In nature, there are no parts. Just wholes within wholes who influence and are influenced. Thus, the number of relationships land stewards need to manage are limitless!
How we manage our livestock above ground, will influence the livestock living under ground (the community of organisms living all or part of their lives in soil, including bacteria, fungi, nematodes, protozoa and arthropods to name a few).
As we improve these relationships, the ecosystem functions are improved, which allows for more water in the soil and less runoff improving the water cycle, more minerals cycling from the atmosphere into the soil and livestock and back again, the diversity of plants and organisms, and more photosynthesis capturing energy from the sun into the living organisms. All this leads to healthier soil, healthier livestock, healthier humans and a healthier planet.
The relationships are endless!
During this two-day workshop, we will concentrate on how we can manage the livestock above ground to help manage the livestock below ground, and create healthier pastures, livestock, and soil. This typically leads to reduced inputs and increased profits, together with increased carrying capacity leading to more production!
Participants will leave the workshop with knowledge about how to read their land and livestock, adjust their management accordingly and learn tools that they can implement when they return to their operations.
We will spend time indoors and out in the pasture. Topics and tools to be presented are:
how animal impact improves soil health
microscopic view of soil & how to prepare a soil sample
how to assess forage using STAC- a simple method using your boot
how to determine how many animals your land can support
how to determine and plan for grass recovery
how to read your land and your animals for better grazing management
The instructors will be:
Wayne Knight, Executive Director at HMI
With 27 years of ranching experience using Holistic Management, Wayne has had an identity crisis. When he joined the 11 000-acre family ranching business he called himself a cattle rancher. He changed to calling himself a grass farmer. Later still, he called himself a soil-microbe farmer, though he has always marketed beef. Privileged to work with his father, Tom Knight, who was an early adopter of Holistic Management under Allan Savory – Stan Parsons consulting, Wayne enthusiastically increased and intensified the practices HMI teaches. He became a Certified Educator in 2006 and was actively involved with the Southern African CE community organization, Community Dynamics. He has spoken at numerous conferences in Southern Africa, trained and mentored farmers, hosted open days on his property, and has written about his positive results using Holistic Management. Before joining the team at HMI Wayne served as a board member of the organization for 8 years. Through his enthusiasm for Holistic Management Wayne has traveled widely visiting farmers who practice high-density, long recovery grazing practices in Southern Africa, Australia, and the US. As a young graduate with a Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Natal, South Africa, he traveled across the US west working on ranches in Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, California, and New Mexico.
Andie Marsh, Owner at Rhizos LLC
Andie is a Soil Health Practitioner and Science Communicator on a mission to help others restore life and functionality to their soil systems. Equipped with her microscope and the power of observation, she assesses soils and compost to inform restoration efforts through her business, Rhizos LLC – a Soil Food Web Certified Lab.
Andie attended Texas A&M University (’13) where she studied agricultural microbiology and bioremediation in the Bioenvironmental Sciences program. She is a certified lab-technician through Dr. Elaine Ingham’s, Soil Food Web. Unafraid to take a less conventional route, Andie has followed her interests with professional experience in vermicomposting, aquaponic cultivation, plant science research, microscopy, and science communication.
Christine Martin, Owner at The Regen Ranch & The Regen Ranch Consulting
Christine Martin owns and operates The Regen Ranch in Leon County, TX where she raises clean (no chemicals, hormones or antibiotics) and nutrient dense beef, lamb, chicken, turkey and eggs which she sells as meat direct to consumer.
Using Holistic Management principles and practices, the livestock are managed to allow the four fundamental ecosystem functions to be restored thus improving the health of her land and increasing in carrying capacity.
As a Holistic Management International Professional Certified Educator, Christine has coached clients in improving their land, their finances and their quality of life, moving them towards their dream life! Christine was born in Argentina from a ranching family, raised in Brazil and moved to Michigan to earn a B.S. in Business at Eastern Michigan University and M.S. in Agricultural Economics at Michigan State University.
Lunch and snacks will be provided both days of the workshop and are included in the workshop cost.
Price is $350 per person