#133 In Practice,, SEP/OCT 2010

Dairy Pasture Grazing Management—Improving Organic Matter and PasturePerformance While Maintaining Milk Productionby Tracy Favre and Kelly Shea

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010 NUMBER 133 WWW.HOLIST ICMANAGEMENT.ORG

healthy land.sustainable future.

From the Board Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Texas Regional Office Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Certified Educators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

NEWS and NETWORK

LAND and LIVESTOCKEconomics of Biodiversity—The Market Value of Biological CapitalJOHN KING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Cropping to Maximize Soil Cover, Energy Flow, and Diversity TONY MCQUAIL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12When All is in Balance—Managing in Nature GEORGE WAGNER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

FEATURE STORIES

In today’s challenging economic times, dairypasture management techniques that canimprove pasture performance whilemaintaining milk production are critical to

controlling costs. If, additionally, those sametechniques can also improve overall landhealth, and increase soil organic matter, then adairy operation can significantly benefit bothnow and into the future.

Holistic planned grazing can offer dairiestechniques for managing grazing pastures insuch a way that costs of production, particularlyfeed costs, can be reduced; and pastureperformance improved, while building soilhealth and increasing soil organic matter.

In this article we explore the challengesassociated with organic dairy pasturemanagement and how the implementation of aholistic planned grazing program is being used atHorizon Organic to control costs while improvingoverall land health, including increasing soilorganic matter (sometimes through conjunctionwith other management tools).

Project BackgroundIn 2005, Horizon Organic, a nationally

recognized organic dairy company, engagedHolistic Management International (HMI) toprovide training and mentoring in HolisticManagement processes to dairy staff at thecompany owned farms, beginning at theirMaryland and Idaho locations and then at ajoint venture in New Mexico. The impetusbehind the program was recognition of the needto continue to advance sustainability programsfor pasture management, addressing USDAregulations (as the dairies are certified organic),and without sacrificing milk production orprofitability.

In a variety of settings and climates, HolisticManagement, and the tool of holistic plannedgrazing, has been shown to enhance forageproduction and increase soil organic matter, whilemaintaining animal performance. The challengefor this particular program was implementationof these processes in complex dairy operations,across multiple locations and within a matrixeddecision-making environment.

A Holistic ApproachThe foundation of Holistic Management

principles is that the natural world functions inwholes, and therefore must be managed as such.Horizon is dedicated to the principle that thenatural complexity of land, livestock, and plantsare inter-related and must be managed together,not separately. This means that for the program tobe successful, pasture management must becomea function of the overall objectives of theoperation. The “holistic” approach focuses onregenerating the environment and managing allaspects of the dairy farms, not individually but aspart of a whole ecosystem.

A well-run, holistically managed pastureconverts sunlight into milk through cows. Thepastureland’s health is crucial to the cow’s healthand that relates to and benefits consumers, thesurrounding community, and the environment.“Sustainable” or “regenerative” agriculturecannot be an event, a prescription, or a standard.It must be an ongoing process of producing, whileactually regenerating and even enhancing naturalresources. This process sustains life for thecommunities that surround the dairy farms—now and in the future.

A holisticgoal ties each of the dairy farms to anoverall vision that guides their approach to

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

RESILIENCE

Resilience on the Prairie Edge—The 777 Buffalo RanchKIRK GADZIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Integrating Holistic Management andPermaculture for Land PlanningBY MARY JOHNSON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Data Mine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

With planned grazing the 777 BuffaloRanch has been able to allow foradequate recovery of prairie grasses asevidenced in this picture.

To learn more, turn to page 5.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

2 IN PRACTICE � September / October 2010

Holistic Management International works to reverse the degradation of private and

communal land used for agriculture and conservation, restore its health and

productivity, and help create sustainable andviable livelihoods for the people who depend on it.

STAFFPeter Holter . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chief Executive OfficerTracy Favre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Senior DirectorJutta von Gontard . . . . . Senior Director of

Programs & GrantsKelly King . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chief Financial OfficerAnn Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Managing Editor,

IN PRACTICE and Senior Director of Education

Amy Normand . . . . . . . . . . . Regional Director, TexasDonna Torrez . . . . . . . . . . . Manager: Administration

& Executive SupportPeggy Cole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Regional Project Manager,

TexasLiz Goulding . . . . . . . . . . . . . Administrative Associate,

TexasMary Girsch-Bock . . . . . Communications AssociateValerie Grubbs . . . . . . . . . Accounting AssociateCarrie Nelson . . . . . . . . . . . Education Associate

BOARD OF DIRECTORSBen Bartlett, Chair

Ron Chapman, Past ChairRoby Wallace, Vice-ChairJohn Hackley, Secretary

Christopher Peck, Treasurer

Sallie Calhoun Clint JoseyLee Dueringer Jim McMullan

Judi Earl Jim ParkerGail Hammack Maryann West

Ian Mitchell Innes Dennis Wobeser

The David West Station for Holistic Management

Tel: 325/392-2292 • Cel: 325/[email protected]

Joe & Peggy Maddox, Ranch Managers

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

by: Holistic Management International1010 Tijeras NW,

Albuquerque, NM 87102, 505/842-5252, fax: 505/843-7900;

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

COPYRIGHT © 2010

HMI was originally founded in 1984 by Allan Savory and Jody Butterfield. They have since left to pursue other ventures.


managing the land. Dairy farm managementdecisions consider the environmental, social(animals and people), and economicimplications.

At the heart of the holisticgoal is a futureresource base description, which describes whatresources: land, labor, capital, etc., must bemaintained for the operation to reach its goals. Inthe case of the dairy operations, managementalong with dairy staff developed a future resourcebase for each location. The future resource basefor one dairy location reads:

“The dairy is a pasture-based dairy thatmaximizes forage productivity whilesimultaneously balancing the needs of theanimals, the health of the pasture, labor, andcapital expenditures. Crop production is anintegral part of the dairy operations, and pasturesare a mixture of both perennials and annuals.The pasture ratio of perennials to annualsmaximizes forage throughout the year and maychange, according to productivity and efficiency.Weed control, including quack grass control, isimportant from both a pasture and a cow healthstandpoint. All tools that comply with organic andlocal/state/federal regulations are available to use.These may include mowing, interseeding,aerating, irrigating, grazing, composting, andothers. As land is transitioned to organic, dairymanagement will create appropriate capitalexpenditure plans for necessary infrastructure,such as permanent/temporary fencing, irrigation,livestock water, and travel lanes for increasedefficiency and increased health of the land.”

Horizon recognized the value in sustainablepasture management, both as it relates to beinggood stewards of the lands they manage, as wellas a means of controlling production costs whilemaintaining animal wellbeing. The futureresource base for each location provides to dairypersonnel the long-term vision of the operationtowards which management should be based.Annual monitoring provides the yardstick by

which to measure progress towards the futurevision. Because each dairy operation is pasturebased, long-term sustainable management ofpastures is critical to the dairy’s success. The toolof holistic planned grazing provides the means bywhich personnel can ensure that forageproduction and quality is maintained whilemaintaining milk production.

The overall format of the Holistic ManagementFramework is: Plan, Implement, Monitor, Control(for minor adjustments) and/or Re-plan (formajor corrections). An assumption is made at theplanning stage that any plan might be wrong,and monitoring systems are put in place tocapture the first indicator for deviation from plan.

Implementing Holistic Planned GrazingIn any environment, overgrazing and damage

from trampling bear little relationship to thenumber of animals, but rather relate to theamount of time plants and soils are exposed to theanimals. Much of the land deterioration that hasoccurred in brittle environments around the worldbegan when humans severed the vital relationshipbetween grazing animals and grass. Through thecow-to-grass relationship on Horizon’s farms,management can more accurately predict how theland is responding to their management practices.

The complexity of holistic planned grazingimplementation at a dairy operation begins withthe frequent herd moves required for dailymilking, and continues with management ofmultiple herds that are inherent in Horizon’s dairyoperation, the coordination of pasture irrigation,and crop management.

In order to ensure sufficient pasture forage fordairy herds on a finite amount of land, thepastures must be managed for maximum forageproduction, while at the same time, providinghigh quality forage necessary for animalwellbeing and consistent milk production. Holisticplanned grazing is based on age-old predator/preydynamics. The dairy cattle are managed so that

Dairy Pasture Grazing Management continued from page one

Cows inpasturebeingmanagedwith holisticplannedgrazing

they are bunched fairly closely together, grazingand moving constantly across the currentpaddock. The timing of paddock moves isdependent on the volume and quality of forageavailable, making sure to provide for sufficientrecovery of pasture plants before grazing again.

The three farms in which the company isinvested all have rigorous pasture amendmentprograms. However, the additional benefits ofholistic planned grazing are the ability to utilizethe tool of animal impact to deposit plant litterand to break up soil surfaces creating idealconditions for germination of new seedlings,along with the deposition of beneficial microbesfrom the rumens of the grazing animals to thesoil to create soil environments that supportbreakdown of organic matter and help speed re-mineralization.

Ideally, grazing management is planned priorto the beginning of each grazing season, withherd moves and paddock configurationdetermined by the availability of planned forageand total herd numbers. Herd moves are plannedin advance so that an estimate can be made of theforage available during the grazing season,including provisions for any stockpiling of foragefor the non-growing season. Grazing plans arecharted out using specially designed grazingmanagement forms. The planning charts includeprovisions for recording plans for planting of anyannual crops, irrigation requirements, etc. Thevisual format of the charts allows for quickrecognition of any conflicts between plannedgrazing and other operational activities.

Grazing planning is an iterative process, withplanned moves modified as forage production andgrazing operations are evaluated throughout thegrowing season. As the grazing season progresses,the charts are updated for both planned andactual herd moves, so that a historical record ofthe grazing that actually has taken place iscaptured, as well as projections for future herdmoves. At the end of a grazing season, theinformation captured on that season’s grazingcharts are analyzed to assist in planning for theupcoming season.

Depending upon the geographic location ofthe dairy, the milking herd, heifers, and dry cowsmay all be out on grazing pastures as early as lateMarch to the first week in May. The challenge inthe spring green-up is to manage the forage sothat the herds begin grazing late enough toensure quality forage, but not so late as to allowpastures grazed subsequently to have becomeoverly mature. Using the holistic planned grazingcharts from previous seasons allows the dairy staffto evaluate which pastures should be grazed first,with the objective of not grazing early in theseason on the same paddocks as were grazed early

the previous season. Without close attention to thisinformation, early grazing of the same paddocksin multiple years can led to gradual pasturequality decline.

An objective of Horizon is perennial pastures,with annual pastures used as necessary to makeup for any summer slump in perennialproduction. Grazing management is thereforegeared to maximize perennial forage production.Grazing at the dairies for both irrigated and anynon-irrigated native pastures are managed in thesame way, with the realization that non-irrigatednative pastures will require additional recoverytime compared to the irrigated pastures.

With the milking, heifers, and dry-cow herdsall out on pastures during the grazing season, theoverall feed ration at the bunk is reduced withoutloss of animal wellbeing or milk production.However, close attention must be paid to theformulation of the supplemental feed ration toaccommodate the changing nutritional content ofthe grazed forage throughout the growing season.

MonitoringAs the structure of the Holistic Management

framework is, “Plan, Implement, Monitor, Controland Re-plan,” annual pasture monitoring andsoil testing are components of the program. Eachdairy has established permanent monitoringtransects where data is collected on an annualbasis by dairy staff. Transects are located based ontheir ability to be representative of either soil orforage types, thus not requiring transects in eachpaddock. During the data collection process,photos are taken both laterally along thetransects, and directly downward to depict the soilsurface conditions. Data from a number ofrandomly selected monitoring points along thetransect, as selected by the throw of a dart or otheranchoring tool, are collected. Indicators of forageand soil health are collected, including, but notlimited to, the following: distance to nearestperennial plant, condition of nearest perennialplant, average distance between plants, plant andanimal species inventory, insect and/or animalactivity (including worm castings) and litter cover.

In addition, each dairy also collects soil samplesto track soil organic matter and to test for any soilamendment requirements. Water infiltration ratesand penetration depths are measured for feedbackinto the irrigation programs so that water isconserved to the fullest extent possible. Theirrigation program is closely monitored to react toand reflect changing soil moisture and changingweather conditions.

The analysis of this monitoring data is thenfed back into the grazing planning activities fornext season, and should the data indicate thatgrazing management is not leading towards thefuture resource base, as defined for that dairy,grazing planning for the upcoming season ismodified accordingly.

Project ImplementationThe training program at each dairy typically

involves a Holistic Management® CertifiedEducator (CE) being on-site for two days eachmonth. During the early stages of the program,the HMI CE’s provided training on the basicconcepts of Holistic Management to designateddairy personnel. As the program has progressed,monthly activities include working with dairy staffto review grazing moves during the previousmonths and to discuss any challenges orquestions they might have. Additionally, the HMICE walks the pastures to assess current forageproduction and to evaluate the grazing decisionsthat have been made.

As part of the on-going evaluation of the dairypersonnel, HMI developed a skills set evaluationform that allows the CE’s to track the progress ofthe transfer of skills of individuals. Theseevaluations are ideally done at least twice per year,but at a minimum should be conducted annually.The intent of the training and mentoring programis to transfer the necessary skills to designateddairy personnel so that they can continue theHolistic Management processes on their own.

Challenges with ImplementationWhile, overall the program has been

Number 133 � IN PRACTICE 3

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Cows are healthierdue to increasedexercise, at timeswalking up to oneand a half milesfrom the milkingparlor to pasture.

successful, it has not been without its challenges.For example with the recent economic downturn,Horizon made a decision to reduce herd sizes andmilk output from its company operations, therebyprotecting the family producer-partner farmsacross the U.S. that were also shipping milk to thebrand. As a result, the fluctuating herd sizes havemeant mid-season re-planning of the grazingmanagement; changes in paddock configurationshave been required to facilitate these and othermanagement changes. The necessity of multipleherds at each dairy has increased the complexityof the grazing management, as each herd requiresits own grazing plan. In some cases personnelturnover has meant the loss of someorganizational knowledge and retraining hasbeen required. Additionally, in an integrated dairyoperation such as these, crop production andirrigation schedules all require coordination withgrazing management.

The ResultsAs biological processes operate on a different

time scale than economic conditions, the ability tostay the course despite operational changes hasbeen important. After four years of implementationof the holistic planned grazing at the three dairies,the results have been very encouraging.

Because of increased pasture productivity, onaverage, the grazing season is beginning earlierand ending later in the year. At the Idaho dairy,grazing in 2008 continued into November for themilking herd and dry cows grazed into December.Some annuals are grazed to allow for the summerslump in production of perennial pastures.

The dairy herds are exhibiting good health.The increased distances they are traveling to graze(up to one and a half miles from the milkingparlor) have resulted in increased exercise,contributing to decreased hoof and leg problems,with less hoof maintenance required. Healthycows have meant healthy calving.

Native pastures have shown an increase indesirable species and a reduction in noxious

species, and an earlier green-up in spring, with noadditional inputs, outside of those provided by thegrazing herds. The Idaho dairy is able to obtainroughly 30 days of grazing from non-irrigatednative pastures, further extending the grazingperiod, while allowing sufficient recovery ofirrigated pastures. Without the benefits of holisticplanned grazing, some native non-irrigatedpastures adjacent to the dairy properties haveexhibited significant degradation, showing bothdeclines in species diversity and increases in plantspacing with the associated increase in bareground and soil erosion.

All of the dairies have shown an increase inDry Matter Intake (DMI) from pastures. DMI hastrended towards 40% for the milking herd, whileDMI for dry cows trended towards 80%. Increasesin DMI off pasture at one dairy translated into asmuch as a 26% decrease in feed costs during thegrazing season.

Annual monitoring has shown an increasingtrend in soil organic matter, water penetration,and carrying capacity.

The Holistic Management framework of “Plan,Implement, Monitor, Control and Re-plan” hasenabled the entirety of this program to remainflexible in the face of changing conditions. As apractical example of how this has worked, theHolistic Management framework guided theIdaho dairy in their decision to modify theirirrigation program for the pastures around thedairy barns, and conserve the valuable waterresource, when monitoring of the irrigation planindicated that adjustments were required.

Grassland Carbon SequestrationIn a recent presentation by J. Franzluebbers of

the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a comparativeanalysis in various agricultural uses indicatesthat, second to forests, grasslands exhibit thehighest concentration of soil organic carbon(SOC). Franzluebbers’ presentation continueswith an analysis of the influence of managementon the grassland’s ability to sequester soil carbon.

While his presentation concludes moreinformation is necessary to definitely understandthe effects of management on SOC in variousclimates, initial data indicates that perennialpastures with managed grazing contain higherconcentrations of SOC than those pastures whichhad been harvested for hay, and higher still thanland used for conventional crop farming, withperennial grasslands having the potential ofsequestering between .25–1.0 Mg of Carbon perhectare (2.47 acres) per year.

The Holistic Management program at theHorizon farms and the tool of holistic plannedgrazing provide vehicles for Horizon to activelymanage pastures so as to create the idealconditions for capturing soil organic carbon. Notonly does increased SOC benefit Horizon throughincreased soil fertility and increased water holdingcapacity, the ability to increase SOC demonstratesthat agricultural practices can be regenerative andcan benefit the larger environment. With adoptionof practices that encourage SOC sequestration,agricultural producers can help mitigate climatechange, providing financial, environmental andsocial benefit to all.

The focus of the Holistic Managementprogram for Horizon Organic is on managing thecomplex interaction of the growth and vitality ofthe grass, the state of the soil, the number of cowsgrazing, and the duration of grazing. The holisticplanned grazing approach follows the naturalgrazing behaviors of herds as they graze, fertilizethe land, and move on, satisfying their nutritionalneeds while leaving the pastures and soil in ahealthy state. Grazing is managed and timedcarefully to ensure the health of the animals andthe microenvironment of the soil’s surface, whilemaintaining milk production and operationalperformance.

While still evolving, the Holistic Managementprogram with the tool of holistic planned grazinghas helped Horizon Organic structure theirpasture and grazing management program insuch a way to meet the organization’s long-termsustainability goals. Horizon Organic’s dedicationto holistic land management and regenerativepractices has helped make a significant impact onthe environment.

This article is based on a presentationpresented at the Grazing Lands CoalitionInitiative Annual Conference in Reno, Nevadain December 2009. Tracy Favre is SeniorDirector of Contract Services for HMI and canbe reached at [email protected] Shea is Vice President of Government andIndustry Relations, Organic Stewardship atWhite Wave, the parent company of HorizonOrganic.


Dairy Pasture Grazing Management continued from page three

Horizon’s MarylandDairy is the smallestof the three dairiesHMI worked with.


CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

But the following day, when viewing the realherd, I received a safety lecture on theunpredictable nature of these wild animals andhow quickly they could go from grazingpeacefully to a full charge. “Be vigilant andaware,” were the watchwords.

My next memory was of finding a place in thepaddock where some of the bison had brokenthrough a gate. Mimi Hillenbrand, my guide thatday, told me she would drive around the back sideof the ‘escapees’ and I was to get out and ‘wave afeed sack’ to guide them toward the opening andback with the rest of the herd.

Only trouble was there was not a feed sack tobe found in the truck, so she handed me hersweatshirt—and it was RED! The joining of thegroups went off without a hitch, but visions ofbullfighting with the waving red cape still linger.

A red cape is a good metaphor for trying tobuild resilience in the 21st century. For years bisonhave been a kind of ‘red flag’ for ranchers,environmentalists, and public land managers—often a source of conflict between competingvisions of the land. Today, however, those battlelines are not so clear cut. That’s because ourchallenge now is to find ways to manage animals,wild or domestic, for ecosystem health andeconomic sustainability for the long run—resilience, in other words. This is the story of oneranch that is trying to do just that—on the backforty—instead of waving flags.

The 777In 1972 Ray Hillenbrand and his wife Rita

bought the ranch, a prairie property locatedbetween the Badlands and the Black Hills of SouthDakota. It is also near the historic Buffalo Gaparea where huge annual migrations of bisonherds once funneled between the prairies and theBlack Hills.

Observing a herd of over 1,500 head of thesebeautiful wild animals running across the ranchis a sight to behold. Sitting on a hillside watchingthe bison graze while constantly moving withtheir baby calves and listening to their distinctivegrunting calls is amazing. Even more remarkableis witnessing the bulls interact with the herd

during the breeding season. The bellowing of thebulls is reminiscent of the roars of lions on theplains of Africa. Considering that bison werehunted to the brink of extinction in the 1800s,one is reminded of how lucky we are to be able towitness such a spectacle today.

Mimi Hillenbrand, daughter of Ray and Rita,has been involved in the land and bisonmanagement as well as marketing aspects of thebusiness from an early age. In 1991 she took herfirst training in Holistic Management, or HRM asit was known at the time, and has continued hertraining, and frequently travels to grasslandsworldwide in her studies of wildlife and wildplaces.

Mimi is passionate about these animals andtheir place on this land. In fact, the health of theland is a driving force for her managementobjectives and permeates all aspects of thebusiness. During ranch visits we spent as muchtime identifying plants and observing signs of thehealth and resilience of the land as we diddiscussing the bison business. For example, lowproduction grasses are being replaced by deeprooted native species like Green Needlegrass.Native herbs such as Echinacea, prized for itsmedicinal qualities, also grow in profusion.

Each year Mimi helps create a detailedgrazing plan for the bison herd that moves

between 25 different pastures during the growingand dormant season. In 1992, in conjunctionwith planned grazing, ecosystem monitoringtransects were established across the ranch anddata are collected annually. The data analysisshows a decrease in bare ground and erosion withconcurrent increases in species complexity anddiversity. The land is improving—becoming moreresilient to climate extremes that are “normal” forthis landscape where the edge of the prairie meetsthe Black Hills.

Raising bison for meat as a business gainedsignificant popularity in the late 1980s. At thistime, many new producers entered the businessand the price for bison escalated rapidly as newranches bidded up breeding stock prices to buildtheir herds. By 1998, purchase price for bisonreached an all time high that doubled or tripledthose of live beef animals.

Unfortunately, the meat marketing segment ofthe business did not keep pace with the breedingbuildup of harvestable bison. This created anoversupply of meat, particularly hamburger andlower end cuts. By 1999, the industry entered aperiod of rapid price deflation for live animals andmeat products. Compounding these difficultieswas a period of prolonged drought across much ofthe nation’s bison ranches. The combination oflow prices, drought, and the financial hardshipsthey produced, caused many producers to go outof business.

In 2003, Mimi took over ownership and fulltime management of the 777 Buffalo Ranch.Mimi spent increased amounts of time in the fieldobserving animal behavior and planning, but hermost challenging task was to make the businessprofitable. She began selling more of themarketable animals and aligning forageproduction to stocking rate. This increased

Resilience on the Prairie Edge—The 777 Buffalo Ranchby Kirk Gadzia

The first time I visited the 777 Buffalo Ranch* south of Rapid City, South Dakota, was in the late1980s soon after portions of the movie Dances with Wolves were filmed there. I remember howexciting it was to see the footage of the stampeding bison herd across the prairie and thinkingof the effect of all that animal impact on the landscape.

MimiHillenbrandshows thegrazingplanningchart andpaddockmap she usesto plan hergrazing.

income and began the process of getting theranch out of debt. She also credits the ranches’progress to her dedicated staff, Dave Schroth, whocurrently manages the day to day ranchoperations, and co-worker, Moritz Espy.

Keeping the bison as wild as possible is amanagement goal, but fences make themmanageable. In a situation where large scalemigration is no longer possible, keeping theanimals moving allows time for plant recoveryresulting in healthier land. Nowhere is this moreevident than at each of the many watering pondsand riparian areas on the ranch. They arehealthy and full of cattails, sedges, and othertender water loving plants.

This intense management does require morework on Mimi’s and Dave’s part, but Mimi feelsthat the long term health of the ranch land is thereal basis of a sustainable bison business.Currently, the ranch grazes about 1,700 head ofbison through 25 paddocks over roughly 28,000acres (11,200 ha) and markets both meat andlive animals.

Buffalo ProductsCurrently the ranch produces both grass

finished and hay/grain finished bison. Thehay/grain finishing takes place on the ranch in aroomy corral setting with plenty of water and freechoice of both hay and grain. Interestingly, bisonwill self limit the amount of grain they consumein balance with the high roughage of hay. Theranch also produces and markets a grass finished,direct off the range, product. Customers canchoose which product they prefer, making their

own decisions about the benefits and flavor ofeither product.

The largest demand right now in Mimi’scustomer base is for the hay/grain finishedproduct. Based on customer feedback, this isprimarily due to the white fat on the grainfinished product versus the slightly yellow fat onthe grass finished animals. In an all grass diet,the yellow color of the fat is due to carotene(vitamin A) and after the meat is cooked, is notvisible. Nevertheless, some consumers are notaccustomed to yellow fat and prefer the white fatmeat.

Presently, about 25% of the bison marketed formeat sales are grass finished two year olds. Mimidefinitely sees greater awareness of the healthbenefits and advantages of grass finished meatand is anticipating increased production of thissegment of the operation as the market expands.She has teamed up with many local and regionalchefs who purchase the bison for theirrestaurants.

Another aspect of the business Mimi iscurrently developing is the sale of genetically‘pure’ bison to other bison producers andconservation organizations. For many years,bison were crossed with cattle in an effort toproduce something called a ‘beefalo’ or ‘cattalo.’Although this cross was never a commercialsuccess, some producers are concerned that anyamount of cattle genetics is a negative influenceon this basically wild animal. For this ‘pure’herd, animals are genetically tested for thepresence of any domestic cattle genetics. Thosethat test positive, no matter how tiny the

percentage, do not go into this herd. Although theanimals are physically indistinguishable from themain herd, they are bred only to selected ‘pure’bulls and offspring are likewise genetically tested.

In both the cattle industry and a largesegment of the bison industry, much emphasis isplaced on careful selection of replacement heifers(young females that replace older cows as theyare removed from the herd) for desirable traits.The 777 Buffalo Ranch does the opposite;believing they are not able to select replacementanimals by visual inspection at a young age, andin fact, that they may ultimately be selectingagainst the very traits they desired.

An example in the cattle industry is thatproducers often select the largest heifers from theherd. Over the years this led to larger and largercow size. These cows may produce large calves,but in most environments, their upkeep and feedintake has proven uneconomical. The 777Buffalo Ranch does what is known as a ‘gate cut.’ For example if 125 young heifers are to bekept for replacements out of 500 heifers available,they simply select the first, second, third, or last125 of the animals as they go through a gate.Genetic diversity is maintained by purchasingbulls from other producers, but Mimi looks forthose who have similar bison productionphilosophies as the ranch.

Ecosystem Health and Economic Diversity

The health and resilience of the 777 BuffaloRanch is directly related to the abundance anddiversity of its plant and animal species. On theranch, plant diversity is increasing having manyspecies of native cool and warm season grasses,flowering forbs, shrubs and trees. Deer, elk,antelope, mountain lions, coyotes, bobcats, foxes,badgers, prairie dogs, porcupines, groundsquirrels and many other animals share therange with the bison as they have for thousandsof years. The ranch is also home to a variety ofbirds and raptors such as golden and bald eagles,red tail hawks, ferruginous hawks, prairie falconsand many others. Rare grassland birds such asthe Baird’s sparrow and Long-billed curlew arefound in abundance.

Another good measure of the balance nowbeing sustained on the ranch is the increasedeffectiveness of the water cycle. There are virtuallyno signs of erosion present, except in the badlandareas where soil type prevents plant growth. Withnearly all the moisture that falls captured in thesoil, the ranch is becoming more resistant to theeffects of drought. During the last five years ofbelow average rainfall, the ranch did not have todestock. Fortunately, 2009 was one of the bestmoisture years in many decades which allowed


Resilience on the Prairie Edge continued from page five

With planned grazing the 777 Buffalo Ranch has seen improved species diversity and water cycle as well as decreased bare ground.

the ranch to put up all its own hay and also go into winter withstockpiled forage in each paddock.

Hand in hand with increased water cycle effectiveness andincreased biological diversity is the health of the mineral cycle. As weguided the herd towards the open gate into the new paddock I askedabout the presence of dung beetles. It wasn’t long until we found awhole ‘herd’ of these insects actively working on a fresh dung pat.

The Native American tribes, who first inhabited this region andhunted the bison for many centuries, used every part of the animal.Many of these traditions are carried out still in the craftwork of theirdescendants. Mimi also owns an outlet store called Prairie Edge whichshowcases the art and craftwork of these northern plains tribes. It alsoserves as a market for some of the bison products such as bison robes.The store is located in a beautiful historic building in downtownRapid City (see: www.prairieedge.com).

Dances with Wolves was not the only movie to be filmed in thisbeautiful landscape and this is another aspect of the ranch’sdiversified business segments. In a related effort to make the ranchmore economically and ecologically resilient to fuel prices anddependence, Mimi began a program to make biodiesel fuel. The ranchnow regularly collects used cooking oil from many of the restaurantsin Rapid City and converts it to biodiesel that is used in ranch vehiclesand equipment.

Thanks to a diverse income stream, Mimi is as excited about thefuture of the ranch as she is about its bison herd and other wildinhabitants. The ranch survived the bison business downturn andeach year the growth in meat sales and prices continue to moveupward. Her focus has also been to provide training opportunities forothers, as evidenced by the turnout for the Holistic Managementtraining offered in the summer of 2009. In essence, the ranch servesas an example of how an operation can explore and answer biggerquestions about food, land health, economics, and sustainability intoday’s tough agricultural world.

Kirk Gadzia is a Holistic Management Certified Educator living in Bernalillo, New Mexico. He can be reached at:[email protected]. While the name of the ranch is the 777Buffalo Ranch, the scientifically accurate name of the species towhich we refer is Bison bison.


Integrating Holistic Managementand Permaculture for Land Planningby Mary Johnson

Having trained in both the tools of Holistic Management andPermaculture Design, I think using both tools can be veryhelpful to make a sound farm layout before you begin movingthings around or spending money and time on infrastructure.

In May 2010 the Massachusetts Beginning Women Farmer groupbraved the cold blustery mountain top winds in Ashfield, to begin tolook at the land from a new perspective, taking into consideration soiltypes, location of water and buildings. As the instructor for thatprogram, I had the group break into two groups to work on a farmlayout for the landowner, taking into consideration her missionstatement. She is still working on her holisticgoal, but she gave somesolid quality of life statements for the group to work from. Wediscussed how some aspects of permaculture design can be veryhelpful when thinking about what makes sense to place where on thefarm. In particular we discussed the concept of Permaculture Zones ofUse.

Permaculture ZonesA permaculture design is divided into zones according to how

frequently you visit the different areas during the day or year. Yourplants, animals, greenhouses, barns, watering troughs, fencing, woodlot,fruit trees, etc. are strategically placed in locations at certain distancesfrom your house, so you visit the critical areas as you come and go,according to how much attention they need to be well maintained.

I offered to the group that when I learned about this concept, it madea great deal of sense to me, so I moved my vegetable garden from itslocation about 50 feet from my front door to right outside my front door.I had no idea what a difference such a short distance would make. But ashuman beings are fairly lazy, it really made a huge difference. I foundmyself stepping from my kitchen out into my new garden two or threetimes a day to grab a fresh bunch of herbs for my food as I cooked it. Ialso noticed when it needed water, and gave it some. Everytime I came orleft the house, the same thing happened with the weeds. Since I had tolook at the plants so often, I took much better care of them, weeded themmuch more often, but for less time—I was able to get the little weedsbefore they became a big headache, and I grew attached to the beautyand abundance that the smaller but well-tended garden brought into mydaily living space. When it was bigger, and further from my view, I nevercared about the garden the same way.

Permaculture zones save a lot of time and energy by reducingunnecessary inefficiencies. The zones of use in permaculture design arenumbered from the location you visit most frequently, Zone 0, out to thewildlands that are left relatively untouched.

Zone 1 contains the most visited areas of your living area/land.Everything that needs a lot of attention should be growing or living inZone 1. Examples for plants to grow here are seedlings that require dailywatering, frequently used herbs, salad greens and home consumptionvegetables, small fruit shrubs and tress that you want to notice ripe fruiton before the birds or animals enjoy them, and other helpful herbs,

CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

Kirk Gadzia at the Holistic Management training held at the 777 Buffalo Ranch

Scientific literature relevant to HolisticManagement falls into three general categories:positive, negative and neutral. There are somearticles that view Holistic Management in apositive light, like the research published byStinner et. al. in 1997. In this paper, entitled“Biodiversity as an Organizing Principle,” theauthors provide evidence of a dramatic shift in theland manager’s perspective of biodiversity: 9% ofparticipants believed biodiversity to be importantbefore being exposed to HRM (HolisticManagement); 100% believed biodiversity to beimportant after practicing HRM (HolisticManagement). This shift in perception wasaccompanied by increases in profitability. 80% ofresearch participants reported increased profitsfrom their land with the application of HolisticManagement. Clearly, the relationships betweenperception, practice, and profitability areimportant.

The second category is research that viewsHolistic Management unfavorably. This researchhas focused primarily on the use of high stockingrates and animal impact as a tool to heal land.Some of these studies though cited often, haveserious methodological shortcomings that call intoquestion their final conclusions. One example isan article entitled “Effects of Livestock Grazing onInfiltration Rates, Edwards Plateau of Texas,”published in the Journal of Range Managementin 1984. This study concludes that short-duration,high-intensity grazing (SDG) dramaticallydecreases water infiltration rates when comparedwith medium stocked continuous grazing.

When analyzing the reported numbers in thepaper, however, we quickly realize that SDGpaddock stocking rates varied from 3.2 ha/AU/yrto 4.9 ha/AU/yr.; treatment paddocks were 6 ha

each. This then means that around one or two AU(animal units) were placed in each paddock foreach grazing event! This is hardly the type ofdensity required to achieve herd effect, nor is thisthe type of management intensive grazing onewould find on a ranch that practices HolisticPlanned Grazing. Unfortunately, for logisticalreasons, it is often the case that highly controlledresearch is incapable of reproducing theconditions one would find on a ranch, or in wildlands.

Some research, without intending to, causes usto question some of our assumptions about landresponse to management. The article “Livestock,soil compaction, and water infiltration rate” byCastellano and Valone is one such article. In it,the authors report soil compaction and perennialgrass data from three livestock exclosuresestablished in 1958, 1977, and 1993 insoutheastern Arizona. Surprisingly, perennialgrasses improved dramatically within the 1958exclosure, but no changes were detected for theother two exclosures. This improvement wasaccompanied by similar changes in soilcompaction: “…the soil was approximately 84%more compact outside compared to inside the1958 site but differed by only 39% and 27% acrossthe fences at the 1977 and 1993 sites, respectively.”This research is a cautionary tale about thepotentially negative effects of the soil compactionassociated with animal impact, and would suggestthat sometimes, especially for soils that areparticularly vulnerable to compaction, perhapstotal rest isn’t always a bad thing. On the otherhand, other empirical evidence, like the degradedDrake Exclosure in central Arizona, warns us ofthe dangerous assumption that resting land willalways result in ecological improvements. In the

complex field of ecosystem management, thereare always anomalies and phenomena which wedon’t fully understand. Research from these typesof exclosures helps us to understand the biotic andabiotic forces at play within these complexdynamic systems.

Finally, there is an entire category of researchthat is relatively neutral or agnostic when it comesto the debate on total rest, stocking rates andanimal impact. This research is often the mostrelevant for improving our practice of HolisticManagement. An article by Fuhlendorf et. al.published in Ecological Applications in 2006provides useful insights into the management ofavian diversity through the combined use of fireand grazing. The researchers implemented apatchwork system of rotational burns in whichsome areas were burned one year and left torecover the following years while other patcheswere burned.

Through this type of management, theresearchers created a diverse landscapecharacterized by a patch-work of bare ground andcovered ground, high grasses and low grasses,areas of high animal impact/grazing and areas oflow animal impact/grazing. This patch-worklandscape dramatically increased the diversity ofbird species within the treatments by providingdifferent types of habitat. Research of this typegreatly expands our ability to conceptualize andmanage biodiversity on the landscape.

Other research provides similar insights, like apaper showing the potential to use grazingplanning to improve sage grouse habitat. Andanother paper demonstrates the relationshipbetween grazing ungulates and symbioticmycorrhizal soil fungi, which were associated witha 34% increase in perennial grass productivity.One paper points towards potential strategies formanaging dung beetles in brittle environments.

All of this and more is now available to you viathe Data and Documentation Blog at our website,www.holisticmanagement.org. Updates areregularly posted via HMI’s Facebook page. There isalso an RSS Feed on the blog if you’d like toreceive updates on your desktop or mobile device.Please join us and leave your comments on theblog. Help us develop a spring board for synergyand collaboration as we assimilate and apply theresults of research towards the common goal ofhealing the land and delivering results on theground.


HMI is currently in the process of conducting a literature review. This process is uniquebecause of the technological tools now available to us. We are using Joomla!, the open sourcecontent portal that is the engine for HMI’s website, to conduct the literature review in a waythat is transparent, participatory, and useful to the organization and to our community as a

whole. When you visit our Data and Documentation Blog, you will find a series of blog posts thatform the basis for this review. Each post has been tagged with a set key of words relevant to theinformation included in the post. On the right hand side of the page, you will notice a tag cloud.This useful tool displays these key words graphically; larger words appear in more posts, smallerwords in fewer posts. In this way, we are in the process of creating a searchable database available toall with summaries of some of the most pertinent research in the area of Holistic Management.Whether you are interested in a specific topic like stocking rates, or a particular study like theCharter Trials, or relevant research conducted in Australia, you now have this information just a fewmouse clicks away.

Holistic Management and Research:Reviewing the Literatureby Frank Aragona

Number 133 � 9Land & Livestock

Economics of Biodiversity—The Market Value of Biological Capitalby John King

What is the economic value of biodiversity for pastoral farmers?Pastoral researchers often present gross margins in dollars andcents to show how biological farming lifts profits by simplyreducing production costs (less mowing/spraying of weeds and

less pasture pest control). But how can farmers work out a commercialvalue for the ecological relationships that build production capacity andimprove profitability over and above simply cutting costs? What is theimmediate market value of the biodiversity that contributes to farmproduction?

One simple way to relate biodiversity to its immediate market value isthrough the price of fertilizer. I first came across this idea in an articlewritten 15 years ago by Jody Butterfield comparing the cash value of organicmatter to the profitability of a farm (See HRM Quarterly #35). Now I usethis idea to help farmers appreciate the market (cash) value of the

biological capital hidden in their soils and its rates of return by using thedata found in Professor David Whitehead’s book Nutrient Elements inGrassland.

The Market Value of Pastoral BiologyNitrogen is often the largest annual fertilizer investment by conventional

farmers. The fertilizer with the greatest concentration of nitrogen in NewZealand is urea so its price becomes the standard by which we valuenitrogen per kilogram. Most nitrogen in the soil is held by carbon, therebyproviding the link to biodiversity.

Using the price of nitrogen as a monetary basis, we can crudely comparedifferent forms of biodiversity by their mineral value (Figure 1).Earthworms, actinomycetes, and bacteria have higher values because thecarbon:nitrogen ratios are lower in these life forms, even compared toheavily fertilized plants. Therefore the more of these life forms, the higherbiological capital so to speak. This insight helps farmers consider theimportance of micro-organisms and the real market value of the biology intheir soil.

Nitrogen is the most significance element when commercially valuingbiology. This may change as carbon gains greater worth as a unit of value.While Figure 1 highlights the market value of these biological assets, howdoes their biological activity measure up in financial terms? After all, anasset is wealth that generates wealth. If a biological asset generatesbiological capital, how can a farmer calculate the financial value ofbiological capital?

Calculating the Financial Worth of EarthwormsThe following focuses on earthworms. These are biology readily seen and

easily acknowledged. A spade cube should hold a minimum of 25 worms orthe equivalent of 1 million worms per acre (2.5 million worms per hectare).So, what is the market value of this biological asset and what might be thefinancial value of the biological capital they generate?

Assume it takes 1,818 worms to equal a pound (4,000 worms to equal akilogram), then 1 million worms/acre (2.5 million worms/ha) equate to550 lbs/acre (625kgs/ha) of earthworms. If live earthworms are 30% protein(6.25% N), then 26 lbs of nitrogen/ 1 million worms (30kgs of nitrogen/2.5million worms) would have a market fertilizer value of $18.12/acre($45.30/ha). The market value of this biological asset doesn’t exactly set theearth on fire until its performance is assessed.

Calculations show that 1 million worms/acre (2.5 million worms/ha)can produce 31 tons/acre (70 tonnes/ha) of castings per year. What is thatworth to the farmer? Using figures in Barrett’s book Harnessing theEarthworm, if earthworm castings have more exchangeable; calcium(150%), magnesium (300%), nitrogen (500%), phosphate (700%), and

&


potassium (1100%) than the surrounding soil, then by using the marketvalue for these elemental nutrients we can roughly calculate the marketvalue of worm castings.

Using the above assumptions, a biological asset worth $18/acre ($45/ha)creates biological capital with a market value worth $828/acre ($2069/ha)of exchangeable nutrients. This is an impressive 4,500% return. Not many$18 ($45) investments generate a $828 ($2,000) return while improving theplanet. Across a 500-acre (200-ha) property, 1 million/acre (2.5 millionworms/ha) would generate the equivalent of $414,000 worth ofexchangeable nutrients each year. Fertilizer budgets for most 500-acre (200-ha) New Zealand sheep, beef, and even dairy properties pale in comparison.

According to New Zealand research a pasture with an annual production of 33,000 lbs DM/yr (15,000 kg DM/yr) can support 91 worms per spade cube or 3.64 million worms/acre (9.1 million worms/ha).Assuming the same productivity as above, 3.64 million worms/acre willproduce 112 tons of castings/acre (9.1 million worms will produce 255tonnes of castings/ha) or the equivalent of $3,000/acre ($7,500/ha) ofexchangeable nutrients in conventional fertilizer values. For most NewZealand properties, this figure would be at least a quarter of the landvaluation, in some cases more than half.

During their six-year life span, every pound of worms generates $9(kilogram of worms generates nearly$20) worth of fertilizer, but what is thereturn on investment for the currentmarket price? With nitrogen as the basevalue, a pound of earthworms wouldcost $0.03 (kilogram of earthwormswould cost $0.07). Compare this tocurrent compost worm prices rangingfrom an inflated $18/lb to $36/lb($40/kg to $80/kg). Nevertheless, evenusing an average compost worm price of$27/lb ($60/kg), one pound of wormsreturns $1.50 (one kilogram of wormsreturns $3.30) or 5.5%, but this onlyreflects nutrient cycling.

The great thing about biodiversity isthat it breeds. If an adult worm layseight egg capsules per year (containinganything up to 20 eggs) and four of those eggs per capsule survive toadulthood for the following season, under ideal conditions one wormproduces 32 young in a season, the second season using the same formulathere would be 1024 worms, the third season 32,800, the fourth season1,050,000, the fifth season over 33 million...

Using these relationships you can arguethat the initial $27/lb ($60/kg) purchase inlivestock would appreciate in market value by3,200% on an annual basis while generating a5.5% return on the appreciating asset. In otherwords, by year three, the $27 ($60) investmentcould potentially appreciate into a $27,727($61,000) asset generating over $1,500($3,300) of worm casts. If these calculationshold true, they attest to the incredible networth biological capital can generate.

Cash CowsSo if earthworms are worth their weight in

gold, what biological value do ruminants contribute to the cycling ofnutrients in pastures? Unlike earthworms, cows and sheep do not enrich thenutrients they ingest, but their digestive tracts help make nutrients theydeposit more soil available than herbage standing undigested in the sward.

Using the same fertilizer prices and the estimates from Whitehead’s bookthe market value for excreta shows that a cattle beast returns $1.29 ofexchangeable nutrients daily, whereas as sheep it’s 32 cents (Table 2). Over ayear a single cattle beast is depositing $470 worth of nutrients and a singlesheep $117, representing anywhere between 20%–100% of the actual NewZealand market value of an adult animal. What is the value returned on aper acre or hectare basis?

To completely smother a single acre (hectare) with dung and urine in asingle day by a single animal takes the equivalent of 940 cattle (2,350 cattle)or 4,120 sheep (10,300 sheep), extreme stocking rates indeed. Excretainfluences 4 times the area it directly smothers which demonstrates thehighly exchangeable nutrients these animals produce. Using the affectedarea rather than the smothered area, stocking rates of 200 cattle (500 cattle)or 1,560 sheep (3,900 sheep) can effectively manure an acre (hectare) perday.

These stocking rates can only be practically achieved by herding and arereturning the equivalent of 117 lb N/acre/d (133kgN/ha/d) and 220 lb

N/acre/d (250kgN/ha/d) respectively. However, it’s not uncommon forfarmers to transfer nutrients by having a mob graze one paddock and campin another. This is a proven tool to lift pasture performance, but what cashvalue can be placed on this technique?

A herd of 500 beef cows deposits close to $650/day worth of fertilizer,

10 � September / October 2010Land & Livestock

Biological Capital continued from page nine


whereas as mob of 2,500 sheep is spreading nearly $800/day (assuming 5sheep equals 1 cow). Over a year that balloons out to $235,000 (500 cows)and $292,000 (2,500 sheep) worth of nutrients returned to the soil. Again,the annual fertilizer bill of most livestock properties pale in comparison.

Intensive vs Non-Intensive ProductionWhile we can calculate the financial value of the biological capital

deposited by livestock and earthworms, what about whole productionsystems? Does the value of biological capital differ between productionsystems?

Again using fertilizer prices as the basis of financial value and theestimates from Whitehead’s book, a quick, crude comparison betweenintensive dairying and beef production (Tables 3&4) can be calculated.These tables relate to United Kingdomcattle grazing and assume 8,800 lbDM/acre/yr (10,000kgDM/ha/yr) ofpasture leaf and 4,400 lb DM/ha/yr(5,000kgDM/ha/yr) of root materialdecomposes in pasture annually. The dairysystem incorporates high fertilizer usewhereas the beef system incorporatinggrass clover swards with no fertilizer. Theelement values are based on 2009 NewZealand fertilizer prices.

For this article, the Total $ valuecalculations only involve what is returnedto the soil by animal and plant, whereasthe Gain $ value includes all nutrientcontributions to and emissions from the soil as calculated by Whitehead. Anymineral excreta return higher than intake is due to animals eating soil.Annually, sheep and cattle can consume up to their own body weight of soil.

By adding up the Total$ rows it’s no surprise the dairy system returns ahigher market value of nutrients (NZ$2060.57) back to the soil reflectingmore inputs. Yet when adding up the Gain$ rows the overall net gain inbiological capital is minimal (NZ -$0.59). In comparison, the Total$ grassand clover return is half that of dairying (NZ$ 964.97) but its biologicalcapital (Gain$) increases annually by NZ$73.36/acre (NZ$183.40/ha),nearly a 20% return on what is invested. That equates to an appreciation invalue of $36,680 across a 500-acre (200-ha) property (versus $118 declinefor the dairy system on the same area).

Calculating the Economics of BiodiversityWhitehead comments that as production systems become more intensive

and nitrogen fertilizer use increases, pasture species reduce, leading to

increased leaching of nutrients and areduction in all wildlife. The loss of wildlifeand the free services these organismsprovide farmers has to do with the health ofthe soil.

In comparing beef and dairy farmingsystems these figures point to why there areso many pasture and animal issues withintensive dairy farming. While the marketvalue of plant and animal waste reinvestedback into soil is higher with dairy, thenature of the investment is so unbalancedit doesn’t accrue or create any biologicalcapital. In business terms they’ve increased

the cash flow without growing the capital base thereby compromising thepotential net worth of the business.

Of course in real (non-biological) commercial terms the extraproductivity cashes up the dairy farmer and brings down the mortgage faster.However, this will come at the expense of a higher overdraft to correct all theproblems associated with high input farming and depleted soils. If bothenterprises only covered its costs and wasn’t profitable, the beef enterprisewould be ahead because the accruing biological capital would buffer the wet,dry, and cold leading to longer growing seasons. This means more grass forfewer dollars invested.

However, as the tables forewarn, the disappearance of major nutrientslike calcium and magnesium (which are the building blocks of soils andplants) signal that even beef properties will eventually fail unless these

deficiencies are corrected by soil or animal nutrition programs. In estimating the market value of biological capital these crude

calculations reflect the real economics of biodiversity to farming systems.Certainly the contribution earthworms make by enhancing the nutrientqualities of the soil and building biological capital has positive effects on theproduction system. Even the value of dung and urine returned by livestock isa significant contribution in market terms to the business. As farmers beginmeasuring biological agriculture with greater professionalism there will be a deeper connection between biological and financial capital.

John King is a Holistic Management Certified Educator living in Christchurch, New Zealand. You can contact him throughwww.succession.co.nz John wishes to acknowledge the assistance ofAustralian Holistic Management Certified Educator Jason Virtue with this article. This article was first printed in ACRES USA. One US$ equals NZ$1.45.


Cropping Resources:PERENNIAL GRAINS:

http://www.landinstitute.org/pages/Glover-et-al-2007-Sci-Am.pdf

NO KILL CROPPING:http://www.pasturecropnokillcrop.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=54

PASTURE CROPPING:http://www.pasturecropping.com/

INCREASING CROP DIVERSITY:http://www.umanitoba.caoutreach/naturalagriculture/cropdiv.html

COVER CROPS AND GREEN MANURES:http://www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/naturalagriculture/covercrops.html

COCKTAIL MIXES & INTEGRATING LIVESTOCK:http://www.holisticmanagement.org (IN PRACTICE archives)

IMPROVING SOIL FERTILITY WITH GREEN MANURE LEGUME CROPS—FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/faq7979?opendocument

LEGUME GREEN MANURING:http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex133

OVERVIEW OF COVER CROPS AND GREEN MANURES:http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/covercrop.html

MANAGING COVER CROPS PROFITABLY (3RD EDITION):http://www.sare.org/publications/covercrops/coercrops.pdf

BURLEIGH COUNTY SOIL CONSERVATION DISTRICT: http://www.bcscd.com

DAKOTA LAKES RESEARCH FARM: http://www.dakotalakes.com

ORGANIC FIELD CROP HANDBOOK, SECOND EDITIONSECTION 3 – DESIGNING CROP ROTATIONS.

Cropping to Maximize Soil Cover, Energy Flow, and Diversity by Tony McQuail

When we think of cropping and land management from a Holistic Management perspective, we are planning to designcrop rotations that mimic nature. Nature covers bare soil,moves toward diversity and retains nutrients. It maximizes

energy flow and community diversity, while maintaining strong water and mineral cycles.

If we design rotations that keep the soil covered most of the time withgrowing plants we are maximizing the amount of sunlight photosynthesizinginto materials we can sell, feed, or return to our soil production base throughroots and residue. Actively growing plants, we provide shade and protection forthe soil surface and their roots take up soluble nutrients while releasingexudates into the soil which feed fungi and bacteria that further increase theplants’ ability to draw nutrients from the soil.

A crop rotation that has a variety of crops growing in different yearsachieves diversity through time. A rotation that includes mixed grains orgrains and legumes growing together has diversity at one time. Underseedinga crop with legumes like red clover or sweet clover that come on stronglyafter the main crop is harvested is another way to achieve this.

Growing cover crops or green manure crops between main cash crops canalso increase diversity. Crops with different root types and depths also improvethe diversity of the system.

Cocktail cropping is an approach where a large variety of different seedsare planted at one time and a polyculture of plants grown either for feed or asa plow down. Some farmers are experimenting to design cocktails wheresome of the plants growing in the cocktail can be harvested as seed. Themore complex a mixture, the more challenging it can be to get differentplants to mature and be harvestable at the same time. If you are plowingdown or using livestock to harvest the cocktail crop by grazing, this is not assignificant a concern.

Keeping Soil CoveredNo-till drills are used to plant into crop or other residue. Often the area

has been sprayed with an herbicide to kill weeds or pasture plants. Somefarmers are experimenting with rolling or crimping crops at stages when theyare vulnerable, breaking their stems and creating a mulch that they can no-till through that doesn’t require the use of herbicides. Others areexperimenting with pasture cropping where a pasture is grazed hard toweaken the root reserves and then an annual crop is drilled into the pasture.If the crop grows quickly it will suppress the pasture regrowth keeping it inthe understory until after the crop is harvested. Then the pasture plants cangrow and replenish their root reserves and cover the soil surface. Anothereffort to keep soils covered involves developing perennial grain crops thatdon’t have to be planted annually.

Plants have different ways of ensuring their survival. Perennial plantsstore energy in their roots to let them survive from year to year. Annuals focustheir energy storage on seed production to carry their line into the future.People have generally looked to harvest the energy of annual plants in theseeds and have focused on breeding grain plants that put as much energy aspossible into the seeds. With modern fertilizers and herbicides, we haveselected for plants that put less energy into roots and height and more intothe seed packet. But tillage, fertilizers, and herbicides are a huge energysubsidy supplied by the farmer and human society. Perhaps developingperennial grains that produced less grain energy in a year, because they

stored energy in root reserves, would still be a better bargain than a higheryielding variety that took more input energy.

Designing crop rotations that minimize the amount of time soil is leftbare will help protect it. Underseeding grain crops with a forage legume likered clover or sweet clover can help protect the soil and add nitrogen throughatmospheric fixation. The clovers make a protective canopy after the graincrop is removed and can be plowed down shortly before the next crop is to beplanted. Fast growing cover crops or cocktails can be planted immediatelyafter a crop is harvested to provide growth and cover for the soil.

Some crops that will germinate on the soil surface can be broadcast into acrop before it is harvested. This has been done using winter rye or wheat withsoybeans. If there is adequate soil moisture and good canopy shade, the seedswill germinate. Soybean leaf drop can also help provide a mulch over theseeds which can increase the soil surface moisture and germination success.When the crop is harvested, the already germinated plants can quickly fill outand provide soil cover.


Maximizing Energy CaptureGreen growing plants capture solar energy. Any time our

land does not have green plants growing on it we are losingpotential energy resources. Figuring out ways to keep plantsgrowing on our land by extending the growing season andminimizing the time we have bare ground can help. Alsodesigning cropping systems that have a variety of plantsgrowing at one time will help increase capture. Experimentingwith mixed grains, grain and pea mixtures, or even mixturesof several different cultivars of the same grain crop that aredifferent heights can thicken the canopy and increase theconversion of sunlight into plant material.

Using cocktail crops can be a method of increasing solarcapture during periods between harvesting one crop andplanting another. By using a mixture of seeds for plantstolerant to conditions occurring between the crops, significantamounts of energy can be captured and either reinvested inthe soil by working it in or harvested by grazing. Only aportion of the energy can be harvested as a significant amountwill remain in the soil as roots and on the soil as residue. Thisis fine; it is a re-investment in the soil ecosystem which willpay dividends in water retention, soil structure, and fertility.

Increasing DiversityWhat we see above ground is only part of what is

happening on our land. We are learning that there arecomplex biological communities in the soil and elaboraterelationships between plants and a variety of micro-organisms. Plants are able to attract specific bacteria andfungi by exuding sugars from their roots. The bacteria andfungi can offer protection or seek out specific nutrients theplant needs. Different crops also have different rooting depthsand characteristics, so having a variety of crops in the rotationhas a wider range of impacts below the soil surface.

Over time growing a single crop will tend to impoverishthe soil biological community. Diversity also plays a role inreducing pest and disease out breaks. We can increase diversityby dividing the crops in our rotation into smaller “fields” orplanting them in alternating strips across our fields. How wemanage field boundaries and property lines can also affectdiversity. Are we providing perching sites for hawks, nestingsites for insect eating birds, habitat and nectar for naturalpollinators, habitat for predatory and parasitic insects? Are wemaintaining a diverse crop ecosystem which minimizes theareas for disease and pest organisms to establish andproliferate?

Designing a good crop rotation is as unique as yourholisticgoal, your soil type, and farm topography and localecosystem. Figuring out and then adjusting a crop rotationinvolves using your holisticgoal. It helps direct the choice of crops and the design and then adjusting it over time toensure that it leads toward the quality of life and futurelandscape you’ve described with increasing environmentalsustainability.

Tony McQuail is a Certified Educator and anagricultural producer from Lucknow, Ontario. He can be reached at [email protected].

When All is in Balance—Managing in Natureby George Wagner

It was the second weekend in November 2009, opening day of deer rifleseason here and like in years past I was sitting on a hilltop in earlymorning darkness waiting for the sun to come up. I was hunting onmy pasture along with some friends. This was the same pasture where

I had lost a goat to coyotes back in May. Since the first of November I hadkilled two coyotes in the area of the pasture where the goat herd would bewintered. November so far had turned out to be very mild, and while Isuspected there were more coyotes around, the coyotes didn't seem to bemoving all that much.

Like much of Eastern Nebraska the deer population here is on the vergeof overpopulation, if not in fact already there. So the task at hand today wasto thin the herd and along the way pick up some fine eating venison. Byday's end we had harvested almost ten deer off just under 400 acres (160 ha)of land. There were still plenty of deer left, but we had enough deer for a fullday in the processing shed.

Nature DestockingWith the arrival of December the mild weather which marked November

soon became a distant memory. Even though much of the pasture stillremained open, the numerous snow drifts really limited the ability of thegoats to get to forage, and so I had to ensure there was plenty of hayavailable for the goats. Around Christmas Eve one heck of a blizzard blew indumping 20 or more inches (500 mm) of snow. Around here it isn't so muchan issue of how much snow, as the wind which always seems to come withthe snow. Man, did we have wind, and so major snow drifting.

Because drifting snow is somewhat compacted it tends to have a sort ofcrust on top immediately following a blizzard. Almost immediately the pawof a canine (coyote) can ride up on top of this crust whereas a hoovedanimal easily cuts through this crust. In effect, the snowdrift becomes a highspeed avenue of travel for the canine and a quagmire to be avoided at all costby the hooved animal.

By the first of January it was easily noticeable here that the deer had


A closer view of goat hut that George uses his 4-wheeler to move.


grouped up into "herds." I can't say what all comes into play with the deerhere taking on this winter herding effect but it is different behavior than therest of the year. I do know this winter it was obvious the deer population wasdenied access to much of their forage base by deep snow, and so the sameamount of deer now had less area in which to exist. Obviously deer wouldshow up in herds as they pursued available forage.

Around January 20th I was checking the goat herd on the pasture and asI looked across the backs of the goats about two hundred yards away I couldcount over ten deer on this same piece of pasture. It had been almost amonth now since the major blizzard had hit and with a few smaller snowevents since then and continuously frigid temperatures, much of theavailable forage remained inaccessible to both deer and goats because of thedeep drifts.

It was apparent a period of time had elapsed without the full foragebase being accessible, and as a land manager it was definitely apparent tome there was a need for destocking of ruminants on this pasture. Add to thisthe understanding that a ruminant creates warmth in part by ruminating,and with frigid temperatures more eating would be the order of the day inorder to facilitate more warming of the ruminant's body. What remained ofthe accessible forage base had been utilized much faster than what mayhappen under a less frigid weather pattern.

Drifting snow has no respect for fences. Since late December the fenceholding the goat herd had been completely covered by snow drifts in anumber of places. It didn't take the coyotes too long before they weremoving through the same part of the pasture where the goats were since thesnowdrifts now gave the coyotes a bridge over the fence.

Around January 29th I noticed a deer kill within two hundred yards ofwhere the goats were, and then another deer kill in this same area. It wasobvious both of these deer were taken down by coyotes. Earlier I hadcounted a herd of over thirty deer on a small ridgeline in this area of thepasture. As I surveyed the area it became clear why the coyotes were

successful in taking down deer here. The small ridgeline has a rather deep draw on either side. In times when

snow is absent, these draws hold deer and the deer can easily slip off theridgeline and find safety in the steep brush covered draws which they cannavigate with ease. These draws were now filled with snow and for a deer tostep off into either draw would guarantee the deer would sink to its belly insnow. During less severe winters it is common to see this same ridgelineinundated with deer tracks. Now, with two separate deer kills in theimmediate area, the ridgeline was absolutely covered with coyote tracks. Thenarrow deer trail in the snow going up the ridgeline created a chokepoint. Ifup to thirty deer were surprised here there was no way all of them could fitonto the trail at once and evade the coyotes.

The goat herd enjoys no protection from any type of guard animal; theyare on their own. So, fresh coyote tracks in the same area of the pasture asthe goat herd really grabs my attention. Coyote tracks on the same ground asthe goats travel and an over abundance of coyote tracks around the area ofthe deer kills had me thinking I had coyotes coming out of the woodwork.

I had to remember with the onset of an increasingly severe winter, thecoyotes were definitely moving more and covering more ground. A coyote,much like the ruminant, has an increased food requirement the colder theweather, and there is little doubt the coyotes were taking down the deer as apack. In hunting as a pack, the coyotes were able to meet the higher energyrequirement which harsh weather had placed on them.

By the end of March with much of the snowpack melted, I couldconfirm the remains of four deer kills around the area where the goat herdwas wintered on the pasture. I'm certain if a person scoured my neighbor'spasture they would find other deer kills given there is no reason my pastureshould have a monopoly on interaction between the deer herd and coyotepack. Furthermore, even though the deer and coyotes had consolidated, theystill would tend to impact over the entire range which encompassed the areaof these same animals when they functioned in more of a solo mannerabsent of herds or packs.

In mid-January looking across the backs of the goat herd and seeing aherd of deer in the background, I had thought to myself there is a need fordestocking based on available forage. Understanding that in a functionalecosystem everything is based on time (in this case deep snow cover—driftshad been present for nearly a month), it is reasonable to suggest that by thetime I made an observation of the need for destocking Nature was alreadywell on the way to implementing a destocking plan.

Managing in Nature continued from page thirteen

George pre-positioned twelve large round bales and fenced them off withpoly-wire prior to winter. The poly-wire is moved to expose three bales ata time to the goats. He has three bale feeders to put around the bales sohe can feed three bales at a time.

This is the back side of the huts which provide shelter for the goats. Tenadult goats will fit easily into one shelter. The shelters are approximately4 ft. high at the center and approximately 7 ft. long and about the samewide. To the right of the shelters you can see the goats on the hay. Georgefeeds hay on very poor soil. In this picture the shelters are actually sittingon a very narrow ridgeline which is also very poor soil. Because theshelters are effective in protecting the goat from foul weather he canactually put the shelter on high open ground. All the soiled beddingfrom the shelters just remains in place then and becomes a heavyinjection of organic matter on very poor soil.


Predator/Prey in ActionThe small ridgeline I mentioned earlier is elevated above the

surrounding terrain and so tends to remain snow free because ofthe winds. This elevated soil, like in so many places, is muchpoorer than surrounding areas, in part because of greater exposureto the elements and in part because of greater animal impact attimes like this winter. The poor soil of this ridgeline grows a goodamount of yucca (soap weed), and through the winter the deerclipped off all the green growth from the yucca as a food sourceleaving all the dead leaves of these plants above the soil to oxidize.

A herd of goats or cattle in this situation would also clip thegreen leaves, and if managed correctly, would trample much if notall of the dead leaves into the soil thereby adding organic matter.Even in the dead of winter, with frozen ground, hooved animalscan have a negative impact on soil if too many hooves strike thesame area too many times. The deer herd became concentrated onan exposed ridgeline or in a sheltered draw and the coyote packfollowed. The coyote pack pressured the deer herd to move on andso the impact of the deer herd, which can improve the soil whenall else is in balance, is being continuously moved to a newlocation. There exists no stronger motivation to move on than to see one ofyour kind being taken down for lunch.

With the snowpack gone, all that remains to identify a deer kill is a fewbones and maybe some scraps of hide. It is amazing how well disbursed thecarcass from a deer kill becomes as not only coyotes but many othercreatures take a piece of the carcass from the kill and the few bones andscraps of hide which remain serve as a food source for other life well intothe summer months.

We cannot leave here without mention of voles. Large snow drifts withdepths of well over four feet (1200 mm) not only isolated forage from theruminant, the drifts also isolate voles from coyotes. Under the snow drift, thevole population is impacting heavily on the grasses which are no longeraccessible by the ruminants as the voles cut tunnels under the snow leavingchewed up grass clippings in their wake. With snakes in hibernation, hawksmigrated to a point somewhere south, and a barrier of snow between thevole and the coyote, it would seem like a free ride for the vole. There are no

free rides in Nature and here the least weasel penetrates those snow driftsand so on a smaller scale carnivore and herbivore interact below the snowjust as carnivore and herbivore are doing above the snow.

It would appear herbivores get the short end of the stick with the onsetof a severe winter. Allan Nation of The Stockman Grassfarmer writes:Foods produced when the grass is greenest and growing the fastest doescontain more minerals and good fats. Thus, these foods will behealthiest. The almost total digestion of a deer carcass and endless trails ofchewed up grass clippings allow all that nutrient content to be brokendown and assimilated into proper functioning soil which will be able tohold much of the water from the snow melt. When all is in balance, Naturehas provided the herbivore with a readily available highly nutritious foodsource to aid the rebuilding process.

But here all is not in balance. After high coyote numbers, the numbersnow remain low in places here apparently due to mange. I become theselective predator to the coyote pack to thin out diseased or aggressive

coyotes to maintain a healthy population and not lose themto disease. The deer population here, like so much of EasternNebraska, continues to grow, and on my pasture I can seedeer trails where the deer have cut down to bare soil and sohave created an area which is prime for soil erosion.

In the next county west of here you begin to enter trueranch country and I have talked with several ranchers whohave or are interested in running goats on their ranches. Onthose massive tracts of land, running a herd of goats becomesa whole different ballgame and so having coyotes cutthrough a rancher’s goat herd in the dead of winter on theway to a deer carcass may not give the same results I haveexperienced.

I am drawn to manage Nature because I know that whenI impact on my environment correctly it is of benefit to thewhole and that in turn is part of a process which actuallybuilds our natural resources. Plentiful natural resources arethe strength and security of any nation.

George Wagner is a rancher from Winnetoon,Nebraska and an avid dung beetle observer andrecorder. He can be reached at: [email protected]..

In the early part of March much of the snow started to melt which allowed the goats toonce again have access to much of the pasture. At this time the goats were still notable to access the spring for water due to drifts and so they were still dependent onsnow to meet their water requirements.

George provides shelter for his goats but no water in winter. Like cattle and deer,the goats can meet their need for water by eating snow. His goat fencing consistsof six high tensile for his exterior fencing and four temporary polywire forinterior fencing


It is easy to focus on the various parts of HolisticManagement, like planned grazing or financial planning,and forget that those parts are built upon the generaldecision making tool of Holistic Management. And then

to compound that oversight, we sometimes forget that holisticdecision making is to “complement” regular decision making,not versus regular decision making. My point is that the“power” of making decisions using Holistic Managementprinciples can help us make better decisions on a regularbasis, and should not be “saved” for only special situations.Let’s start by remembering that things like fact finding, doingbudgets, and analysis are still needed and useful when makinga decision using Holistic Management. Also, I often hearpeople talk about not doing it “right,” and we need toremember that we can only make the best decision possible ata given moment in time. It’s always possible to look back andthink we should have made a different decision, but we didn’tknow then what we know now.

What makes Holistic Management decision making a stepabove regular decision making? Here are the principles I thinkput the power in a decision made holistically.

• We get all the stakeholders involved; you can’t make adecision for someone else and everyone with a veto needsto be involved.

• Decisions are made with a “balanced” triple bottom linetaken into consideration—social, economic, andenvironmental concerns.

• Decisions are made working toward a holisticgoal and notaway from something we want to avoid or fear;

• We test the decisions we are making. • We monitor, no matter how sure we are, no matter howmuch research we have done, or how much personal pridewe have invested in the decision. The only thing worsethan a bad decision is not changing things as soon aspossible. If you don’t monitor, you will blindly becomemore invested in a decision that may or may not serve you.

I wanted to remind everyone about the power of holisticdecision making because it’s really easy to leave out some of thevital Holistic Management decision-making principles. Whenthat happens, you may make decisions to avoid something, ormake decisions for other people and wonder why they get upset,or not test decisions and learn you missed out on a better optionor, most importantly, you don’t keep your holisticgoal front andcenter and find out you have been making “great time—goingthe wrong way.”

Holistic Management is such a powerful tool that justkeeping the principles in mind will greatly increase the successand satisfaction of your decisions. Making good decisions is alearned skill; you never will get it perfect. But, if you practicegreat decision making, it will get easier, you will get better at it,and, most importantly, the rewards you receive will be evergreater.

F r om t h e B o a r d C h a i r by Ben Bartlett Texas Regional Office Report

Lively debate was the theme at HMI’s Texas’ Drought MitigationWorkshop in Corpus Christi, June 23-24. Participants ranged frombeginning ranchers to experienced veterans and industryprofessionals. The class was taught by Walt Davis, long time

practitioner and popular consultant. He explained that grasslandecosystems are affected when land is pressured by erratic rainfall,occasional fire, and herding animals. Because drought is typically definedas a period with below average rainfall, areas that experience erraticrainfall are especially prone to drought conditions.

Increasing stock density and pasture recovery time can help createhealthy grassland that is robust and full of life. Many holistic managers findthat they are able to sustain livestock on their land for days or even monthslonger than many other ranchers in their area because their land was inbetter condition before the drought began and because the grazing planleaves a “drought reserve” in each paddock grazed. It is vital to rememberthe difference between supplemental and substitution feeding. Walt says thatwhen the land can no longer sustain your animals, it’s time to “pull thetrigger” and get them off of it. Early de-stocking of part of the herd meansthe land can support the smaller herd longer. Remember: it’s possible to savethe herd and lose the ranch.

Kirk Gadziataught a HolisticManagement ShortCourse in the TexasPanhandle to a class of30 in Amarillo, Texason June 30-July 1,smoothly integratingclassroom lessons withLands-on Learningexperience at DoakElledge’s beautifullymanaged operationnear Pampa. Therewere 7 NRCS employees in the class as part of a new initiative to get moreHolistic Management training for NRCS personnel.

This interest by long time Holistic Management advocate Mark Moseley totrain NRCS personnel has resulted in an agreement for HMI to produce aclass just for NRCS decision-makers, to be held in Junction, Texas onSeptember 20-24. Kirk Gadzia will teach one day each on Principles forSuccess, Financial Planning, Biological Monitoring, Grazing Planning, andLand Planning.

We had one more Drought Mitigation class scheduled for August 12-13 inBastrop, Texas, followed on August 14 by a field day at Spring Branch Ranch,a wildlife paradise and recipient of the Lone Star Land Stewards Award.

We have invited Owen Hablutzel to come out from California to teach aunique class combining Holistic Land Planning with Permaculture Designand Keylining as part of an Upcoming Land Planning Course in West Texason September 27-29. Owen is completing his Certified Educator training andhas been mentored by Kirk Gadzia. Part of the workshop will be held on theDixon Water Foundation’s Mimm’s Ranch in Marfa. Christopher Gill isbringing his Yeoman’s plow to demonstrate some of its uses. Bonnie Warnockwill be there from Sul Ross University to show the grazing research theuniversity is doing on the ranch. Walt Davis and Robby Tuggle will explainhow they created the land plan on the Mimm’s ranch. Come join us!

plants, and flowers that bring joy and beauty intoyour daily life.

Zone 2 is still near the house, and is a smallenough zone that it can be maintained fully withirrigation and mulch. It may contain largergroves of fruit shrubs and trees and other thingsthat you may need to visit one or two times perday, like your poultry or young livestock.Vegetables that take a long time to mature and areonly picked once or twice also are grown in Zone2, such as winter squash, potatoes and sweet corn,or garlic and onions as well as commercial crops.

Zone 3 is still a managed growing zone, butit would not be mulched and would be visited lessregularly. It’s an area for your sugar bush, yourlarge fruit or nut trees, and firewood. On farms itmight include your main crop areas if they onlyneeded tending at the beginning and end of theseason, and the larger pastures if you weren’tmoving animals on a daily or hourly basis.

Zone 4 is only semi-managed. This is an areafor gathering wild foods and for growing timber.

Zone 5 is your unmanaged land. It is wildand a source of inspiration, retreat and wonder.

Scale of PermanenceWhen you are thinking about your property

and trying to decide where you will put the

important things you need to build or manage, itis also very important and useful to think aboutthe scale of permanence. Basically, startidentifying the critical factors that you can’tchange—like the path of the sun. Because ofshadows from large trees or existing barns, theremay only be one or two ideal spots to locate thegreenhouse you simply must have. So youwouldn’t want to inadvertently put somethingthere that wouldn’t benefit from that precious sun,like a waste storage shed or parking lot.

Wind is another permanent force, so knowingwhich direction it comes from during which timeof year can help you reduce energy costs. Usinglandform to help harness gravity as much aspossible for moving water around on yourproperty is another excellent factor to considerearly on in the planning process. If you invest asmall amount in creating a small dam high up in


Integrating Holistic Management continued from page seven

Mary Johnson is a Permaculture Design & Holistic Management consultant and trainerworking with Terra Genesis International. She works with farmers and business owners in the U.S. & internationally using concepts from both Permaculture and Holistic Management to help families, businesses, and organizations. You can read more about Holistic Management and International Permaculture on Mary’s blog at http://wrcinashfield. wordpress.com. More on these design concepts can be learned by reading PERMACULTURE: A Designers’Manual by Bill Mollison and http://www.tagari.com/ or Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability by David Holmgren

the landscape that captures runoff every time itrains, you can much more easily and efficientlygravity feed irrigation lines and livestock watersystems than if you try to pump water uphill froma stream at the bottom of your property. Similarly,if you design garden beds in Zone 1, why notcapture water from your roofs to water the beds (ifyou are building from scratch, you’d need then todecide to install a non-toxic roofing material inorder to be able to capture and use that gravity fedand abundant resource).

By combining the permaculture concepts ofzones and the scale of permanence with theholistic land planning process of listingmanagement considerations, determiningmultiple plans for those different managementissues, and using the holistic financial planningprocess to determine which infrastructuredevelopment will give the best marginal reaction,you have two very powerful tools at your disposalto create your future landscape description.

Many of you may have been followingKathy’s experiments with getting cowsto eat weeds through her articles inthe Stockman Grassfarmer. Her book,

Cows Eat Weeds, published in 2010, is a greatbook to use as a resource if you are a produceror someone trying to influence local policyabout noxious weed control. This is aninformative and user-friendly book. It has thescience to back up Kathy’s claims whether you are talking to a producerworried about poisoning his cows or to a county manager who doesn’tbelieve that livestock will really make a difference on the invasion ofDiffuse Knapweed. It also has clear instructions on how to train a cow in10 hours over 10 days to eat a variety of weeds.

The book is well organized in that it starts with a concise discussion ofwhy people might want to have livestock eat weeds and the benefits forboth livestock and the land from such practices. She even has a frequentlyasked questions section that will prepare you for those disbelievers withwhom you may need to engage in more conversation around this topic.

Kathy credits a number of folks who have done the pioneering researchon this topic, including Fred Provenza, and spends a chapter explainingwhy animals choose food, how they share culture and knowledge(including knowledge about food) within a herd and to their offspring.

One of the parts I like best about Kathy’s book is the “Lessons from theFields,” where she tells the stories of what she learned during a particularproject or contract. She’s not shy about sharing the mistakes she made so

people can better learn how to increase theirsuccess at getting their animals to eat weeds andreduce the steepness of the learning curve.

Kathy does mention that she started out withgoats but quickly realized that to make asignificant impact on the landscape wouldrequire a lot of people training their animalsand there were a lot more ranchers and farmersrunning cows than other livestock in the areas

where there are major weed problems. Kathy put two and two together anddecided that it was easier to train cows to eat weeds than get ranchers toswitch to raising goats.

She notes that there is this misconception that cows don’t want tobrowse or eat weeds and prefer grass. But after a little training, the cowswill actually choose browse and weeds over grasses even when there ismore grass available. Their diet becomes more evenly distributed so theirintake is split almost evenly between browse, forbs, and grasses to balancetheir energy and protein needs.

The latter part of her book is devoted to setting up some simplemonitoring protocols to help people see the progress they are making increating a healthier landscape, and she includes a variety of worksheets youcan reproduce to help you set up your training program and track progress.

Cows Eat Weeds will give you all the information you need to getstarted in successfully training your cows (and other livestock) to broadentheir palates so you can more effectively use them to move your landscapetoward your future landscape description.

Book Review by Ann Adams

Cows Eat Weeds: How To Turn Your Cows Into Weed ManagersBy Kathy Voth • pp.143Ordering: www.livestockforlandscapes.org


CALIFORNIA

Richard King1675 Adobe Rd., Petaluma, CA 94954707/769-1490 • 707/794-8692(w)[email protected]

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

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

COLORADO

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

GEORGIA

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

MAINE

Vivianne Holmes239 E Buckfield RoadBuckfield, ME 04220-4209207/336-2484 • [email protected]

MICHIGAN

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

* Larry Dyer1113 Klondike Ave, Petoskey, MI 49770-3233231/439-8982 (w) • 231/347-7162 (h)[email protected]

MONTANA

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

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

NEBRASKA

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

Paul Swanson5155 West 12th St., Hastings, NE 68901402/463-8507 • [email protected]

Ralph Tate1109 Timber Dr., Papillion, NE 68046402/932-3405 • [email protected]

NEW HAMPSHIRE

� Seth Wilner24 Main Street, Newport, NH 03773603/863-4497 (h) • 603/863-9200 (w)[email protected]

NEW MEXICO

� Ann AdamsHolistic Management International1010 Tijeras NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102505/[email protected]

Kelly Boney4865 Quay Road L, San Jon, NM 88434575/[email protected]

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

NORTH DAKOTA

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

OREGON

Jeff Goebel52 NW Mcleay Blvd.Portland, OR 97210541/[email protected]

PENNSYLVANIA

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

TEXAS

Guy Glosson6717 Hwy. 380, Snyder, TX 79549806/237-2554 [email protected]

Peggy 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 78712 • 512/[email protected]

VIRGINIA

Byron SheltonPO Box 558, Upperville, VA 20185719/221-3259 (c)[email protected]

UN I T E D S TAT E S

UN I T E D S TAT E S

IN T E RNAT IONA L

WASHINGTON

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]

WISCONSIN

Andy Hager, 715/678-2465W. 3597 Pine Ave., Stetsonville, WI 54480-9559

Larry Johnson, 608/455-1685 W886 State Rd. 92, Brooklyn, WI [email protected]

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

The following Certified Educators listed have been trained to teach and coach individualsin Holistic Management. On a yearly basis, Certified Educators renew their agreement to be affiliated with HMI. This agreement requires their commitment to practice HolisticManagement in their own lives and to seek out opportunities for staying current with the latest developments in Holistic Management.

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

Certified Educators

Certified Educators

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

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

AUSTRALIA

Judi 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) • 61-4-1853-2130 (c)[email protected]

* Helen 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]

Dick Richardson Bonnie Doone1497 Little Plains Road, Boorowa NSW 258661 0 263853217 (w) • 61 0 263855284 (h)61 0 429069001 (c) • [email protected]

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

Brian WehlburgPine Scrub Creek, Kindee, NSW, [email protected]

Jason VirtueP.O. Box 75, Cooran, QLD 456961-2- 07 5485 [email protected]

CANADA

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

Linda & Ralph CorcoranBox 36, Langbank, SK S0G 2X0306/[email protected]

* Allison GuichonBox 10, Quilchena, BC V0E 2R0250/[email protected]

Blain HjertaasBox 760, Redvers, Saskatchewan SOC 2HO306/[email protected]

Brian LuceRR #4, Ponoka, AB T4J 1R4403/[email protected]

Tony McQuail86016 Creek Line, RR#1, Lucknow, ON N0G 2H0519/[email protected]

Len PigottBox 222, Dysart, SK, SOH 1HO 306/[email protected]

Kelly SidorykP.O. Box 374, Lloydminster, AB S9V 0Y4780/875-9806 (h)780/875-4418 (c) [email protected]


KENYA

Richard HatfieldP.O. Box 10091-00100, Nairobi254-0723-506-331; [email protected]

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

* Belinda LowP.O. Box 15109, Langata, Nairobi254-727-288-039;[email protected]

MEXICO

Ivan A. Aguirre IbarraP.O. Box 304, Hermosillo, Sonora 8300052-1-662-281-0990 (from U.S.)[email protected]

NAMIBIA

Usiel KandjiiP.O. Box 23319, Windhoek264-61-205-2324 • [email protected] NottP.O. Box 11977, Windhoek264/61-225085 (h) 264/[email protected]

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

OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma Land Stewardship AllianceCharles Griffith, contact personRoute 5, Box E44Ardmore, OK 73401580/[email protected]

PENNSYLVANIA

Northern Penn NetworkJim Weaver, contact personRD #6, Box 205Wellsboro, PA 16901717/[email protected]

TEXAS

HMI TexasPeggy Cole5 Limestone Trail,Wimberley, TX [email protected]

West Station for Holistic ManagementPeggy MaddoxPO Box 694, Ozona, TX [email protected]

NEW ZEALAND

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

SOUTH AFRICA

Jozua LambrechtsP.O. Box 5070Helderberg, Somerset WestWestern Cape 713527-83-310-1940 • 27-21-851-2430 (w)[email protected]

Ian Mitchell-InnesP.O. Box 52Elandslaagte [email protected]

UNITED KINGDOM

* Philip Bubb32 Dart Close, St. Ives,Cambridge, PE27 3JB44-1480-496-2925 (h)+44 7837 405483 (w)[email protected]

ARIZONA

HRM of ArizonaNorm Lowe2660 E. HembergFlagstaff, AZ 86004928/[email protected]

COLORADO

Colorado Branch For Holistic Management®P.O. Box 218Lewis, CO 81327www.coloradoholisticmanagement.orgCindy Dvergsten, webmaster970/882-4222

NEW YORK

Central NY RC&DPhil Metzger99 North Broad StreetNorwich, NY 13815607/334-3231 ext [email protected]

NORTHWEST

Managing WholesPeter DonovanPO Box 393Enterprise, OR 97828541/426-5783www.managingwholes.com

A F F I L I AT E SIN T E RNAT IONA L

I am looking for opportunities to share my varied facilitation experience in the USA while also earning US$ to help

finance my participation in planning meet-ings of the Educational Advisory Council of HMI. For more details, please contact

[email protected].

Explore giving creativeexpression to your needs and values ...

WIEBKEVOLKMANN, certified educator &artist fromNamibia, Africa

BEYOND theART ofPLANNEDGRAZING

• Land Planning• Keyline • Permaculture

WEST TEXASLAND

PLANNINGCOURSE

JOIN . . . Owen Hablutzel, Walt Davis, and Christopher

Gill to learn about:

September 27-29, 2010Dixon Water Foundation’s

Ranch in Marfa, Texas

To register call 505/842-5252 or go to our online store at: www.holisticmanagement.org

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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 • 505/[email protected]

Want to make the world a better place?

Interested in teaching others about Holistic Management?


Registration Costs:Before Sept 1 After Sept 1 $100 $150*50% discount for each extramember of a family or farm unit.

Extension is a Division of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln cooperatingwith the Counties and the United States Department of Agriculture.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension educational programs abide with the nondiscrimination policies of the University ofNebraska-Lincoln and the United States Department of Agriculture.

Nebraska Holistic Management GatheringSeptember 14-15, 2010

Black Horse Inn & Drovers SteakhouseCreighton, Nebraska

The Nebraska Holistic Management Gathering will feature several Holistic practitioners, Ann Adams,Neil Dennis, Chad Peterson, Rodger Savory, Tilak Dhiman, Terry Gompert, and the newly graduatedHolistic Management® Certified Educators.

What will you learn?! Grassfed Research! Power of Stock Density (mob grazing)! Application of Holistic Management! Dung Beetles

Speakers:Ann Adams, New Mexico - Ann isthe Director of Educational Products& Outreach at Holistic ManagementInternational. She has created aworkbook that helps individuals andfamilies easily understand HolisticManagement and put it into practice.

Neil Dennis, Canada - He is thedetailed Mob grazier of the world. Hecustom feeds large herds of stockers.

Tilak Dhiman, Utah -Tilak is the top researcheron grassfed fats.

Terry Gompert,Nebraska - Terry is aUNL Extension Educatorwith a focus on grazing.He is a Certified Educatorand Practitioner on hissmall ranch.

Chad Peterson, Nebraska - Chad is a veryexperienced Mob grazier. He is known for his out-of-the-box thinking.

Rodger Savory, Canada - Roger is the son ofHM founder, Allan Savory. He managed thegrazing land in Zimbabwe. He consults worldwideand is very opinionated.

George Wagner, Nebraska - George hasbecome an independent beetler. He knows andunderstands Holistic Management.

Tuesday, September 14, 20105:00 p.m. Registration6:00 p.m. Buffet7:00 p.m. Holistic Management

Educator & TraineePanel

8:00 p.m. Greeting Circle

September 15, 20107:00 a.m. Registration with Coffee & Rolls8:30 a.m. Mob Grazing

Jeffrey Island/Weeds to Grass -PetersonMob Grazing in the North -DennisBeginnings of Ultra-High Stock Density Grazing -SavoryPower of Stock Density -Gompert

12:00 noon Lunch1:00 p.m. Living at Home with Holistic Management -Adams3:00 p.m. Latest Research on Grassfed Beef -Dhiman5:00 p.m. Dung Beetles -Wagner and others6:00 p.m. Buffet7:00 p.m. Speaker Panel8:00 p.m. Closing Circle

There are a few rooms blocked at the Black Horse Inn in Creighton, Nebraska. Call 402-358-3587 and mention the Holistic Management Gathering.

For more information contact:UNL Extension in Knox County at P.O. Box 45, Center, NE 68724; email - [email protected];phone - 402-288-5611; or fax - 402-288-5612. Directions and details will be sent after registration is received.


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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

GRANDINLIVESTOCK SYSTEMS

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

970/229-0703www.grandin.com

CORRAL DESIGNS

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

the crowding tub easy.

Includes detailed drawings for loading ramp, V chute, round crowd pen, dip vat, gates and hinges. Plus cell center layouts and layouts compatible with electronic sorting systems. Articles on cattle behavior. 27 corral layouts. $55.

Low Stress Cattle Handling Video $59. Send checks/money order to:

Grazing Planning & CRP Seminar

Kelly Boney, Certified Educator

4865 QUAY ROAD LSAN JON, NM 88434

575/[email protected]

See HolisticManagement

in Action, September 21-23

Sept. 30, oct. 1 & 2, 2010 Northeast Community College ag Complex • Norfolk, Ne

www.grassfedexchange.com

CoSTS—Note, The cost for thesecond member of thefamily/farm attendingthe seminar and banquetwill be 50% of the cost!

“FiNiShiNGGRaSSFeD BeeF

iN a PeRFeCTFaShioN”

Seminar & GrassfedBanquet

october 1 & 2, 2010

You will learn whataffects finishability and

all the health benefits of grassfed beef.

• Featuring Dr. AnibalPordomingo, Argentina

• Also, Doug Gunnink,Minnesota

• Producer Panels • Famous Minnesota

Grassfed Chef, ScottPampuch, will prepare hisshowcase grassfed meal.

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See the best genetics

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PRoDUCeR ToURS Sept. 30, 2010

Seminar & Producer Tours Registration: Contact, Terry Gompert,402/288-5611, [email protected]

Display Pens and Grassfed Genetics Display Pens: Contact, Joey Jones,402/322-1608, [email protected]

� Seminar & BanquetBefore September 10, $150 After September 10, $200

� Livestock Display Pen, Contact Joey

� Vendor Display, Contact Joey

Kirk L. Gadzia, Certified EducatorPO Box 1100Bernalillo, NM [email protected]

How can RMS, LLC help you? On-Site Consulting: All aspects of holistic management, including financial, ecological and human resources.

Training Events: Regularly scheduled and customized training sessions provided in a variety of locations.

Ongoing Support: Follow-up training sessions and access to continued learning opportunities and developments.

Land Health Monitoring: Biological monitoring of rangeland and riparian ecosystem health.

Property Assessment: Land health and productivity assessment with recommended solutions.

www.rmsgadzia.com

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

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

See the Big Picture ~ Respond to Change ~ Be Sustainable

Get Started Today – Join Our

Holistic ManagementDistance Learning &Mentoring Program

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

learn to your situation and get results now!

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

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

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

SPEAKERS andPRESENTERS INCLUDE:

Kier BarkerDr. Dwayne BeckDr. Elaine DembeDr. Roger EppJeff Goebel

Save theDate!

Western CanadianHolistic Management Conference

February15-16, 2011

LLOYDMINSTER,SASKATCHEWAN,

CANADA

PLUS . . . MANY HOLISTICMANAGEMENT PRACTITIONERS AND EDUCATORS

FINALLY – T-SHIRTSfor GRAZIERS!Show ‘em you’re a MiG or Mob grazier with a

keen sense o’humor in out Grazing T-shirts!Wear one and spark a conversation about

your ranch or farm! Wear ‘em in your Farmer’sMarket booth and SELL MORE GRASS-FED!Great for the Fair, stock shows and grazing school!MIG or MOB ‘toon on quality 100% cotton tee,

M-L-XL $16; 2X-4X $20, free shipping! 4-H-FFA-Youth groups: ask about our fundraiser program! (Sure beats selling candy . . . AGAIN!)

From the slightly warped minds at:

816/724-0653 • cowboysams.blogspot.com

Books & MultimediaHolistic Management: A New Framework for Decision-Making,_ Second Edition, by Allan Savory with Jody Butterfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $39

_ Hardcover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $55_ 15-set CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $125_ One month rental of CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $35_ Spanish Version (soft). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25

_ Holistic Management Handbook, by Butterfield, Bingham, Savory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $29_ At Home With Holistic Management, by Ann Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20_ Holistic Management: A New Environmental Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10_ Improving Whole Farm Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $13_ Video: Creating a Sustainable Civilization—

An Introduction to Holistic Decision-Making, based on a lecture given by Allan Savory. (DVD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30

_ Stockmanship, by Steve Cote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $35_ The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook, by Shannon Hayes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25_ The Oglin, by Dick Richardson & Rio de la Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25_ Gardeners of Eden, by Dan Dagget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25_ Video: Healing the Land Through Multi-Species Grazing (DVD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $30_ PBS Video—The First Millimeter: Healing the Earth (DVD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $25

TO ORDER

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 - 130 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$25

Planning and Monitoring Guides

_ Policy/Project Analysis & DesignAugust 2008, 61 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17

_ 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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$15

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

_ Land Planning—For The Rancher or Farmer Running LivestockAugust 2007, 31 pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$15

Planning Forms (All forms are padded – 25 sheets per pad)_Annual Income & Expense Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17

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

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

_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 & Handling

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT MAIL ORDER EMPORIUMHOLISTIC MANAGEMENT MAIL ORDER EMPORIUM

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

SoftwareHolistic Management® Financial Planning (single-user license) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $149 Grazing Planning software (single-user license) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $100

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

Indicate quantity on line next to item, make sure your shipping address is correct, mail this page (or a copy) and your check or money order payable in U.S. funds from a U.S. bank or your credit card number and expiration date to: Holistic Management International, 1010 Tijeras Ave. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102.You can also call in or fax credit card orders. Phone calls to: 505/842-5252; Fax: 505/843-7900.

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

Shipping and handlingcosts to the right are forU.S. media mail only.

Call 505/842-5252 forall other shipping rates.

Documents

#133 In Practice,, SEP/OCT 2010