#123 In Practice JAN/FEB 2009

There have been a number of people who have made significant monetarycontributions, lots of educators who haveimpacted many people and of course the largenumber of Holistic Management practitionersaround the world, but the spark that startedthe Holistic Management fire was Allan andJody. Please join with us in Abilene to say“Thank You!”

Many Holistic Management practitionershave hoped that other resource managers,consumers, and government agencies wouldsee the benefits of Holistic Management. Andwhile there have been some forward thinkingpeople who have joined the ranks, HolisticManagement hasn’t become mainstream.

But after 25 years of hanging in there,more people are beginning to appreciate the wisdom and opportunity of HolisticManagement. Heifer International started in1944 with a donation of 17 heifers. Today thatorganization is in over 125 countries. For thefirst 50 years, Heifer remained a small aidorganization; it is only since 1994 that theorganization has grown by 10 fold. There is aBuddhist proverb, “When the student is ready,the teacher will appear.” I think the world isready for the practice of Holistic Management,especially because of such key issues making

headlines: food vs fuel, global climate change,and capacity to produce a sustainablehealthful food supply that honor both theland and the producer. After 25 years, theteacher (Holistic Management) is ready, and I think the student is close at hand.

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2009 NUMBER 123 WWW.HOLIST ICMANAGEMENT.ORG

Celebrating 25 Years of Holistic Managementby Ben Bartlett

healthy land.sustainable future.

Canadian Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Grapevine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Certified Educators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

NEWS and NETWORK

Can Annual Cropping be Sustainable?BY BLAIN HJERTAAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Integrating Permaculture and HolisticManagementBY ASPEN EDGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Greenacres Farm—The Symbiotic Paths of Soil Growing and Multi-Species GrazingBY CARTER RANDOLPH AND ERIN PAYNE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

LAND and LIVESTOCKPredators—Friend or Foe?BY TONY MALMBERG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Managing for Soil Health—Planned Grazing to Better Manage Multi-Species GrazingBY JUDI EARL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

FEATURE STORIES

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

MULTI-SPECIES GRAZING

2009 marks the 25th year of the Advancement and Promotion of Holistic Management.To commemorate this occasion we are going to have a 25th Anniversary Celebrationco-hosted with HMI-Texas in Abilene, Texas on March 5-7, 2009. At that event we willrecognize is the monumental work and sacrifice that Allan Savory and Jody Butterfield

have put into this effort of getting HMI to this level.

Multi-species grazing must take intoaccount not only the grazing animalsabove the soil but in the soil. Judi Earl, in her article “Managing for Soil Health,”discusses the value of feeding soil healthby leaving some of the forage for animals such as this caterpillar.

TO LEARN MORE, TURN TO PAGE 13.

2 IN PRACTICE h January / February 2009

Holistic Management International works to reverse thedegradation of private and communal land used foragriculture and conservation, restore its health andproductivity, and help create sustainable and viable

livelihoods for the people who depend on it.

FOUNDERSAllan Savory h Jody Butterfield

STAFFPeter Holter, Executive Director

Shannon Horst, Senior Director of Strategic InitiativesTracy Favre, Senior Director/ Contract ServicesKelly Bee, Director of Finance & Accounting

Jutta von Gontard, Director of Development Ann Adams, Managing Editor, IN PRACTICE and

Director of Educational Products and Outreach Maryann West, Manager of Administration

and Executive Support Donna Torrez, Customer Service ManagerMarisa Mancini, Development Assistant

Valerie Gonzales, Administrative Assistant

BOARD OF DIRECTORSBen Bartlett, Chair

Ron Chapman, Past ChairRoby Wallace, Vice-ChairGail Hammack, SecretaryChristopher Peck, Treasurer

Ivan Aguirre Jody ButterfieldSallie Calhoun Mark GardnerDaniela Howell Andrea MalmbergJim McMullan Ian Mitchell Innes

Jim Parker Sue ProbartJim Shelton Dennis Wobeser

ADVISORY COUNCILRobert Anderson, Corrales, NM

Michael Bowman,Wray, COSam Brown, Austin, TX

Lee Dueringer, Scottsdale, AZGretel Ehrlich, Gaviota, CA

Dr. Cynthia O. Harris, Albuquerque, NMLeo O. Harris, Albuquerque, NMEdward Jackson, San Carlos, CA

Clint Josey, Dallas, TXDoug McDaniel, Lostine, OR

Guillermo Osuna, Coahuila, MexicoSoren Peters, Santa Fe, NMYork Schueller, Ventura, CA

Africa Centre for Holistic Management Tel: (263) (11) 404 979 • [email protected]

Huggins Matanga, Director

The David West Station for Holistic ManagementTel: 325/392-2292 • Cel: 325/226-3042

[email protected] & Peggy Maddox, Ranch Managers

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE (ISSN: 1098-8157) is published six times a year by

Holistic Management International, 1010 Tijeras NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102, 505/842-5252, fax: 505/843-7900;

email: [email protected].; website: www.holisticmanagement.org

Copyright © 2009


So what does sustainable mean? According toWebster’s dictionary, sustain means: keep inexistence, keep going, prolong. Sustainablemeans: capable of being maintained or sustained.In the case of cropping what we need to keep inexistence and prolong is soil fertility. One way tomonitor that objective is to make cropping carbonneutral. If we can keep the soil covered and reducetillage and bare ground, then we keep or buildmore carbon in the soil. Likewise, if we use thesepractices, we burn less carbon in our practices. In this way at the end of each year we have notmined any carbon from our storehouse.

The Time is NowModern industrial agriculture is a long way

from this definition. Soil erosion worldwide is 240 billion tons annually; we salinize over an acre a minute; and the soil fertility in the GreatPlains region is half of what it was uponsettlement 100 to 150 years ago. Tillage, burning,and confined livestock operations emit hugeamount of greenhouse gases.

If peak oil theory is correct, by 2020 the earthwill produce the same amount of oil it did in 1985while the world’s population will have grown byalmost 60 percent. Since 40 percent (today)of theworld’s population depends on calories grownwith the use of synthetic nitrogen (from oil), thismeans an ever diminishing resource is currently a key lynch pin in a faulty agricultural system. As I write this, we are experiencing dieselshortages. The beginning of things to come!

Modern industrial agriculture consumes 10calories of energy for every one calorie of foodenergy it puts out. Clearly this is not a very wiseuse of fossil sunshine. What can we do as farmersto make cropping truly sustainable? We mustbegin experimenting depending on the unique

whole we each manage. The following are a fewideas.

1. Make annual crops perennial This practice would save the need for annual

seeding and maintain the ground in a permanentcovered condition. The only requirement would be for an annual harvest operation.

The disadvantage to this practice is perennialstend to be less prolific seed producers thanannuals. Dr. Wes Jackson at the Land Institute inSalinas, Kansas has done considerable researchinto this concept and believes that it may be thesolution. His website is www.landinstitute.org

2. Sowing annuals into permanent cover In the May/June 2008 IN PRACTICE issue,

Colin Seis from Western Australia describes howhe seeds annual crops directly into pasture land.Over 1,000 farmers in Australia are now using this technique. He has noticed considerableimprovement in soil health, increasing his carbon

by two percent in 15 years. I believe the potential for this is enormous in all areas of theworld. Each of us needs toexperiment and learn how to make it work for us.

3. More diversity We all have learned from the

study of community dynamics that the less specieswe have the more at risk the system becomes.Modern industrial agriculture has moved us to the extreme of monoculture, which is veryunstable. Hence, we have the crop protectionindustry to attempt to protect this highly unstablemonoculture. Anything we can do to add morespecies to the cropping mix has to make it morestable. Farmers are growing oats and peastogether as an example.

Using legumes as a permanent low, non-competing cover crop is another example of a wayof increasing diversity. Harvesting an annual cropand seeding a grazing crop immediately followingallows a much longer season of energy flow, plusprovides animal food. Or, you can seed a grazing

Can Annual Cropping be Sustainable?by Blain Hjertaas

Iknow there are some people who believe that the way to sustainable agriculture is to no longercrop farm. But, I do not believe that society will turn totally carnivorous. Therefore, we need tolearn how to grow crops without destroying our environment—to make our annual croppingsustainable.

YEAR WORLD OIL PRODUCTION WORLD POPULATION

2020 55 million barrels per day 7.5 billion2008 85 million barrels per day 6.7 billion1985 55 million barrels per day 4.75 billion

Number 123 h IN PRACTICE 3

and annual crop together in the spring or fall.Using rotations consisting of the warm-seasonbroadleaf, cool-season grass, warm-season grass,and cool-season broadleaf offers a better potentialto all layers of the rooting zone. We need to getmore legumes into our rotations.

Many crops separate easily with grain cleaners, but it does make planning morecomplex. These all have potential in our ownareas. We need to get our thinking outside the box and begin to move cropping to a truly sustainable level.

4. Less tillage Tillage causes harm to the structure of

the soil. Think of the mycorrhizal fungi with its filaments up to a mile in a gram of soil. Tillage destroys. The oxygen that is let into the soil during tillage causes the organic matter to oxidize sending carbon dioxide and nitrousoxide into the atmosphere. We all know aboutbare soil, water cycle, and evaporation. Tillage lets light into the soil which allows weed seeds togerminate. On the Great Plains of North America,farmers have embraced the concept of minimumtillage. This has done wonders for soil and watererosion. But 30 to 50 percent of the soil is tilledduring the annual minimum till seedingoperation I believe we need to take the next step and get to true no till.

5. Smaller is beautifulWe have been told for years get big or get out.

This is the modern view with efficiency as itsdriver. But, it begs the question: Efficiency forwhom? When we look at any living system, thefirst thing we want is diversity. Smaller field sizewill give more diversity from the border. Smallerfield size will allow different crops to be growninstead of a large field of monoculture. Bysplitting a square field into four you double theborders. Borders allow for insects to live, birds tonest, all increasing diversity. Livestock must bepart of the farms of the future as we allunderstand the importance of the animals’ gut in recycling and animal impact.

My ExperimentOn my farm in southeast Saskatchewan at

latitude 49 with a cold arid climate, we areexperimenting with various mixtures for winterforage for our cow herd. We use a practice calledswath grazing where annual crops are sown in thespring (May) and cut at early heading(late July toearly August) and left in a windrow until winter (November to December). Our climate is dryenough that we have very little loss of quality.

We use a mixture of oats, forage peas, winterrye, millet, and sweet clover. The clover and peas are legumes and produce very palatableforage. Sweet clover is a biennial so we may be able to get some spring forage from its earlygrowth. The winter rye fills in between thewindrows covering the ground using light andgiving us good grazing until the snow gets toodeep, plus it gives us grazing in the early spring.The millet is a warm-season annual, so if we hit a hot, dry summer it will do much better than the oats.

We graze any residues plus the rye and cloverearly in the spring either just before seeding orright after seeding, which is our weed control.There is also a small amount of alfalfapermanently on the field. I would like to find awarm-season legume that would work in ourclimate.

We average from 75 ADA to 125 ADAdepending on our growing season. Our cost per

cow day is very low compared to the traditionalsystem of feeding hay; $0.50 per cow day vs. $1.00or more for baled feed. Our petroleum use is forone pass at seeding and one pass with a swathercutting the forage. All nutrients are returned to theland. I am not sure if we are carbon neutral yet,but we are getting closer. Our monitoring is notyet that sophisticated.

Seventy-one percent of our planet is coveredwith water. Twenty-nine percent is land. Of thatland mass only five percent is tillable and eightpercent is rangeland. Most of us live on this fivepercent tillable land. The greatest challengefacing civilization is to maintain the fertility ofthis five percent. Think of it as a veneer, or a sheetof paper thickness, covering five percent of theland mass of the world. We, as stewards of theland, have been given the job of nurturing andcaring for this precious resource that provides life for all. Can we make annual croppingsustainable? Yes, the world depends on it.

This article is excerpted from a presentationBlain gave at the Holistic ManagementInternational conference in Brandon,Manitoba in late October 2008. Blain is atrainee in the Certified Educator TrainingProgram and can be reached at:[email protected].

Using a method called swath grazingwhere annual crops are sown in May,

cut in July, and left in windrows to be grazed in December, Blain has

been able to reduce his costs by 50 percent, and his carbon footprint.

Our cost per cow day is very low compared to the traditional system of feeding hay; $0.50 per cow

per day vs. $1.00 or more for baled feed.

When we came, we brought with us a lifetimeof growing our own food, and four years’experience of Permaculture Design. This wasaugmented by a two month stay at Crystal WatersPermaculture Village in Australia, where we wereable to see first-hand the application of this“natural system” design framework. Thisenvironmental knowledge was also supported by experience in administration, systems designand accountancy. We added to these skills, ourenthusiasm and our passion about creating amore sustainable life for ourselves and the planet.

However, after four years of trying to establisha biodiverse, complex natural system, which alsoprovided a year round net yield, we had toacknowledge we were beat!

Barking Up the Wrong TreeWe had inherited 200 drip-irrigated mixed

fruit and nut trees, under which annual grassesand plants flowered in the spring, with a reprise in the autumn if there was early rain.

Conventionally when summer began, theannual plants would have been ploughed into the ground, leaving it bare under the trees for the

duration of the summer drought. This did notseem best practice, so after a year of observing our landscape and its climatic conditions, wecreated a design for a multi-stacking system ofvegetation that simulated a temperate forest or a tropical jungle. We built on the existinginfrastructure and planted edible trees, shrubs,vines, and ground cover. To conserve moisture and cover bare ground, we mulched underneathwith dead plant material.

Four years on, far from a complex, multi-stacking sward of vegetation, we had even lessbiodiversity and increased bare ground.Indigenous perennial aromatic plants proliferated,and those that were established were not thriving.The numerous annual flowers and grasses, which were part of the original landscape, weresmothered by our mulching and no longerappeared. The perennial grasses, despite cutting,were dying out. Nothing was performing in theway that we had expected from our previousexperience. We simply could not work out why.Clearly, there was something missing from ourunderstanding.

In addition, we had lost three years’ of the

time that we had bought ourselves at the outset.We had planned on a 10-year start-up period andhad allocated our capital to cover living anddevelopment expenses over that time. However,unexpected expenses and circumstances haderoded that nest egg, leaving us with even lesstime in which to develop a sustainable livelihood.

Different StrokesSerendipitous circumstances brought to

our attention the work of Allan Savory, and theconcept of “brittleness.” As we looked with neweyes at our land, we saw the stark differencebetween the temperate climate to which we wereused, and the Mediterranean climate in which we now worked. We began to understand howdifferently these two ecosystems had evolved, and how we could now re-work our design in tune with this natural system.

Our temperate Permaculture eyes had seenwhat they expected to see: a dry landscape thatneeded to have water conservation, ground coverand soil building techniques applied in a way thatmimicked nature. Our Permaculture mindapplied those techniques which, if applied in atemperate or tropical environment, would buildsoil and conserve water. We had not appreciatedthe extent to which every landscape evolvesdifferently. We had not known the pivotalimportance of the implication of brittleness to the correct selection of land-use techniques.

In this area of low year-round humidity, dead plant material did not break down readily. It simply oxidized on the soil surface. Even worse,such surface material became a fire risk. Wediscovered that, nature had another way ofbuilding soil. In a dryland environment, she didthis most effectively through the gut of a grazinganimal, provided its management mimicked thenatural process that had evolved here.

Creating SynergyIt was easy at this stage to see Holistic

Management as the better tool. Permaculture, as we understood it, had not served us well.However, as we gained experience we learned thatthe two frameworks complemented, rather thancompeted with, each other. It was important toselect what was most effective from both systems,and not reject out-of-hand one or the other. Sobegan a six-year process of integrating the twoframeworks to create an even more holisticmanagement of Semilla Besada.

From the simplest perspective, we saw HolisticManagement as a holistic decision-makingframework which worked consistently for triple-bottom-line sustainability in line with aholisticgoal and Permaculture as a holistic designframework which mimicked natural systems to


Integrating Permaculture and Holistic Managementby Aspen Edge

Ten years’ ago we bought Semilla Besada, a 40-acre (16-ha) farm at 4,265 feet (1,300m) in the Sierra Nevada Natural Park in southern Spain. The landscape is commonly described as maquis/garigue characterized by the presence of woody aromatic perennials and indigenous oaks. Temperatures can fall to 5˚F and rise to 104˚F (-15C/40C). Although

there are four distinct seasons, there is low year-round humidity and a summer drought which can last for six months.

This view east over Semilla Besada shows the oasis ofgreen it is in this brittle landscape. CombiningPermaculture with Holistic Management has helpedimprove the health of this land in a sustainable fashion.

The first season of the “forest garden” shows how theEdges have integrated Permaculture techniques.


time that we had lost, and extend that period by another two years!

However, when it came to designing the 30acres (16 ha) of landscape and accommodation,Permaculture came into its own, with the addedHolistic Management insight of the implicationsof brittleness. Semilla Besada is not a productionfarm, and relies on a very diverse portfolio ofactivities to build the environmental infrastructureand sustain the people that live on it. Using thetechnique of zoning, we were able to determinewhat activities should be located where. Whenselecting animals, trees and plants, we ensuredthat each would generate more than one product.We were aware of our dependence on non-renewable resources and on goods and serviceswhich we could not provide for ourselves and usedthe insights from Permaculture to create a moresustainable design.

One such use of this synthesis is how we create“closed” systems. For example, we generate treeprunings, which in many countries are simplyburned, creating a ‘waste’. We, however, initiallyfeed them to the sheep and rabbits. When theleaves and bark have been stripped, we then shred(chip) the branches. The resultant product is usedas bedding in the sheep and chicken housing.When the housing is cleaned, the mixed contentsare composted. This is then used to fertilizevegetable- and tree-growing areas. Any branchesthat are too large for the shredder (chipper) arecut and stored for firewood. No waste has beenproduced, and the output of one element of thesystem provides the input for the next. This designconcept is from Permaculture thinking.

Determining whether this activity is in linewith the quality of life we are creating and istriple-bottom-line sustainable (particularly inusing fossil fuel for the shredder) is the preserve of Holistic Management. So, too, is the planningof how and when the process takes places, whetherit continues to lead us towards the desiredoutcome and what to do if changingcircumstances require us to re-think this process

With Holistic Management providing thestructure for management and Permaculture theframework for sustainable design, we were able tobe far more effective in moving Semilla Besadatowards the outcomes we want.

Aspen Edge can be reached [email protected]

For more information, visit these websites:

www.permaculture.org.auwww.permacultureusa.orgwww.permaculture.org.ukwww.permaculture.co.ukwww.permacultureactivist.net

provide food, fiber and energy for local needs.They had much in common. They shared similar ethics, such as care for the planet and care for people. They shared, certain principles,such as holism and sustainability.

They had, however, evolved in differentenvironments: Permaculture in small-scale,intensive land-use in temperate and tropicalregions and Holistic Management in large-scale,grazing-animal-based land-use in drylandregions. They are different types of organizations.Permaculture is a movement of individuals wherethere is no top-down regulation or uniformity ofproduct or presentation. Holistic Management is a regulated body of knowledge and practice,supported by individuals, where there isconsistency of product and presentation.

We created a check-list of what we saw as thestrengths and weaknesses of both frameworks. The table below summarizes this process.

What we discovered was that Permaculture wasparticularly strong in design perspectives, but had

no structured holistic framework for formulatingclear outcomes or planning, monitoring, andcontrolling those outcomes. Nor was it possible touse the Permaculture framework as a diagnostictool or check that our actions were always leadingus towards the outcomes we wanted.

A More Powerful Management ToolThrough our analysis of what Permaculture

and Holistic Management were to us, we created a synthesized form of management. HolisticManagement gave us a way of clearly definingwhat holistic outcomes we were working towardsfrom the biggest vision to the daily objectives. It enabled us to plan what we needed to do toachieve these outcomes, and how to go about it. It also ensured that every decision we made wasleading us towards a sustainable future, and whenwe ran into problems, we could use the sameframework to discover what we needed to do next.

In addition Holistic Financial Planning hadenabled us to regain the three years of financial

PERMACULTURE HOLISTIC MANAGEMENTStrength Weakness Strength Weakness

Ethics Ethics (sustainable people, (triple-bottom-line planet, profit) sustainability)

Principles Principles (unclear and limited to (holism, sustainability, design concepts) responsibility, accountability,

awareness, process, change)

No holisticgoal to Holisticgoaldrive overall vision

No routine testing for Testing Questionssustainability and movement towards vision

No holistic financial planning Holistic Financial Planning

No life/project planning No life/project planning

No holistic grazing planning Holistic Grazing Planning

Landscape design – Land Planwider application (limited application(multi-dimensional, and perspectives)diversity, yield, holism, input/output ratios, small-scale, wild soil, energy, zoning, location, sectoring, elevation)

No formal biological Biological Monitoring monitoring (so difficult (rangeland, cropland)to quantify progress)

No formal feedback loop Feedback Loop(so difficult to monitor, control and replan)

No capacity to use Framework can be used framework for diagnosis as a diagnostic toolof problems

we needed to improve the pastures and moreimportantly, improve the herd genetics. Addinglegumes and diversity of grasses could providepasture stability, which would allow animals to be finished on grass. Pairing this with improvedgenetics, focusing on grass intake and processing,would create an end product competitive withconsumer proffered grain and corn fed beef.Pasture improvement began by overgrazing toeliminate the fescue and release the seed bankthat was stored in the soil.

We quickly learned that our single species—cattle—did not do an effective job of eatingeverything; cattle are picky eaters. We added sheep, forecasting that their more liberal dietwould help to control growth of the other plants.We confirmed that their eating habitscomplimented the cattle’s. The sheep did awonderful of job of eating weeds, especiallypigweed and ironweed. Everything was beingeaten, and the diverse seed bank was released torepopulate the fields with a variety of grasses andlegumes. Because weeds were no longerovercrowding the fields, more nutrition was left in the soil for our grasses and legumes.

Clay soils and wet weather in the spring andfall introduced more challenges: foot rot, flies,and pinkeye. As we started to address thesechallenges, we recognized that soil productivityhad been halted. We returned to our fundamentalbelief that the natural systems hold all of thesolutions. We just needed to watch a naturalprogression more carefully. Our read indicatedthat we had left out a smaller species that wouldimpact the soils and help to defeat our newchallenges. We introduced chickens and turkeys to our grazing system.

In adding small poultry into the grazing plan,we could foresee additional problems to be solved.So we used electric fence netting to keep outpredators such as raccoons and coyotes. Weobserved that chicken counts were stable overnight, implying that our precautions were of some use, but we were losing birds during the day. A brief period of observation revealed that we had red tail hawks who quickly learnedhow to harvest chicken.

We introduced movable pens for the chickens to interrupt the hawks’ harvestingtechniques. This is necessary to protect ourinvestment in the chickens, keeping them stablein the field for the span of their life (seven weeks)until they reach a harvest weight of 5 to 7 pounds(2-2.25 kg). We tried a couple of differentmovable chicken pens, such as the PVC framemodel. This method did not work, as the chickenswould get their legs caught under it. A very heavy steel construction (requiring a dolly for

soils and runoff issues to address. To combat theseshortfalls, the Nipperts planted fescue and broughtin Black Angus cattle. After 35 years, they began tosee bare spots as the fescue began wiping out theorchard grass, timothy, and clovers. The fescuewould grow to be three feet (one meter) tall andwas not an appropriate feed for cattle until thefirst frost. Unbalanced soil fertility and fly andparasite problems were prevalent as well.

To produce quality beef, animals had to beremoved from the depleted grass and be fed cornand grain. However, an animal’s naturalinclination is to migrate to food, rather than tohave food grown, harvested, processed, shipped,stored and then delivered to the feed bunks wherethe animal merely stands. To shift to the naturalprocess of allowing animals to harvest their feed,

They also wanted to encourage conservation and appreciation of nature by providing thepublic, particularly children, opportunities tostudy plant and animal life in their naturalsettings. Additionally, they wanted to encourageappreciation of music and culture by providingfacilities and an atmosphere that will encourageartists to display their talents for all age groups.

To that end, Greenacres includes the self-sustainable Farm, the Environmental EducationalCenter, the Equine Center, the River Lab, and theArts Center. It is 600 acres (240 ha) of pastures,woods, streams, ponds, barns, stables, houses, anda cultural center. We serve 8,000 children a yearfrom the Cincinnati community and are located20 minutes from the central business district. The focus of the agriculture activities has been toexpand capacity by naturally growing the soils.Over the last twenty years, we have learned thatmimicking nature by shifting from mono-culture grazing (cattle only) to multi-speciesgrazing has created significant improvement inthe soil and its stocking density.

The Need for DiversityIn 1949, the Nipperts purchased a farmed out

corn, bean and dairy farm, which had depleted

Greenacres Farm—The Symbiotic Paths of Soil Growing and Multi-Species Grazingby Carter Randolph and Erin Payne

In 1873 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Greenacres was founded by the Green family. In 1949, Louis andLouise Nippert purchased Greenacres and several adjacent farms, managing the entirety using“organic techniques.” In 1988, the Nipperts formed the Greenacres Foundation to preserve this farm for the public, reflecting the traditional environment of Indian Hill and its historical

significance by preserving Greenacres in its current state of woodland and farmland.

Agricultural Model at Greenacres

OLD NEW

Crop Fescue Grasses & LegumesHarvesters Cattle Multi-speciesFertilizers Cattle Multi-speciesPests No control Integrated

pest management

Chickens were added to the Greenacres mix tohelp with parasite problems. They quicklybecame a key product and fertilizer.

Greenacres serves the greater Cincinnati areaas an educational farm. Many residents wantto come see the whole food chain process andappreciate the healthy food that is sold atGreenacres.


When we began, our destination wasto raise cattle effectively. Twenty yearsago, the journey began to show that tobe successful cattle ranchers, soil growthwas necessary. By following HolisticManagement principles and practicesand changing the questions we askourselves, the journey’s path took manynecessary turns, though never detouringfrom the original goal. We have bred ourregistered Black Angus Cattle selectivelyso that we can produce 600 pound

(273 kg) grass-fed Angus calf in six months.Anticipated weight per animal at 18 months isaround 1,100 pounds (500 kg) harvest weight.This pattern of weight gain contributes to the high quality of the beef leading to increasedconsumer demand. This success is attributable to the multi-species approach for growing oursoils, ensuring the best environment for ourlivestock.

Today, we base our decisions on our primarybelief that nature is the best farmer/rancher. We should emulate the best. That decision led us from monoculture cattle grazing to providing a diversity of grasses, then a diversity of grazers,creating a pairing of diverse product with diverse consumers. We have built a portfolio ofheterogeneity that responds well in aggregate tochanging conditions even when one or another of the products fails due to uncontrollableconditions. It is the implementation of the Holistic Management® Framework that led toasking different questions that changed ouroperations. Holistic Management works!

Carter Randolph is the Executive Vice-President of Greenacres Foundation. This article is excerpted from his presentation at HMI’sInternational Gathering 2007. He can be reached at:[email protected].

movement) met our needs best. Turkeys, BenFranklin’s choice for the U.S. national symbol,retained some defensive capabilities throughouttheir evolutionary progression and have enoughmass that they can take care of themselves. Pens are not necessary for the majority of theirtime in the field.

The addition of poultry in the grazing planhas numerous benefits. In a good rain year, thepoultry impact result is three times the amount of grass restoration. This is due to their scratchingat the ground, which releases dead grass from the soil and the nutritional properties of theirmanure. In addition, the poultry pick throughmanure pies left by cattle and sheep, eating insectlarvae, and reducing the fly population. Not onlydoes this reduce consumption of grain by thepoultry without reduction in weight gain, itenhances weight gain in the cattle by reducingtheir fly swatting efforts.

The multi-species approach also creates an additional fertilizer value chain in the form of manure applied. Rather than have an outflowof cash for manure, current prices of which are$15/ton for chicken manure, $13/ton for sheepmanure, and $6 ton for cow manure, themovement of species provides the material at no additional cost. The value chain lies in thediversity of the manure—each species offersdifferent digestive patterns that result in manures with differing nutrition, providing a wide range of nutrition for our diverse grasses and legumes.

Diversified PortfolioAdding different species to our farm also had

the unintended consequence of broadening ourmarket. Customers who buy our beef andvegetables also buy our lambs and chickens.Thanksgiving has become a huge revenue periodas our consumers desire a turkey that they trust

Manure Facts

TONS/YR. H2O N P2O5 K2O VALUEANIMAL /1,000 # % LBS. LBS. LBS. /TON

Cow 12 79 11.2 4.6 12 6.07

Steer 8.5 80 14 9.2 10.8 8.12

Sheep 6 65 28 9.6 24 13.88

Horse 8 60 13.8 4.6 14.4 7.11

Poultry 4.5 54 31.2 18.4 8.4 15.58

From Animal Science by Ensminger, 9th edition

This is an example of what was happening tothe farm when cattle were the only grazingspecies. Fescue dominated and bare groundwas starting to show.

At Greenacres sheep graze thepasture first, followed by cattle.

As you can see, sheep leave plentyof residual for the cattle (top

picture) while eating species suchas ironweed and pigweed that the

cattle don’t want to eat.

has been raised as naturally as possible. Theydrive by and see the birds being pastured alongthe road. They stop into the store to ask about the turkeys and end up buying beef and the lastharvest of vegetables. The nice thing about raisingchickens and turkeys is that it is for a limitedtime—in the summer— so we can hire collegestudents to do that work. We also spread the risk of production over two species.

Multi-species grazing, selective breeding for grass acceptance, and mimicking nature togrow our soils has created grass-fed meat that is in high demand. We slaughter our cattle yearround to keep our customers happy with freshmeat. Our practice is to hang the meat for 14days. We average $3,000 gross income from aslaughter animal and $6,000 from a year oldheifer. Our restaurant trade is small but dedicated,and our products are listed as “Greenacres” ontheir menus. Chefs enjoy coming to pick up theirmeat, choosing fresh vegetables, and often go toour herb gardens to cut their desired herbs,incorporating all of the Greenacres flavorsavailable.


8 h January / February 2009Land & Livestock

&&Predators—Friend or Foe?by Tony Malmberg

The tendency of our ranching culture has been to resist, fight and kill predators. In the United States there are even government“predator boards” that manage the hunting of predators. The recent reintroduction and protection of wolves and grizzly bears

have brought a new twist to predator management for ranchers. Likewise, there is increased pressure from societyand many special interest groups who desirepredator protection.

These interests, at one level or another, are partof our future resource base. As a result, we mustask, “How must we be perceived, far into the futureconcerning our predator management actions?” To achieve sustainability, i.e. profitable domesticlivestock production, functional ecosystemprocesses, and our future resource base, we mustrevisit our relationship with predators.

The Predator/Prey ConnectionHolistic Management can be an important

means toward that end. First, we acknowledge thatbrittle environments evolved with pack hunting predators and huge herds of herbivores. This interaction was key to implementing animal impactthrough herd effect. The migration was necessary because large herds graze everything and must move to find food, creating disturbance/recoveryperiods on the soil surface. Holistic Management® practitioners have beenusing the tools of technology (fencing) and labor (herding) to mimic thisprocess.

Obviously our culture views losses to predators as a problem. This takesus to the first testing question, “Are we addressing the root cause of theproblem?” Could the root cause of losses to predators go back to the missing key, the predator/prey connection?

If so, our challenge is to overcome our instinct to resist predators, andlearn how to align animal behaviors to achieve our goal of adequatedisturbance/recovery periods, with the predator/prey in full contact. This will require looking toward the tool of “living organisms” more often and “technology” less often, while refocusing the tool of “humancreativity” to redirect “labor.”

I think all sides of the discussion would agree that if we give predatorscarte blanche rule, we could not be sustainable economically, at least in the

short term until our livestock became less naive. So even though manypractices and tools used to cope with predators admittedly do not addressthe root cause of the problem, we need to use these tools in the short termfor economic sustainability. But by dealing with the symptoms of thisproblem directly, we buy time to address the root cause of the problem

that are socially, economically, and ecologicallysustainable.

The Benefits of PredatorsAbout 18 years ago, we pushed weaned cows

to some high country that would be easy forthem to use with no calves and cool fall weather. I saw a coyote lying beside a prairie dog hole. After we dropped the cattle on waterand headed home an hour later, he was stillintensely focused on the hole.

The practice of Holistic Management allowedour consciousness to note this behavior. Sincethat day, we have recognized the coyote as a“Living Organism-tool” keeping prairie dog

monocultures in check and contributing to diversity and complexity. We no longer allow anyone to hunt or trap coyotes and we actuallyencourage coyotes, eagles, and other scavenger/predators to frequentprairie dog towns by dragging dead animals into active portions of “dog towns.”

Before we began practicing Holistic Management we had hugemonocultures of prairie dog towns. Over the years they have broken downinto small “villages,” with only 10-20 active holes in each community.The practice of drawing predators to these smaller villages, along with ourplacing a salt block in the middle of active dog holes, deferred grazing toprovide predator cover, and erecting raptor perches, keeps the prairie dogsmoving. Rather than large monocultures of prairie dog towns denudingevery vegetative form, the communities move around. High grass quicklymoves into the aerated and fertilized area vacated by the prairie dogs.

Need for Predator CompetitionThe flourishing coyote community, however, didn’t come without a

price. As we began to diversify our grazing animals on the ranch, theysoon honed in on our dairy-goat herd. Each fall with the first couple of

“Our challenge is to overcome our instinct to

resist predators, and learn how to align animal behaviors to achieve

our goal . . .”

Number 123 h 9Land & Livestock

While coyotes pose aproblem particularly

for small stockproducers, they are an

essential part of theecosystem. The

Malmbergs have usedthem to help maintain

the population ofprairie dogs on their

ranch and do notallow people to hunt

the coyotes anymore.

snows, we would lose some goats to coyote predation. Then my wife,Andrea, witnessed a pack of coyotes in the middle of the day pushing thewhole herd until a goat finally fell to its death off a cliff. We weren’t readyto start killing coyotes, but this scene certainly convinced us that keepingthem horned and corralled at night was insufficient. We needed to pushback, so Andrea got an Akbash. We never lost another goat under theAkbash’s watch.

Lessons Learned Predators are not just wildlife. They are often animals owned by other

humans. For example, hungry guard dogs were Bill Hancock’s worstnightmare. Bill has worked on, managed and owned a chunk of countrystretching 65 miles (104km) and spreading over 13 townships in the stateof Wyoming for 59 years. The ranch ran as many as 4,000 mother cowsand 2,000 yearlings. One spring a pack of eight abandoned guard dogsshowed up to take a toll on Bill’s herd. The root cause of this problem wasthat a sheep herder wasn’t feeding his guard dogs, and they had to fendfor themselves. They got the guard dogs gathered up and started feedingthem to address the root cause and stop the carnage.

Bill calved most of their cows on open range and lost few calves tocoyotes. When a cow was ready to calve, she would go off by herself. The new mother stayed alone with her calf for about three days and thentook her free traveling newborn to bunch back up with about a dozenpairs. These small bunches left a baby sitter with the calves, when theywent to water or made a circle grazing.

However, some instances required feeding hay and Bill says losses to coyotes escalated because the cow would leave their calf unattendedwhen she came to the feed ground to eat. They had some success hazing coyotes out of the area by running the coyotes on horseback while the cows ate. Killing coyotes rarely helped the situation. One year, government hunters killed six on the feed ground and they were replaced the very next day. Bill says you need to view it as a surgical strike rather than a purge and claims the calf killing stops if you identify and kill the killer.

On one occasion calf losses were exceedingly high yet Bill refused torandomly kill coyotes. It took several days, but he finally located theculprit. It was a coyote that had been injured and his back legs werecrippled. He was unable to hunt and relied on the easy pickings of newborn calves. Once the killer is eliminated, the coyotes roam around andclean up the afterbirth and don’t bother the calves.

Bill thinks breed might have a little influence on how cattle cope withthe presence of predators, and he particularly has a preference for hornedHereford cows. More important, he claims, is how the cattle are run andraised. If they grow up tending for themselves out on the range, they willdo pretty well. In addition, he is adamant about never having a stock dogaround because it changes the cattle’s natural instinct to fend off canines.

Natural instincts, behavior, and patterns can benefit livestockproducers. Biologists have noted one of nature’s strategies is to have theiryoung all at once. The mass of births over a short time period limits thepercentage of young preyed upon by their predators. Ranchers couldpiggy-back onto this natural defense if they calve at the same time as thewildlife. The sheer numbers of potential prey could limit losses. This typeof solution could have a better marginal reaction than killing predators,which as Bill Hancock noted are merely replaced. This old time ranchersees the root cause of loss to predators as livestock not fending forthemselves. He sees his best marginal reaction as not disrupting orremoving the predator/prey tension, but in culling mother cows that failto “push back” and protect their calf.

Predator PreferenceDomestic livestock losses to predators can rise and fall based on the

predator’s preferred prey. Bob Harlan ranches near Wyoming’s Hole in theWall. His lamb losses are inversely proportional to rabbit numbers. Bob saidthe rabbit cycle rises and falls in a six- to eight- year cycle. When rabbitnumbers are high, the coyotes are well fed and even have larger litters.

Bob suspects the Mule Deer population, which serve as prey for themountain lion may have a bearing on his lamb losses too. Bob thinks theroot cause of loss to predators is the absence/scarcity of the predator’snatural prey. Managers may improve their marginal reaction by payingattention to the population cycles of the prey species.

Prey population cycles and seasonal cycles affect wolf-kill pressure forJames Stuart, manager of Sun Ranch, near Ennis, Montana, He says whenelk leave for the high country in late July, wolf hunting pressure on hiscattle immediately escalates. This happens because many of the pups aretoo young to follow their prey base, so they turn to livestock as a primarysource of food.

In trying to better understand the wolf behavior, James asks, “What did wolves naturally prey on when the elk leave in July?” He suspects Mule Deer probably provided this link in the food chain before ranching and domestic livestock appeared on the scene. The datashows that 25-30 years ago there were many more Mule Deer and a lot lesselk. However, he has not determined the biological weak link in the MuleDeer’s life cycle to re-supply this native food source for the wolves but thinks the high elk numbers drive the Mule Deer numbers down. Hesuspects that baby calves are easier to hunt than elk. Could this shift incommunity dynamics affect wolf/livestock interaction? Is scarcity of thenatural prey the root cause of wolves killing livestock?

This twist could throw us a head fake if we get diverted from the testingquestions. If we assume elk are the preferred prey rather than following theinvestigation through we might miss the real root cause of the problem.What if too many elk is the root cause of fewer Mule Deer? If wolves preferMule Deer to livestock this could be the way to address the root cause of the problem. What is the biological weak link of the elk and the Mule Deer?Favor the Mule Deer, stress the elk, and it may address the root cause of theproblem in the long term.

Living with PredatorsThe Sun Ranch takes a holistic, big-picture view and wants to

minimize the loss of life, as viewed from the dynamics between wolf andcattle populations. From this perspective, a wolf kill is viewed as a problemand not a zero tolerance catastrophe.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

The Malmbergs discovered that horns were not enough to protect these goats when coyotes forced one of them off the cliff to its death.Introducing a guardian dog helped to address this issue, while not reducing the coyote population.

Predators—Friend or Foe? continued from page nine


purpose for several centuries. They are effective, but only temporarily, asthe novelty may soon wear off.

Extended effectiveness can be gained with “turbo-fladry,” which simplyadds an electric charge to the flapping straps and reduces habituation.Turbofladry can be used effectively for greater lengths of time. Putting upthe fladry lines has been good for Sun Ranch’s community efforts, aspeople volunteer to help.

Livestock & WolvesTo inform land and livestock managers on ways to avoid killing wolves,

Defenders of Wildlife (DOW) have produced a great resource available toanyone titled, Livestock & Wolves: A Guide to Nonlethal Tools andMethods to Reduce Conflicts. You can find this publication at:http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/wildlife_conservation/solutions/carnivore_conservation_fund/livestock_and_wolves.php. Defendersof Wildlife is a national, nonprofit membership organization dedicated tothe protection of all native wild animals and plants in their naturalcommunities.

The guide covers the tools, strategies and tactics practiced by SunRanch and more.

The introduction to the guide stresses the importance of addressing the root cause of the problem. First, it asks us to think about the class and species of livestock, the season, the grazing area, and our level ofhuman interaction. The guide addresses non-lethal tools used by SunRanch, including fladry, range riders, increased human presence, crackers,rubber bullets, changing grazing sites, changing class and breed oflivestock. Different tools work at different times and require constant plan-monitor-control-replan.

The guide advocates removing sick animals and keeping dead animalscleaned up and in a carcass pit. The pit should be at least eight feet deep(2.7m), with straight walls and a fence to keep scavengers out. Deadcarcasses are attractants to scavengers and predators.

Finally, if the challenges are just too much, the guide explainsprograms that can help purchase or exchange your governmentpermits/allotments.

The guide has mention of herding and developing predator-wiselivestock. There is growing evidence that cattle running in rough, wild-country are more equipped to deal with predators.

Preventing HabituationSuzanne Stone of Defenders of Wildlife says the root cause of the

problem is habituation. Instead, the wolf must view killing livestock as a higher risk than killing their natural prey. Therein lies the task ofmanaging the wolf/livestock interface—keeping livestock killing as ahigh-risk endeavor for the wolf. The best marginal reaction comes bypreventing habituation.

Before wolves become habituated, a different disturbance may beneeded. This can be rubber bullets, increased human activity, lighting, oreven sophisticated alarm systems (radio activated guards or RAG)—thelatter will only work if you are dealing with radio collared wolves, as theradio collar signal approaches, the RAG sets off noise and flashing lights.Eventually, live ammunition with compression can offer a stronger reasonfor wolves to steer clear.

When all of these tactics are exhausted, individual wolves are removed.Wolf removal is determined by the state agency, Montana Fish Wildlife andParks, in Sun Ranch’s case. The first removal tries to focus on the killers.But it has been noted that wolves from a pack that has killed will returnthe following season and begin the year killing. One tactic is to kill thewolf next to a collared wolf so they don’t need to recollar a wolf. It has

When Sun Ranch started managing to be in harmony with thewolves, some friends became enemies and some enemies became friends.When this happens it is imperative to have a clear understanding of thefuture resource base in your holisticgoal. James says that straddling thefence can be difficult. Sun Ranch has partners and friends in both theranching and environmental communities. They simply view wolves aspart of the landscape they manage.

Sun Ranch livestock operations are mostly confined to private lands,which gives them more flexibility than ranchers operating on federallands. Sun Ranch makes extra efforts to use that added flexibility foradvancing the future of wolf/livestock interactions. They started SunRanch Institute toward this endeavor and have committed to moreemployees than “ranch only” operations would demand.

James thinks a root cause of wolves killing domestic livestock lies inhabituation, which reduces the effectiveness of human presence as atool—reintroduced wolves have not had sufficient negative feedback fromhumans or domestic livestock, and they do not have a fear of humans.

Addressing the root cause and creating fear could be a federal offenseif actions are too heavy handed. At this point the Sun Ranch, the SunRanch Institute, and other community members are working tounderstand wolf social structure, their habits, and their seasonal cycles.The group develops a proactive grazing plan to avoid exacerbating alivestock-wolf interface. Their grazing plan notes the location of the wolfdens, rendezvous sites, and elk movement. For example, when wolvesmove into an area, on a rendezvous site or den, the tendency is for cattlein the area to leave, if given a choice. Planning helps the Sun Ranchavoid unnecessary interface between their livestock and wolves.

Understanding the different roles of the animals in the pack helps too.Like cattle, a wolf pack has babysitters. Wolves have scouters, an alphamale and an alpha female. Adult pack behavior is a big force and needsto be understood if one is to manage the situation.

When the livestock become hunted, the ranch initiates disturbancepractices to deter the wolves. Disturbing begins with less harmful actions,like hazing and non-lethal ammunition creating a loud sound calledcracker to incite fear. Fladry consists of an 18-inch (450-mm) highpolywire fence, with flags attached to the wire every 12 inches (300mm)and hanging just above the ground. Fladry lines have been used for this


been observed that a disturbance like lethal removal or trapping andcollaring an individual will encourage the pack to leave the area.

However, according to Suzanne Stone, utilizing lethal control in areactive manner or too aggressively will create more problems than it willsolve. She points out that long-term success often depends on stability. One of the more extreme disruptions to stability is killing an alpha female,who is the glue that holds a pack together. With stability gone, the packoften disbands and will then lose out to a new pack. Replacing a pack isnot always the best course of action, particularly if the pack in placeavoided or rarely killed livestock. Using aggressive lethal control leads tochronic cycles of loss of both livestock and wolves and disrupts stability inmost cases. The key question to ask is, “How do we get out of this viciouscycle of habituation, pack removal, re-habituation and loss of stability?”

Contradictions or Data?Losses are not limited to killing. Stress from wolf encounters can

reduce yearling weight gains by 30 percent, according to James Stuart. The Sun Ranch custom grazes cattle and weight gain is essential to thebusiness. Cattle owners maintain the risk of death loss. With killing andstress it’s odd to see that wolves can travel through cattle with littleinterference. James says there doesn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason for when they pass peacefully through and when they kill.

Suzanne suggests there is normally a reason—some kind of a catalyst.Something happened or was recognized by the wolf that they determinedthis would be a low-risk kill—or they typically won’t risk a “first strike”kill. The catalyst is usually a low-risk scavenge or picking off a sick or oldanimal. However, once flesh is torn and blood is spilled, the pack willsometimes tip into a group-think, mob mentality. Once the frenzy begins,the kill can exceed the pack’s needs at times.

James thinks hunger might be plenty of a catalyst. He has witnessedwolves killing healthy, strong, yearlings. They kept the herd bunched and maintained a strong human presence. They paid a wolf rider using a spot light, like during calving, to spend the night with cattle, yet theystill lost livestock.

To make the wolves’ hunt a little tougher, James changed his class ofcattle from yearlings to cow-calf this year, in high-risk pastures, with good results. He said yearlings are so inquisitive and their excitement isinfectious, as they follow the wolves around, and intensifies the interface.Mother cows interested in protecting their young bawl, chase the wolves,and keep their distance. James runs the cow-calf herd in high interfaceareas like the forested and large pastures, where they have less control. It brings an interesting twist to the community dynamics issue. Thisexample demonstrates we can match the class of livestock to the resource.

Suzanne points out that there have been far more calves killed bywolves than yearlings in the Northern Rockies. Canada’s experience ismore in line with James – far more yearlings killed than calves. Ranchersin Alberta may know why. They noted that their mother cattle are veryaggressive in protecting their calves—an instinct that may not be presentin cattle who haven't seen wolves for many generations.

Sorting Out the EvidenceApparent contradictions seem to highlight two factors. First, when the

data bank is skimpy, it can vary widely. When more ranchers make effortslike Sun Ranch to observe, and organizations like Defenders of Wildlife todocument and organize the data, we can begin to quantify and qualify thedata. More data (a larger sample size) should begin to level out resultsand offer more predictable results relative to specific actions. For example,we may be able to predict that standard fladry will prevent wolf/livestockinteraction as long as a pack hasn’t killed livestock. Once a pack has killed

Cougars and wolves can be more challenging to address than coyotesand smaller predators. However, understanding why these animalskill and addressing the root cause of that problem allows the producerto co-exist with these animals and reduce or eliminate predation losses.

livestock, the likelihood of standard fladry working to prevent livestockkilling may drop to 80 or 20 percent or zero.

That brings us to the second factor. Contradictions appear when wefocus on tactics without associating them with a level of habituation. If one rancher says, “Fladry works for me!” And, another rancher says,“That fladry is a waste of time,” it can only mean the tactic was used indifferent circumstances or with a different level of habituation.

To make better decisions in determining which deterrent to use andwhen to use it, we can practice Holistic Management’s rule to “assume we are wrong” and to clearly define early warning indicators in ourmonitoring. If the data suggests we have an 80 percent likelihood ofdeterring a kill with fladry immediately following a kill, we might continuewith that form of habituation deterrent.

With that decision, we may identify that our early warning indicator isseeing one wolf, on one occasion, through the fladry line, for example. In that instance, we immediately change our habituation deterrent to“turbo fladry,” or some other deterrent that the data suggests is moreeffective with a pack that has killed.

However, if the data suggests we only have a 20 percent chance ofpreventing a kill, following a kill, with standard fladry after a pack haskilled, we would most likely change our form of deterrent immediatelyfollowing the kill. It seems the effectiveness of the tools to preventhabituation is relative to the pack’s level of habituation. Making decisionson which deterrent to use without factoring that part of the equation is not a sound decision.

Who’s Your Scapegoat?Another explanation of seemingly contradictory data is to see the world

from a wolf’s point of view. The reason wolves prey on the weak, the sick,and the old, is because it is safe. A wolf knows about managing riskthrough millennia of being a predator and working to make a living.

For example, biologists have documented that wolves can quickly pickout diseased animals from elk herds that are undetectable to humans andtarget those animals—running past other elk in their focused pursuit ofthe most vulnerable prey. That makes sense given how wolves interpret their


Predators—Friend or Foe? continued from page eleven

world largely through their sense of smell, which is 100 times sharper than ours. Could this be what is going on when we see an apparent kill for no rhyme or reason?

Maintaining the predator/prey interface could result in healthierlivestock such as coyotes cleaning up after birth for Bill and flies recyclingmanure, and wolves culling infection and disease. More diversity andcomplexity can contribute to stability.

Concentrate Cattle and LaborAll of the tools and practices preventing habituation will benefit from

increased stock density. But, concentrated animals also increase theeffectiveness of labor.

Concentrated animals would allow us to easily move to night penning,which has been practiced successfully in Africa for centuries. AfricanHolistic Management practitioners have much experience and knowledgein night penning. Electric fencing can increase flexibility for nightpenning by keeping predators out and being mobile and temporary.

If we are dealing with smaller livestock, like sheep or goats, this mightbe our only option if guard dogs are unable to keep the predators at bay.But cattle can learn behavior practices to enable self-sufficiency. Thosebehavior practices begin with increased stock density. Higher stock densityimproves the marginal reaction of all these practices and is the bestmarginal reaction place to start changing animal behavior.

What do we manage on the other side of the equation? Fortunatelymost wolves hunt and eat wild prey and not livestock—it's a matter ofkeeping that natural behavior in place by elevating their sense of risk.Jeremy Gingerich of Red Rock Ranch near Dillon, Montana says his bisonnot only chase coyotes away but also will even run them down andtrample them to death. Bison present risk. Can we get livestock to behavein this way? Bill Hancock in Wyoming says we can develop cullingpractices that will change our cattle behavior.

Stock Density KeyThe root cause of the problem goes back to Holistic Management’s

missing key, the predator-prey relationship. Rather than preventinginteraction between livestock and predators, progress requires developing a functional interaction between the predator and prey. The root cause ofthe problem seems to be small herds and naïve cattle.

Suzanne points out the disconnect, “Most cattle losses to wolves occurwith large cattle operations—not small ones.” The small operations arenot losing livestock to wolves because they maintain a human presence.The large herd owners have cattle scattered in low stock densities—ripe


for a wolf managing risk.We tend to think 500 to 1,000 head is a large herd, but maybe we

need herds of 10,000 or 20,000. James kept his herd of 1,000 head bunchedto one square mile but we need more density for predator protection. Nomatter what size the herd, the protection factor boils down to stock density.Only with increased stock density, and a sagacious, wry cow aiming herhorns so a predator sees risk, will we change behavior in a sustained way.That tension will provide stability better than a rifle. With a rifle, the nextgeneration needs to learn the lessons all over again.

People resist change because they lack a clear motive and/or doubttheir ability. Social pressures are providing that motive as is the knowledgethat predators bring benefits to a holistically managed ranch. And, effortslike the Sun Ranch offer new insights into our abilities to manage withpredators.

If practitioners focus human creativity, labor, and money towardsincreasing livestock density, the land will benefit from better application of disturbance/recovery ratios. If we focus our efforts on changing livestockbehavior, we will benefit with less labor, fewer livestock losses and have abetter bottom line. If we are perceived by our future resource base to havemanaged for more diversity and complexity, we will gain support for thisimportant work.

Here a guardian dog is used in combination with electric netting to protect goats from predators.

Root Cause of PredationHOLISTICGOALFuture Resource Base: Our community, Congress, the Americanpeople, and our customers, desire the presence of predators.

THE PROBLEMPredators cut into our economic sustainability both through increasedmanagement and labor to prevent loss and the actual loss.

Why?—Predators are hungry so they kill livestock.Why?—Because their prey base is not available so

they kill livestock.Why?—They have become habituated and have no fear.Why?—Because humans or livestock have not presented

a risk to them for generations.Why?—Because we either killed or protected them so there was

no generational transfer of risk to succeeding generations.Root Cause of the Problem—Domestic animals (prey) andmanagers are naïve and predators have no fear.

graze from the top down. From an animal health perspective, this grazinghas worked well. On the Northern Tablelands the regional norm is that sheepwill be drenched from six to eight times a year, the Wrights rarely drenchsheep more than once a year, if at all. This is just one example of howplanned grazing provides a higher level of control of the interactions betweenanimals and the environment.

Planning the grazing to control those factors which can be controlled by graziers is critical since there are so many variables in a grasslandenvironment. For example, wildlife can consume a significant amount ofavailable forage. The forage intake of a kangaroo could be considered at leastthe equivalent of one sheep and a wallaby could be counted as half a sheep.Other grazers that depend on grasslands such as rabbits, and small native

Multi-species grazing provides avariety of benefits, and producers inthe Northern Tablelands of NewSouth Wales, Australia have been

reaping the rewards for many years. In thisarea of Australia, the predominant multi-species grazing combination is cattle andsheep—as a means of controlling parasites.However, the most recent adaptation ofmulti-species grazing is the focus of usingthe animals to improve land health, not tojust produce income. Likewise, this focus onland health means that land managers arenow beginning to understand the need toleave plant residuals behind to enhancepasture growth and provide for therequirements of all the animals feeding onthose plants (above and below ground).

Multiple BenefitsFor years producers have run multiple

species as a way of diversifying income,controlling weeds and woody species,reclaiming land, providing guardian animals for their flocks and herds, and controlling parasites. But with holistic planned grazing, I have seenpeople move from an animalcentric approach (focused solely on animalperformance) to an ecocentric approach (focused on livestock, wildlife, and soil health).

In working with producers who have begun planned grazing in 28-32inch (700-800 mm) rainfall environment, I have seen significant increasesin SOC (Soil Organic Carbon) very quickly, up to 1 percent within a 12-month period.

Tim and Karen Wright are producers who run sheep and cattle together.They have multiple cells within which they use a leader/follower approach.Each mob commonly has access to an area for not more than one day beforemoving on. With this approach they achieve more even utilization of forage,since sheep are bottom grazers, grazing from the bottom up, while the cattle

Managing for Soil Health—Planned Grazing to Better Manage Multi-Species Grazingby Judi Earl



If you have a living soil and aremanaging holistically, you are bydefinition doing multi-species grazing. Between wildlife likekangaroos, wallabies, and cockatoos,(not to mention all the critters in thesoil) you have a host of grazers thatneed access to plant residual. With holistic planned grazing you canfactor that need into your planning.

(Left) Goats are a good species to add to a herd that predominantly has grazers. Goats prefer browse and will help control woody species infestations. In Australia, these Boer goats are being used to control blackberry bushes and thistles.

(Right) A chicken and sheep combination helps to control parasites as the chickens can reduce worm populations.


marsupials, can also have a significant influence as can a variety of birdssuch as ducks, cockatoos and galahs. And, any living soil will have acountless number of species which depend on the below ground bountyprovided by plants, including invertebrates such as mites, collembolan, andnematodes as well as protozoa, fungi and bacteria. In fact, it is the multi-species below ground that drive agricultural production.

A key component of any living soil is the amount of organic materialpresent in the soil, providing habitat and nutrition to the myriad organismsresiding there. In terms of carbon, although it constitutes a relatively smallpercentage of the overall mass of soil, it can add up. A soil of average bulkdensity with just two percent organic carbon present in the top four inches(10 cm) translates to 9.6 tons of carbon/acre or 24 tons/hectare. This carbonis essential to not only feeding soil life and pasture productivity, but alsoaffects water infiltration rates. On one trial site where planned grazing wasimplemented, within two years soil water infiltration rate increased eightfold in comparison to the conventional grazing treatment. Soil moisture significantly influences soil biological activity.

Increasing Pasture Growth RateA key driver of pasture productivity is utilization, that is, the proportion of

annual forage grown that is consumed by livestock. Our research has shownthat in our 32-inch (800mm) rainfall environment, 60 percent utilization

is the critical threshold. Assuming 7,040 pounds DM/acre (8,000 kg DM/ha)of forage is grown per year, around 40 percent 2,640 pounds DM/acre (3,000kg DM/ha) of that annual production should be planned to leave as aresidual to go back to the soil organic pool (i.e. to be used by the rest of your “uncontrolled” below ground herd of multi-species grazers mentionedabove). In this way you can be building the biological capital and productivepotential within your soil.

If you keep this ratio in mind it helps address the next issue, which is that high utilization retards pasture growth rates. The more residual greenleaf you can leave behind following any graze event (lower utilization), thefaster the pasture recovery rate will be. So the assumption that everythingshould be grazed at the three-leaf stage is actually the worst thing you can doto a pasture or an animal. That level of high utilization does not allow forthe needs of soil organisms. Because there are so many variables beyond yourcontrol, it is imperative that you plan your grazing. It’s just not possible toeffectively control pasture utilization under set stocking. Since soil healthdrives productivity, in our environment exceeding 60 percent annualutilization decreases productivity in both the short and long term. Theprocess of holistic grazing planning is the most valuable tool any grazier canapply. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why more people don’t use it.

If you look at the pasture production chart above left, you can see howplanning the grazing and leaving more residual behind can potentiallyincrease pasture growth rate. The graph shows a doubling of annual forageproduction. Planned grazing can do that within three years! And, iteliminates the need to substitute hay.

All these results demonstrate the importance of doing your best for all the critters influenced by your management. If you plan your grazing,you can control your livestock, in the knowledge you are doing your best to adequately cater for everything from the microbes in the soil up the entire grassland food chain.

This article was developed from Judi Earl’s presentation at HMI’sInternational Gathering in 2007. Judi Earl is a Certified Educator from Guyra, New South Wales, Australia. She can be reached at:[email protected].

Managing for Soil Health continued from page thirteen

Grow more by leaving more Planned grazing increases soil water infiltration — Clare South Australia

The root mass on these samples of Phalaris aquaticashow that recovery time is critical to regrow root massand keep the plant and the soil healthy.

“Anama” 2001-2005

CanadianConference...

A Success

Over 250 people from Canada, the U.S.,Mexico, and Australia participated in the Holistic Management InternationalConference held on October 22-26, 2008

in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. This conferencewas a joint initiative between ManitobaAgriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives, theManitoba Forage Council, and HolisticManagement Canada. The theme of the conferencewas “Paradigm Shifting for the Future.”

We would especially like to thank the organizingcommittee for all their hard work for making thisconference a success: Pam Iwanchysko, Larry Fisher,Jo-Lene Gardiner, Marylou Goshulak, and MarcBoulanger of the Manitoba Agriculutre, Food,and Rural Initiatives; Don Campbell, CynthiaNerbas, Perry Koss, Bruce and Patti Chern, and Blainand Naomi Hjertaas of Holistic ManagementCanada; Stan McFarlane of PFRA; and AllistarHagan, Chris Wakentin, and Samantha Winslow ofthe Manitoba Rodeo Cowboys Association.


A. Pam Iwanchysko did a brilliant job of directing the OrganizingCommittee for this conference as well as emceeing the first day of the conference.

B. After the Honorable Rosann Wowchuk, Minister of ManitobaAgriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives opened the conference, long-time Holistic Management practitioner and educator Lee Pengilly hadthe conference attendees up and moving as they participated in the“Meeting Beyond Our Borders.”

C. HMI Executive Director Peter Holter gave his presentation, “GrowingBeyond our Borders,” sharing the international story of HolisticManagement and the work of our practitioners around the world.

D. Certified Educator Don Campbell was acknowledged by Peter Holterfor his long-term commitment to spreading Holistic Management inCanada. To a standing ovation by the audience he received a plaquefrom HMI recognizing his efforts.

E. Abe Collins gave his talk “Carbon Farming in America” to anenthusiastic audience. Abe will also be presenting at HMI’s 25thAnniversary Conference on March 5-7, 2009 in Abilene, Texas.

F. HMI’s past Board Chair Ron Chapman gave a motivational speech:“Holistic Management: Save Haven or Launching Pad.” He was one ofthree motivational speakers on the program that the audience enjoyed.

G. Ivan Aguirre presented his talk “Families Preparing for the Future:Holistic Management in Mexico” sharing his family’s experience withusing Holistic Management to improve the health of the land undertheir management and provide a variety of income streams throughmultiple enterprises.

H. Gabe Brown who presented on his experience with “cocktailcropping” visited with Certified Educator trainee Blain Hjertaas whopresented on sustainable cropping.

I. Bluesette Campbell visited with Peggy Maddox at HMI’s booth. PeggyMaddox presented a workshop on Holistic Management and children.

J. Linda and Ralph Corcoran visit with Don Campbell during one of thecoffee breaks. As Certified Educator trainees, Linda and Ralph also co-taught the planned grazing workshop with fellow trainee Brian Luce.

K. Conference attendees enjoyed three-days of presentations, exhibits,workshops, food, concerts, and rodeos.

A B C D E

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T h enews from holistic management international h people, programs & projects

family is proud of what they’ve accomplished. The ranch has received recognition for its

outstanding demonstration of goodmanagement and environmental stewardship.And while the Hackleys appreciate these awards,the family’s focus is to increase its productivityand nurture the land for now and futuregenerations.

John has served on numerous boards andfoundations over the years and was mostrecently the President of HMI-Texas. He isinvolved in his local church and has served onvarious local community boards over the years.

His son, Brent, is general manager of theranch and his grandson, Hunter, takes an activeinterest in the operation. His daughter, Mary Kay,is the Director of Corporate Sales for the AustinConvention & Visitors Bureau.

HMI welcomes Jesus and John. We also wantto acknowledge the contributions of IvanAguirre who completed his term as a BoardMember and International Representative forMexico. Thank you to all our Board for theirmany hours of volunteer service!

Leopold Conservation Award

The Nebraska Cattlemen, in collaboration with Wisconsin-based Sand County

Foundation, announced that A.B. Coxof Mullen will be the 2008 Nebraska recipient of the Leopold Conservation Award given forexcellence in voluntary conservation work.

Cox is a third-generation Sandhills rancher.His family has been in the ranching business inCherry County for 103 years. Their Calf CreekRanch and 4 –O Ranch consist of about 23,000acres of deeded, leased and managed land. Theranch is mostly native range and they raisecows, calves and yearlings.

The ranch is a huge flyway for migratingducks, geese, cranes and many other birds. TheCox’s use a holistic approach to conservation aslong-time Holistic Management practitioners.

Cox manages for a sustainable cow-calfoperation including calving in April to reducehis reliance on harvested feed. They graze andrest meadows and pastures in spring, summerand winter. This practice has added value anddiversity to the meadow and pasture compositionand balances the warm season and cool season

grasses, extending the grazing season. Most of his conservation work has involved

the Nebraska Chapter for Holistic Management,the Sandhills Task Force, and Grazing LandsCoalition and has included hosting workshops,tours, clinics and schools to promoteconservation education.

Nominations were evaluated and finalistsselected by a panel of judges representing The Nebraska Department of Agriculture; The Nebraska Land Trust; The Sand Hills TaskForce; The Nebraska Environmental Trust; The Nebraska Game & Parks Commission; and The Nebraska Nature Conservancy.

Congratulations, A.B.!

Kenyan Workshops

In September 2008 HMI lead an introductorytwo-day workshop on Holistic Management

in Kenya for Participatory EnvironmentalAwareness and Resources (PEAR) andChristian Blind Mission (CBM). This programwas partially sponsored by CARE. The groupconsisted of 43 selected community membersin the Northern Samburu District livingaround the villages of Arsim, Illaut andNgurunit. Certified Educator Craig Leggettfacilitated the event with representatives of PEAR.

PEAR has been working with HeiferInternational to improve food security byintroducing camels and related enterprises intothe area. CBM has been working on water-pointdevelopment as a strategy to reduce theincidence of trachoma, a blinding disease.Together they saw the long-term need forimproved resource management across thepastoralist region in order for their efforts to be sustained.

In Memoriam

HMI was saddened to learn of the passing of Ken Peterson, who helped to bring

Holistic Management to northeast Minnesota.Ken also served on the Board of the LandStewardship Project and was an extensioneducator for the University of Minnesota.Earlier this year he was given the SustainableFarming Association’s Sustainable FarmerEmeritus Award.

New Board Members

HMI is excited to announce two new Boardof Directors!

Jesús AntonioAlmeida Valdezwas born in the city ofChihuahua,Chihuahua, Mexico.He graduated fromNew Mexico StateUniversity in 1978 witha Bachelor of Sciencedegree in Agriculture,

and in 1979, he took over administration of thefamily’s 15,000-hectare ranch in Chihuahua.

In 1987, alongside his father, Jesús AlmeidaNesbitt, Jesús took the first Holistic Managementcourse in Albuquerque. From this point, hebegan to apply Holistic Management principleson the family ranch. He has had great success inthe administration of the ranch, and incoordination with engineer Elco S. BlancoMadrid, he is now dedicated to teaching HolisticManagement and offering technical consultingand monitoring services to producers at fourdemonstration sites.

Jesús and Elco continue their work throughthe financial support of the Producers’Foundation of Chihuahua and proprietors ofranches in their area. To date, Jesús hassuccessfully trained close to 25 ranchers in thepractice of Holistic Management, so that theywill manage their ranches for good economic,ecological, and social results.

Jesús and his wife, Imelda Falomir Vallina,have seven children: Imelda, Susana, Jesús, Juan Pablo, Santiago, Teresa and Guillermo.

John Hackley isPresident of RichardsRanch, a 15,000-acre,1,100-head cow/calfoperation in NorthCentral Texas. The ranchwas established by hisfamily in 1865; John isthe 5th generation tomanage the ranch.

John graduated from Midwestern StateUniversity with a BBA and worked in thebanking industry for 8 years before returning tothe family business in 1974. In 1979, John andhis uncle began looking for more sustainableways to manage their land and the next yearthey attended their first class with Allan Savory.The ranch has now been under HolisticManagement for 28 years and the Hackley


PBS Documentary—Spread the Word!

James Hansen

In July we welcomed Phillip Diprose to the Board of HMIA. In his role as Business Development Director Phillip brings awealth of corporate and project management experience toHMIA and we look forward to progressing to the next phase.

Phillip led the development of the highly successful LachlanGrazing Management Project where 10 landholders located acrossthe Lachlan Catchment in New South Wales have established on-farm learning gyms of up to 50 acres (20 ha) where they willdemonstrate the benefits of planned, high density short durationgrazing. A funding application has been submitted seeking supportto extend the project to include 10 sites new sites in northern NewSouth Wales (NSW) and incorporate existing independent sites onboth “Kachana” in Western Australia and “Coodardie” in theNorthern Territory. Total land under the management of these 22landholders is just less than one million acres (4,000 square km).

Holistic Management training programs are currently underwayin Uralla in the Northern Tablelands NSW, and with the support of the Western CMA in Wanaaring western NSW. More courses areplanned for early 2009, see the website for details atwww.holisticmanagement.org.au. Our fresh new website is up and running thanks to the outstanding efforts of HMIA CompanySecretary, Fiona Smith. The site has many new features.

The Course in Holistic Management courses are now been fullyaccredited through the NSW Technical and Further Education (TAFE)tertiary education provider. From 2009 the Holistic Managementprogram delivered through TAFE NSW will meet the NationalStandards under the Australian Qualification Framework. Thispartnership with TAFE NSW is an exciting development and willprovide widespread exposure and greater flexibility in deliveringHolistic Management training.

Australian Certified Educators met in August at George andErica Gundry’s property ‘Willeroo.’ In advance of the meetingGeorge and Erica hosted the ‘Baselines’ forum presented by CraftACT.This was a wonderful event, supported by HMIA which highlighted thelink between art and the environment. For more details go towww.craftact.org.au/projects/baseline

Another event which HMIA has supported recently was the FrogDreaming conference. Held in conjunction with National Parks andSouthern New England Landcare, about 120 year 5 and 6 studentsfrom a number of regional schools participated in the event. Studentswere fully engaged in activities which highlighted environmentalissues and their role in the solutions.

HMIA had a strong presence at the Sustainable Living Expo in Armidale in September with a trade stand and providing threepresentations over the course of the event. Attended by over 5,000 people it was an outstanding function.

HMIA is also proudly sponsoring the Carbon Cockie competition at the Carbon Farming Conference at Orange in mid November. Theconference is being organised by Goolma-based Holistic Managementpractitioners, Louisa and Michael Kiely.

HMI Australia News

As of January 2009, the documentary The FirstMillimeter: Healing the Earth has been completed andis being marketed to public television. Thanks to thegenerous donations of the HMI community in response

to our annual appeal letter, we were able to raise theremaining money to complete production. Thanks to each andevery one of you who helped us reach our goal! And, it’s neverjust about money: Now we are asking you for your time.

When this film airs on public television, we want as manypeople as possible to see it. We will be compiling a schedule ofwhat stations will air The First Millimeter, but may only haveaccess to this information on short notice (possibly only a fewdays before it shows). We need to respond quickly to get the wordout, and we’d like your help. Please contact us if you want tohelp us spread the word in your community. Call Marisa Manciniat HMI at 505/842-5252 or send a message to [email protected] and include your contact phone oremail to receive information about airdates as it is available.

We are very excited about this opportunity to promote thisdocumentary that helps people understand the importance of soilhealth and the role that livestock and Holistic Management play.Not only do we have Allan Savory and several HolisticManagement practitioners and Certified Educators interviewed inthis documentary, we have leading authorities in land healthand global climate change helping to tie all these pieces togethersuch as James Hansen and Dr. Pushker Kharecha of the NASAGoddard Institute for Space Studies, both at the forefront ofclimate change science; Dr. Christopher Field, professor ofbiological sciences at Stanford; and Dr. Christine Jones, well-known Australian soil scientist and the driving force behindAustralia’s Soil Carbon Accreditation Scheme.

Thank you to all that have contributed to making thishappen!


CALIFORNIABill Burrows12250 Colyear Springs RoadRed Bluff, CA 96080530/529-1535 • 530/200-2419 (c)[email protected]

Richard King1675 Adobe Rd.Petaluma, CA 94954707/769-1490707/794-8692(w)[email protected]

Kelly MulvilleP.O Box 323, Valley Ford, CA 94972-0323707/431-8060; 707/[email protected]

* Rob RutherfordCA Polytechnic State UniversitySan Luis Obispo, CA 93407805/[email protected]

COLORADOJoel BensonP.O. Box 4924, Buena Vista, CO 81211719/395-6119 • [email protected]

Cindy Dvergsten17702 County Rd. 23, Dolores, CO 81323970/[email protected]

Daniela and Jim HowellP.O. Box 67, Cimarron, CO 81220-0067970/249-0353 • [email protected]

Craig Leggett2078 County Rd. 234, Durango, CO 81301970/[email protected]

Byron Shelton33900 Surrey Lane, Buena Vista, CO 81211719/395-8157 • [email protected]

Tom WaltherP.O. Box 1158Longmont, CO 80502-1158510/[email protected]

GEORGIAConstance Neely635 Patrick PlaceAtlanta, GA 30320706/[email protected]

IOWA* Margaret SmithIowa State University,CES Sustainable Agriculture972 110th St., Hampton, IA 50441-7578515/[email protected]

LOUISIANATina PilioneP.O. 923, Eunice, LA 70535phone: 337/[email protected]

MAINEVivianne Holmes239 E. Buckfield Rd.Buckfield, ME 04220-4209207/[email protected]

Tobey Williamson52 Center St., Portland, ME 04101207/774-2458 [email protected]

MICHIGANBen BartlettN4632 ET Road, Traunik, MI 49891906/439-5210 (h) • 906/439-5880 (w)[email protected]

Larry Dyer604 West 8th Ave. Sault Sainte Marie, MI 49783906/248-3354 x4245 (w)906/253-1504 (h) • [email protected]

MONTANAWayne Burleson322 N. Stillwater Rd., Absarokee, MT 59001406/[email protected]

Roland Kroos 4926 Itana Circle, Bozeman, MT 59715406/[email protected]

* Cliff MontagneP.O. Box 173120Montana State University Department of Land Resources &Environmental ScienceBozeman, MT 59717406/994-5079 • [email protected]

NEBRASKATerry GompertP.O. Box 45Center, NE 68724-0045402/288-5611 (w)[email protected]

Paul Swanson5155 West 12th St., Hastings, NE 68901402/[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 International1010 Tijeras NWAlbuquerque, NM 87102505/[email protected]

Kirk GadziaP.O. Box 1100, Bernalillo, NM 87004505/867-4685(f) 505/[email protected]

NEW YORKPhil Metzger99 N. Broad St., Norwich, NY 13815607/334-3231 x4 (w) • 607/334-2407 (h)

John Thurgood15 Farone Dr., Apt. E26Oneonta, NY 13820-1331607/643-2804 • [email protected]

NORTH DAKOTAWayne Berry1611 11th Ave. WestWilliston, ND 58801701/[email protected]

OREGONAndrea & Tony MalmbergP.O. Box 167, LaGrande, OR 97850541/[email protected]@LifeEnergy.us

PENNSYLVANIAJim Weaver428 Copp Hollow Rd.Wellsboro, PA 16901-8976570/724-7788 • [email protected]

TEXASChristina Allday-Bondy2703 Grennock Dr., Austin, TX 78745512/[email protected]

Guy Glosson6717 Hwy. 380, Snyder, TX 79549806/[email protected]

U N I T E D S T A T E S

U N I T E D S T A T E S

TEXASPeggy MaddoxP.O. Box 694, Ozona, TX 76943-0694325/392-2292, [email protected]

R. H. (Dick) RichardsonUniversity of Texas at AustinSection of Integrative BiologySchool of Biological SciencesAustin, TX 78712512/471-4128

WASHINGTONCraig MadsenP.O. Box 107, Edwall, WA 99008509/236-2451 • [email protected]

Sandra Matheson228 E. Smith Rd., Bellingham, WA 98226360/398-7866 • [email protected]

Doug Warnock1880 SE Larch Ave.College Place, WA 99324509/540-5771 • 509/856-7101 (c)[email protected]

WEST VIRGINIAFred Hays P.O. Box 241, Elkview, WV 25071304/[email protected]

WISCONSINAndy Hager W. 3597 Pine Ave., Stetsonville, WI 54480-9559715/678-2465

* Laura PaineWisconsin DATCP N893 Kranz Rd., Columbus, WI 53925608/224-5120 (w) • 920/623-4407 (h)[email protected]

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

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

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

Certified Educators

Certified Educators

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

AUSTRALIAJudi Earl73 Harding E., Guyra, NSW [email protected]

Mark GardnerP.O. Box 1395, Dubbo, NSW [email protected]

Paul GriffithsP.O. Box 3045, North Turramura, NSW 2074, Sydney, NSW61-2-9144-3975 • [email protected]

George Gundry Willeroo, Tarago, NSW 258061-2-4844-6223 • [email protected]

Graeme Hand 150 Caroona Lane, Branxholme, VIC 330261-3-5578-6272 (h) • 61-4-0996-4466 (c)[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]

KENYAChristine C. JostInternational Livestock Research InstituteBox 30709, Nairobi 00100254-20-422-3000; 254-736-715-417 (c)[email protected]

Belinda LowP.O. Box 15109, Langata, [email protected]

MEXICO

Arturo Mora BenitezSan Juan Bosco 169Fracc., La MisiónCelaya, Guanajuato 3801652-461-615-7632 • [email protected]

Elco Blanco-MadridHacienda de la Luz 1803Fracc. Haciendas del Valle IIChihuahua, Chih 3123852/614-423-4413 (h) • 52/614-415-0176 (f)[email protected]

MEXICO

Ivan A. Aguirre IbarraP.O. Box 304, Hermosillo, Sonora 8300052-1-662-289-0900 (from U.S.)[email protected]

NAMIBIA

Usiel KandjiiP.O. Box 23319, Windhoek264-61-205-2324 [email protected]

Wiebke VolkmannP.O. Box 9285, Windhoek264-61-225183 or [email protected]

NEW ZEALAND

John KingP.O. Box 12011Beckenham, Christchurch [email protected]

SOUTH AFRICA

Jozua LambrechtsP.O. Box 5070Helderberg, Somerset West, Western Cape 713527-21-851-5669; 27-21-851-2430 (w)[email protected]

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

AUSTRALIAHelen LewisP.O. Box 1263, Warwick, QLD 437061-7-46617393 • [email protected]

Brian MarshallP.O. Box 300, Guyra NSW 236561-2-6779-1927 • fax: [email protected]

Bruce WardP.O. Box 103, Milsons Pt., NSW 156561-2-9929-5568fax: [email protected]

Brian Wehlburgc/o “Sunnyholt”, Injune, QLD [email protected]

Jason VirtueMary River Park1588 Bruce Highway SouthGympie, QLD [email protected]

CANADA

Don CampbellBox 817 Meadow Lake, SK S9X 1Y6306/[email protected]

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION $150

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

TO REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE:Send a check payable to Sustainability Conference in the amount of

your registration fee to: Sustainability Conference c/o KCCD, 607 E. Mountain View Ave., Ellensburg, WA 98962

or call 509/525-3389 for more information.

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

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

and Joel Huesby!

PACIFIC NORTHWEST Sustaining Agriculture

C O N F E R E N C E

FEBRUARY10-12, 2009

RICHLAND, WASHINGTON

SOUTH AFRICAIan Mitchell-InnesP.O. Box 52, Elandslaagte 290027-36-421-1747; [email protected]

Dick RichardsonP.O. Box 1853, Vryburg 8600tel/fax: 27-082-934-6139;[email protected]

SPAINAspen EdgeApartado de Correos 19, 18420 Lanjaron, Granada(0034)[email protected]

UNITED KINGDOMPhilip Bubb32 Dart Close, St. Ives, Cambridge, PE27 3JB44-1480-496-2925 (h); 44-1223-814-662 (w)[email protected]

ZIMBABWEAmanda Atwood27 Rowland Square, Milton Park, Harare263-23-233-760; [email protected]

Sunny MoyoAfrica Centre for Holistic ManagementP. Bag 5950, Victoria Falls;[email protected]; 263-13-42199 (w)

Holis

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HMI’s Certifi ed Educator Training Program is an individualized two-year training program developed to produce excellent Holistic Management facilitators, coaches, and instructors. Tailored to meet your needs and interests.

TO LEARN MORE, CONTACT: Ann Adams • [email protected] • 505/842-5252http://www.holisticmanagement.org/n7/Certifi ed_Educators/CE9_ITP.html

Want to make the world a better place?

Interested in teaching others about Holistic Management?

THE MARKETPLACE


For consulting or educational services contact:Kinsey Agricultural Services, Inc.

297 County Highway 357Charleston, Missouri 63834

Ph: 573/683-3880 • F: 573/[email protected]

WE ACCEPT CREDIT CARD ORDERS (VISA, MC)

IMPROVINGPASTURELAND

ON A LIMITED FERTILIZER BUDGET

When keeping livestock, the cost of growing feed is always a big factor to consider, especially since fertil-izer has raised so much in price. Some have even concluded that at such high prices it is just too expen-sive to fertilize pastures. But to the extent possible, growing good feed for your animals as pasture and

hay is always preferable to buying it elsewhere. Still far too many who have the land for growing hay and pas-ture dismiss such possibilities based on poor crop performance in past years.

Those who entertain such thoughts should consider trying another approach to growing pasture on a budg-et. It is possible to build soil fertility, improve production and increase feed quality even on poorer pasture soilsby wisely considering the application of fertilizer and soil amendments.

Considering current fertilizer prices, can such attempts possibly be worthwhile? YES!

Truly, when soils are not performing at their best, something is missing, and not justnitrogen or the major nutrients that can be supplied by use of a simple N-P-K fertiliz-er mix. We specialize in advice for helping to rebuild soils to supply improved nutritionand yields.

You don’t have to start with the whole spread! Just take one small pasture and fol-low through to the extent the budget will allow by requesting the nutrients be priori-tized according to importance. Based on the soil analysis, a written evaluation of eachindividual sample in terms of strengths and/or weaknesses may also be requested.(Recommended fertilizers to supply nutrient needs for the intended crop are included inthe cost of the soil analysis. Prioritizing nutrient needs and the written evaluation arenot included in the basic cost, but are available upon request for an extra charge.)

READ ABOUT ONE OF OUR CLIENTS’ EXPERIENCE WITH REVERSING THE PROBLEMS OF POOR PERFORMING PASTURES.

“. . . these results are all from a FIVE acre pasture! We have only ten acres,about ten ewes, some feeder lambs and two horses. Originally I hoped that wecould have a very small 100% grass-fed lamb operation. Unfortunately my sheepdied off one at a time.”

“. . . applied the first of . . . (your) fertilizer (recommendations) to our pasturesin mid or late February (2008).There was enough growth to turn the ewes out bythe first of March, about a month early. By the first of May I had clipped the pas-ture twice and by mid-May the pasture had entirely gotten away from me. I madethe decision to cut the pasture for hay . . . and harvested 13 tons of gorgeous greenhay in mid-June.”

“Within a week, the fescue had shot up and was ready to start grazing. Theewes have almost all lambed, and are turned out on the pasture, when it is nor-mally dead and gone.”

“We have had no nutritionally related problems with lambing, which is a first.Many of the lambs have been born too weak to nurse in the past. Something wasmissing.”

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PASSING ON THE LEGACY:

Celebrating 25 Years of Holistic ManagementMarch 5-7, 2009Hilton Garden Inn, Abilene, Texas

Join HMI-Texas and Holistic Management International as they celebrate

HMI’s 25th ANNIVERSARY!

Hold the Date . . .

SPEAKERS and WORKSHOP PRESENTERS INCLUDE:

Allan SavoryJody Butterfield

Peter HolterElmer Kelton

Zachary JonesTom German

Abe CollinsTerry Gompert

Betsy RossAmy Hardberger

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

LEARN ABOUT: Keyline, Planned Grazing,Carbon Sequestration, Holistic PolicyAnalysis and Design, Estate Planning, Introduction to Holistic Management,Holistic Financial Planning, and muchmore! Watch for our next ad with more speakers and presenters listed.

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Small Groups. Get Started Now.

Start Using Holistic Management Today!

Join Our Distance Learning Program

Find More Details On The Web at www.wholenewconcepts.com

By Phone at 970-882-4222 or e-mail us [email protected]

4926 Itana Circle • Bozeman, MT 59715

The Business of Ranching

Roland R.H. Kroos(406) 522.3862 • Cell: 581.3038

Email: [email protected]

• On-Site, Custom Courses

• Holistic Business Planning

• Ranchers Business Forum

• Creating Change thru

Grazing Planning and

Land Monitoring


Kirk L. Gadzia, Certified EducatorPO Box 1100

Bernalillo, NM 87004

505-263-8677

[email protected]

Holistic Management Resource Classes

February 2-7, 2009

Introduction to Holistic Management

Feb. 2-4: $495

Advanced Holistic Management Training

(Requires prior attendance at Intro. Session)

Feb. 5-7: $495

Comprehensive

Holistic Management Training

Feb. 2-7: $895

Repeat Policy:

Repeat attendance is encouraged.

$100 booking fee.

Remember, profitable agriculture is not about harder work.... It is about making better decisions!

For more information and registration,

visit our new website

Pasture

Scene

Investigation

Resource Management

Services, LLC

www.resourcemanagementservices.com.

Livestock

Advertise

CLASSIFIEDS

THE MARKETPLACE


The practice of Holistic Management® has improvedour relationships, enabled us to run profitable enter-prises, enhanced the health of the land, animals andpeople that have enriched our lives, and given uspeace of mind when faced with troubled times. Welook forward to sharing what we have learned with youand building your capacity to create the life you desire.

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

Tony & Andrea Malmberg768TwinCreekRoad • Lander,WY82520U.S.A. • [email protected] •[email protected] •www.LifeEnergy.us

LIFE�

Tony &AndreaMalmbergHolistic Management® Certified Educators

Low RatesInternational Audience

Contact Ann Adams at 505/842-5252 or

[email protected]

Advertise in. . .

In Practicea publication of Holistic Management International

BARZONA RANGE BULLSF.J. FITZPATRICK • HIGHLY GREGARIOUS DESERT CATTLE 714/749-5717 • P.O. BOX 41 • SILVERADO, CA 92676

[email protected]

5 Bar Beef Harvesting the Deserts of the World

HMI

March Courses

To register for these classes, contact

HMI Texas at www.hmitexas.org or 325/348-3014

ALL CLASSES HELD IN ABILENE, TEXAS(in conjunction with the 25th Anniversary Conference)

Special package

discounts

available!

Introduction to Holistic

ManagementMarch 4-5, 2009

Holistic FinancialPlanning

March 8-9, 2009

———— INSTRUCTOR: TERRY GOMBERT ————

Books & MultimediaHolistic Management: A New Framework for Decision-Making,

_ Second Edition, by Allan Savory with Jody Butterfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $39

_ Hardcover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $55

_ 15-set CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $99

_ One month rental of CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $35

_ Spanish Version (soft). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25

_ Holistic Management Handbook, by Butterfield, Bingham, Savory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $27

_ At Home With Holistic Management, by Ann Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20

_ Holistic Management: A New Environmental Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10

_ Improving Whole Farm Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $13

_ Video: Creating a Sustainable Civilization—An Introduction to Holistic Decision-Making, based on a lecture given by Allan Savory. (VHS/DVD/PAL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30

_ Stockmanship, by Steve Cote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $35

_ The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook, by Shannon Hayes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25

_ The Oglin, by Dick Richardson & Rio de la Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25

_ Gardeners of Eden, by Dan Dagget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25

_ Video: Healing the Land Through Multi-Species Grazing (VHS/DVD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30

TO ORDERIndicate quantity in box preceding item, print shipping address at right, mail thispage (or a copy) and your check or international money order payable in U.S.funds from a U.S. bank only to: Holistic Management International, 1010 Tijeras NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102Credit card orders: 505/842-5252, or fax: 505/843-7900. For online ordering visit our secure website at: www.holisticmanagement.org

Subscribe to IN PRACTICE_ A bimonthly journal for Holistic Management practitioners

Subscribe for 1 year for only $35/U.S. ($40/International)2 years ($65/U.S.; $70/International) 3 years ($95/U.S.; $105/International)

_ Gift Subscriptions (same prices as above).

_ Special Edition: An Introduction to Holistic Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5

_ Compact Disk Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$14

_ Bulk subscriptions available.One year for $17 each/U.S., or $22 each/International______ Please indicate number of one-year subscriptions

_ Back Issues: $5 each; bulk orders (5 or more issues) $3 each. List Please indicate issue numbers desired: ___,___,___,___,___,___,___,___,___,___

_ CD of Back Issues: #71 - 89 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$25

Planning and Monitoring Guides

_ Introduction to Holistic ManagementAugust 2007, 128 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$25

_ Financial PlanningAugust 2007, 58 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17

_ Aide Memoire for Grazing PlanningAugust 2007, 63 pages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17

_ Early Warning Biological Monitoring— CroplandsApril 2000, 26 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$14

_ Early Warning Biological Monitoring—Rangelands and GrasslandsAugust 2007, 59 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17

_ Land Planning—For The Rancher or Farmer Running LivestockAugust 2007, 31 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17

Planning Forms (All forms are padded – 25 sheets per pad)

_Annual Income & Expense Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17

_Worksheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$ 7

_Livestock Production Worksheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17

_Control Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$ 5

_Grazing Plan & Control Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17

MAKE A TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION

Amount $_____________ Please designate program you would like us

to apply contribution toward _________________________________________

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 AND HANDLINGTo rates at left, for:Canada add $10 Other countries add $20

All shipping is surface or media mail.

Contact HMI for shipping rates for priority,

express or air mail.

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT MAIL ORDER EMPORIUMHOLISTIC MANAGEMENT MAIL ORDER EMPORIUM

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

SoftwareHolistic Management® Financial Planning (single-user license) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $249 Please specify PC or Mac, Office ‘95 or ‘97, 2000, XP, or 2003 and version of Excel you are using

Pocket CardsHolistic Management® Framework & testing questions, March 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$4

a publication of Holistic Management International1010 Tijeras NWAlbuquerque, NM 87102USA

return service requested

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

NON-PROFITORGANIZATION

U.S. POSTAGE PAIDALBUQUERQUE, NM

PERMIT NO 880


Printed on recycled paper

#123 In Practice JAN/FEB 2009

Documents

Transcript of #123 In Practice JAN/FEB 2009