#143, In Practice, May/June 2012

Grapevine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16From the Board Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Development Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18kids on the land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Certified educators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

NEWS and NETWORK

LAND and LIVESTOCK

Maximizing spring Green Up Without Destroying summer PasturesGReG JUDY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Planned Mob Grazing—A Tool to Improve PasturelandHeATHeR sMITH THoMAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9What Do We Do now?PeGGY seCHRIsT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Managing Complexity—learning To Use Planned Grazing on the Wilson FarmToRRAY WIlson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

FEATURE STORIES

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E

IN THE MIDWEST

From Chef to Farmer—Creating Connections with Food on Mount Vernon FarmMIke PeTeRson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Green Valley Farm—Farrow to FinishAnn ADAMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Making Better DecisionsDon CAMPBell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Three-feet tall grass even in a drought year iswhat Mark Brownlee was able to accomplish withholistic planned grazing. Learn about his operationand others in the Midwest in the Land & Livestocksection beginning on page 8.

w w w. h o l i s t i c M A N A g E M E N t. o r gN U M b E r 1 4 3M AY / J U N E 2 0 1 2

In Practicea publication of Holistic Management International

Fostering Creativity—Beyond Brainstormingby ELYSA BRYANT

Success in Holistic Management, to some degree, is built on creativity to make the mostof our financial, material, natural and human resources. Finding ways to foster creativitycan help us achieve success that we may not have expected outright.

Right now, we are in the midst of planning this year’s production. Typically, we’d sit down for a brainstorming session to see what kinds of ideas come up. We wouldn’t debate or censor,we’d just throw it all out there for consideration. It seemed that that is what is good aboutbrainstorming: you don’t censor or criticize anyone because you don’t want to hamper anyone’screativity. Yet there is lots of research, and personal experience, to show that we do self-censor. Whether it is family or strangers or co-workers or stakeholders, people self-censor in groups. Groups have a social pressure that can inhibit creativity. There’s lots of research that shows that brainstorming, in its traditional framework, just doesn’t work the way we’vecome to believe it does.

Good Debate

To be effective, brainstorming has to be modified. It turns out that the very thing that seemsto give brainstorming its greatest advantage, actually works to be its greatest deficit: thecriticism-free zone. Critique and debate actually enhance the quality of ideas you end up with,the ones you may end up formulating into decisions to be tested. Debate can identify not onlywhich solutions are problematic, but also major thematic problems. During the process, badideas can be debunked, but it is important to identify why these solutions would be ineffective.Identifying not only problems, but also core faults, will ensure that future suggestions will avoidthe same problems and will be much more helpful. Debate can also develop effective ideasinto full and expansive plans.

Problems & Complexity

Another thing that influences creativity is the way you present the subject for consideration.If I say to you, “Create the best system possible to get your products to the customer,” you willlikely struggle to think of how to create the best system possible. If you knew it, you’d alreadyhave created it. Yet, if I say to you, “What are the problems in your system for getting productsto the customer?” you can probably tell me what problems are occurring. By identifying theproblems, we can discuss them and determine where the weakest link is and how to address it.

Holistic Management has helped us in this way by focusing us on the “weakest link.”Focusing on a problem rather than creating something new stimulates our creativity moreproductively. We also don’t need to be shy about including the complexities of reality in ourdiscussion, because complexity also serves to help stimulate creativity, up to a point. Too muchcomplexity can overwhelm us, but facilitating a discussion to guide us through increasinglycomplex dimensions of a particular action allows us to confront the hurdles one by one to eitherrefine and redefine the action, or dismiss it as not worth further consideration.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Brain Digestion

Passive thinking also serves to stimulateour consideration of a particular problem, ideaor action. Passive thinking is the work thatgoes on in your brain once something hasbeen brought to your attention. An examplefrom my own experience with this is fromwashing dishes. I used to live in a housewithout a dishwasher when I went back toschool. I often disliked the act of washingdishes because it was so mundane andrepetitive. But I then realized that when I waswashing dishes, I had my most insightful orinspired thoughts. They would seem to comeout of the blue and it seemed that nowhereelse did I have the same ability to elicit this aswhen I thought I was really thinking nothing atall. I was surprised to realize later that therewas work going on in my brain that I couldn’trush or even anticipate; when I was exposed to a new idea or concept, it went into therecesses of my mind to “digest.” over time, I have realized that if someone has a particularchallenge that I am helping to think about, it’sbetter if we can have a brief discussion of itand then forget about until some future time. In the interim I find that spontaneous thoughtsoccur to me. I write them down or considerthem briefly, then just allow them to digest untilwe talk about it again. In practice, includingpassive thinking means that I have to build intime for reflection on the matter(s) at hand.

Passive thinking is part of something elsethat seems to be true of exceptionally creativeenvironments: the benefits of happenstancemeetings on excelling creativity. Thinking abouthappenstance highlights what most of usalready know, that some of our bestconversations, contacts, ideas come from thetimes where we bump into someone elseunexpectedly.

Planning for Happenstance

steve Jobs understood this and worked tocapitalize on it when the Pixar headquarterswere being developed. They already had thecreative talent, then he sought to introduce theelement of happenstance to the layout of thebuilding. He planned for happenstance. He putthe only restrooms in the lobby, forcingeveryone to go there at some point during theday. Then he had the mailboxes put in thelobby at one point. These two simple trickshelped create an environment wherehappenstance was likely to happen. Therewere some flaws in the setup (not everyone

liked going to the lobby to use the restrooms),but employees have confirmed that it did leadto more happenstance meetings that led tospontaneous conversations about problems or concepts people were working on. Theexceptional quality of Pixar films attests to the success of creating an environment thatfostered creativity.

Power of Diversity

In terms of creativity another piece isperhaps unconventional but incrediblyimportant: diversity. In Holistic Management,we are used to looking for diversity in ournatural environment: diversity of forage typesor diversity of livestock often reflects greaterquality in our natural resources. Diversity in ournatural environment means that we are moreresilient to problems that might otherwiseplague a monoculture landscape. Diversity infostering creativity means we include peoplewith a variety of experiences, because thosedifferences ensure that we will consider aproblem or action in different ways.

A historic example of how this plays out isthe renowned Building 20 at the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology. Building 20 was a placeof legendary innovation in a number of differentfields, from physics to linguistics. The layout ofthe building itself was not intended to bringabout this; it was designed in an afternoon tobe a temporary structure to enable work onradar during WWII. out of necessity, it went onto stand for about fifty years and incrediblediversity developed.

A unique part of this building was therandom assignment of the groups that werehoused in Building 20. It was home to a cell-

2 IN PRACTICE � May / June 2012

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Sallie Calhoun, ChairBen Bartlett, Past ChairClint Josey, Vice-ChairJim Shelton, Secretary

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In Practicea publication of Holistic Management International

Fostering Creativity continued from page one

culture lab, a piano repair facility, the linguistics Department, the RoTC, nuclearscience and a particle accelerator, among other transient occupants. The randommix of people meant that there was little familiarity with the backgrounds orsubject matter of office or lab neighbors. This diversity, magnified by the proximityto other creative people, which led to happenstance meetings or conversations,and the inherent critique and debate, helped to spur innovation that led to Bosesound systems, microwaves, Chomskyan linguistics and the first video game.

Creativity and Holistic Management

If success in Holistic Management is built on our ability to creatively make the most of our resources, it is important to find ways to nurture that creativity.Therein lies the challenge for me because I think of Holistic Management as a practice that calls on me to be methodical and routine, relying on my self-discipline to plan: plan my landscape and infrastructure, plan my profit, plan my grazing. Yet the nature of planning itself can inhibit the creativity that yieldsthe best actions or solutions. Given the various ways of nurturing creativityalready mentioned, how do I modify our annual planning to reflect some of theseinsights?

• Introduce a problem or idea for discussion a few days ahead of ourgathering. If those who are participating in planning are not local, try aconference call, or video chatting session to get the group together ahead oftime. Making the effort to include a human connection, either voice or video, asopposed to email that can get overlooked, will help in case there are questions orconfusion.

• When having a brainstorming session, encourage open debate of ideas. It’s important to remember that by debating, we are really trying to move towardthe best ideas. To avoid sensitivity or hurt feelings, remember that you wouldn’tbring ideas to the group to consider unless you were trying to move forward. And by having hurt feelings, you’re not moving toward getting better results;you’re staying stuck in the way you are doing it now.

• To add diversity in selecting those that will participate in planning, choosenot only stakeholders but also those who may have different experiences,whether because they are older or younger, professional or personal background,or farming approach. This diversity can sometimes provide insight or ideas thatare lacking without it.

• Incorporate physical activity into planning. I find that by walking the propertywith my daughters when they come home, and I casually mention things I’mworking on or challenges I’m working through, they have a fresh perspective andoften have ideas to discuss. Although not mentioned above, physical activity alsoimproves creativity, and incorporating it into planning helps relieve tension andenergizes everyone.

These are suggestions: this list doesn’t include everything. Building inhappenstance is tricky. But I’m going to tap into the diversity of this readership to request that you send in your own practices or ideas on fostering creativity inyour planning and operations. Discussing these ideas in a public forum will openthose ideas to debate. The great thing is, what I really see clearly now is thatwhile the creative process is often an independent one, it’s the interaction withothers that helps bring the fruit of that process to the next level. Though portionsof Holistic Management fully rely on the self-discipline to test our decisions andmonitor through planning, the success of those plans rests on our ability tocreatively develop our resources and move toward the quality of life we reallywant.

Elysa Bryant is a Holistic Management Educator trainee. She lives in Guilford,Connecticut and operates Stone Wall Homestead Farm. She can be reached at:[email protected].

FOSTERING CREATIVITY: Tell us how you foster creativity

as part of your management with your management team.

Send stories or ideas to [email protected].

Number 143 � IN PRACTICE 3

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

Future FarmsFrom Chef to Farmer—Creating Connections with Food on Mount Vernon Farmby MIKE PETERSON

Three years ago, I was donning Dalmatian-printed chef pants (standard issue uniform),and on a daily routine of preparing cuisine inone of the finest restaurants in the world—The

Inn at little Washington. It’s incredible the change inparadigm that one can incur within a short time frame.

The Search for Local Food

Prior to managing and interning at Mount VernonFarm in Rappahannock County, Virginia, I was a cheffor seven years. During that time frame, I becamepainfully aware of the decline in quality of industriallyproduced food, shipped all over the world to get to yourdoorstep with one phone call. It had become obvious to me that one distributor supplying meat, produce,chemicals, pots and pans, and anything else a kitchenmight need is not the sustainable answer to supplying a chef’s needs.

seeking local alternatives for all of our needsbecame a priority. Throughout the course of a year, I began researching local alternatives for our menu and came to the conclusion that I needed a strongerconnection to my food. An internship at a grass-basedfarm became my goal of gaining experience in a farmthat covers the entire spectrum—conception toconsumption. A farm that is environmentallysustainable, focused on soil health, and producingproducts to sell directly to the consumer was my target.

Upon arriving at Mount Vernon, I was fortunate thatthey had an established list of direct market basedloyal customers, infrastructure was in place (fencingand water systems due in large part to theConservation Reserve enhancement Program), andgood grass based genetics had been established in anAngus herd.

The farm had been practicing MIG (ManagedIntensive Grazing) for roughly 9 years. Bush hoggingwas a regular practice to keep seed heads off. Twoseparate calving herds were being managed along withgroups of grass finishers, stockers, weaned calves,lambs, Tamworth hogs, and a ‘bull lot’. Hay was madefrom 30 acres on the farm and we had 220 acres inusable pasture.

Holistic Decisions

Holistic Management was first introduced to mefrom the farm manager at the time along with the farm

owner, Cliff Miller, who attended a weekendworkshop about an hour from where MountVernon is located. As an intern, it sounded likea great opportunity to broaden my knowledgein farm management. Unbeknownst to me, HMI would soon be playing a critical role inhow I would be managing the farm in the verynear future.

Fast forward one year and I am taking overmanagement at Mount Vernon. Cliff and I wentto hear Greg Judy speak at a conference inVirginia to broaden our knowledge base in mobgrazing and decided to take the plunge. Weopted to combine our herds into one group andmade a long-term goal to switch from twice ayear calving to only a spring calving herd.

What we did not realize at the time washow to effectively test these decisions towardsa holistic goal. These changes were madebecause they seemed like the right changes tomake. We had our reasons for doing so, butwere still operating somewhat blindly. We wentthrough the first season of mob grazing andmade mistakes, but we also came to realizethe life changing events that we hadundertaken. After all, mistakes simply presentmore opportunities to learn, not something thatwe had done wrong.

Future Farms Program

I was presented with a very uniqueopportunity to take part in a one year FutureFarms mentor program that HMI waslaunching. The concept was for HMI to mentora group of farms within one county that wouldfollow the Holistic Management guidelines andimplement them into their farm managementstrategies. Concepts of grazing planning,financial planning, and land planning were all to be implemented within a 12-month period by way of Holistic Management® Certifiededucator visits and classroom sessions, field

walks, webinars, conference calls, studygroups, as well as independent work—ideallycreating a network of like-minded land owners(or managers) to cooperatively establishHolistic Management concepts on each of their operations.

Cliff was the individual who was prominentin bringing Holistic Management toRappahannock County. He had the vision of aprogram, which would mentor a limited numberof farms looking to implement the teachings ofHolistic Management into their farm or ranchmanagement on a long-term basis. HMIinstruction is a very valuable part of thisprogram, but just as valuable is thecamaraderie that is established among theparticipants in the program.

In our pilot program, no two farms areidentical in any way. There are decades ofexperience in agriculture among all of theparticipants in various facets of farming. We allmake an effort to meet in a study group typeformat once a month. These meetings oftentimes have direction and an overall goal ofitems we want to discuss, but more often thannot, it’s an opportunity for all of us to betogether and bounce ideas off one another. We have all received the same instruction fromHMI, and how we apply it makes all thedifference in the world. Comparing thoughtsand notes on grazing planning, financialplanning, record keeping, forage samples, soilsamples, weather, and other worldly eventshas proven to be extremely worthwhile. Afterall, who better to carry on discussions aboutagriculture in our area than those that areactually doing it?

We’re all in this program for variousreasons. Whether it is to become profitable (or stay profitable), establish long-term goals,increase stocking rates, cultivate biologicaldiversity, or to gain a greater knowledge ofwhat exactly Holistic Management preaches.

In the end, it all comes back to the strongdesire to earn a living from the land. Improvingthe land is a very broad statement, but a betterunderstanding of what it takes in all facets offarm management to improve our quality of life is just as important.

The Power of a Holistic Goal

The first subject that we all covered in ourgroup was the creation and implementation ofa holistic goal. In the past, Cliff and I had goodideas of what we were trying to accomplish onthe farm and how we would go about doingthat, but having it written in the format of aholistic goal is an incredible tool.

There is something to the idea that it isn’ttruly a goal until it is written. Up until that point,it’s just an idea or a premonition. Includingquality of life, forms of production, and futureresource base takes that idea to the next leveland puts it into fruition. Another crucial key tothis holistic goal, we came to discover, was notto lose it! keep it displayed, look at it, review it,change it if need be, and always challenge it.Base all of your decision making on that goal.

During our program, we all had theopportunity to have Ian Mitchell-Innes in ourcounty, and walking all of our farms. His insightand knowledge of range management throughlivestock impact is incredible. What’s mostexciting is that it’s all adaptable to our veryspecific situations. no part of what Ian taughtus is a strict recipe, nor should it be taken thatway. The purpose of his visit was to teach all ofus the HMI grazing planning guidelines, butalso to share his experience and knowledgethat he has gathered over several years ofexperience. It was inspiring to hear that heturned his farm around completely through


Future Farms continued from page three

Mike Peterson has successfully made the transition from being a chef to being a farmer in his journey of sustaining alocal food system.

Mount Vernon Farm haschanged grazingpracticessignificantly sincelearning aboutHolistic PlannedGrazing as part of the trainingin the FutureFarms program.

grazing planning and the concepts that are allfound in our guidebooks and workbooks.

On the Ground Results

We have now been mob grazing for roughlytwo years, but with one year of being mentoredin the Future Farms Program, we feel we are in a much better spot than we were last year.last summer, we sold our hay equipment andfenced in our two hay fields for permanentpasture. We fed half the amount of hay as theprevious year and extended our grazing season.

In my opinion, due to higher quality forageand focusing on getting the best food to theanimal at the right times, we have alsoproduced higher quality grass finished beefthan has been produced on the farm in thepast. We have had a very favorable fall andwinter, with mild temperatures and moisture,but our grazing planning has allowed us tospend more time grazing stockpiled fescue andless time running a tractor and rolling out hay.

Financial Analysis

As valuable as the grazing planning andIan’s knowledge was for us, the financialplanning was crucial to the continued growthand development of our operation. We arefortunate to have financial records of the farmgoing back ten years to compare where westand year to year. To take that one stepfurther and use those figures to their potentialwas where the real value lies. We can keeprecords out the wazoo, but if we don’t knowhow best to use those to their potential, then itbecomes a waste of time to keep thoserecords. The same goes for grazing records.It’s wonderful to keep them, but they need tobe utilized.

As a group and as a community, we wereable to take a case-by-case look at theparticipating farms and help each other gothrough financial records and projections.offering advice and feedback to one anotherduring our financial planning classroom session

was incredibly valuable. oftentimes it simplytakes another set of trusted eyes to look at adocument to figure where the weak link maybe. Again, the tremendous value of thisprogram is not just the Certified educators, butalso the support network that we are growingwithin our communities. To rely on each otherfor support and advice is a powerful tool in anetwork of holistically managed farms.

Improved Utilization through Land Planning

Through the land planning portion of our instruction, we were able to spend time in a classroom and think outside the box,constructively, searching for the best possibleutilization of our land, whether it be pasture,wooded areas, riparian zones, overgrown orunderutilized areas, etc. Through this phase,we were able to determine if we are able tocarry any additional species to utilize foragealready in place, or using species of animalsthat we already have in places where theynever were on the farm.

We were able to use an aerial photo of thefarm and look at many locations along amountain side on our farm where we would be able to raise pigs, run our cattle throughportions of the woods, as well as looking atareas where goats would do a great deal ofgood with little input from us.

Moving Forward

While going through the one year FutureFarms program, I believe we have all signedup for a commitment longer than one year. Toassume that only one year of work with HolisticManagement will completely turn around allaspects of our farm is not a realisticassumption. It has taken nearly a year to fullygrasp the details of Holistic Management, letalone to put them all into action. little by little,we are seeing the fruits of our labor of ourinvolvement in the Future Farms programcome to fruition in our animal performance, soil

and forage quality, and our quality of life. Relative to our holistic goal, we’ve just

come off the best sales year to date, expenseshave begun to level off, and all of us on thefarm are planning and taking vacations. Afterbeing “cut loose” from official HMI meetingsand conferences, our study group continues tomeet, email, and talk about updates with ouroperations and offering feedback, insight, andeven further instruction on the specificscovered in our program.

one tool that we have learned and, as ayoung farmer, I do not want to lose, is theability and inclination to re-plan. Carefulmonitoring and observation going through thegrowing season and in the dormant season willgive us valuable details if we simply payattention and alter our plans to accommodatewhat is really happening as opposed to whatwe thought would happen on our plan.Weather patterns change, illness, watercomplications, and fencing issues are some ofthe factors that can cause a change to theplan. not only altering the current grazing planfor these changes, but recording thesechanges and incorporating them into the nextyear’s grazing plan will make it that muchstronger.

If asked to put a monetary value on whatthis program has meant to Cliff, Mount Vernon,Rappahannock County, or myself I would behard pressed to determine a value. In one year,Holistic Management has allowed Cliff and meto see our goals, both personally, and for thefarm. It has allowed us the opportunity to workvery closely with other farmers in the County,establishing a long term bond in cooperativelysetting a precedent on how we farm for thefuture.

With several years ahead of us to continuewhat we’ve learned in the Future Farmsprogram and the commitment of another yearof this program from Holistic Management,we’re anxious to take the next step in thisprogram—mentoring the next group of farmscoming into the program. sharing ourexperiences and being a support staff for thecontinued growth of sustainable agriculture inRappahannock County and the land thatsupports us all is our goal for our second year.

Mike Peterson can be reached at:[email protected]. To learn moreabout HMI’s Future Farm’s program, contactTracy Favre at [email protected] credits all are: MollyMPeterson.com.


Certified Educator Ian Mitchell-Innes fromSouth Africa provided training on plannedgrazing at Mount Vernon Farm.

“I saw an advertisement about the programthrough northeast organic Farming Association(noFA) in Connecticut,” says Heather. “Wehave a landscaping and tree removal businessand I knew that any business that wants to beviable needs a business plan. The BeginningWomen Farmer course would help me createthat business plan and be successful.”

“I was frustrated when people would tell me you can’t make a living farming. Mygrandparents raised 7 kids on the profit theycreated from their dairy farm. I believe you justneed to be a good businessperson if you wantto be a successful farmer. That’s why Iparticipated in the program.”

Growing the Business

After working the kinks out of the system,the Driscolls started to sell to the general publicin 2008. They started with a handful ofcustomers. By 2010, they had about 30-40customers which included organic grocerystores, the University of Connecticut, and somerestaurants. Their primary marketing strategywas by word of mouth. They have about a50/50 split between retail and wholesalecustomers.

But to grow the farm, Heather knew shehad to push the marketing. “I really like myretail customers. These people come to thefarm with their kids and it’s a great experience

for everyone,” says Heather. “We had 50 pigsin 2011 and we are planning on doubling thatto 100 for 2012. We can increase theproduction so we are working to get all of theproducts sold.”

To address this marketing weak link,Heather worked with Beginning Women Farmer Program mentor, emily Brooks, on her marketing plan. In particular, they focusedon gaining clientele from the internet, throughtheir website and social networking.

“The marketing is really paying off. We canbegin to pay ourselves the wages we want forour work,” says Heather. “I worked as aparalegal before and was making $30/hour. I need to think about making that same wageas a farmer.”

“The program really helped me to get ahandle on the numbers. You’ve got to be clearabout the numbers so you know what you canor can’t do. We were originally thinking aboutgetting into breeding and doing feeder pigs.The good news was we would be able to getrid of the product quickly. Taking the pigs all the way to finish was more of commitment, but when we did the numbers we saw howmuch more profitable that was. selling them as feeder pigs cut into the profit and just wasn’t worth it.”

“I also used to breed horses, but I stoppedthat because that enterprise was eating intooverall farm profit. once I separated out the

different farm enterprises,I realized I needed to getrid of the horse breedingenterprise. now I keep afew horses for myself, butI know what it costs me.”

Growing the Farm

Right now the Driscolls are farming on 30acres. However, a farm across the street maybe available for them to double their operatingbase. If they can acquire it they will invest infencing. “I tried just the one hot wire for thepigs, but they’re too smart,” says Heather.“They know when the fence is grounded outand when one gets out, they all get out. I’m notgoing to chase pigs through my neighborsanymore. We use the hog fencing with a hotwire to keep them from rooting underneath.”

The Driscolls do a farrow to finish operationwith one boar and 9 sows. Their farrowing setup is a 42 feet by 90 feet building with eachfarrowing area at 12 feet by 15 feet. They usewoodchips and sawdust for the pigs to farrow in.

The pigs are feed organic feed which is acombination of organic grain they purchase attheir local co-op and composted fruits andvegetables from The Hole in the Wall GangCamp (a non-profit summer camp founded byPaul newman for children with cancer andother serious illnesses) which is five-minutesdown the road. They use no antibiotics andkeep the animals on pasture as a part of theircommitment to a quality product.

“We take the pigs for slaughter andprocessing (packaging) to new York once amonth,” says Heather. “It’s a one hour and 45minute drive one way, but I love the facility.There is no facility that does it all inConnecticut, and they are great to work with.”

Growing the Market

Heather sells her meat retail through herdelivery service and on-farm sales. “I charge a delivery fee, and it does require someadditional time,” says Heather. “I feel it’simportant to meet the customer and providethem multiple opportunities to sample ourproducts. If they want to avoid the delivery fee,they can come to the farm. I let them know thisis a Connecticut farm that has produced thisproduct.”

The Driscolls are planning on expandingtheir on-farm sales by building a farm store withset hours so people can stop and purchasetheir products more easily. “We currently havesix 20 cubic-feet freezers, and we’re in theprocess of getting a walk-in freezer,” saysHeather. “I’d like to have all of my inventorysold as soon as it is processed, and we’regetting there. We’re at half right now. We wereinvited to an area farmer’s market, but I’vebeen able to sell it all through my currentchannels so I had to decline the offer.”

“I’m looking at starting a meat CsA to helpwith getting the rest of my product sold. I’d like


Green Valley Farm—Farrow to Finishby ANN ADAMS

Heather and Daniel Driscoll began farming in 2007 at Green Valley Farm in eastford,Connecticut. At that time it was a homestead operation where they raised a few pigs for themselves and family. “It was a lot of work, but we wanted to raise a heritage breedand be able to sell a quality product,” says Heather. “We chose the Berkshire breed

because of the great meat quality and how gentle and non-aggressive they are. They’re reallygreat moms.” That commitment to a great product and the desire to make a full-time living fromfarming is what brought Heather into HMI’s Beginning Women Farmer in 2011.

Heather andDaniel Driscollwith children,Megan, Riley, andGavin.

to start a co-op with other farmers in thearea so we can all supply the differentmeats to round out the CsA. This type ofcooperation is the only way we farmers are going to make it work, by standingtogether.”

Currently Heather is charging anaverage of $5.50/lb wholesale for herproducts. she had been selling at $8/lbretail, but noticed that even theconventionally grown bacon at the grocerystore was selling for $7/lb. “I began towonder if I wasn’t charging enough for myproduct given that I’m selling this incrediblyhealthy and tasty product grown locally foronly a little more than for a conventionally produced product,” says Heather.

Heather still is doing the marketing work for the family’s landscaping business,but she is working on the business plan for the farm so they can sell thelandscaping business and devote themselves full-time to the farm. “We’re still instartup mode,” says Heather. “We are investing in infrastructure and doing thereturn on investment analysis to figure out what we need to do now and what willpay for itself quickly. The next step is to improve our grazing planning and do theanalysis on whether we want to grow our own grain on our expanded land base. Wenow have the increased business to invest in that infrastructure. Because of theprogram, we have had a $20,000 increase in gross revenue.”

With the Driscolls’ focus on good business planning, Green Valley Farm ismoving toward being a steady supplier of premium Berkshire pork products and an integral part of the local food system in Connecticut.

Heather can be reached at: [email protected]


Making BetterDecisions—One At a Timeby DON CAMPBELL

We all know that the basis of HolisticManagement is to make betterdecisions. However, knowing thisand doing it can be two different

things. The start of a new year filled withopportunity and challenge might be an ideal time to refine and improve our decision making. We can be confident that the better our decisionmaking, the better our year will be. It’s up to us.

The testing questions are designed to break our decision making down into small easy to takesteps. By the end of the process we should beconfident that we have covered all the bases andthat our decision will be a good one. In fact it willbe the best one for that moment in time given thecurrent situation and our knowledge and skills.When you follow this up with monitoring, we canhave extreme confidence in our decision making.

If you are having trouble using the testingquestions, or if you are not using them at all, it may be that you are not clear on what you areactually trying to test. When the question is clear,the testing tends to go quite smoothly.

Making decisions becomes easier if you focuson one decision at a time. so often we are trying to make a decision, and we let secondary pointscloud and confuse the process.

let me give you a personal example. Justrecently we were deciding where and how to winter our bulls. The primary decision was: shouldwe bale graze the bulls or feed them every 3 or 4 days. The decision was going nowhere. Thediscussion soon evolved toward water concerns,bedding, time, excess residual and location. Wewere confused and making no progress. one ofour team members suggested “let’s make onedecision at a time." We tried this and it becameamazingly easy and simple.

Bale grazing was the most economical way to winter the bulls. We had unanimous agreement.

As we tested the other issues such as water,bedding, time, excess residual and location, wewere able to come up with a good decision foreach concern, one at a time.

Don Campbell is a Holistic ManagementCertified Educator who ranches in Meadow Lake,Saskatchewan, Canada. He can be reached at:[email protected].

The farrowing facility the Driscolls developed as they increased their production.

The advantagesof fresh air foranimal health onpasture andforest-raisedpigs.

Berkshire sows make great mothers.

trouble. We may go broke or have a hobby of feeding animalspurchased supplements. Beginning in 2006 we switched to HolisticPlanned Mob grazing and begin focusing on the whole. We have learnedthat our farms are a whole complex web of life. Any action that you take on your farm affects “the whole,” so that guides us to be mindful of all management decisions we make every day.

Herd Management

In 2011 we changed our spring green-up grazing practices based on some observations from the previous years. once the plants reached the boot stage (3-1/2 leaves), 10-12 inches of height, we busted ourmob into two separate groups. The cows that were starting to calvemade up one mob, and the second mob was made of yearlings, twoyear old grass-finished beeves and bulls. Why did we make two mobs?There are three reasons.

Calving

We have 11 grazing farms that are spread across five miles. eight of those farms are leased, and three farms are owned. We walk animalsto the next farm when we finish grazing the previous farm. With cowscalving and baby calves in the mob, it was tough to walk them 5 milesand not leave a new calf behind.

I now want to discuss the results of this management change thatwe implemented. By separating the cows that were calving, it sure madelife easier during calving season by not having to walk them down theroad 5 miles.

The cows are now completely calved on five connecting farms withoutmajor road cattle drives. It has made calving season a real pleasure. We always leave the gates open when we move the mob into the nextpasture during calving season. some of the time, the new mother cow will move with the mob and leave her new calf behind. With the gate leftopen, cows can go back and gather their calf without any stress.

If you move the mob from one end of your farm to the other to beginyour grazing rotation over again, always leave a temporary poly-braidtravel lane in place to allow the cow to gather her calf. This temporarylane also allows the cow to stay behind with her new calf when youmove the mob. When she feels like it is safe and less hectic, she willleisurely bring her new calf up to the new paddock. Also by leaving thistemporary lane up, we have never had cows go back to the old paddockunless they had left their calf.

Increasing Mass

By having the second mob in the spring it allowed us to get over thewhole farm quicker when plants were reaching maturity. It also gave usmore tillering of the plants. Any time you take a trimming off the plant,

8 � May / June 2012Land & Livestock

Maximizing Spring Green Up Without Destroying Summer Pasturesby GREG JUDY

One of the toughest grazing management periods for livestockproducers is spring green-up. It offers all kinds of challengingvariables. It is hard to imagine a more optimistic feeling wheneverything is turning green after a long dreary winter of

brown. The buds of the trees are starting to form, flocks of robins graceour pastures, green grass is inching up out of the ground, geese areflying back north, buzzards are coming back, turkeys gobbling. The earthis waking up from its deep winter sleep. The ground is no longer freezingat night; the frog peepers are deafening the air with their happy chorusof songs. It is one of my favorite times of the year for sure.

With early spring grazing we have to be extremely careful not toovergraze the young immature plants. You can choose to start grazingyour plants early, before they have a chance to send down a strong rootsystem. If you do this, just be prepared to possibly run out of grass whenthe summer heat comes accompanied by lower precipitation. We grazedour pastures early for many years, to keep the plants vegetative. Theresult was the same every year, we ran out of forage every summerwhen it got hot and dry. There simply was not an adequate root systemunder our plants and zero litter covering our soil surface.

Folks, we are dealing with herbivores that eat plants. once wedestroy our plant community by un-wise grazing practices, we are in

Here is Greg’s mid March grazing picture with cattle on quality stockpile.This allows them to stay off their new spring grass until it reaches the 31/2 leaf stage. This sets up their pastures for the entire growing season.

&LIVESTOCK

you get more tillering of leaves from the parent plant. This added more mass to our forage base. Plant spacing is now much closer together. The tighter plantspacing in our pasture swards will allow even higher stocking rates in the future.

Level of EnergyThis allowed us to capture the highest level of energy in the plant tips, right

when the plants were reaching maturity. The cows only took one bite of the plant tip and were moved. We were completely focused on animal performance first and foremost during our first grazing pass across our farms. To get over our farms quickly after the plants were close to maturity required reducing the livestock density.

We were not focused on density or trampling, just capturing high energy planttips. The animal health absolutely exploded in both mobs. The cows slicked off all their winter hair coat immediately and started packing on weight. The stockers,bulls and grass finishers did the same.

one surprising development that occurred was how quickly the near matureplants recovered by only having one bite removed from their leaf tip. not only didwe get maximum animal performance from the complete diet of high energy planttips, we also got maximum plant recovery after being lightly grazed.

Then things got really interesting as spring progressed. our pastures in front of us that had not been grazed yet were setting mature seed heads. We had adecision to make, keep grazing like we were doing or stop and return to where we started grazing in the spring. The first paddock that we started on in the springwas already fully recovered in 25 days. These plants needed to be grazed rightnow to capture the energy at its fullest.

The decision was made to ignore the farms that were not grazed yet and returnto the first paddock that we started the spring grazing at. It would have been nice to wave a magic wand and have extra cows appear out of thin air to eat all thegrass in front of us to help us control the abundance of forage!

Summer Drought InsuranceWe just acted like we did not have the un-grazed pastures. In other words they

were allowed to fully re-cover to their mature growth stage. All roots under theseplants had 100% stored reserves of carbohydrates. This is the exact stage ofproduction where I believe most folks make a drastic mistake. They fire up the haymower or bush hog and clip off the excess plant growth to bring the plant back to a growing stage. Very bad idea; bank the extra forage.

We just looked at these areas as summer drought insurance if we needed it.little did we know what type of weather pattern was coming right at us early lastsummer. Walt Davis has replied many times, “Manage your grass like you are in a drought every day.” Pretty sage advice from a very successful rancher, I believe.

Major drought hit in late June 2011 in central Missouri. There was a drought linethat extended into our area of central Missouri that had the major effects on Texas,oklahoma and kansas. Rain would go north and south of us every week, much likean umbrella being placed over the farm. extremely hot temperatures continuedthrough the summer and fall without any precipitation. It literally saved our grazingoperation by having all those farms that we left un-grazed and the remaining farmslightly grazed in the spring for our summer and fall drought reserve. There weresome darn exciting developments that we encountered in the drought of 2011 that I will cover once we exit the drought.

As of February 2012, we have received 5 inches of rain since June 2011.Mother nature will throw us a curve ball from time to time. That is what makesgrazing very challenging and exciting; we must stay focused on what is happeningon the land every day. The quicker we respond to adverse growing conditions, theless negative the impact will be on our land, personal stress level and pocketbook.We can do it folks, let’s keep our eyes on what nature is telling us daily andmanage accordingly.

Greg Judy farms in Missouri and can be reached at: [email protected].

Number 143 � 9Land & Livestock

Planned Mob Grazing— A Tool to Improve Pasturelandby HEATHER SMITH THOMAS

The term mob grazing is often used todescribe short duration high-intensitygrazing—with many cattle on a small areaof pasture, moved once a day or even

several times a day to a new section of pasture.This is a vague term, however, and not everyonehas the same definition when they think about mobgrazing. Mark Brownlee, a Missouri cattleman near lowry City, says some people try it and thenthink it doesn’t work. “It does work, but it has to be done right.”

Finding Mentors

He began mob grazing out of necessity. “In the spring of 2008 when fertilizer went to $1000per ton and fuel went to $4 a gallon, I knew I hadto make some changes, but I didn’t know what. I worked for the soil and Water District and we’dsat around the office and discussed all kinds ofoptions. We had a grazing meeting planned, withGreg Judy as a speaker. I’d read some of hisarticles in the Stockman GrassFarmer but I hadn’tthought much about them. He had someinteresting pictures but I just thought someone isalways doing something new and exotic,” saysBrownlee.

“Greg came on a saturday and as an employeeof the soil and Water District I thought I should atleast attend. By noon I had a page of notes andstayed for the whole day. I wondered if this guywas for real, so afterward I did a lot of researchand reading—checking things out on the internetand reading all the old issues of the StockmanGrassFarmer, and anything else I could find toread. And I talked to anybody I could find to talk to on this subject,” says Brownlee.

“Doug Peterson (in Missouri) and I used towork together and even though he left our office along time ago we’d kept in contact. He was alwaysmy personal grazing expert. I called Doug and wehad a long talk. He knew some people who hadtried the mob grazing and thought it worked, but healso knew just as many people who had tried itand had a wreck. I asked him, ‘If I give my cowsenough to eat every day, to meet their needs, doesit matter how many times I move the fence?’ Hesaid no, but make sure you feed those cowsenough. This is exactly what Greg Judy

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

emphasized in his talks, too, and I think that’s the key,” says Brownlee. The mistake a lot of people make is that they have the stock density,

but shortchange the cattle. “They are not calculating it like they should.You can still get the density, but you do that with more moves,” he says.

On Farm Research

He started his grazing program May 5, 2008. This year is his 4thgrowing season. He mob grazes on 450 acres of his own, and 100adjoining acres of his dad’s grazing land, where he does mob grazingwith cows in partnership with his dad. “I also have cows in anotherpartnership where we don’t mob graze. I wanted some comparablegroups. I wanted to prove that it would work, or not work. As anemployee of the soil and Water District, where we do grazing systemsand help people with grazing systems, I knew there were other folks inthe same boat. I did not set out to prove that this did work. I just wantedto prove it one way or the other,” he explains.

“I move 2 sets of cows, twice a day (for comparison), and have othercows in a continuous grazing system, in a partnership where I don’thave any other grazing choice. But this helps me compare the samekind of cows and compare animal performance. so that’s how I gotstarted doing this,” says Brownlee.

Results Pay Off

He used to feed about 5 big round bales per cow per winter. “now I am down to one bale or less per cow. I figure it saved me $100 percow last year. This year it will probably save me more than that becausehay prices are higher. I used to buy fertilizer every year, but the last timeI put on fertilizer of any kind was in the spring of 2008, and that was onlybecause I had prepaid it,” he says.

“I am still running the same number of cows—actually a few more. I have not tried to increase my cow numbers dramatically. I am a bigbeliever in thinking it’s better to have too much grass than not enough. I have friends who I would call excellent grazers who would argue thatpoint. They feel a person is better off to stock the pasture fully and thenget rid of cows if you get in trouble. Most people get in trouble and thenstart getting rid of cows, and they are behind the curve. I don’t like to be behind the curve or behind the eight ball,” he says.

He likes to play it safe and feel comfortable that he’ll always haveenough grass. “That’s just a lot easier, and stress-free for me. Thissummer we had the driest summer I’ve seen since 1980. I have grazedall the way through it. some land owners near me have fed hay througha good part of the summer, and probably should have fed more thanthey did; you can tell that by looking at their cattle. But I am pleased withmy situation. I have a built-in stockpile of feed for the summer, and alsofor winter. It’s been a life-saver for me,” says Brownlee.

“I have warm season grasses coming into my pastures, where I havenot had any—on the same farm I’ve grazed for 20 years. They arecoming in like crazy, and I didn’t plant them.” The conditions now arebetter for a variety of species. The land and vegetation is a lot healthier.

“I have another farm I bought 5 years ago, that was primarily fescue.I don’t have as much diversity on it. But on the farm I’ve had for 20years, last fall in my most diverse pasture I counted species and cameup with over 50 kinds of plants. It hurts us a little bit in the winterbecause we rely heavily on fescue fall regrowth. If you have that manyspecies it means you have less fescue, and have some plants that arenot regrowing. so it hurts me a little then, but I think it’s a good trade-off.

Having the diversity in the summer is extremely important for animalperformance. It offers the cattle maximum ability to be selective in theirdiet,” he explains.

“Doug Peterson says that we should have 100 species in a pasture. I don’t argue with that, but I am happy with 50. Most people would driveby my pasture and think it’s a mess, but I like it,” says Brownlee.

His advice for people who want to try mob grazing is to find someone who has done it successfully and learn from them, or someone who knows how to accurately measure forage—like the local nRCs office. Then concentrate on animal performance. Monitor the cattle closely and keep a fine-tuned feel on what they are doing.“Monitor the cattle every day. If you see some that are losing weight, or are not quite full when you move them, you need to change what you are doing,” he says.

“If there isn’t forage left over, that they could have grazed, then youdidn’t move them often enough. It’s better to ‘waste’ a little, and movethem a little quicker than you would have had to. You can sacrifice a littlestock density and keep animal performance up,” he explains.

Rethink Waste

over the long term, this gives payback in increased soil fertility and pasture production. We have to rethink ideas about waste. “When I started studying this and researching this idea, I already hadsome animal performance issues I was dealing with, and I didn’t wantany more. This had to work. I studied it hard, and I was scared to death that I might do something that would become a disaster, and I didn’t need that.”

He found that when he studied the soils, the soil life, plants, and theanimals and wildlife, all the pieces fit now. “They didn’t used to. I workeda long time for the soil and Water District and was around a lot of peoplewho dealt with soils and animal health, and things just didn’t fittogether—but they do now. When you look at it from a holistic viewpoint,everything works. It finally made sense to me.”

“The only way to have a lot of plant diversity that includes nativeprairie species is to have long rest periods. That means we will begrazing mature, fully recovered forage. My rest periods are often over120 days,” says Brownlee.

Focus on Animal Performance

“I went to a seminar that Greg Judy and Ian Mitchell-Innes put on in 2008, and Walt Davis was there. Walt made a comment that reallyhelped me. He said that if you do this, and you don’t improve animalperformance, you are doing it wrong. That was a profound statement forme, because I’d been scared to death that I was going to do somethingthat would hurt me. When Walt said that, I realized that by trying mobgrazing I was on the right track.”

Mark’s seen many people get excited about this and start doing it,and have disasters. “I think that’s very unfortunate, because it doesn’thave to be that way. It takes commitment to move the cattle often, but I think growing up on a dairy farm probably helped prepare me for this. I was used to having chores morning and evening. This was not a newconcept to me,” he says.

Forty Minutes

“I don’t know where we got into the idea that farming should be justworking when we feel like it. Is this a business or not? If you treat it likeit’s not, you probably won’t get as much out of it. one of the guys atwork kept asking me how long it takes me to move my cows. I didn’t


Planned Mob Grazing continued from page nine

know, so one day I timed it. I went from my house across the pasture,about a quarter of a mile, and moved a quarter mile of front fence and a quarter mile of back fence and drove back to the house, and the wholething took me 20 minutes. I do 2 sets per day,” says Brownlee.

“I don’t see it as a big issue. I have people tell me they can’t movetheir cows every day. I ask them how often they go look at their cows.They tell me they see their cows every day so I ask why they don’t movethem. It wouldn’t take much longer. It’s just a big deal in their minds, but once they start doing it, they like it. They find the time. Most peoplespend that much time in the coffee shop or in front of the TV.”

He markets his calves as weanlings (8 to 10 months old) and takesthem to a sale barn. “eventually I may try to do more, carrying someover another year and grass finishing them. At this point I’ve just focusedon the one thing, making the mob grazing work. I’m taking it one step at a time,” he says.

Through the Minefield

“I didn’t have anyone to show me how to do this, except Greg Judy,and he lives 4 hours away. I had to do a lot on my own, through trial anderror and observation. I thank God for Doug, because he came andchecked on me fairly regularly, to make sure I didn’t get off on the wrongfoot. He was a great help. I also read all the articles written by GregJudy, Ian Mitchell-Innes, and neil Dennis. The best way to go through amine-field is to follow someone else who did it successfully. That’s beenmy attitude. You can find plenty of people who failed at it, but I’m notreally interested in what they do. I want to follow the ones who blazedthe trail and made it work.”

Growing in a Drought

Many people have heard about it, but they haven’t seen it or tried it,so it’s a learning process. “I was recently at a soil and Water Districtmeeting and we were talking about grazing. I said something aboutmoving my fence the night before and they said, ‘You still have grass? It must have rained more at your place!’ It didn’t rain on my neighbors.They are feeding hay. one neighbor asked one of my boys if we still hadcows. He hadn’t seen any cows for awhile and he’d seen the pastures.”The pastures looked like they weren’t being grazed because they lookedso good.

“That made me feel pretty good! It’s been interesting and it’s beenfun. I’ve spent my whole life on a farm. We’ve had hogs, milk cows, rowcrops, the whole gamut, and this has been the most interesting andrewarding thing I’ve ever done on the farm. I feel like I am finally makingprogress. I have pastures that I’ve grazed for years and years and now I see them suddenly changing and improving, and I didn’t have to buy alot of inputs to do it,” says Brownlee.

Cutting Inputs

“You go to sales meetings and feed salesmen’s meetings and theyare always wanting to sell me something to improve things, but I’d haveto buy something. With this grazing system I don’t have to buy anything.All I had to do was think. But a lot of people don’t want to change whatthey have always done.”

You usually don’t see mob grazing being promoted by academia.“They often tell people it won’t work—that it won’t do this or that, or you can’t do this. It’s unfortunate because the universities are the onessaying we must cut input costs. But they need to give more answers on how to do that. What are we going to cut out? If they don’t have ananswer to that, they have no business in the argument. I have cut myinputs to bare-bones minimum and I have no idea how I could havedone it any other way. If anyone has a better idea, I am open to it, butthis sure beat what I was doing earlier,” says Brownlee.

A version of this article was first published in the stockman Grassfarmer.Mark Brownlee can be contacted at: [email protected].


Photo on left shows how nearby continuous grazed pastures are a starkcontrast to Mark’s pastures. Photo on right shows an explosion of warmseason grasses on Mark's farm since he implemented high stock densitywith long recovery periods. Both pictures were taken at the same time.

What Do We Do Now? by PEGGY SECHRIST

It’s likely that you heard the news that Texas had their worstdrought ever in recorded history during 2011. surrounding

states also experienced unprecedented drought conditions.According to the U.s. Drought Monitor, 38% of the contiguousU.s. was still classified as experiencing moderate to exceptionaldrought at the end of January 2012.

In Texas, the scramble is on to secure, if possible, a reliablewater source. The news is all about water conservation techno -logies as well as water rights. It’s quickly shaping up to be a fight.

so what do we do now? I’m going to say it’s a perfect opportunityto holistically manage our land. And in Texas, where we are mostlyprivately owned property with 92.6 million acres categorized asnative rangeland, we can either gear up for the fight or we can joinup for the challenge to manage our soils for increasing organicmatter, to decrease bare ground, to increase forage species diversityall which improves rainfall capture, infiltration and water retention inthe best “reservoir” imaginable—the earth.

All of this can be done free, and even improve the economicconditions of the landowners who participate. landowners canteam up with nRCs to monitor soil conditions and adjustmanagement practices.

My friend, Dr. Richard Teague, Range ecologist with TexasAgrilife Research in Vernon, Texas published in 2011 the results ofa nine-year research project measuring the impacts on vegetationand soils from three different grazing management strategies aswell as an ungrazed area. The research concluded that “multi-paddock grazing improves vegetation, soil health and animalproduction relative to continuous grazing in large-scale ranches.”

Relative to our current water crisis, Dr. Teague is quoted tosay, “The fungal/bacterial ratio was highest with multi-paddockgrazing as a result of the greater amounts of tall grass speciesindicating superior water-holding capacity and nutrient availabilityand retention.”

To see Dr. Teague’s research go to: http://agrilife.org/today/2011/06/15/agrilife-research-multi-paddock-grazing-is-superior-to-continuous-grazing/

Managing Complexity—Learning To Use Planned Grazing on the Wilson Farmby TORRAY WILSON

My family farms in northwest Iowa, and we receiveapproximately 26-30 inches of rain annually with themajority of that coming in the summer growing months ofApril-september. We have approximately 150 days between

the last frost and the first frost. Most of the farms in our area consist ofcorn and soybeans along with confinement feeding operations of hogs,chickens, and beef. The cow-calf enterprises are mostly limited to themarginal ground along streams and rivers. My parents, my brother, andmy wife, erin, and I are all active in the daily activities of the farm. Wemanage around 420 acres of rented land (rented from family) and 80 acres of owned land that is being transitioned to certified organicproduction.

Mother Knows Best

My exposure to Holistic Management came through my mother; she came across Holistic Management in the 1990s while looking for a better way to make decisions with my father and his brother, who werefarming in a partnership at the time. I was away at college when sheread the book, but she shared much of what she was reading with us.However, that was pretty much all that we did with it. By 2006 a lot ofthings had changed.

My dad was farming by himself after his brother decided to quit in2004. I had just finished my bachelor’s degree and was gung ho to comehome and farm. Certified educator Terry Gompert was offering HolisticManagement training that winter and spring and my mother signed us upfor the Introduction and Financial Planning sections. By this time I hadread portions of the textbook but still found the discussion about wholesand holistic goals confusing. Terry’s training was wonderful and we cameaway with a “temporary” holistic goal and an image of what we wanted to happen on our farm/whole that we managed.

After taking the Holistic Management course we realized that wewanted to see the ground covered and be more reliant on livestock thatthrived on perennial grasslands and not annual crops.

Implementing the Practices

I became interested in managed grazing when I was in 8th grade. At that time I began managing some marginal crop ground that hadbeen seeded down to grass because it tended to flood. I was justlearning about management intensive grazing principles and grazingrotations at that time. By the time I took the planned grazing part ofHolistic Management in 2007 I knew I needed something different in mygrazing system. I was not seeing the longevity in my pastures, thistleswere beginning to be a problem, and I needed something to handle thecomplexity of grazing and animal impact, as well as maintaining animalperformance and utilizing crop residues. I was also questioning intensiveshort rotations (20-40 days recovery). After taking the planned grazingcourse I had the tool I was missing to manage the complexity of grazingand multi-species grazing. so from 2007 on I began learning how tomake and implement grazing plans.

erin and I have a good working relationship with my parents so weare able to share the land base between row crops and livestock. erinand I created our own “whole” to help us manage our portion of thefarm, but our goals dovetail right into my brother and parents’ goal.

our resources include personal connections to people, colleges,businesses, and government agencies from both sides of Iowa andsurrounding states. For money we have income from livestock andcrops, skills (artificial insemination of cattle, sheep shearing, pottery,organic inspecting) and various savings accounts and banks. Forlivestock we have our “Mob” consisting of beef cows, dairy cows, wooland hair sheep, and a small laying hen flock, equaling 80-190 sAUdepending on how long the calves and lambs stay on the farm or if wehave a custom grazing herd or not. The cattle and sheep are almostequally split. All of the ground we farm is prime number one farmground, with organic matter ranging from 4-5%. My key learnings fromour grazing implementations are:

1) For the past 4 years I have made an open plan and for the past 2 years I have made a closed season plan. It is becoming moreapparent that the open plan feeds off of the closed plan and vise versa.

2) next time I will plan for grazing year round, but include the hayground in the paddocks available so that I don’t let my stocking rateoutpace forage production.

3) To turn crop ground into pasture I now see that it is much easier to purchase hay with seed in it than to till and plant seed. The severalexperiments that I have done with unrolling mature hay over bare spots


Soil testing by Practical Farmers of Iowa shows the Wilson farm ashaving some of the healthiest soils in Iowa due to their grazing planning.

Cattle and sheep mow down thistle when put to the task.

in pastures have resulted in 90-100% ground cover.

4) There is an interconnected relationshipbetween all of the planning procedures and I wish I had made that connection sooner because it would have helped me make better decisions on stocking rate and seed purchases.

5) I should not have been so optimistic on theability of row crop ground to produce forage. extra forage needs to be present before stocking rate is increased.

6) I enjoy making the open season plan, but have struggled to use it to its full capacity.Rainfall data I find hard to track on the chart becauseof the small space on the chart and the numerousrain events that we have almost every year. It is aconstant chore remembering and writing downrainfall. However this chore has become much easierwith the addition of the grazing planning software.

The first 3 plans I made were more like a fancyrecord keeping system rather than a plan. This Ibelieve is one of my problems with grazing planning. I seldom follow thesteps in the order they are presented in the handbook, hence the reasonwhy I run into confusion and mistakes in the data and compilation at theend of the year. However I think I needed to go through that to see whythe steps are in the order that they are in. This year I have beenrereading the Holistic Management Handbook and following the designof the grazing planning manual. It has been good and much lessconfusion is occurring. even though I have not used the grazingplanning process perfectly, the planning has proven very useful incontrolling the movement of livestock and management of livestockevents, and personal events. now I feel insecure if I don’t have agrazing plan. Grazing planning gives me a bird’s eye view of whereeverything should go and if my stocking rate will match what will probably be grown in the open season.

Adaptive Grazing

We have been successful at integrating crop residues into ourgrazing plan, but have struggled to get enough animal impact andgrazing to prepare seedbeds for the next growing season, other thanwhere we grazed off crops that were too weedy to harvest as a graincrop. We still tend to use tillage to make the final seedbed preparation. I am hopeful that in the future we will use more and more animal labor inour cropping especially as we implement more intercropping and covercropping into our crop enterprises. It is wonderful to have the cropresidues to graze to extend the recovery period on the perennial

pastures and to build a drought reserve. The best thing about planned grazing has been the ability to plan out

all of the events in the year whether it is livestock or human related. We have been gone a fair amount with training and other events, andplanned grazing has allowed us to be prepared to leave the farm withminimal stress on the family members and the livestock while we areaway. Also being able to control weeds like Canadian thistle andcockleburs has been greatly helped. Where we have failed to follow theplan has been where infrastructure was lacking and moving livestock fromone paddock/field to the next required extra labor and time to make ithappen and that was not taken into account when the plan was created.so a connection to land planning was made and we are in the process ofputting that together so that infrastructure issues can be addressed.

The year 2010 was extremely wet during the open season (but it waswarmer than 2009), and several paddocks experienced flooding. onepaddock experienced several weeks of constant flooding right afterbeing grazed, and it destroyed the plants that were growing. earthwormsand much of the soil life died for lack of oxygen.

We used some animal impact along with some unrolled hay bales onthe drowned out paddock to try and stimulate establishment of newplants. To keep the livestock on track for the year we used 6 hay balesand 1 road ditch to gain back the grazing days we lost due to theflooding. Also, production in other paddocks offset the lack of productionin those paddocks.


CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

The flooding of 2010created challengesfor the Wilsons. But with grazingplanning they wereable to make up lost grazing in those areas withother grazing areasand increasedproductivity in other areas.

Large amounts of litter were created by the mob with this annual cocktail forage mix.

Productivity Gain

I don’t know if we have really seen an increase in production basedon animal days per acre harvested, but I do see us gaining on theamount of litter we are putting down and the extension of the grazingperiod into what has normally been a stored feed period.

grazing Average No. of total AD Est. total AD ProducedProductivity AD Acres harvested based on residual

2007 216.45 103 22,295 22,295

2008 146.98 176.2 25,898 25,898

2009 192.42 216.5 41,659.63 41,659.63

2010 162.77 257.5 41,913.76 83,827.52

In 2007 the recorded average ADA (Animal Days an Acre) was216.45 and 22,295 total ADs off of 103 acres. This did not include theclosed season because the forage was used up by the time the closedseason came around. no closed plan was created.

In 2008 the average ADA dropped to only 146.98 and 25,898 ADs off of 176.2 acres. However 6117.4 ADs were harvested in the closedseason or 23% of total ADs produced. The drop in ADA’s was due toincluding crop residues in the calculations, and we grazed paddocks that were just getting established and did not have much production.

In 2009 the average ADA was 192.42 with a total of 41,659.63 ADsproduced off of 216.5 acres. The open season of 2009 was abnormallycool (only 3 days above 90 degrees) and damp and the closed seasonrecorded the most snowfall we had seen in 20+ years. so the utilizationin ADA’s was a bit disappointing on many of the paddocks. It was about50 ADs lower than we had planned for. The heavy snowfall preventedmost of the grazing in the closed season, so closed season ADs wereonly 12% (4999 ADs) of total ADs harvested.

Because of the adverse weather conditions we did not have enoughof a drought reserve, and we had not created a way to have a flexiblestocking rate and were forced to decide between buying feed or sellingsheep. However because we had our grazing plan I knew how muchfeed we would need to buy or how many sheep we would need to sell to

make it to the next growing season. In the end it was easy to see thatselling sheep passed the testing questions the best.

In 2010 we grazed everything using one herd. We had a goodgrowing season with lots of rain events and good heat units. since wehad combined all of our herds into one mob it was a lot simpler tomanage the grazing.

The data seems to show a decrease in ADAs with the average ADAat 162.77 and a total of 41,913.76 AD’s harvested from 257.5 acres.However, we actually had stockpiled forage on 80 acres that we wereable to ration out until snow cover became too great (Jan. 8th). We wereable to continue grazing in the early spring as the snow melted andmore stockpile was uncovered. We also had a drought reserve in hayand stockpile to use this spring as the new growth began to come on. Itwas the most stress-free closed season I have had in a very long time.

Although the utilization may have gone down I actually think we puthalf of our production back onto the soil surface. I wish I had a biologicalmonitoring sheet to show the difference in litter that we were able to putdown last year. The long rest periods and the single herd are probablythe biggest factors in producing the litter.

The performance of the animals did not suffer even though they weregrazing more mature and less palatable forage. In fact, we had betterperformance than 2009. We were able to achieve minimum recoveryperiods of 70 days on the perennial pastures with most of the recoveryperiods in the 80-90 day range. Precipitation was tracked, significantgrowth was marked in the spring, the volume taken from each paddockwas recorded and the severity of the grazing was recorded.

Challenges of Herds

For the growing season of 2009 we used one planning sheet torecord multiple herds (between 2 and 4 herds at different times of theyear). What a huge learning curve that was. First of all, the grazing cellwas 282.5 acres, with about 1/3 of that in row crops. The residue wasavailable at select times for grazing (usually in the closed plan whichended up not becoming available at the time we had planned forbecause of snow fall). The stocking rate was 2.1 acres /sAU and thedesired recovery periods were 40-75 days.

We did not implement “one herd” in 2009. We did run the beef cattlewith our sheep, but still ran our dairy cows separate. The fourth herdwas the dairy calves. I had fenced most of our pastures for sheep beforewe got cattle, so very little extra fencing was required. With the sheepalone we were finding it hard to graze down taller more mature pasture.so the addition of cattle was a big help in utilizing the more mature


Managing Complexity continued from page thirteen

Determined to address the issue of how to integrate their dairy cows intotheir one multi-species herd, the Wilsons developed a portable milkingparlor so they can milk their cows out on pasture.

Multi-species grazing means better utilization of forage and a morediverse and resilient income stream.

forage that our 40-75 day rest period brought. Plus, the cattle addedanother income stream, which strengthened our financial plan a lot.

We had no problems running our sheep with the beef cattle until we started to do ultra high density grazing. At over 500,000#/acre westarted to get sheep trampled, and we were ending up with broken legs.The trampling was happening when we would turn into a new paddock.To rectify this issue, we had to becareful not to let the mob get hungry.Backing off to 150,000# saved the issue too.

Another observation was that thelabor for taking care of more than oneherd was causing us to not have enoughtime to watch our animals the way wewanted, and the work of managing 4fence moves and two water tanks everyday was driving us crazy. We kept thedairy cows separate the whole seasonand found that they did a very poor job as a herd by themselves partlybecause they were too small of a herd (16 sAUs) and also becausedairy animals tend to be very calm. We could not get the excitement andherd effect out of them that we could get with the sheep and beef cattle.

With the beef cattle we could really trample down litter while with justthe sheep alone it was difficult to get them to trample down older plantmaterial. We are trying to build up the organic matter in our soil, soputting down litter to feed the soil biology is a big focus of our grazingplanning. Also because our farm has not been extensively developed forgrazing, we had to use a lot of temporary fence, and we were gettingstretched too thin on fencing infrastructure having 2-4 herds to fence for.

Stress-Free Grazing

When we began planning for 2010’s open plan we started thinkingabout how we could manage things differently to move closer to ourquality of life statements. We thought about having one cell for eachherd, or two herds in one cell in a leader/follower strategy. But none ofthese options seemed to fit our desires for our land and ourselves,namely more rest for the land and our bodies. We were stumped until an ad in the Stockman Grass Farmer sparked our creativity. “Portablemilking parlor” the ad said, so we gave them a call. We talked to thegentlemen that had posted the ad and found out how he had built hisand got the general idea of what he was doing. With that information inour heads we tested and passed the decision to move to one herd and

build a portable milking system. Concerns were raised, but none thatcreativity could not overcome.

We had dairy cattle, finishing dairy steers, dairy yearling heifers andsteers, cow/calf pairs, and sheep all in one herd, all moving as one mob.only one water point to take care of! What a difference one herd hasmade. We figure it takes 1 hour per herd per day, thus it saved usbetween 2-4 hours a day.

We still implemented a leader-follower system to some extent withthe dairy herd by milking once in the morning and then turning themback in with their calves during the day. Then in the evening calling thedairy cows out of the mob and into the paddock for tomorrow morning’sgrazing period. By running only one herd we also had zero predatorproblems with our sheep even when they were lambing. one herddefinitely helped our workload and stress level.

Many Benefits

so in looking back at where we have come from and where itappears we are heading, it is amazing to me how much of a differenceholistic planned grazing has made. Within our family there is a peaceabout the livestock because we know where they are going next and forhow long. We also have a built in drought reserve so that if the weatherdoes not do what we think it should, we have already accounted for it. I can easily share with my family where the “mob” needs to be and for

how long, and we can plan out whenand where extra labor may be needed.As a result we can leave the farm more easily.

By moving the livestock frequently(every 12-24 hrs) and reducing thenumber of herds the livestock havetamed down and it is easier to observetheir health and to know if the plan ismeeting their needs which has in turnhelped our financial plan by loweringour vet bills. Planned grazing has also

decreased our need for purchased feed to almost nothing, which hasalso helped our financial plan.

Although we have not seen large increases in harvest production peracre, we know that it will happen at some point as we focus our grazingplanning to address the weak link in the ecosystem processes. The mostdrastic and amazing change has been to the soil health. our water cycleis functioning as well as it has ever worked because of the litter andincrease in plants that are now covering the soil surface. We have beendoing some soil quality testing through a grass roots farmer organizationcalled Practical Farmers of Iowa, and they have found our soil to be thebest in the state.

our shallow well, which supplies the farm the majority of its water, ismuch more reliable and the quality of the water has improved. We havevery low levels of nitrates in our water because of all the plants that areusing them up before they get to our well. It has been an amazingtransformation to watch.

To graze without a grazing plan is not an option for us after using it and seeing the results achieved with it. We spend more time doing thethings that matter and less time doing things that don’t. Without HolisticManagement we would not be where we are today, and we are muchcloser to where we want because of it.

Torray Wilson is a Holistic Management Certified Educator who farmsnear Paulina, Iowa with his wife Erin and the Wilson family. He can bereached at: [email protected].


One-herd means less fencing (labor costs) which leads to reducedstress and improved profit.

“After taking the planned grazingcourse I had the tool I was missing

to manage the complexity of grazingand multi-species grazing.”

Canadian Conference a Success

The 4th annual western canadian holistic

Management conference was held inYorkton, saskatchewan on February 21st and22nd. There were over 200 delegates inattendance. The event was kicked off with awine and cheese reception in which manydelegates and speakers had the opportunity tonetwork, connect and make newacquaintances.

The conference began with a very comicaland visionary session on making light of everyday challenges. Arlene Jorgenson began theconference entertaining the delegates withaudio visual problems in her presentation andeven made light of that. wayne berry spoke to the conference on land management andthe benefits that can be accomplished in goodgrazing management.

roland Kroos, a well know HolisticManagement Certified educator spoke on the importance of financial planning and hisrole in establishing working relationships withfarms/operations that were in real trouble. He was able to discipline the managers ofthese operations and work with them until they were debt free.

Joshua Dukart, anotherHolistic Management Certifiededucator from Hazen, northDakota also spoke to theconference on HolisticManagement as it refers tocropping management. Heenlightened the crowd withcropping options, includingcover crops and nutrientmanagement planning.

last, but not least, was David irvine whobrought tears to everyone’s eyes during hispresentations. His sensitivity, kind heart andunlimited ability to relate to a crowd of over 200 agricultural producers in the crowd wereindescribable. His personal message of beingable to stick to your goals and make sure thatyour purpose in life is in focus was truly aninspiration to all.

of course the most popular sessions of theentire conference were the producer panels.

This year the planning committee held twoproducer panels during the conference, inwhich one focused on intergenerationaltransfers and the other on converting to Holistic Management. Both sessions wereindescribable in terms of the quality ofproducers who presented. Their stories weretruly an inspiration to all. A special thank youto all those who participated, and a specialthank you to the planning committee and tonaomi Paley from the saskatchewan Ministryof Agriculture.

2012 Carbon Farming Course

Dr. Ann Adams taught an Introduction toHolistic Management workshop to kick off

an 18+ day Carbon Farming Course. over 400people attended this course from 23 U.s.states and 8 countries. other workshopsincluded keyline Farming with Darren Doherty,Perennial Agriculture with Wes Jackson andDave Jacke, Tree Crops & Agroforestry witheric Toensmeier, living soils with Dr. elaineIngham, Biochar with Jason Aramburu, andlocal Food systems with Joel salatin. Thiscourse was produced by Gaia northeast llCand sponsored by slow Money nYC and stoneBarns Center for Food and Agriculture.


news from holistic management international � people, programs & projects

David Irvine facilitated an intergenerational producerpanel that was a big hit at the conference.

Joshua Dukartspoke on HolisticCropping In Memoriam

It is with great sadness that HMI learnedof the passing of long time Holistic

Management practitioner Doc hatfield.

Doc and his wife, Connie, founded thecooperative Country natural Beef thatincluded the “Grazewell Principles” ofgood animal and land stewardship. Thecooperative was founded in 1986 with 14families and has grown to 100 families in13 states. Doc died of pancreatic cancerat the age of 74 in sisters, oregon.

HMI at Organic Conference

In February Frank Aragona, HMI’s Directorof Research and Development, attended the

New Mexico organic Farming conference

in Albuquerque. over 500 organic farmers,extension agents, and small businesses were in attendance. Topics of discussion were varied, with sessions on everything from seed production, to fire management, and plant pathology.

Frank presented his research on the scienceof grazing. Included in this presentation weremany topics that are familiar to readers of the“Data Mine” series—the serengeti as a modelfor grassland ecology, compensatory responsesto grazing, and the Grazing optimizationhypothesis were all presented as a part of ascientific endorsement for planned grazing.

Calling All Holistic Management Practitioners

The Holistic Management community has a strong history of practitioners supporting

and helping each other—either informally, orthrough Management Clubs and learningCircles. HMI is making it easier than ever toconnect practitioners and Certified educatorswith farmers and ranchers that are new toHolistic Management. one of the most visitedpages on our new website is our communitymap and directory and it includes a list ofpractitioners that are willing to share theirexperiences and knowledge, answer questions,and possibly host farm tours, etc. You do not have to be an “expert” on HolisticManagement. even newbies can help andsupport each other.

If you are willing to help others and want to be listed, please send an email to [email protected] or call sandy at 505/842-5252.

HMI Missouri Training Course

In February, HMI was contracted by thegreenhills Farm Project in northwest Missouri

to provide a Holistic Management workshop.Frank Aragona, HMI’s Director of Research andDevelopment, facilitated the workshop. For manysmall farms and ranches, the potential to addadditional enterprises to the existing land base isan attractive and potentially profitable option. Forthat reason, the workshop agenda focused onexploring the following topics: pasture cropping,tree cropping, holistic decision making, andkeyline design. The format for this workshop wasparticipatory, and everybody contributed theirknowledge and skills to the experience. Many ofthe participants indicated that they would beapplying some of the ideas they learned during the workshop on their own farms.

Canadian Tours UK

Canadian HolisticManagement

practitioner and grazing mentor,Neil Dennis, toured the United kingdomduring the month ofMarch to share HolisticManagement and mobgrazing with interestedfarmers there. north

Yorkshire farmer David Hugill was responsible for bringing neil to the Uk because he thought that the grazing process had plenty to offer the Uk beef industry. of particular interest to thesefarmers was the 75% reduction in mineralconsumption by neil’s cattle. Holistic Managementpractitioner and ranch consultant Gregg simonds was also part of the tour sharing hisknowledge of the grazing planning process.

From the Board Chairby SALLIE CALHOUN

As I have gotten older, I have become more aware of how important words,diversity, and relationships are in all the areas I work in. This has beenresonating with me as I think about my engagement with Holistic Managementthis month. earlier this year I had the privilege of hosting Peter Holter, HMI Ceo,

and Matt Parrack, HMI Director of Development, here in central California for a few days.We spent time with current HMI supporters and possible future collaborators, and it wasreally interesting for me to hear the resulting conversations.

I was especially struck by how our new mission statement—To educate people tomanage land for a sustainable future—resonated with both groups. one long-timesupporter commented that with that statement we had clarified the important work thatneeded to be done. People just learning about HMI quickly understood what we are about and could see how our efforts and expertise might complement or enhance theirs. I felt that being able to lead with that statement got the conversation headed in the right direction and connected with people who share our passion for the land and the people who work it.

one focus of the visit was the possible launch of a Beginning Women Farmer programin central California in 2013. Though there are a number of Holistic Managementpractitioners and Certified educators in the state, this would, as far as I know, be the firsttime that HMI has organized a significant program here. It is an exciting possibility to mefor two reasons. First would be the opportunity to work with an amazing community of newwomen farmers and ranchers in this state, helping their operations to be more successfuland sustainable. The second is the opportunity to use this program as a way to grow andenergize the Holistic Management community here. The development of collaborators andfunding sources will spread information about Holistic Management and HMI and developrelationships with other organizations. The diverse group of women who complete theprogram will form a new community of their own that should be connected in a variety ofways to our existing community.

I have been thinking about the concept of community dynamics applied to groups ofpeople. If we have people of all different ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, and interestsinvolved we will be a more vibrant, healthier community, and a Beginning Women Farmerprogram is the perfect opportunity to get to work on that. Beginning farmers and rancherscan more easily “take root” if they can tap into communities of support. Just as a youngoak tree can connect to the mycorrhizal fungi that connects huge networks of establishedoak trees to share nutrients and water, new farmers should be able to benefit fromexperience, assistance, land and capital in established networks. such a program wouldbe one way to take up severine Fleming’s challenge from her article in the last INPRACTICE which asked us to take the long view and support the newcomers, orgreenhorns, in every way that we can.

Also this month, I have been busily working to prepare for one of the highlights of myyear, our annual Holistic Management workshop held at the Paicines Ranch. By the timeyou read this article, kirk Gadzia will have presented a 3-day workshop on goal setting,decision making, and land use planning, followed by a field day on managing andmonitoring through drought. last year we had Ian Mitchell-Innes on holistic plannedgrazing, and we will complete the cycle next year with financial planning and biologicalmonitoring.

While the learning from the presenters is great, my real goal with these workshops is to create community. By coming together for 3 or 4 days, and spending time learningtogether, eating together, walking the land, and sitting around the campfire, we are allgrowing our web of relationships and creating a network that we can tap into to help usthrive. I am pleased this year that we will have a couple of young women farmers andsome folks from the permaculture community joining us and that about half of ourattendees were with us last year. I will let you know how it went in my next article.

so, as I head off for my week of fun, learning, and relationship building, I encourage all of you to think about something you can do to support a young farmer or rancher or tobuild a connection with someone outside of your everyday network. It makes life moreinteresting, and it will make us all more successful. And if you live in California, think aboutgetting involved with the upcoming Beginning Women Farmer Program.


Beginning Women Conference a Success

The Beginning Women Conference: exploring Whole Farm Planning was a huge success. over 200 participants, including those traveling from as far away as Washington state,

converged at the University of Massachusetts (UMAss) in Amherst, Massachusetts on March22nd-23rd. Besides keynotes from tracy Favre, HMI’s Coo, tricia Park, Beginning WomenFarmer Program participant and mentor, and Mary Peabody, University of Vermont extension andfounder of Women’s Agricultural network, there were 28 breakout sessions covering a range oftopic including a Holistic Management track. UsDA Deputy secretary Dr. Kathleen Merrigan alsosent a special video of her speaking to the Beginning Women Farmer Program participants for theBeginning Women Farmer Conference. she expressed her support for more women farmers andnoted the growing numbers of women farmers in the U.s. The conference coordinator for thisevent was Community Involved in sustaining Agriculture (CIsA). CIsA did a great job of sourcing local food for the menu and coordinating childcare as well as keeping things running smoothly at the conference.

HMI, UsDA national Institute of Food and Agriculture Beginning Farmer and RancherDevelopment Program (UsDA/nIFA BFRDP), and UMAss College of natural sciences and theCenter for Agriculture co-sponsored this event as part of HMI’s UsDA/nIFA BFRDP grant. Thanks to all our sponsors, presenters, and participants for making this a great event!


D E V E LO PM EN T CO R N E R

Vermont statecoordinator,Jessie Schmidt,presented onpermaculture andland planning aswell as businessplanning.

Ellen Gibsonpresented a

breakout sessionon Agrability, how

to adapt farmpractices for

different levels ofphysical ability.

Thanks to CISA of Massachusettsfor running theregistration tablefor the conference.

HMI’s ProjectDirector, Ann

Adams, presenteda workshop on

enterpriseanalysis.

Tracy Favrespoke aboutWhole FarmPlanning Successstories.

Dixon Water Foundation Grant

HMi is honored to receive a$50,000 grant from the Dixon

Water Foundation. The Dixon water

Foundation promotes healthywatersheds through sustainable landmanagement to ensure that we havethe water resources we need for nowand for generations to come.

The grant money is being used insupport of our curriculum revisionproject. The project will update existingcurriculum as well as create more on-line and distance learning coursesin support of our mission to educatepeople to manage land for asustainable future.

Cows & Quails

Wild bobwhite quail aredisappearing from West Texas,

where until recently they thrived. HMI is developing a program called“Cows and Quail” to look at ways tointegrate wildlife, livestock, and land to benefit all three, includingspecifically quail. The first program will be at the Circle Ranch in VanHorn, Texas on July 12-14, 2012.

This program focuses onsustaining and growing a healthy,diverse landscape and wildlife habitatthat also supports profitable livestockoperations. It will provide a reality-based, practical “how to” get startedprogram with action steps landownerscan initiate to improve land health.HMI will bring together aninterdisciplinary, collaborative team to provide training in numerous areasof wildlife habitat needs. Participantswill come away with a betterunderstanding of wildlife needs and a draft grazing plan to address wildlife and livestock needs.

To learn more about this programor to schedule one in your area,contact HMI at 505/842-5252.

Kids on the LandWhy Outdoor Education?by PEGGY MADDOX

HMI’s slogan, “healthy land, sustainable future,”reflects our philosophy of educating landstewards about smart land use, while assistingthem to enhance the land’s natural productivity.

HMI’s kids on the land (kol) program reflects that belief and also the idea that a healthy appreciation fornature education can be learned at a young age. Recentbooks and articles support this idea of reconnecting kids to the land.

Robert Cook of Texas Parks & Wildlife Departmentstated, “A good dose of the outdoors may prove to be apowerful antidote for many of the things that ail kids today!”The national Football league even has commercialsencouraging kids to get outside.

Richard louv, in his book, Last Child Left In the Woods,and on his website says children no longer have places to play. He reminds us to think about our relationship withnature and how it was formed. Those of us who grew up in the ‘40s and ‘50s can do that, but for many today sendingkids outside to play is increasingly difficult. Computers,television, and video games compete for their time. Also our fears of traffic, strangers, and both parents workingkeep children indoors or in organized activities. schoolshave become more test-oriented and even recess is beingcut out of daily school schedules. What we have been leftwith are eight year old kids who are better able to identifycartoon characters than native species, such as beetles and oak trees in their neighborhood. Finally, he challengesthose in agriculture to use your farms or ranches as the new school yards.

The oxford Junior Dictionary’s newest edition no longerdefines more than 30 nature words, including “dandelion,”“otter,” “acorn” and “beaver.” In their place, a child will nowfind definitions for such terms as “MP3 player,” “blog” and“cut and paste.” “Making room in the junior dictionary for anew lexicon of technology and communications may be agood thing for children, provided they are not also denieddefinitions as basic as that of the flower growing on theirown lawn,” says kevin Coyle, national Wildlife Federationvice president for education and training.

Do you remember the first time your curiosity was stirredby nature? Rachel Carson is quoted in the book, The earthspeaks, that every child needs the companionship of oneadult who can introduce them to nature, rediscovering withthem the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.

HMI’s kol program is now scheduling its 2012 activitiesand we will be connecting over 300 children to nature andthe land where they live. There is a guide for developingyour own program offered as a free download on the HMIwebsite. Check it out and see if you want to be the adultwho introduced a child to the wonders of nature or used hisfarm/ranch as the next school yard.

To learn more about HMI’s KOL program, contact PeggyMaddox at [email protected].


When I first began reading The Holistic Orchard byMichael Phillips, I was struck by his ability to distill downto the essence the paradigm by which we must vieworchards to work with them holistically. He explains that

the orchard ecosystem (forest edge ecology) is best served bylistening to tree wisdom. It seems rather obvious, but most commonsense ideas are. Just as many holistic managers are learning to listenand observe the ecosystem processes at the soil surface, the holisticorchardist must do so as well.

Phillips talks about how the soil food web needs to be fungaldominate for healthy fruit production. We must focus on a healthymineral cycle rather than appearances. Feed the soil with wood chips,rotted hay, compost, and shredded leaves. He notes that not all woodchips are alike. Most commercial wood chips are from soft woods, likepine, that are high in tannins and suppress the healthy growth ofdeciduous trees. likewise he advocates that people not use weedbarriers as they negatively impact the ecosystem function.

This book is not only a great resource of knowledge but also hasgreat pictures of practices and microscopic views of leaf surfaces andillustrations of below the soil surface that bring these ideas alive. Hecovers individual chapters on all the major tree and berry fruits withgreat details on numerous other topics including varieties, horticulturalskills, companion planting, and techniques for building soil.

Phillips is able to inspire the beginner and still offers theexperienced grower in-depth information and new research on waysto address pest and disease issues. My one criticism is that he doeswrite predominantly from a less brittle perspective, but most of hisknowledge can be applied across different eco-regions. In fact, he includes case studies/success stories from different climates.

His second chapter is all about orchard life and considering the timeframe of the management of the orchard. of even greaterimportance is the big picture thinking of how much is enough so that we balance production/profit with quality of life.

I was particularly interested in the “orchard Dynamics” chapterwhere he explores the concept of community dynamics within anorchard into play. As Phillips notes, “stewarding what needs to beright while intelligently setting limits on what might go wrong describeshealth-based orcharding to a tee.” [emphasis added by author]. Thismeans building system health within the orchard and moving beyondthe focus of weed and pest to look at the orchard dynamics. Diversityof plants and animals (including bugs) is key. In fact, he also suggestsintegrating livestock as holistic approach to orchard health.

With a focus on the importance of biodiversity and building onsystem health, The Holistic Orchard is an essential book for anyholistic manager who manages an orchard, big or small.

Book Review by ANN ADAMS

The Holistic Orchard: Tree Fruits and Berries the Biological Way

by MICHAEL PHILLIPSChelsea Green Publishing • 2012, 432 pp


ARIZONA

* tim McgafficP.o. Box 1903, Cave Creek, AZ 85331808/936-5749 • [email protected]

CALIFORNIAowen hablutzel4235 W. 63rd st., los Angeles, CA 90043310/567-6862 • [email protected]

richard KingPoppy Hill Farm, 1675 Adobe Rd., Petaluma, CA [email protected] • 707/217-2308 cell

* christopher Peck1330 Gumview Road, Windsor, CA 95492707/[email protected]

� rob rutherfordCA Polytechnic state Universitysan luis obispo, CA 93407805/756-1475 • [email protected]

COLORADOcindy Dvergsten17702 County Rd. 23, Dolores, Co 81323970/[email protected]

* Katie belle Miller22755 e. Garrett, Calhan, Co 80808970/[email protected]

GEORGIAconstance Neely1421 Rockinwood Dr., Athens, GA 30606 706/540-2878 • [email protected]

IOWAtorray & Erin wilson4375 Pierce Ave., Paullina, IA 51046-7401712/448-3870 • [email protected]@gmail.com

MAINEVivianne holmes239 e Buckfield RoadBuckfield, Me 04220-4209207/336-2484 • [email protected]

* tobey williamson52 Center street, Portland, Me 04101c: 207-332-9941 • [email protected]

MICHIGAN

* larry Dyer1113 klondike Ave, Petoskey, MI 49770231/347-7162 (h) • 231/881-2784 (c)[email protected]

MONTANAroland Kroos 4926 Itana Circle, Bozeman, MT 59715406/522-3862 • [email protected]

* cliff MontagneP.o. Box 173120, Montana state University Department of land Resources &environmental science, Bozeman, MT 59717406/994-5079 • [email protected]

NEBRASKA

* Mae rose Petrehn86904 Delmar Ave., newport, ne 68759913/[email protected]

Paul swanson5155 West 12th st., Hastings, ne 68901402/463-8507 • [email protected]

ralph tate1109 Timber Dr., Papillion, ne 68046402/932-3405 • [email protected]

NEW HAMPSHIRE� seth wilner24 Main street, newport, nH 03773603/863-4497 (h) • 603/863-9200 (w)[email protected]

NEW MEXICO� Ann AdamsHolistic Management International5941 Jefferson st. ne, suite BAlbuquerque, nM 87109505/[email protected]

Kelly boney4865 Quay Road l, san Jon, nM 88434575/[email protected]

Kirk gadziaP.o. Box 1100, Bernalillo, nM 87004505/867-4685, (f) 505/[email protected]

Jeff goebel5105 Guadalupe Trail nWAlbuquerque, nM 87107 • 541/[email protected]

NEW YORKErica Frenay454 old 76 RoadBrooktondale, nY 14817607/539-3246 • [email protected]

Phillip Metzger120 Thompson Creek Rd.norwich, nY 13815607/316-4182 • [email protected]

NORTH DAKOTAwayne berry1611 11th Ave. WestWilliston, nD 58801701/572-9183 • [email protected]

Joshua Dukart2539 Clover PlaceBismarck, nD 58503701/[email protected]

PENNSYLVANIAJim weaver428 Copp Hollow RoadWellsboro, PA 16901570/724-4955 • [email protected]

UN I T E D S TAT E S

UN I T E D S TAT E S

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

TEXASguy glosson6717 Hwy. 380, snyder, TX 79549806/237-2554 • [email protected]

Peggy MaddoxP.o. Box 694, ozona, TX 76943-0694325/392-2292 • [email protected]

Peggy sechrist106 Thunderbird Ranch Road,Fredericksburg, TX 78624(C)830/456-5587 •[email protected]

WASHINGTONsandra Matheson228 e. smith Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226360/398-7866 • [email protected]

� Don NelsonDepartment of Animal sciences 116 Clark Hall, Washington state UniversityPullman, WA 99164-6310509/335-2922 • [email protected]

Doug warnockPo Box 48, Prescott, WA 99348509/629-1671 (c) • 509/849-2264 (h)[email protected]

* laura PaineWisconsin DATCP n893 kranz Rd., Columbus, WI 53925608/224-5120 (w) • 920/623-4407 (h)[email protected]

The following Certified educators listed have been trained to teach and coach individuals

in Holistic Management. on a yearly basis, Certified educators renew their agreement

to be affiliated with HMI. This agreement requires their commitment to practice Holistic

Management in their own lives and to seek out opportunities for staying current with

the latest developments in Holistic Management.

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.

Certified EducatorsCertified Educators

� These educators provide HolisticManagement instruction on behalf of the institutions they represent.

* These associate educators provideeducational services to their communities and peer groups.

AUSTRALIAJudi Earl “Glen orton” 3843 Warialda Rd., Coolatai nsW [email protected] 61-2- 0409-151-969

george gundry Willeroo, Tarago, nsW [email protected]

graeme hand 150 Caroona lane, Branxholme, VIC 330261-3-5578-6272 (h)61-4-1853-2130 (c)[email protected]

Dick richardson Frogmore, Boorowa nsW 258661-0-263853217 (w)61-0-263856224 (h)61-0-429069001 (c)[email protected]

brian wehlburgPine scrub Creek, kindee, nsW, [email protected]

CANADADon campbellBox 817 Meadow lake, sk s9X 1Y6306/[email protected]

linda & ralph corcoranBox 36, langbank, sk s0G 2X0306/[email protected]

* Allison guichonBox 10, Quilchena, BC V0e 2R0250/[email protected]

blain hjertaasBox 760, Redvers, saskatchewan soC 2Ho306/[email protected]

brian luceRR #4, Ponoka, AB T4J 1R4403/[email protected]

tony McQuail86016 Creek line, RR#1, lucknow, on n0G 2H0519/[email protected]

len PigottBox 222, Dysart, sk, soH 1Ho 306/[email protected]

Kelly sidorykP.o. Box 374, lloydminster, AB s9V 0Y4780/875-9806 (h)780/875-4418 (c) [email protected]


For consulting or educational services contact:

Kinsey Agricultural Services, Inc.297 County Highway 357 Ph: 573/683-3880, Fax: 573/683-6227Charleston, Missouri 63834 www.kinseyag.com • [email protected]

— MONDAY —Working with Soil Tests, pH and Liming

SOIL FERTILITY FOR WINE GRAPESDetermining & Calculating Needed NutrientsJuly 30-31 & Aug. 1, 2012LOCATION: THE EMBASSY SUITES,NAPA, CALIFORNIA

— TUESDAY —Building Vineyard Fertility

with Major Nutrients

— WEDNESDAY —Working with Micronutrients

— THURSDAY —Optional Vineyard Soils Tour

REGISTRATION: $1,200 per person,

including lunch each day.

Or, $1,550/person, includes breakfast, lunch and lodging for July 29, 30, and 31.

For room reservations call Kinsey

Ag. Services, Inc. (573) 683-3880

WE ACCEPT CREDIT CARDORDERS (VISA, MC)

Use 100 new and updated vineyard soils on the Albrecht System to explain how

to determine each formula and calculatenutrient requirements for grape production.

—SPONSORED BY—KINSEY

AGRICULTURAL SERVICES, INC.CONDUCTED BY NEAL KINSEY

t h E M A r K E t P l A c E

KENYArichard hatfieldP.o. Box 10091-00100, nairobi254-0723-506-331; [email protected]

christine c. JostInternational livestock Research InstituteBox 30709, nairobi 00100254-20-422-3000; 254-736-715-417 (c)[email protected]

* belinda MackeyP.o. Box 15109, langata, [email protected]

MEXICOivan A. Aguirre ibarraP.o. Box 304, Hermosillo, sonora 8300052-1-662-281-0990 (from U.s.)[email protected]

NAMIBIAUsiel KandjiiP.o. Box 23319, Windhoek264-61-205-2324 • [email protected]

colin NottP.o. Box 11977, Windhoek264/61-225085 (h) 264/[email protected]

wiebke VolkmannP.o. Box 9285, Windhoek264-61-225183 or [email protected]

NEW ZEALAND

* John KingP.o. Box 12011Beckenham, Christchurch 824264-276-737-885 • [email protected]

SOUTH AFRICAJozua lambrechtsP.o. Box 5070Helderberg, somerset WestWestern Cape 713527-83-310-1940 • 27-21-851-2430 (w)[email protected]

wayne Knightsolar AddictsPo Box 537Mokopane, 0600south Africa [email protected]

ian Mitchell-innesP.o. Box 52, elandslaagte [email protected]

UNITED KINGDOM

* Philip bubb32 Dart Close, st. Ives,Cambridge, Pe27 3JB44-1480-496-2925 (h)+44 7837 405483 (w)[email protected]

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

HMI provides skilled, objective facilitators to help you achieve your goals!

Holistic Goal Setting & Facilitation ServicesAre you ready to make the most out of yourresources?

Do you need help dealing with critical human resource issues?

Has change taken you by surprise?

To learn more, call HMI

at 505/842-5252 or

email Tracy at tfavre@

holisticmanagement.org.

Benefits of Holistic Management Facilitation Include:• elicits key motivators and values

from the group for more effective group decision making

• Improves communication

• Improves conflict resolution

• Creates a safe environment to have crucial conversations including generational transfer

• Creates common ground from which to make management decisions and plans



By World Famous Dr. GrandinOriginator of Curved Ranch CorralsThe wide curved Lane makes filling

the crowding tub easy.

Includes detailed drawings for loading ramp, V chute, round crowd pen, dip vat, gates and hinges. Plus cell center layouts and

layouts compatible with electronic sorting systems. Articles on cattle behavior.

27 corral layouts. $55.Low Stress Cattle Handling Video $59.

Send checks/money order to:

GRANDINLIVESTOCK SYSTEMS

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

970/229-0703www.grandin.com

CORRAL DESIGNS

Resource Management Services, LLCPO Box 1100Bernalillo, NM 87004505-263-8677, [email protected]

2012 Spain - UK - Germany Holistic Management Courses

with Certi�ed EducatorKirk Gadzia

April 20-22 Euskal (Basque Country, Spain)Contact: Ana [email protected] 27-29 LaDonaira (Andalucia, Spain)Contact: Melanie Hammer [email protected] 5-7Cowdray (Wessex, UK)Contact: Mel Chambers [email protected] 11-13Germany (hour north of Berlin) Contact: Oliver [email protected]

Remount Enterprises

TIM MCGAFFICP.O. Box 1903 • Cave Creek, AZ 85331

808-936-5749 [email protected]

EXPERIENCED MANAGEMENT AND CONSULTING SERVICES

Specializing in comprehensive planning and

problem solving for enterprise and project development

THE BIG PICTURE Stockmanship, Horsemanship

Related Canine Behaviors



Cindy Dvergsten, is a Holistic Management® Certified Educator, offering you over 15 years experience in training, mentoring, and facilitation; 30 years in natural resource management; and a lifetime of experience in diversified farming.

Offered By Whole New Concepts, LLC P.O. Box 218 Lewis CO 81327

See the Big Picture ~ Respond to Change ~ Be Sustainable

Get Started Today – Join Our

Holistic ManagementDistance Learning &Mentoring Program

Realize Immediate BenefitsSave money on education — and get more for your money with highly personalized training. All you need is a telephone, a computer is NOT needed. Learn at your own pace; apply what you

learn to your situation and get results now!

Don’t change your life to learn.Let your education change your life!

Visit: www.wholenewconcepts.comEmail: [email protected]

Call Cindy at 970/882-4222 for a free consultation!

Dick RichardsonCONSULTING

For more information:[email protected]

Dick consults and offers Holistic

Management courses and

workshops in and around Australia.

His practical experienceand success makes his programs

highly effective and valuable.

Because Dick has extensiveinternational experience, he is able to work effectively in any country.

HMIGRAZINGPLANNING SOFTWARE UPGRADE

HMIGRAZINGPLANNING SOFTWARE UPGRADE

$100

The HMI Grazing Planning software is an electronic version of the Holistic Management Grazing Plan and Control Chart.This software tool does all the grazing planning calculations for as many as 100 paddocks.

“This tool has already given

us a many fold return beyond

our initial investment and we

have just begun to use it.”

— Arnold Mattson,

Agri-Environment Services Branch,

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

NEW FEATURES INCLUDE:• easy calculations to determine sAUs

• Auto-fill functions for closed plan

• Account for multiple herds

• Added ability to identify exclusion periods and paddocks needing special attention

• Compares estimated sAUs with planned peak sAUs

• Grazing Manual hyperlink references for each step for ease of reference

• new livestock and land Performance worksheet

TO LEARN MORE OR TO ORDER CALL:

HMI at 505/842-5252 or go to our online store at

www.holisticmanagement.org/store/

Call 505/842-5252 or order online at www.holisticmanagement.org!

Holistic ManagementHandbook

Holistic ManagementHandbook

The Holistic Management Handbook gives you step-by-step

guidance for managing a ranch or farm holistically.

It is essential reading for anyone involved with

land management and stewardship.

learn how to create healthy land and healthy profits.

ORDERTODAY!

$40$40

Healthy Land, Healthy Profits

please send address corrections before moving so that we do not incur unnecessary postal fees

Printed on Recycled Paper

Books and Multimedia

___ holistic Management: A New Framework for Decision-Making,

second edition, by Allan savory with Jody Butterfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $60

___ spanish Version (soft) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $40

___ holistic Management handbook, by Butterfield, Bingham, savory. . . $40

___ At home with holistic Management, by Ann Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20

___ holistic Management: A New Environmental intelligence . . . . . . . . $10

___ improving whole Farm Planning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $13

___ Video: creating a sustainable civilization—An Introduction to Holistic

Decision-Making, based on a lecture given by Allan savory (DVD) . . . $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 (DVD) . . . $30

___ PBS Video: the First Millimeter: healing the Earth (DVD) . . . . . . . . $25

TO ORDER: Questions? 505/842-5252 or [email protected]

Subscribe to IN PRACTICE, a bimonthly journal for Holistic Management practicioners

___ one-year subscription . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $35 U.s. ($40 International)

___ two-year subscription . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $65 U.s. ($70 International)

___ three-year subscription . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $95 U.s. ($105 International)

___ gift subscription. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (same Prices As Above)

___ special Edition: An introduction to holistic Management . . . . . . . . $5

FrEE DowNloADs of many of HMI’s educational materials

are now available on HMI’s website, http://www.holisticmanagement.org.

Click on the Free Downloads link on the homepage to learn more.

up to $15: add $ 5 $16 to $35: add $ 6 $36 to $50: add $ 8 $51 to $70: add $ 9 $71 to $90: add $10 over $91: add $12

Shipping & Handling

� Indicate quantity on line next to item, make sure your shipping address is correct, mail this page (or a copy) andyour check or money order payable in U.S. funds from a U.S. bank, or your credit card number and expiration

date to: Holistic Management International, 5941 Jefferson St. NE, Suite B, Albuquerque, NM 87109.

� You can also call in or fax credit card orders. Place phone calls to 505/842-5252, or fax to 505/843-7900.For online ordering, visit our secure website at: www.holisticmanagement.org.

Shipping and handling costs are

for U.S. media mail only.

Call 505/842-5252 for all other

shipping rates.

Holistic Management Mail Order Emporium

Software

___ grazing Planning software (single-user license) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $100

___ Upgrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . electronic $30, hardcopy $45

Pocket Cards___ holistic Management® Framework and

testing Questions, March 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4

Planning and Monitoring Guides ___ Policy/Project Analysis & Design, August 2008, 61 pages. . . . . . . . . $17

___ introduction to holistic Management, August 2007, 128 pages . . . . $25

___ Financial Planning, August 2007, 58 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $17

___ Aide Memoire for grazing Planning, August 2007, 63 pages. . . . . . . $17

___ Early warning biological Monitoring—croplands

April 2000, 26 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15

___ Early warning biological Monitoring—

rangelands and grasslands, August 2007, 59 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . $17

___ land Planning—For the rancher or

Farmer running livestock, August 2007, 31 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15

Planning Forms___ Annual income & Expense Plan, padded, 25 sheets/pad . . . . . . . . . . $17

___ worksheet, padded, 25 sheets/pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $7

___ livestock Production worksheet, padded, 25 sheets/pad . . . . . . . . . $17

___ grazing Plan & control chart, padded, 25 sheets/pad . . . . . . . . . . . . $17

I would like to make a Tax Deductible Donation

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

us to apply contribution toward ________________________________________

a publication of Holistic Management International5941 Jefferson st. ne, suite BAlbuquerque, nM 87109UsA

return service requested

non-PRoFIT

oRGAnIZATIon

U.s. PosTAGe PAID

AlBUQUeRQUe, nM

PeRMIT no 880

Documents

#143, In Practice, May/June 2012