matters most to all of us is our family. After all, what good is all the hard work if, at the end of the day, our family isn’t getting stronger as our business matures?

FOUNDERS Allan Savory

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Jody Butterfield

STAFF Peter Holter, Executive Director Shannon Horst, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives Tracy Favre, Senior Director/ Contract Services Kelly Bee, Director of Finance & Accounting Jutta von Gontard, Director of Development Ann Adams, Managing Editor, IN PRACTICE and Director of Educational Products and Outreach Maryann West, Manager of Administration and Executive Support Donna Torrez, Customer Service Manager Marisa Mancini, Development Assistant Valerie Gonzales, Administrative Assistant

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Ben Bartlett, Chair Ron Chapman, Past Chair Roby Wallace, Vice-Chair Gail Hammack, Secretary Christopher Peck, Treasurer Ivan Aguirre Jody Butterfield Sallie Calhoun Mark Gardner Daniela Howell Andrea Malmberg Jim McMullan Ian Mitchell Innes Sue Probart Jim Parker Jim Shelton Dennis Wobeser

ADVISORY COUNCIL Robert Anderson, Corrales, NM Michael Bowman,Wray, CO Sam Brown, Austin, TX Lee Dueringer, Scottsdale, AZ Gretel Ehrlich, Gaviota, CA Dr. Cynthia O. Harris, Albuquerque, NM Leo O. Harris, Albuquerque, NM Edward Jackson, San Carlos, CA Clint Josey, Dallas, TX Doug McDaniel, Lostine, OR Guillermo Osuna, Coahuila, Mexico Soren Peters, Santa Fe, NM York Schueller, Ventura, CA Africa Centre for Holistic Management Tel: (263) (11) 404 979 • hmatanga@mweb.co.zw Huggins Matanga, Director The David West Station for Holistic Management Tel: 325/392-2292 • Cel: 325/226-3042 westgift@hughes.net Joe & Peggy Maddox, Ranch Managers HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE (ISSN: 1098-8157) is published six times a year by Holistic Management International, 1010 Tijeras NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102, 505/842-5252, fax: 505/843-7900; email: hmi@holisticmanagement.org.; website: www.holisticmanagement.org Copyright © 2008

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In counseling families for more than twentyfive years, I have found twelve keys that I believe are vital for strengthening the relationships in a family—both within and between generations.

Hopefully these reminders will help you stay on track and bring you back to the importance of the key relationships in your life.

families that are so busy they haven’t all eaten together in years. Meal times are meant to be pleasant occasions for eating, sharing our day’s experiences, and learning—sometimes even serious discussions about important topics— but never a place for disciplining, correcting, or judging.

1. See all blame as a waste of time.

5. Seek first to understand; then to be understood.

By resisting the tendency to point a finger, and instead looking at yourself during a relationship challenge, you can change something that is within your control: yourself. Whenever you come up against a problem with someone you care about, look first at what there is for you to learn.

2. Catch people doing things right.

What you focus on is what will grow. If you focus on people’s faults, notice how those faults expand. On the other hand, if you give attention to what you value and appreciate in others, you’ll notice yourself feeling more connected to people around you.

3. Treat your marriage like the sanctuary that it is.

Marriage is the base camp of life’s Mt. Everest trek. It is meant to be a place of refuge, safety, and renewal. And it requires attention. Your kids come through you and then they leave home. When you leave your parents, you must transfer your primary loyalty from your blood relatives to your spouse. Take time to court your spouse, go on a weekly date to spend time together away from the kids and away from the business. Don’t ever take your marriage for granted. It is the most important relationship of your life.

4. Break bread together.

Take time to have meals together. It takes practice to learn to listen, to share, and to connect in respectful conversation, and mealtimes can be a great training ground for dialogue. I’ve met city

November / December 2008

This is a classic principle I learned from Stephen Covey. Listen, listen, listen, then talk.

Don’t start talking until the other person can say, “I feel understood.” Understanding is different than agreeing with or even solving the problem the other person is facing. Understanding is about giving your full attention. It’s about tuning in— to feelings, needs, viewpoints—without judging.

It’s about putting everything aside for a few minutes while you focus on another person. This key reminds me why we were given two ears and only one mouth.

6. Reach for the needs underneath the conflict.

Conflict, which is part of any healthy relationship, is a symptom of unmet needs.

Conflict between people is not intended to be swept under the carpet, nor used to hurt people. When you take time to really listen, affirm and negotiate for needs that lay below the surface of the conflict, you will find that dealing with conflict constructively can deepen the level of connectedness between you.

7. Let go of resentments.

It’s not the snake bite that kills people. It’s the poison that takes your life. Anger is going to surface in any strong relationship. But if you don’t let go of the anger, it will turn to resentment and poison both the person and the relationship. If you want a healthy relationship and a healthy life, it is imperative to have a way of letting go.

Whether it’s a support group, a close friend, a spiritual program, a religious practice, or learning

to speak openly and respectfully to those we love about our feelings and needs, it is vital to find a way to let go of your resentments.

8. Dig your well before you’re thirsty.

What this means is invest in the important relationships in your life before you need something from them or before you hit a crisis.

Make it a habit to visit people in your life, even if you work with them every day. Take time to sit face to face with the people that you depend on.

Ask them about their lives, their concerns, their feelings, their dreams, and their needs. Listen for understanding, and make the connection before there is a need from you. A great exercise, which my wife, Val, and I have done for years, is, once a week, we sit together and both take time to answer this question: “What’s been happening in your life since we talked last?” Each of us takes turns sharing and listening to each other’s response.

When my daughters were young, I developed a habit of spending time with them every night before bed. Now that they are teenagers, they value the weekly dates I have with them. The strength of their character, along with the reinforcement of our relationships, are the roots that are upholding them through the storm of adolescence.

to be confident enough with ourselves to not smother those we care about with our demands.

It’s one thing to express our needs in a selfresponsible, compassionate way; it’s quite another to depend on others to meet all our needs. Healthy families depend on respect—both for ourselves and others.

10. Be a life-long student.

Few habits earn the respect of others more than the willingness to learn from them. And few actions destroy a relationship more than having a closed mind. Even though you may not always agree, you can learn something from every person you meet. Being open to learn from another person isn’t just good for a relationship; it’s an attitude that will stand you in good stead as a person.

11. Chose service over self-interest.

There is nothing more powerful in bringing a family together than a commitment to a purpose greater than the relationship itself. Working toward a holisticgoal, a shared vision, as a family, attending church together, contributing together to a community need, or taking on a service project as a family, are all ways that transform self-centeredness into fulfillment through service.

9. Give people space.

Any healthy relationship gives people room to be themselves. No one likes to be suffocated or controlled, and we need to have enough internal strength to provide people the room to make choices that we may not make for ourselves. It takes maturity—mentally and spiritually—to be around people who are different than us, and to continue to love and respect them, even though we may not necessarily agree with them. We need

12. Put the focus on your own personal growth.

The greatest gift you can give anyone is the gift of your own development. Holistic Management gives you the practical tools and awareness of how to do this. Developing maturity, learning to think differently about your life and your business, clarifying and realizing your goals and highest aspirations, letting go of resentments,

Montana Event Successful

learning to listen and communicate in constructive ways, overcoming self-centeredness, and developing self-awareness are all ways you can strengthen a relationship through your own personal growth.

Now that I’ve given you my twelve keys to a healthy family, I offer you a challenge. Sit down with your family and together write out your twelve keys. Then monitor your progress as a family as you work toward living them on a daily basis.

With those we care about the most comes both the most friction and the greatest opportunity for growth and fulfillment. Indeed, the most important work we will ever do will be within the family. I conclude with the words of Former First Lady Barbara Bush to the graduating students at Wellesley College: “As important as your obligations as a doctor, lawyer, or business leader will be, you are a human being first, and those human connections—with spouses, with children, with friends—are the most important investments you will ever make. At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, nor winning one more verdict, or closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a wife, child, a friend, or a parent … Our success as a society depends not on what happens in the White House but on what happens inside your house.”

David Irvine’s work contributes to building accountable, vital, and engaged organizations and leaders across North America. He is the cofounder of the Newport Institute for Authentic Living. For more information call toll free 1-866-621-7008, or email: david@ davidirvine.com, visit his website at: www. davidirvine.com or www.newportinstitute.com.

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n September 13-14, 2008 70 participants took part in Twodot Land and Livestock’s (TDLL) inaugural “Holistic Experience.” Participants travelled from Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Saskatchewan, Ohio, Montana, Wyoming, and Oregon. Jim Howell, Tony Malmberg, and Zachary Jones facilitated the program throughout the weekend with ages ranging from infants to early 70’s.

A few highlights of the program were the display of how ruminant interaction in riparian areas at high density is beneficial toward TDLL’s holisticgoal, the in-the-field exploration of a freshly grazed paddock at a density of 500 head/acre, Jim Howell’s “Grazing in Nature’s Image” multi-media presentation showcasing a global synthesis of life. One water cycle statistic of particular interest was that TDLL’s annual precipitation of 13 inches equates to 8.5 billion gallons of water. For more information about future TDLL events, contact Zachary and Shannon Agee-Jones at thesprout@twodotll.com or zbjones1908@yahoo.com.

Number 122

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Not Resisting the Resistance

by Tony Malmberg

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y neighbor stopped to visit, on our ranch south of Lander, Wyoming. As we visited we were looking across a wetland below us. Twin Creek, a small stream from the Wind River Mountain foothills runs about 4 cubic feet per second (.11 cubic meters per second). Twenty years of our using Holistic Grazing Planning to develop beaver habitat had enabled the beavers to raise the bed elevation two to six feet. (0.6 to 2 meters). Low water flows are now at the flood plain. The resulting lateral bank storage developed a wetland and riparian plants for a 1/4 mile (400 meters) across the creek basin compared to only 30 feet (10 meters) of riparian area when I first came to the ranch.

My neighbor commented how much the creek channel had improved over the last 30 years. I explained that with Holistic Grazing Planning we grazed early in the spring to open the herbaceous canopy so it didn’t choke the willow seedlings from necessary sunlight.

“You know, this Holistic Management stuff is alright but just don’t call it that,” my neighbor said.

When I told this story to Tony Lovell, an accountant/rancher and Holistic Management practitioner from Australia, he said, “You should have asked, ‘Why?’ and then counted.”

“I just count? Why would I count?” I asked sarcastically.

“So you don’t bloody answer before he can have a go,” Tony explained. He continued, “Counting silently to yourself is just a tool so you

can stand to keep your bloody mouth shut until they can come up with their own answer. We have a tendency to ask people a question and then stuff our answer into the silent space where they could have told us what they think.

“You count… 1… 2… 3… 4… 5…, and you continue counting until they answer.”

Tony explained. “Our tendency is to respond to unfounded statements as though there was a question like, ‘just don't call it Holistic Management.’ That is not a question. It is a statement.”

“So when he said, ‘just don’t call it Holistic Management,’ I should have responded with, “Why?” “Exactly.”

Creating Space As I was thinking about this and how it applied to my situation, Tony went on to describe the situation I had found myself in on several occasions since I started practicing Holistic Management more than 20 years ago. He pointed out that we have a tendency to get defensive and start tearing down someone else’s position without even finding out why that person said what she or he said.

By asking "Why?" we do several things—first, we get some space in our own head and force ourselves to slow down. Second, we get the first real question on the table, which puts us in front of the conversation rather than trying to play catchup. Third, we give them some space to connect to their emotions and process their thoughts.

Moving Beyond Resistance 1) Neutralize the initial resistance by laying past mistakes right out in the open.

2) When someone makes an unfounded statement, just ask why?

3) Wait for and listen to their response. If you have an urge to answer for them, count under your breath to keep from talking.

4) When they are done with their response, ask “Why,” again.

5) Continue asking why until you get to the emotional word. All emotions boil down to one of four basic emotions: Mad; Sad; Glad; Scared 6) Be prepared to feel uncomfortable when this surfaces. Allow space for time and trust.

7) Pause and relax. We can truly ask any question if we have no malice and are genuine. Most questions that get a reaction have a hidden (or not) barb. Like the cowboy who jabs at the wrong moment, so we can demonstrate our rough, tough, cowboy skills—our youthful, foolish questions with barbs creating unnecessary problems. Be patient and understanding.

8) Respond to the emotional word… “You just said scared, why?” Have no malice.

9) If at some point they appear too threatened, revert to the “third party personal” by saying, “Why would ‘other ranchers’ think that?” Provide emphasis on “other.”

10) In this case, follow-up with a question emphasizing ‘they,’ i.e. “Why would ‘they’ think that?”

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November / December 2008

Because so few of us are used to the experience of allowing a space for silence in our conversations, it may seem like an eternity before they continue. It is probably only five or ten seconds, but this is why we count—so we don’t intrude before they have a chance to answer the question.

Low-Stress Dialogue Holistic Management is different and people need to make serious changes to begin practicing Holistic Management. Most people cannot change because of unspoken and even unknown fears.

When presented with potential change, they may even feel threatened, causing their instinctive “fight or flight” response to kick in. Their first response in this situation is to discount, ridicule, or make fun of the proposed change. This response surfaces as that unfounded statement that only they can explain, so we ask “Why?” When they are finished with their response, ask them ‘Why?’ again. Keep asking why until you find out the root of their resistance. But you are not going to find that unless you listen to what they are saying. And make sure you really listen, especially for the emotional words.

I internalized this concept by thinking of getting a high-headed, spooky cow through a barnyard gate, when the wind is banging some loose tin on a roof, the barn door is squeaking back and forth, and some baling twine is flapping on a nearby post. Our immediate response to the cow’s nervousness will dictate how smooth the rest of our day goes. And she should be nervous. This scary task is not in her ordinary course of daily events. We can slow down and stay far enough back that the cow can evaluate the situation and ease into the gauntlet or we can crowd her before she’s comfortable, and she’ll bolt.

At that point, we can let her go and forget about it or we can rope and drag her through the barnyard. When we’re young we like to jab them a little too quick so we can rope them. After we’ve been through a few of those escapades, we learn that patience has a lot better marginal reaction.

By riding at a right angle to the gate, just close enough to the cow to pass through the flight zone and past the cow, we gain their trust. They know we are not going to attack them and they calm down. However, they also know it’s not an option to turn back so they keep easing ahead with their eye on the tin, the twine, and the door.

That’s the “Why?” It gives them space—but keeps them facing their fear.

The cow has time and space to see the baling twine isn’t moving beyond the post, the banging tin is staying up on the roof, and the squeaky door isn’t going to come after them. Then, she will walk through the gate, with maybe a shy here and

a hesitation there, but she’ll get through the barnyard as she deals with the fears in her own time.

I went back to Wyoming and called up my neighbor.

“Hello, do you remember when you and I were visiting on the road last spring and you said that Holistic Management was alright but just don’t call it that?”

“Yeah,” he said.

“Why shouldn’t we call it Holistic Management?” I asked.

He paused. I counted under my breath. It seemed like forever. Finally… “Because it sounds environmental. Really, the things you do are just common sense. Why do you have to make it sound environmental?”

I remembered my mini seminar with Tony Lovell, “Why shouldn’t it sound environmental?”

I asked.

A pause… “I’ve gotta go catch my horse. I’ll stop by and visit with you one of these days,” he said as he hung up.

He bolted.

I sent an email to Tony Lovell and explained the situation. Tony suspected that I’d gotten to that emotional word and being on the phone I lost the connection. He suggested I use something called “third party personal” to take some more pressure off. By this he means I could have said, “I know that you do a lot of the things we are doing but why would ‘other ranchers’ think Holistic Management sounds environmental?” In this way, it takes the pressure off the immediate person we are in contact with because they are responding for the “other” ranchers. The key is to emphasize “other” because that excludes the person we are engaging.

The Young, New, & Desperate Our management club put the topic on our agenda. Zachary Jones said, “The Savory Cell provided a lasting impression but not a practice.

If we can separate the past mistakes from our current practice, perhaps we can draw interest.

In that opening, we can respond with our experience.” This tactic of pointing out past mistakes, up front, helps make that separation and can neutralize the fear and resistance. The key point here is that we have 30 years “practicing Holistic Management.” Allan Savory will be the first to acknowledge there have been mistakes.

Management club member Daniela Howell pointed out that many of the early implementers of the infamous “cell system,” were looking for a quick fix. Intense grazing combined with little experience made for intense wrecks. By acknowledging our past mistakes up front, we can move on and discuss our experience.

Daniela also asked the question: “Where has

Holistic Management been adopted more quickly and more successfully?”

1. The young, curious, learning-oriented person not engrained in habits or “shell shocked” and jumpy towards trying something new.

2. Those outside of ranching with little ego towards traditional ranching and cowboying practices.

3. Finally, those in trouble and with everything to lose unless they do something different.

Each of the positive deviations demonstrates where there is less fear, less expectation, or a higher tolerance of fear. This would suggest that the resistance to practicing Holistic Management has to do with fear. So how do we get would-be practitioners to feel comfortable with this fear?

Like the cow going through the gate, the new practitioner must experience this new information in a non-threatening way. We can encourage by acknowledging, observing, and examining the fear from a non-threatening distance, with the use of “Why?” By trusting that we will not “jab” them at a vulnerable moment; they have space to deal with the fear.

Remember, this is not a formula to be used as a quick fix as the early graziers used the Savory Cell System. It is a tool to be used with awareness, genuine interest, and with no malice. Think about your intentions so you don’t get stuck in a formula.

Timing and patience are critical. Just like Holistic Management, it can be simple if you are willing to give it a chance.

Why Holistic Management?

• I could better manage cheat grass encroachment.”

• I could increase my stocking rate.”

We can address most any concern by using the Holistic Management decision-making framework to access an experience from our practice that the listener can relate. Such as: We practice Holistic Management BECAUSE we need to: • Deal with complexity • Encourage more biodiversity • Manage for sustainability • Improve our water cycle • Engage our decision makers

by Tony Malmberg

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ne of the first arguments and lines of resistance from would be practitioners of Holistic Management is, “My place is different.” Don’t resist that comment, because it is a fact. Point out how Holistic Management works for you, while subtly suggesting that their ranch may have similarities. Following are some examples. However, it is wasted effort to use these examples until you go through the “whys” and really listen to what they are saying. Once they ask a question and are ready to listen, use the word “BECAUSE.”

A Reason to Change A recent book, The Influencer: The Power to Change Anything, says that problems immune to change efforts boil down to people’s perception of their ability and their motivation. The book says one of the most powerful words of persuasion is “because.” Using the word “because,” can provide a good “lead” to describe our own experience and our practice of Holistic Management.

To address ability—try saying, “I started Holistic Grazing Planning BECAUSE: • I could improve my ability to minimize overgrazing.”

• I could better adjust to drought management.”

• I could get a better handle on planning the best stocking rate.”

• I could plan for our family times together.”

To address motivation—try saying, “I started Holistic Grazing Planning BECAUSE: • I could reduce my labor costs.”

• I could improve wildlife habitat.”

The Evidence Holistic Management practitioners effectively practice Holistic Management in 25 countries, 6 continents, and 50 states in the United States.

They live in different cultures, different economies, different landscapes, and temperate zones from sea level to 12,000 feet, and from desert to tropical rain forest. The Holistic Management® decision-making process works for all of them because they are all working to sustain their money, their landscape, and their community simultaneously. No matter where they live, they depend on water, replenishing their soils, keeping a mixture of plants and animals, and harvesting sunlight energy to grow plants. In every corner of the world we have found it is easier and more economical to mimic nature as closely as we can. We have found that planning helps us better prepare for the ducks and dives the daily complexities of people, economies, and nature throw at us. If you are working with other people, renewable natural resources, and money, then Holistic Management might work for you, no matter who you are or where you live.

Number 122

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Measuring the Successes of Holistic Management

rules of the road, inferring causality from imperfect data isn't easy, and one runs the risk of presenting results that are misleading and easily

by Frank Aragona debunked.

So, as we continue to analyze these results, raditionally, the world of graphs, figures, and spreadsheets has not been the mainstay of the jury is still out on the extent to which we can a community that is zealously hands-on, attached to the land, its health, and the principles objectively and quantitatively demonstrate the of Holistic Management. Yet the growth of the Holistic Management movement depends, relationship between Holistic Planned Grazing in part, on its ability to measure and present its results to the world at large. and improvements in land health on the sole basis of management derived data. Our results are only as good as our data, and in the case of the keeping track of: rainfall, snowfall, animal days Data Analysis Challenge West Ranch, data quality has been a persistent per acre, estimated relative paddock quality, and Since May of this year, I have been working issue. After all, what makes for good management standard animal units, to name a few. Finding a with Holistic Management International (HMI) isn't necessarily good science, and the records and way to put all of this data together into a single on the task of collecting data and documentation spreadsheet in a way that is both useful and inter- data collected by ranchers like Peggy and Joe have for the HMI West Ranch Learning Site. Under the been admittedly and justifiably kept for relational was a big job. leadership of HMI's Executive Director Peter The results of the process have been mixed. To management purposes. As we have seen, using Holter, the organization has undertaken a new such data for more scientific purposes has its be sure, the West Ranch biological monitoring strategic initiative of making successes and limitations. data reveal some interesting trends that indicate failures in the field systematized, documented, For this reason, as we move forward a large an overall improvement in land health. One of and quantitative. In this article, I will share a part of our strategy is to develop more robust the most interesting graphs to emerge from this small piece of this story, describing what we have methods and protocols for data collection and process is presented below. As can be clearly seen done, the process and its pitfalls, and where we analysis.

The development of these protocols will in the graph, from 2002 to 2008 we have seen a intend to go next. allow us to have greater control over system dramatic decrease in soil capping from the time In essence, the challenge from the start has variability and complexity; hopefully we will be HMI took over the ranch and implemented been to merge the Holistic Management® able to better demonstrate, in a quantitative and Holistic Planned Grazing on the land. This Framework with more robust tools for data objective fashion, the relationships between land decrease in capping was matched by an increase management and analysis. It is true that the health and Holistic Planned Grazing that so many in soil covered by vegetation. Keeping in mind grazing charts and monitoring sheets are fine Holistic Management practitioners passionately that Holistic Management is a results-oriented examples of accessibility and practicality; indeed, insist are there. framework, and that a major part of the they are that way by design. Allan Savory wanted In the future, we will also be looking to holisticgoal has been to cover bare soil, the this framework to be available to any and all leverage relationships with other researchers and biological monitoring suggests a major step in the managers of land. This is not a system designed data collectors in the field. People like Judi Earl, right direction. solely for technocrats or university researchers.

Richard Teague, and Keith Weber are all Yet for me, during a week long visit to the West doing research related to Holistic Ranch learning site with Peggy and Joe Maddox, I Management. Our success in creating a spent many hours scratching my head as I looked long-term and viable data and over the grazing charts and the biological documentation strategy may result from monitoring protocols, trying to answer the our ability to create effective and lasting question: “Now how do I get this into the linkages with other like-minded computer?” For although Peggy and Joe have researchers and practitioners. In the end, done, and continue to do, a fantastic job it is the Holistic Management managing holistically, and have documented it in community that is our most valuable an orderly fashion every step of the way, as a data asset; thus, we will be successful to the analyst I was confronted with quite a nightmarish extent that we are able to engage the scenario: reams and reams of paper documents. community in this exciting and A quick look at the grazing plans reveals two meaningful process. In that vein, if you Percent Covered Soil vs. Percent Mature Capped incontrovertible facts. First, the grazing plan is a the reader or anybody you know is Soil from the years 2002-2008 at HMI West Ramch. powerful, management-oriented tool that allows involved in similar endeavors, please the user to manage and plan for a broad range of don’t hesitate to contact me. My email is Management and Science different variables in an accessible and readable frank@agroinnovations.com.

However, correlating these results with format. Second, the grazing plan's broad mandate and robust architecture make it extremely difficult management decisions, and in particular the Frank Aragona is the Project Director of concepts that are the bread and butter of Holistic to transcribe into digital format. Transcribing a Agricultural Innovations Inc. Agricultural Planned Grazing (i.e. recovery periods and single grazing plan is not just a question of Innovations is a small consulting firm out of animal density), has been a more difficult keeping track of the presence or absence of Albuquerque, N.M. involved in a number of proposition. In natural systems, even managed livestock in a particular paddock; there are a projects in both North and South America. Their ones, where complexity and variability are the number of other variables that are also worth website is www.agroinnovations.com.

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Certified Educator Training— It’s Not Just a Job, It’s an Adventure

by Kelly Boney

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hen I started my Certified Educator training in the fall of 2007 my first question was, “When do we get done?” I knew the program was designed to take two years, but I wondered if I had to take that long. Couldn’t I buzz through it? I had many questions for the Program Director, Ann Adams, to endure!

My first official Certified Educator training course started last fall at the International Gathering. At this course there were several Certified Educators in the class taking it as a refresher and all of them talked about how their class did this or their class discussed that. Well now that the Certified Educator Training program is an individualized program, not everyone has a class with which to learn. I worried I didn’t have such a group. It seemed like visiting with them that they got each other through the process; there was a definite beginning, middle and end. With the individualized training the speed in which you learn is determined by well . . . you! I was used to college. the professor gave you a syllabus and you knew not only what but when.

Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy the individualized study; I can work on my classes at midnight, while herding goats, or when I’m waiting for the doctor to show up. I can also set my own speed. If I want to take three classes in a week I can, or if I get busy I can move some work back. The program has really fit my lifestyle. It also allows me to take extra time on the portions I’m having trouble with. Working with my mentor has been extremely helpful.

Now that its time for me to start practicing my teaching and consulting, I’ve realized I’m not done yet. While I’m a Certified Educator in training, I know I can call Ann and get direction.

Right now I’m just working on my ranch and working with my friends. Soon, and very soon, I will be working with total strangers, in different areas than I’m used to. What if I need help?

What if I don’t know the answer to the question they ask? What if I tell them something wrong?

This is why the support during the second year is so important.

I’m sure a lot of Certified Educators in training have felt this same way. At times I feel isolated from the rest of the Holistic Management world, wondering why did I invest so much money and time into this thing. Then I pull out my Certified Educator application and remember why this step in my life was important to me.

I’m also beginning to realize that my training isn’t a set of classes to take and learn; it’s a journey. A journey full of hills, valleys, and surprises; a journey that needs to be enjoyed and treasured along the way. This isn’t an algebra class where we learn formulas and use them once and forget them. This is a change in thinking; a change in the way we do things; a change that will help us improve our portion of our world.

It’s amazing to me how easily my training is fitting into my everyday life and how differently I look at my world. Our local city council had several tense meetings when they were forced to make cutbacks in their employee budgets. Their cut was the local police force. The police force consists of one; a gentleman we have all know and trust. Needless to say, there were some ruffled feathers. It was either being an outsider looking in, or my training, or possibly a combination of both that made it easy to see that the police force was not the issue; it was a severe reduction in gross receipt taxes. The local residents weren’t angry at the council, they simply wanted to feel safe.

Since I was about 12 years old I have had a gift of gab and leadership skills. By the time my

4-H career was over I had won numerous awards for public speaking, had traveled all over the United States, and was unanimously elected State President. After high school I have served on multiple boards, been the youth leader at our church, made presentations, etc. So I have had plenty of opportunity to use my God-given gift of leadership. However, since I have been working on my Certified Educator training I have noticed those skills are being refined.

Recently I volunteered to take the lead in forming a landowner association in our area. Our sole purpose in forming the group is for the collective bargaining power it gives us when dealing with wind development companies.

This is by far the largest undertaking I have been involved in. If a wind farm is developed, our members’ grandchildren will still feel the effects of our decisions.

If a wind farm is developed in our area, more families will have the opportunity to stay on the land, and the small towns and schools will have much needed capital to stay afloat.

Even though this is a huge responsibility, I feel confident in my abilities to take the leadership role. I have offered suggestions that have helped the group focus on why we are involved in this project. The group now understands this project is more than just the money; it is the life changes the money will bring. I’m convinced that without my Certified Educator training, I could not have taken on this task.

Now don’t get me wrong, I still make horrible decisions, forget to test toward my holisticgoal, get behind on my financial monitoring and a host of other things that would make my mentor cringe! But it’s getting better. This incredible journey I’m on isn’t about memorizing formulas (granted the grazing planning has a few!). It’s about changing myself, the way I think, the way I make decisions, the way I see the world.

Kelly Boney lives near San Jon, New Mexico. To learn more about HMI’s Certified Educator Individualized Training Program, contact Ann Adams at 505/842-5252 or anna@holisticmanagement.org.

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Rocks, Farming, Love & Loyalty

by Tom Frantzen EDITOR’S NOTE: On a frigid Saturday morning in January, Land Stewardship Project member-farmer Tom Frantzen gave a keynote at the Minnesota Organic Conference in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Tom and his wife Irene raise crops and livestock in northeast Iowa. Over the years, they have gained recognition in the sustainable and organic agriculture community for their on-farm research, as well as their leadership in innovative marketing. Tom is a popular and passionate speaker.

The following is an excerpt of Frantzen’s St. Cloud talk. To hear audio of the keynote, check LSP’s Ear to the Ground podcast by going to www.landstewardshipproject.org, and clicking on the Listen to the Latest Podcast link under Take Action (it’s episode 45).

Who Causes Change?

Change is not created by comfortable people.

If you are a comfortable person with the world around you, you will not be an agent of change.

Who creates change? Uncomfortable people create change.

Decorah, just 30 miles away, a 350-million-yearold surface and I only traveled a hundred miles.

Man, what change we had. Fantastic change and change over time….

I believe in God because water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit and expands as it thaws.

“Do you know we would not be where we are at all if it wasn’t for the fact that water turns solid at 32 degrees Fahrenheit?”

Geology and Affairs of the Heart I’m currently writing the history of this farm…I’m writing the history of the land that actually goes back to the origin of the surface…I knew a few things about our geological past and our natural history, but I didn’t know a heck of a lot, and it took me about 18 months to read fairly in-depth physically where our land came from.

If I talk about this at the coffee shop in Alta Vista on Sunday mornings, you know what they do? They throw Frantzen out on the street and make damn sure the door’s locked.

These people don’t want to hear about geology; I don’t understand that.

But nonetheless, what’s happening is this: I now understand where we came from physically, earth-wise, and the amount of time it took. And I’ll be 56 this March, and I drive through the same land and the same places I’ve driven for 50-some years, only I have a brand new love for the world around me. I’ve fallen in love with the land I’ve looked at for my entire life…I leave Clear Lake, Iowa, 70 miles west of us where the Des Moines lobe carved our land 10,000-20,000 years ago. Then I drive through the Iowan surface where we’re at—that’s a quarter of a million years old. And then we head over to 8

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That’s one of the most fantastic things you can imagine. Do you know we would not be where we are at all if it wasn’t for the fact that water turns solid at 32 degrees Fahrenheit? That’s why we have the soil surface we have. And you know when it expands and it thaws, you know what that does? It gets into rocks and that develops our soils. You can say that’s theology, that’s geology.

Pretty fantastic I think.

A New Discovery A fantastic discovery: cows prefer to walk around and grass prefers to stand still. Now that’s after 30 years of making the cow’s behavior change by making her stand still while we find new ways to haul the grass around and change where it’s existing. We’re trying to change what we think the world should be when in reality Nature says you got it all going in the wrong direction.

Personal Values I do not know of anything more powerful than the basic principles behind Holistic Management. It says you cannot make good decisions without having an understanding of what you want out of life that is oriented to your personal values. What’s it going to take to sustain

November / December 2008

what you want out of life long term and what resources will it require? …Our farm continues to change, but I don’t fear the change. What we fall back on is, do these changes conflict with what we want out of life or are they integrated with our personal values?

“I do not know of anything more powerful than the basic principles behind Holistic Management.”

Once you have that stake set in the ground, you can start to make progress. …We have organic market hogs farrow-tofinish, and we have organic cattle with the beef cowherd. And people say, “You can’t afford to feed high priced organic grain.” And now that’s an interesting question, isn’t it? I mean, how can we afford to justify feeding high priced organic grains? Well, how would I make that decision if we didn’t have our personal goals? What does the farm want long term? It wants a profitable, diversified farm with a stable resource base and a stable income. Well, we have a stable market with a stable pay price and the farm is doing very well, and feeding the grains is part of our long-term sustainability. I think it is a problem for people who have not had the discussion about what they want out of life and what their values are.

Loyalty to The Future There are niche markets in pork today that are being threatened by the farmers who raise livestock for them and who want to stop raising hogs. What a tragedy it would be if niche pork would be hurt and or destroyed because the farmers raising pork for them decide to opt out for a short-term buck and sell their grain for more money, and abandon the long-term stability of the marketplace that niche pork offered them. Now that’s a tragedy. Because if you don’t patronize the people who got you where you are in the niche market, don’t expect those people to come back tomorrow. Being loyal is terribly important. Being loyal to the future is what we have to have.

This article was first printed in Spring 2008 Land Stewardship Letter. You can contact the Land Stewardship Project at www.landstewardshipproject.org

& More on Mob Grazing—

From Arizona to Zimbabwe

by Jim Howell

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n the last issue of IN PRACTICE, I attempted to explain “mob grazing” within the context of “everything else.” That is, as a means through which to apply the tools of grazing and animal impact, mob grazing deserves just as much holistic analysis as any other action. Does mob grazing address my financial weak link in my grazing enterprise’s chain of production? Do my landscape—the state of the ecosystems processes— and my level of brittleness indicate that I really need to mob graze? What’s my level of skill and grazing experience? Is it up to the task of managing big mobs at high stock density? If so, how intensive do I need to get? How will that affect everything else in my life—free time, family time, vacations, other enterprises and businesses, etc.? Will I have to hire more help? How does mob grazing fit within all the other considerations included in my holistic grazing plan—poisonous plants, seasonal stockwater limitations, calving and breeding and weaning and sorting?

Mob grazing can be a great thing for lots of reasons. Yes, properly and skillfully implemented, it can dramatically increase the effectiveness of ecosystem processes. More effective ecosystem processes mean more effective

water cycling, mineral cycling, and greater plant diversity. That all leads to greater energy flow, which leads to more forage production, which translates to higher stocking rates and more wildlife, and ultimately more profit and economic resilience. That’s what most of us are ultimately after, so it probably makes sense for many of us to move toward mob grazing as long as we’re thinking things through holistically. Notice that I said “move toward”—not “convert to,” “switch to,” or “change over to.” To me, “moving toward” something implies a transition. No matter how well we holistically analyze, test, and plan, we’ll have unexpected hiccups—that’s why we assume we’re wrong when making and implementing land management decisions. The likelihood that we’ll foul things up is almost certain, so we need to be aware for those first signs that indicate we may not be on track, and then adjust accordingly. This is as true for making the transition to mob grazing as it is for anything else.

In Part One of this article, I described mob grazing fairly generically, and then included a few practical details specifically appropriate for perennial cool-season pastures. Most of the mob grazing information I’ve found alludes to experiences in these high quality environments, many of which are non-brittle tending. I talked about our current realization that higher pre- and post-grazing pasture masses, and oftentimes longer-thantraditional recovery periods, are critical to getting things right. Now, no place is easy. Successfully managing the complexities of a grazing operation anywhere is no small feat. But, everything is relative, and some environments present more challenges than others. In Part Two of this article, I’ll try to elaborate on some of the practical implications of mob grazing in these more challenging environments, namely the lowproduction, temperate latitude steppe environments (places like Arizona), and the high-production, but still highly brittle tropical/subtropical savannas (in places like Zimbabwe). Both are a long ways from temperate, high quality, productive, non-brittle-tending pastures in places like Missouri.

Survival in the Steppe

Herd mob grazing of high density at Zietsman’s, late November 1997.

These cows are grazing drought reserve which had been planned for use through December in the event of late rains. This is part of the area grazed through previous growing season, and therefore entered the dormant season in a leafier condition. For this reason, these areas are reserved for the drought reserve at potentially the toughest time of the year.

So, let’s start with the low-production steppes. This is where most of my day-in and day-out, hands-on experience lies. I’ve written a lot about these environments, specifically about the need to at least periodically plan for long recovery periods. These environments tend to be highly brittle, and the lack of biological decay at the soil surface stems from the simple dearth of natural precipitation, the erratic nature of the little bit of moisture that does come, and the extreme temperature shifts that characterize these areas (which either freezes the moisture, or makes the moisture highly prone to evaporation). There isn’t anything easy about this sort of country, including increasing the effectiveness of the ecosystem processes. Because episodes of favorable growing conditions are so few and far between, these periodic long CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

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recovery periods are necessary to ensure the accumulation of significant older material to serve as a source of soil covering litter, which will lead to a more effective water cycle.

But that’s the recovery period side of the equation. What about the grazing period—that is, when the animals actually show up? Let’s assume you’re moving your animals onto fully recovered forage, with a healthy dose of older material to knock onto the ground. No matter where we are in the world, the higher we can get our stock density, the more effectively we’re going to get that forage grazed and trampled, and the more evenly distributed will be the animal impact (dung, urine, tracks, etc.). But what’s practical in these types of environments?

Let’s assume you’ve done all your testing and analyzing. Resource conversion is your financial weak link, and you’ve determined that you’ve got the labor resources, the stockwater and fencing resources, and the grazing management skill to take your stock density to whatever level you deem necessary. Now let’s go through some numbers. If you’re in a typical low-production steppe environment that is in a fairly degraded state, you’ll probably only have on the order of 3 to 20 stock days of forage on a given acre (7.5 to 50 stock days per hectare). For explanation purposes, let’s assume the average acre has 10 SDA (25 SDH) of available forage (which is the case across an awful lot of country). In that case, mob grazing with one-day moves would therefore mean that each acre (ha) could only have a density of 10 stock units (or 25 per ha), or about 10,000 lb. of liveweight (11,300 kg/ha). Simply because of forage availability, it’s impossible to increase density more than that (again, based on one day moves, and assuming you’re not importing an outside source of forage).

Theoretically, of course, you could manage with multiple day moves and increase your density significantly. But, again, the purpose here is to talk practicality. Is that really practical in low-production steppe country? Let’s assume you’ve got a herd of 500 stock units. At 10 SDA (25 SDH), herd density with one-day moves would be 500 head on 50 acres (20 ha). If you only had 250 stock units, you’d need 25 acres (10 ha) for a day, or with 100 head just 10 acres (4 ha). You get the idea—the smaller the herd, the smaller the area needs to be to maintain the same level of stock density.

Actually fencing off those daily areas with portable electric fence might be a doable task in your situation. But there’s another practical issue—forage patchiness.

I wrote an article (“Land Planning for Diet Selection” in IP #115) that explains this issue in more detail, but here’s the basic problem. These lowproduction steppes, especially in hotter environments that experience heavy rainfalls in short intense storms, tend to be highly mosaic in nature. That means that multiple range or vegetation types, often containing very different plant species mixes, tend to be very unevenly distributed across the A herd of Beefmaster cattle (on Zietsman ranch in Zimbabwe) mob grazing through the growing season. At this time of year the cattle graze at lower density, but still move multiple times throughout the day. The total area grazed through the green months is also reduced to the area the cattle can maintain in a leafy, vegetative condition—which is critical for maximizing body condition in the highly brittle, high-production tropics.

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This herd of nearly 500 cows on the High Lonesome is grazing a 400-acre pasture. They have access to tobosa flats (in foreground with cows), snakeweed ridges with a diversity of shrubs, a couple of gramma grass knobs, and a dry gulch with mesquite and catclaw. With this diversity of range and vegetation types, these cattle are able to meet their daily nutrient needs over the course of their three- to six-day grazing period (with length of grazing period depending on season of use, forage availability, growth rates, etc.) Is this mob grazing? No, but it is being planned holistically and things are on the mend. High density mob grazing is tough in these patchy, low-production, highly brittle steppelands. landscape. Under traditional continuous set stocking, grazing herbivores have access to all of these plant types on any given day, and they can successfully select their nutrient needs from this broad access to many forage varieties.

As soon as you start to limit their daily range, you start to limit this access to diversity. I can assure you that 50 acres (20 ha) in a typical steppe landscape will have much less overall forage diversity than 500 acres (200 ha). If you limit those 500 stock units to a daily allotment of 50 acres, their average daily intake (both in quantity and quality) will vary hugely (because each 50-acre patch varies hugely), and the repercussions to animal performance aren’t good. The smaller the area, the more significant this issue becomes. That’s the basic principle—in practice the numbers don’t work out that neatly, but the point is that you’ve got to keep this diversity/opportunity for selection issue at the forefront of both your land and grazing planning. Ignoring it, I can assure you, leads to big problems.

Of course, the bigger the herd, the more land area can be allotted per pasture or “break” while still maintaining the same stock density and forage harvest per unit of land area. Increasing this area will, almost always, result in more access to diversity. So, in the above example, a herd of 5,000 stock units would be allocated a (likely) much more diverse 500 acres (200 ha) per day. Assuming you could water them, that big herd should perform better than a smaller herd moving onto a smaller (but proportionately the same) daily area. Someday we’ll get to those kinds of numbers, but our ranch sizes

and cultural affinities for individualism (as opposed to combining ranches with neighbors) currently preclude this sort of management nearly everywhere.

So, let’s go back to the more common and attainable herd of 500 head. If one-day moves onto 50 acres (20 ha) are obviously going to limit your herd’s ability to meet its nutrient needs, how much daily area is enough? On the ranch my wife and I used to manage in southwestern New Mexico, any given 50-acre patch could have been dominated by a tobosa flat, a snakeweed ridge, a thicket of creosote and tarbush, or a hill or slope dominated by high quality gramma grasses. The rare 50-acre patch might also have a little winterfat or fourwing saltbrush mixed in. The cattle needed access to all (or most) of those range types every day to meet their needs. With 50-acre daily allotments, that just wouldn’t have been possible. On parts of the ranch, it wasn’t possible with 300-acre allocations.

The landscape was crying out for high stock density, but we had to balance that need within the context of “everything else.” Apart from diet selection, the other major consideration influencing “land area per grazing period” was a simple labor constraint. With 35,000 acres (in two tracts an hour apart), lots of existing fence to rebuild and maintain, equipment to maintain, water systems to keep going, new water systems and cell centers and fences to design and install, meetings to plan, meetings to attend, finances to plan and track, bills to pay, reports to write, supplies to buy, horses to catch, calves to brand, cows to vaccinate (and of course cows to move), minerals and supplement to put out—not to mention eating and sleeping—Daniela and I had about all we could do. We were also newlyweds trying to get to know each other. I’m sure lots of you can relate. There’s only so much you can get done on a daily basis, and in steppe environments, where you spend lots of time just getting from one place to another, keeping stock density as high as the land would like is just plain tough.

In New Mexico, we managed to get our average pasture size down to about 500 acres. Our 500 cows never looked too dense at that rate, but at the end of any grazing period, we had tracks in every corner and most grass plants displayed evidence of grazing. Once we got our supplement program sorted out, and after going through other miscellaneous learning curves, the cows did well, too. Was more refinement possible? Absolutely! But given the nature of our “whole under management,” it was the right balance at the time, and it would have been holistically unsound to have pushed things any harder.

I need to make one last point. No matter how high you’re able to move stock density within the context of your unique “whole,” don’t assume that high paddock numbers and lots of moving eliminates the need to continue to plan your grazing holistically. I think the tendency is to assume that everything is more simple with high paddock numbers, but I would argue the contrary, especially in these extensive steppe landscapes. Without superb planning, very close daily observation, and continual adjustment, you will end up with a wreck on your hands.

Into the Tropics That’s a synopsis of the situation on the steppe—now we’ll move to other end of the highly brittle spectrum, the high rainfall tropical and subtropical savannas. In the steppe, where a given acre might only produce 5 to 20 stock days of harvestable forage in a given year, creating sufficient older plant material to cover the soil is the core challenge. In the brittle tropics, we’re dealing with environments that can produce 150 to 300 stock days per acre

Note the fencline contrast.

On the right is the High Lonesome, with still abundant yellow forage carried over from the previous grazing season.

On the left is the continuously grazed neighboring ranch, nearly void of the current season’s growth, but choked with masses of ancient, gray, oxidizing grass. Mob grazing is hard in this type of country, but lots of good things happen if you’re planning your grazing holistically— even with 500-acre pastures and stock densities of one stock unit/acre. per year (375 to 750 SDH), and it’s relatively easy to trap more sunlight energy and grow more grass—the challenge is getting it consumed and returned to the soil surface while achieving profitable levels of animal performance.

In more temperate latitudes, especially those that support cool-season grasses (or a mix of cool- and warm-season grasses), animal performance is much less of a problem than in the tropics. There are multiple reasons for this, but foremost among them are excessive internal and external parasite burdens, and low quality forage throughout the bulk of the dormant season.

Remember, these savannas are highly brittle. With 30 to 50 inch (760 to 1270 mm) rainy seasons, they can produce amazing amounts of forage, but for five to eight months every year, these forages are dry and dormant, low in digestible protein, and high in indigestible fiber. In the high quality, less brittle grasslands and prairies of the temperate latitudes, the growing (green) season itself is typically longer, and once this forage frosts and cures, it continues to provide a much higher plane of nutrition than dormant tropical grasses. These temperate environments are where the high pre- and postgrazing pasture masses (referred to in Part One of this article) are necessary for optimal animal performance, plant vigor, and species diversity.

In the tropics, this “high pasture mass” focus isn’t appropriate or necessary. When you start planning your grazing at high stock densities in hot places where it might rain 30 inches (760 mm) in four months, you don’t get a bump in forage production—you get an explosion. Holistically planned, high density mob grazing will improve the effectiveness of the ecosystem processes even more, but that just means you’ll have a whole bunch more low quality forage to deal with in the dormant season.

Yes, more forage can be a liability if your cows can’t turn it into saleable protein. So, in the tropics, focusing on animal performance is of utmost importance. As in the steppe, maintaining a diversity of forages in the daily mix is necessary, but this is much easier to do than in the more patchy, extensive, low-production steppe. In the tropics, animal performance is much more likely to suffer simply due to an abundance of low-quality, lignified forage.

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Now, what I’m about to describe shouldn’t be taken as a recipe—more like tropical guidelines that should be tweaked for your given situation. So here it goes. In the productive tropics, it is crucial to favor animal performance during the growing season. During the dormant season, it is essentially a given that body condition is going to drop considerably. Cows lose weight everywhere during the dormant season (also known as winter in lots of the world), but in the tropics, loss of body condition can be especially severe. So if the animals don’t get as fat as possible during the growing season, things can really fall to pieces when all that green is gone.

In the temperate prairies and grasslands, accumulating this growing season backfat is a cakewalk compared to trying to make it happen in the tropics. Even when these tropical grasses are green, lactating cows still have a hard time getting fat, and this is especially so if these grasses become reproductive and stemmy. So, the temperate grassland rule—that the energy contained in “seedheads and stems” can balance out all that protein in the leaves—doesn’t apply to the tropical grasses. Here, our old obsession with maintaining grass plants in a leafy, vegetative condition still applies. When they are leafy and vegetative, these tropical warm-season grasses are balanced in energy and protein, unlike the cool-season grasses, which contain a protein excess.

There are numerous potential ways to deal with this, but here’s one that’s proved successful with ranchers in high-production brittle environments in Zimbabwe and South Africa. During the growing season, these Africans obviously grow a whole lot more grass than their cattle can possibly consume. That’s necessary, of course, because much of that growing season production has to be taken into the winter and rationed off in the form of a standing haystack (more on that in a minute). So, if that’s the case, how can they possibly keep their grass leafy and vegetative during the growing season?

Here’s how. Instead of using all of their grazeable area (i.e. the whole ranch) during the growing season, they reduce this area down to the amount that the cattle can keep up with. Recovery periods on this reduced

area might contract down to 20 days or less. During the grazing period the cattle take the plants down to a fairly low residual, and the short recovery period keeps them from sending up a stem and seedhead before the cattle return. This keeps plants leafy and vegetative, with the associated balanced energy:protein ratio, and animal performance tends to be good. At this time of year, the animals aren’t necessarily managed at extreme stock densities, but daily moves, at the minimum, are still common.

What about the rest of the ranch and all those grass plants that didn’t get grazed? Those plants are taken into the dormant season and rationed off at very high stock density. I’ve seen Zimbabweans do this at densities as high as 2,000 head per acre, moving every 15 minutes. By this time the calves have been weaned, and they can now afford to put this lower quality forage through the (now dry) cows. Yes, the cows drop in body condition, but due to the condition gained on leafy, tender, rainy season greens, they can now afford to do so. Also, by mob grazing at high densities in the dormant season, body condition actually drops less than under more lax grazing (especially at the much higher than conventional stocking rates that these ranchers carry), since the animals receive a fresh plate of unfouled forage multiple times per day, all winter.

The highest quality dormant season forage is, of course, on the area of the ranch that was actually grazed during the previous growing season. It can be used for young growing stock throughout the winter, or taken into the next season as a drought reserve. Indeed, some of these ranchers plan to graze this more leafy forage reserve during the first weeks of the next expected growing season. If the rains materialize, it provides a little dry matter balance to the first leaves of the new season. If the rains are late, it serves as the drought reserve.

Each year, the areas of the ranch that serve as the growing season grazing area change. Repeated annual use of the same areas would ultimately lead to reduced forage vigor and species diversity, and less effective ecosystem processes. But by switching things up from year to year, this negative grazing pattern is prevented.

When talking about all this stuff, it’s always tempting to try and come away with a “recipe that I can take home to my place.” Let me tell you, it just doesn’t work that way, and that’s the core point I hope I’ve made throughout both parts of this article. Yes, there are some “mob grazing” guidelines, and the guidelines shift as we move from Arizona to Missouri to Zimbabwe. But, the specifics of how to tweak these guidelines for your unique situation are just that—unique. As Allan Savory says, the dynamics that are constantly occurring across our landscapes are not only more complex than we understand—they’re more complex than we can understand. Still want a recipe? Do your testing, do your planning, assume you’re wrong, keep your eyes open— and you’ve got a recipe for success.

CORRECTION This picture shows degraded mild steppe rangeland in southwestern Utah, dominated by a patchwork of bare soil, dispersed pockets of brush, and the occasional perennial grass plant. Because of this patchiness, the appropriate allocation of land per “mob grazed strip” is extremely difficult to get “right,” especially with small herds on small patches. The bigger the herd, the more practical the successful allocation of adequate diet selection at high stock density.

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In the last issue of IN PRACTICE in the article “Mob Grazing” on page eight, first paragraph, last sentence, it reads, “This means more plants are left ungrazed and less plants get severely grazed.”

It should say “This means less plants are left ungrazed and less plants get severely grazed.”

We apologize for the confusion.

Building Soil With “Wasted” Grass

by Greg Judy

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his year by concentrating on combining our cow herds into one large herd we have built a very nice recovery period into our Holistic Planned Grazing. Now we are starting to see the huge dividends from this management decision. We are presently on a 150-day recovery period from the previous grazing. I will admit that I had nightmares about several issues before taking the plunge, such as: 1. What about those awful seedheads?

2. How would I ever get the cows to eat the rank over mature forage?

3. Wouldn’t the pinkeye problems be rampant with all those tall rank plants with seed heads?

4. What about maintaining good animal performance on rank over mature forage?

Well, our actual real life grazing results have been an eye opening experience for us.

No Nightmares Our mob is made up of June-calving and fall-calving South Poll owned cows. The South Poll is a red hided animal that was developed by Teddy Gentry of Fort Payne, Alabama. It is very hardy on grass only grazing systems.

These cows have done nothing but excel in Missouri heat and humidity plus handle our winters very well. They are a four-way cross consisting of Red Angus, Senepol, Barzona and Hereford. They are very slick hided, which makes them excel in heat, but they do grow a nice winter hair coat for Missouri winters.

Our goal is to get everything calving in June because we can get our cows in a body condition score of 6.5 by the time they calve. This is critical for a quick high percentage breed back after calving. Dick Diven has done a lot of research showing the importance of cows calving with a 6.5 body condition

score and a tremendous breed back is the result. In central Missouri it is tough to put a lot of weight on a pregnant cow coming out of winter with April grass. The grass in this time period is so high in protein that the cows have a hard time keeping on weight, let alone putting on weight. The May grass is a different story; the weight just piles on them.

“We don’t have Since switching to what I call Holistic High Density Planned Grazing another grazing several years ago, our recovery periods planning on the have tripled over our previous grazing system. By moving the mob one to two face of the earth times per day, depending on the growing season and moisture that can build so conditions, we are always keeping the much soil with no cows in fresh recovered pasture strips.

We are 100 percent focused on animal purchased inputs.” performance mode, getting as much quality grass through our cows daily as possible. Our cows do eat some of the seed heads, but most of them get trampled as the cows are ripping off the long succulent leaves down in the dense canopy.

As far as getting them to eat rank forage, we do not have to force our cows to do that. Our recovered pastures now have so many different plant species growing that there is always something tender and growing down in the mature grass sward. As the cows seek out these tender palatable plants they trample the ranker forage on the ground. The pinkeye issue has not been an issue at all this year, knock on wood. We have not had one case of pinkeye in the entire mob. This is probably the most amazing statistic for me. We always in the past have had some pinkeye in a few calves.

The biggest reason we have not had any pinkeye this year I believe is because we have been focusing more this year on high animal performance, thanks to Ian Mitchell Innes’s constant comments on the importance of focusing on animal performance. We watch at 60 days before calving up until the time we take out our bulls after our cows are bred. Ian has convinced me that any health issue that shows up in an animal is a CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

South Poll steers being finished on a mobgrazed paddock grazed three months earlier.

This is an example of what an area looks like after 500,000 pounds of stock density.

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Building Soil with “Wasted” Grass

continued from page thirteen

symptom of stress that the animal was subjected to 60 days or more prior to the event. After zero health problem issues, I am sold on the importance of animal performance. Seventy percent of the unborn calf is developed inside the cow in the last 60 days. That trumps the importance of animal performance during this time period. So if a calf gets scours, pinkeye, or any health issue, it is probably because you shorted the cow on quality forage during that time period. If a cow does not get everything that she needs everyday, how can she pass on the priceless antibodies in her milk to her calf? She cannot, so the calf may have health issues.

No Waste Grazing With the help of the free solar energy and a long recovery period we are building soil like never before. Our pastures have tons of litter trampled on them daily with the mob movement. It still amazes me the amount of forage they can trample in 12 hours. We had a farm tour the 13th of June on our farms where we had about 85 Midwestern cattleman show up.

One of our farms that we toured that afternoon had not been grazed since March. When I told the group that this farm had never been limed or fertilized in the last 75 years, I had some looks of doubt on some of their faces.

The history of this 160-acre (64-ha) farm was that it had been continuously grazed and hayed. The whole farm had 12 cows and a bull on it right before I leased it. You could hit a golf ball at any point on the farm and have no problem finding it. A lot of the hills had moss, broomsedge and cedars covering them. We cut the cedars and started increasing our animal density with long recovery periods. The comment that I heard from several of our tour group attendees was that “This grass is too good to graze; you should be cutting it for hay!” I about choked. I quickly recovered from my choking condition and proceeded to tell them that this farm would never see a baler on it as long as I was alive!

I purposely took the tour group out into the middle of the field so that they could see first hand how thick, diverse, and lush the forage was. Several people were sweating and gasping for breath when I finally stopped in the middle of the field. The grass/legume pasture was so thick that people were having trouble walking through it, myself included! This farm had seen two years of high density grazing with recovery periods that allowed the plants to fully mature before being grazed again. No seeding was done, yet there were all sorts of grasses and legumes growing profusely.

There was one grass variety that formed a clump of rich dark green blades that no one in the group had ever seen before, including me! This farm still had 21 days before it would see our mob, which would give it 125 days since it was grazed last. Several people in the tour group asked me, “Well aren’t the cattle going to waste a lot of this forage if you try and graze it.” I responded that nothing in high density grazing is wasted if it is trampled on the ground by ruminating animals. We are feeding our soil microbes, earthworms, laying down ground surface litter, building soil, increasing organic matter, preventing erosion, holding water where it falls, and providing bird nesting habitat! Do any of those items that I just mentioned sound like waste to you?

I bent down on my knees in front of the group and pulled back the two14

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Notice the huge litter bank that the mob is trampling on the ground which is the result of 120 days recovery.

But after four weeks of recovery, legumes explode back. foot tall forest of grass and exposed the ground surface. All you could see was a chopped up layer of dead plants covering the soil surface. One fellow took out his pocketknife and cut a wedge out of the moist soil surface. There were 2 worms in the tiny 4-inch (100 mm) wedge of soil. A lot of people walked out of that field in disbelief as to what they had seen. No fertilizer and no inputs other than good management with high density and long recovery periods between grazing.

On July 4th we walked the mob two miles down public roads to this farm. I still could not tell any difference visually in the quality of the grass since June 13th. The sward was only taller, thicker, with much more mass.

The cattle were grazed on 12-hour moves at 75,000 to 150,000 pounds (34,091-68,182 kg) per acre depending on the slope and terrain. I could not believe what was happening with the mob. They were absolutely doing exactly what I hoped they would do. They were eating the very best and in the process they were trampling about 70 percent of it. Man, were they “wasting” forage, and I was so proud of them. Good job, cows! The cows were all fat and happy; the field looked like you had taken an asphalt roller to it. You could count the few lucky weeds on one hand that survived getting knocked over.

Folks, this was not at 500,000 pounds (227,273 kg) stocking density; 75,000 pounds (34,091 kg) was what we were using where the grass was the thickest. They still trampled all the grass on the ground, covered with a slurry of manure over the top of it. We had another farm tour two weeks after giving this area the mob treatment. The whole field looked like you had covered it with dry grass/legume hay. You could reach down and pull up the dead decaying grass layer and the ground was just perfect

“Thanks to Holistic Management our daily lives just keep getting better and more enjoyable each day.” underneath the trampled sward. There were visual sighting of earthworms everywhere feeding on the manure-slurry, trampled dead grass. The legumes were exploding up through the “wasted” dead grass with only two weeks recovery.

Strong new plants with multiple leaves were everywhere you looked. The tour group could not believe that I had removed the cows from each daily strip with so much quality forage trampled on the ground. Most of their comments were “Heck, I would have left those cows on those daily strips an extra day and made them clean it up better, rather than letting it go to waste on the ground.” There is that “waste” word again describing grass trampled on the ground.

People have a real hang-up seeing lots of grass trampled on the ground.

This is our no-cost fertilizer program for our pastures that allows us to grow more forage each year than the previous year. I’ve never seen a pasture grow back any faster than that one did where we let the cows “waste” the grass!

After four weeks of recovery, we went back out to the same paddock with a video camera to shoot some film of the area.

Recovery + Density = Healthy Soil The grass was up 12 inches (300 mm) high with clovers evenly dispersed in the canopy. The individual leaves of the plants were the darkest lush green that I had ever seen. The thick litter was neatly placed between the plants holding in moisture and feeding the soil microbes. I bent down and pulled back the dead moist two-inch (50mm) layer of litter on the ground.

Immediately, I noticed earthworms, centipedes, big black beetles, grubs, monster ant looking things with wings, caterpillars, several different species of hard shelled worms, and much more wildlife than I can describe.

There were earthworm castings everywhere on the surface of the ground, resembling a worm bed farm! It was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen in my life. This was the middle of August. You normally do not see

A custom grazed mob of bred cows grazing at 350,000 pounds per acre.

A mob of South Poll cattle at 100,000 pounds per acre eating cockleburs. earthworms on the surface of the ground in Missouri during this time period. The soil surface had holes of all different diameters going down into the soil everywhere. It looked like a freeway of bugs had been using this area for sometime. It did not matter where I walked in the huge field; there was the same wildlife activity taking place on the soil surface.

I cut a wedge of soil out of the ground surface with my pocket knife and held it to my nose. It had a very rich earthly smell that went on forever! I literally could have spent the whole evening on that one field just walking around pulling back the blanket of dead moist litter and watching the magnificent soil builders work; what a pleasure it was. Folks, we don’t have another grazing planning on the face of the earth that can build so much soil with no purchased inputs. With all farm purchased inputs skyrocketing out of control, it sure is a nice position to be in, having all this free forage grown with “wasted” grass! It sure gives you a feeling of being in control of your financial grazing future.

Since switching to Holistic High Density Planned Grazing we have reduced our work load by two thirds. We have increased our recovery periods by 300 percent and increased our stock density by 300 percent. We actually took a two-week vacation this year out to Utah during the spring rush of grass. Our cattle did fine with our hired part-time high school boy managing our operation while we were gone. We realized how important it is to get away, and folks we really need to do it!

We came back so rejuvenated and fresh, that we started looking at things differently as well. We have decided to help our 17 year old hired boy get started in the ownership of cattle and let him run his cows with ours. We do not want him to feel like an employee, but a partner in our business. He is so excited about owning his own cattle that he can hardly contain himself!

This kid is very eager in wanting to learn everything he can about Holistic Grazing practices. We are more than happy to have someone that wants to learn sustainable grazing practices that will help him in building his future as well. It is a wonderful feeling to have someone that we can trust to manage our operation. You cannot put a price on peace of mind, not worrying about things while you are gone from your operation. Thanks to Holistic Management our daily lives just keep getting better and more enjoyable each day.

Greg Judy farms in Clark, Missouri and can be reached at: gtjudy@hps.hubbell.com.

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PBS Documentary— Get Us To the Finish Line!

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news from holistic management international

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s of this November, filming for Healing the Land: The Untold Story has concluded and the production team is busy editing footage for the final documentary, to air on public television in 2009.

The team wrapped up their world travels with a tour of the United States, where they filmed a creek restoration project in Valle Vidal and Bill Zeedyk, visited Joe and Julie Morris’s grass-fed beef operation in Northern California, and finished production with two days of filming and interviews on the Flocchini's Durham Ranches in Wyoming.

In addition to these on-location shoots, the team interviewed leading scientists who work on issues of soil health, ecosystem diversity, and global climate change. Among these are Dr. James Hansen and Dr. Pushker Kharecha of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, both at the forefront of climate change science; Dr. Christopher Field, professor of biological sciences at Stanford; and Dr. Christine Jones, well-known Australian soil scientist and the driving force behind Australia’s Soil Carbon Accreditation Scheme.

Since our last progress report in the July/August issue, several individuals helped us get closer to our fundraising goal: Jim & Carol Parker (in memory of Edith Cather), Buddy & Bonnie Baldridge, and Andrew & Katie Stone. (Thank you all so much). And Cynthia and Leo Harris were so impressed with Executive Producer Tony Tiano’s plans for distribution of the film that they decided to make a $20,000 challenge grant to help us raise the remaining $40,000. A special thanks to Cynthia & Leo who, by the way, also helped us launch the project with their lead gift!

We need your help to match the Harris’ $20,000! We are asking each of our readers to donate at least $50 toward our restricted PBS Documentary Fund. If you know of any individuals who are capable of giving more to this fund, please contact Jutta von Gontard, HMI’s Director of Development at 505/842-5252 or juttavg@ holisticmanagement.org. You can call in your donation or donate on the web at: http://holisticmanagement.org/ store//page7.html. Help us get the word out about how livestock heals the land!

The Whole is Equal to the Sum of its Parts My Introduction to Holistic Management

by Jessi Jaramillo

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n the “sharing and caring circle”, as some of us called it at the Whole Farm Planning course I took with Phil Metzger and Erica Frenay, I realized that my trip to Binghamton was becoming a life changing experience. Holistic Management opened my mind, becoming the powerful switch that cannot be flipped back.

Our class spent some time considering how to apply this process to our personal and professional lives. We also discussed our concerns and fears of spewing overwhelming information to our family members and new recruits. Phil, however, assured us that if we just use the Holistic Management® Framework and work through the whole under management, holisticgoal, and testing questions, the impact of this framework will be evident. He 16

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told us not to expect to have all the answers, to be careful of vomiting too much theory and information. He reminded us to break it down, ask the right questions, and listen.

As natural resource professionals, we tend to think we need to know all the answers and that we should not involve a client’s personal issues in a decision. However, a holistic perspective allows us to take into account all the important conflicts and connections we tend to overlook. A farmer may only share his/her economic worries with an educator. But behind that worry, he/she may be struggling with a divorce, depression, and other day to day difficulties. Because it is such a broad and open approach, the holistic framework encompasses all parts of the whole—the good, bad, ugly, memorable, big, small, insightful pieces

November / December 2008

h people, programs & projects

of real life. The expansive vision allows us to see how all parts of the whole are interconnected.

Considering the social, environmental, and financial impact of human judgment, I now realized that climate change, political warfare, economic downturn, and socio-economic disparity are all consequences of poor decision making and human error.

At the end of the class Erica shared Einstein’s quote, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change.” While I’ve heard it before, this time I thought about how change begins with one and creates a ripple effect that impacts the world. Sitting in the sharing circle in the whole farm planning class felt like a small but powerful piece of the big world rising through the windows behind us.

Jessi is the Communications Coordinator for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chenango County, in New York State. The Whole Farm Planning class she participated in was part of a series of courses funded by NE Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education, a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Book Review

by Christina Allday-Bondy

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hat was I thinking, offering to do a book review of a Barbara Kingsolver book?

She’s legendary for her writing accomplishments and storytelling ability with novels like The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees, among others. But this is her first non-fiction narrative and a personal account of her family’s self-imposed challenge to spend a year growing their own food and eating locally (excepting olive oil, grains and spices) in Appalachian Virginia.

Everything you’ve read about her writing is true. Kingsolver has an amazing way with words.

And this is what sets this book apart from others’ accounts of local eating. Woven through the book are discussions of many of the major serious agriculture and food quality issues laced with irony and wry humor. She has a deft approach to linking these issues with major social and cultural issues without beating the reader over the head with guilt or inspiring stark terror along the way. Local becomes global becomes local, and personal.

An added feature of the book is contributions from Kingsolver’s husband, Steven Hopp, and daughter, Camille Kingsolver. Hopp’s sidebars are largely factual background on food issues.

Camille provides meal plans and wonderful

recipes around a theme item. There’s also a resource section in the back.

The family’s journey through the year eating locally propels the reader through the weighty material. Mid-summer zucchini and tomato floods—familiar to many of us—inspire comic antics and mad scrambles to load menus with current produce; preserve as much as humanly possible; and “share” the rest (visualize clandestine zucchini drops). I was particularly entertained by her novice attempts at solving the puzzle of turkeys’ sexual behavior and reproduction issues.

This book is an inspiration to “home security,” especially given the current economy.

For my urban household, the book has driven day trips to pick and freeze blackberries,

ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE: A YEAR OF FOOD LIFE

by Barbara Kingsolver with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver, HARPERCOLLINS, 2007

blueberries, peaches and strawberries. Last summer’s surplus tomatoes, first blanched and frozen whole, are now tasty tomato sauce ready anytime I need it.

Within the limits of time and my dehydrator, I also dried tomatoes and peppers to make the best use of shelf space. Abundant basil became packets of frozen pesto. And Kingsolver’s adventures in cheese-making convinced me to try making mozzarella and ricotta. (It really is easy.)

This year, due to the limits of a very small and shady yard, I’ll be taking greater advantage of the farmers’ market which also allows a little more control over quantities. Canning is in my future.

Now that Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is available in paperback, it’s a great gift and a breath of hope for anyone.

PASSING ON THE LEGACY:

Hold the Celebrating 25 Years of Holistic Management Date . . .

March 5-7, 2009 SPEAKERS and WORKSHOP PRESENTERS INCLUDE: Allan Savory Jody Butterfield Peter Holter Elmer Kelton Zach Jones Tom German Abe Collins Terry Gompert Betsy Ross Amy Hardberger Joel Benson

Hilton Garden Inn, Abilene, Texas

Join HMI-Texas and Holistic Management International as they celebrate

HMI’s 25th ANNIVERSARY! LEARN ABOUT:

Keyline, Planned Grazing, Carbon Sequestration, Holistic Policy Analysis and Design, Estate Planning, Introduction to Holistic Management, Holistic Financial Planning, and much more! Watch for our next ad with more speakers and presenters listed.

REGISTRATION BEGINS NOVEMBER 1ST. THIS CONFERENCE IS LIMITED TO 250 PARTICIPANTS, SO BE SURE TO REGISTER EARLY. TO REGISTER GO TO WWW.HMITEXAS.ORG OR CALL 325/348-3014

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UNITED STATES

Certified Educators To our knowledge, Certified Educators are the best qualified individuals to help others learn to practice Holistic Management and to provide them with technical assistance when necessary. On a yearly basis, Certified Educators renew their agreement to be affiliated with HMI. This agreement requires their commitment to practice Holistic Management in their own lives, to seek out opportunities for staying current with the latest developments in Holistic Management and to maintain a high standard of ethical conduct in their work.

For more information about or application forms for the HMI’s Certified Educator Training Programs, contact Ann Adams or visit our website at: www.holisticmanagement.org.

EDUCATORS PROVIDE HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT INSTRUCTION * THESE ON BEHALF OF THE INSTITUTIONS THEY REPRESENT.

UNITED STATES

CALIFORNIA

IOWA

Bill Burrows 12250 Colyear Springs Road Red Bluff, CA 96080 530/529-1535 • 530/200-2419 (c) sunflowercrmp@msn.com Richard King 1675 Adobe Rd. Petaluma, CA 94954 707/769-1490 707/794-8692(w) richard.king@ca.usda.gov Kelly Mulville P.O Box 323, Valley Ford, CA 94972-0323 707/431-8060; 707/876-3592 jackofallterrains@hotmail.com * Rob Rutherford CA Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 805/756-1475 rrutherf@calpoly.edu

COLORADO Joel Benson P.O. Box 4924, Buena Vista, CO 81211 719/395-6119 • joel@outburstllc.com Cindy Dvergsten 17702 County Rd. 23, Dolores, CO 81323 970/882-4222 hminfo@wholenewconcepts.com Daniela and Jim Howell P.O. Box 67, Cimarron, CO 81220-0067 970/249-0353 • howelljd@montrose.net Craig Leggett 2078 County Rd. 234, Durango, CO 81301 970/946-1771 crleggett@sisna.com Byron Shelton 33900 Surrey Lane, Buena Vista, CO 81211 719/395-8157 • landmark@my.amigo.net Tom Walther P.O. Box 1158 Longmont, CO 80502-1158 510/499-7479 tagjag@aol.com

* Margaret Smith Iowa State University, CES Sustainable Agriculture 972 110th St., Hampton, IA 50441-7578 515/294-0887 mrgsmith@iastate.edu

LOUISIANA Tina Pilione P.O. 923, Eunice, LA 70535 phone: 337/580-0068 tina@tinapilione.com

MAINE Vivianne Holmes 239 E. Buckfield Rd. Buckfield, ME 04220-4209 207/336-2484 • vholmes@umext.maine.edu Tobey Williamson 52 Center St., Portland, ME 04101 207/774-2458 x115 tobey@bartongingold.com

MICHIGAN Ben Bartlett N4632 ET Road, Traunik, MI 49891 906/439-5210 (h) • 906/439-5880 (w) bartle18@msu.edu

MONTANA Wayne Burleson 322 N. Stillwater Rd., Absarokee, MT 59001 406/328-6808 rutbuster@montana.net Roland Kroos 4926 Itana Circle, Bozeman, MT 59715 406/522-3862 kroosing@msn.com * Cliff Montagne P.O. Box 173120 Montana State University Department of Land Resources & Environmental Science Bozeman, MT 59717 406/994-5079 • montagne@montana.edu

GEORGIA NEBRASKA

Constance Neely 635 Patrick Place Atlanta, GA 30320 706/540-2878 cneely@uga.edu

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Terry Gompert P.O. Box 45 Center, NE 68724-0045 402/288-5611 (w) tgompert1@unl.edu

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November / December 2008

Paul Swanson 5155 West 12th St. Hastings, NE 68901 402/463-8507 swanson@inebraska.com

R. H. (Dick) Richardson University of Texas at Austin Section of Integrative Biology School of Biological Sciences Austin, TX 78712 512/471-4128

NEW HAMPSHIRE * Seth Wilner 24 Main Street Newport, NH 03773 603/863-4497 (h) 603/863-9200 (w) seth.wilner@unh.edu

NEW MEXICO * Ann Adams Holistic Management International 1010 Tijeras NW Albuquerque, NM 87102 505/842-5252 anna@holisticmanagement.org Kirk Gadzia P.O. Box 1100, Bernalillo, NM 87004 505/867-4685 (f) 505/867-9952 kgadzia@msn.com

NEW YORK Phil Metzger 99 N. Broad St., Norwich, NY 13815 607/334-3231 x4 (w) • 607/334-2407 (h) John Thurgood 15 Farone Dr., Apt. E26 Oneonta, NY 13820-1331 607/643-2804 • jthurgood@stny.rr.com

NORTH DAKOTA Wayne Berry 1611 11th Ave. West Williston, ND 58801 701/572-9183 wberry@wil.midco.net

OHIO Larry Dyer Olney Friends School 61830 Sandy Ridge Road Barnesville, OH 47313 740/425-3655 (w) • 740/425-2775 (h) larry@olneyfriends.org

WASHINGTON Craig Madsen P.O. Box 107, Edwall, WA 99008 509/236-2451 Madsen2fir@gotsky.com Sandra Matheson 228 E. Smith Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226 360/398-7866 mathesonsm@verizon.net Doug Warnock 1880 SE Larch Ave. College Place, WA 99324 509/540-5771 509/856-7101 (c) dwarnock@charter.net

WEST VIRGINIA Fred Hays P.O. Box 241, Elkview, WV 25071 304/548-7117 sustainableresources@hotmail.com

WISCONSIN Andy Hager W. 3597 Pine Ave., Stetsonville, WI 54480-9559 715/678-2465 * Laura Paine Wisconsin DATCP N893 Kranz Rd. Columbus, WI 53925 608/224-5120 (w) 920/623-4407 (h) laura.paine@datcp.state.wi.us

WYOMING Andrea & Tony Malmberg 768 Twin Creek Road, Lander, WY 82520 307/335-7485 (w) 307/332-5073 (h) 307/349-1144 (c) Andrea@LifeEnergy.us Tony@LifeEnergy.us

PENNSYLVANIA Jim Weaver 428 Copp Hollow Rd. Wellsboro, PA 16901-8976 570/724-7788 • jaweaver@epix.net

TEXAS Christina Allday-Bondy 2703 Grennock Dr., Austin, TX 78745 512/441-2019 tododia@sbcglobal.net 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 westgift@hughes.net

INTERNATIONAL

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

INTERNATIONAL

AUSTRALIA George Gundry Willeroo, Tarago, NSW 2580 61-2-4844-6223 • ggundry@bigpond.net.au Graeme Hand 150 Caroona Lane, Branxholme, VIC 3302 61-3-5578-6272 (h) • 61-4-0996-4466 (c) graemeh1@bordernet.com.au Helen Lewis P.O. Box 1263, Warwick, QLD 4370 61-7-46617393 • 61-7-46670835 helen@insideoutsidemgt.com.au Brian Marshall P.O. Box 300, Guyra NSW 2365 61-2-6779-1927 • fax: 61-2-6779-1947 bkmrshl@bigpond.com Bruce Ward P.O. Box 103, Milsons Pt., NSW 1565 61-2-9929-5568 • fax: 61-2-9929-5569 blward@the-farm-business-gym.com Brian Wehlburg c/o “Sunnyholt”, Injune, QLD 4454 61-7-4626-7187 brian@insideoutsidemgt.com.au Jason Virtue Mary River Park 1588 Bruce Highway South Gympie, QLD 4570 61-7-5483-5155 Jason@spiderweb.com.au

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

KENYA Christine C. Jost International Livestock Research Institute Box 30709, Nairobi 00100 254-20-422-3000; 254-736-715-417 (c) christine.jost@tufts.edu Belinda Low P.O. Box 15109, Langata, Nairobi 254-727-288-039 belinda@grevyszebratrust.org

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

PACIFIC NORTHWEST Sustaining Agriculture C O N F E R E N C E

FEBRUARY

10-12, 2009 RICHLAND, WASHINGTON

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION $150 ($275 for two people from the same family) BEGINS OCT. 1, 2008

Join over 100 Holistic Management Practitioners and Educators from the Northwest to learn from speakers including Bob Chadwick and Joel Huesby!

TO REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE: Send a check payable to Sustainability Conference in the amount of your registration fee to: Sustainability Conference c/o KCCD, 607 E. Mountain View Ave., Ellensburg, WA 98962 or call 509/525-3389 for more information.

Special room rate at the Shilo Inn, 509/943-2234: $70/room plus tax — call and tell them you are with the Sustainability Conference.

MEXICO

SOUTH AFRICA

Ivan A. Aguirre Ibarra P.O. Box 304 Hermosillo, Sonora 83000 52-1-662-289-0900 (from U.S.) 52-1-662-289-0901 Rancho_inmaculada@yahoo.com.mx

Ian Mitchell-Innes P.O. Box 52, Elandslaagte 2900 27-36-421-1747; blanerne@mweb.co.za Dick Richardson P.O. Box 1853, Vryburg 8600 tel/fax: 27-082-934-6139; Dickson@wam.co.za

NAMIBIA

SPAIN

Usiel Kandjii P.O. Box 23319, Windhoek 264-61-205-2324 kandjiiu@nampower.com.na Wiebke Volkmann P.O. Box 9285, Windhoek 264-61-225183 or 264-81-127-0081 wiebke@mweb.com.na

Aspen Edge Apartado de Correos 19, 18420 Lanjaron, Granada (0034)-958-347-053 aspen@holisticdecisions.com

UNITED KINGDOM Philip Bubb 32 Dart Close, St. Ives, Cambridge, PE27 3JB 44-1480-496-2925 (h); 44-1223-814-662 (w) philipbubb@onetel.com

NEW ZEALAND John King P.O. Box 12011, Beckenham, Christchurch 8242 64-276-737-885 succession@clear.net.nz

ZIMBABWE Amanda Atwood 27 Rowland Square, Milton Park, Harare 263-23-233-760; amandlazw@gmail.com

SOUTH AFRICA Jozua Lambrechts P.O. Box 5070, Helderberg, Somerset West, Western Cape 7135 27-21-851-5669; 27-21-851-2430 (w) jozua@websurf.co.za

Sunny Moyo Africa Centre for Holistic Management P. Bag 5950, Victoria Falls; sunnyachm@africaonline.co.zw; 263-13-42199 (w)

Holistic Management •

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Introduction

January 5th and 6th, 2009

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healthy land. sustainable future.

Number 122

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T H E M A R K E T P LAC E

HANDS-ON AGRONOMY BASIC SOIL FERTILITY GUIDELINES Now Available on DVD

BUY THE DVD TODAY! Runs 80 minutes and covers the following topics:

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IN PRACTICE

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November / December 2008

T H E M A R K E T P LAC E DON’T HAVE TIME TO MONITOR LAND HEALTH? Let me get you the information you need to improve the health AND productivity of your land.

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Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008

“HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT – HOW IT HAS CHANGED MY LIFE (RANCH AND FAMILY)”

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FEATURING:

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Don’t miss this opportunity!

Ian Mitchell-Innes owns and holistically manages a relatively large ranch in Elandslaagte, South Africa. Ian is one of the outstanding practitioners of Holistic Management in the world.

He is a Certified Educator and communicates in style and clarity.

“Ian may be the world’s most experienced ‘mob’ grazier.”

— ALLAN SAVORY —

• Pre-registration Fee By November 1, 2008 One Day Only: $75 • Both Days: $125 • Second person in family or business – 1/2 the regular fee • Registration Fee at the Door – $100/person per day TO REGISTER CONTACT THE UNL EXTENSION OFFICE IN KNOX COUNTY AT 402/288-5611 or email knox-county@unl.edu

Number 122

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T H E M A R K E T P LAC E CORRAL DESIGNS

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• On-Site, Custom Courses • Holistic Business Planning • Ranchers Business Forum • Creating Change thru Grazing Planning and Land Monitoring

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She offers customized solutions to family farms & ranches, communities and organizations worldwide.

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IN PRACTICE

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November / December 2008

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T H E M A R K E T P LAC E Tony & Andrea Malmberg

HMI Fall Courses

Holistic Management® Certified Educators

LIFE

The practice of Holistic Management has improved our relationships, enabled us to run profitable enterprises, enhanced the health of the land, animals and people that have enriched our lives, and given us peace of mind when faced with troubled times. We look forward to sharing what we have learned with you and building your capacity to create the life you desire. ®

Tony & Andrea Malmberg

For custom-designed coaching based on real-life experience contact:

768 Twin Creek Road • Lander, WY 82520 U.S.A. • 307.332.5073 Tony@LifeEnergy.us • Andrea@LifeEnergy.us • www.LifeEnergy.us

Holistic Financial Planning

Introduction to Holistic Management

Nov. 12 & 13, 2008

Nov. 10 & 11, 2008

Holistic Biological Monitoring

Holistic Grazing Planning

Nov. 14 & 15, 2008

Nov. 14 & 15, 2008

450

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All classes held in Summerville, Oregon

PER CLASS

Special package discounts for multiple class registrations!

INSTRUCTORS:

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To register for these classes, contact HMI at 505/842-5252 or register online at www.holisticmanagement.org.

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In Practice a publication of Holistic Management International

Low Rates International Audience Contact Ann Adams at 505/842-5252 or anna@holisticmanagement.org Number 122

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HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT MAIL ORDER EMPORIUM Subscribe to IN PRACTICE

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Holistic Management® Financial Planning (single-user license) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $249

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_ Back Issues: $5 each; bulk orders (5 or more issues) $3 each. List

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Please indicate issue numbers desired: ___,___,___,___,___,___,___,___,___,___ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$25

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Books & Multimedia

April 2000, 26 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$14

Holistic Management: A New Framework for Decision-Making,

_ Early Warning Biological Monitoring—Rangelands and Grasslands

_ Second Edition, by Allan Savory with Jody Butterfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $39 _ Hardcover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $55 _ 15-set CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $99 _ One month rental of CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $35 _ Spanish Version (soft). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25 _ Holistic Management Handbook, by Butterfield, Bingham, Savory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $27 _ At Home With Holistic Management, by Ann Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20 _ Holistic Management: A New Environmental Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10 _ Improving Whole Farm Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10 _ Video: Creating a Sustainable Civilization—

August 2007, 59 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17

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Planning Forms (All forms are padded – 25 sheets per pad) _ Annual Income & Expense Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17 _ Worksheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$ 7 _ Livestock Production Worksheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17 _ Control Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$ 5 _ Grazing Plan & Control Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17

An Introduction to Holistic Decision-Making, based on a lecture given

by Allan Savory. (VHS/DVD/PAL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30 Stockmanship, by Steve Cote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $35

_ _ The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook, by Shannon Hayes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25 _ The Oglin, by Dick Richardson & Rio de la Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25 _ Gardeners of Eden, by Dan Dagget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25 _ Video: Healing the Land Through Multi-Species Grazing (VHS/DVD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30 TO ORDER

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