BRENDA SCHROEDER
Independent Contributor
At last December’s Western Canadian Grazing Conference in Vermilion, AB, there seemed to be something extra on the agenda.
It wasn’t a new technology or technique that had the participating farmers buzzing – but an approach, a way of thinking.
Attending sessions on multi-species grazing, stockpiled grazing and mob-grazing - one could start to see, - rather hear - a common thread in all of their presentations.
Again and again, phrases like “mimicking nature’s relationships” and “theory of balance” as well as “I like to see it for myself” and “having no preconceived ideas of what will and won’t work here” were used.
The focus was on being involved with the land and animals along with reducing the level of reliance on outside inputs and ‘expertise’ to maintain or increase productivity.
The spirit of independence and experimentation ran high with this set of presenters at conference, each having their own story about how their neighbours or fathers or grandfathers thought they were crazy. But what was also common in the group was that most spoke about a turning point when they took a “holistic management” course and began to apply this approach to their cattle and land management.
Holistic management (also referred to as holistic range management or holistic resource management) is an approach based on systemic thinking: looking at the relationships and connections among parts of a system and working with them in order to maintain and improve the system.
This is in contrast to managing and manipulating single parts or variables in order to produce different results.
Alan Savory is credited for creating this framework and approach in Zimbabwe in the 1960s, when as a young biologist, he was working on ways to address the increasing desertification that was being witnessed across the farmlands in Africa. Savory’s solution was not to remove the humans or animals from the land - but to change the way decisions were being made and interactions taking place. He was able to not only reverse land degradation - but to do so in a way that increased the productivity of the land, the animals and therefore the profits, too.
Since then, thousands of land, livestock and wildlife managers from around the world have been able to demonstrate consistent results following the methodology he called holistic management.
The final keynote speaker at the Western Canadian Grazing Conference was a Canadian farmer who has been applying holistic management principles since late 1980s, Don Campbell from B – C Ranch near Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan.
Early in his presentation, Campbell made a strong statement saying that the current paradigm driving Western Canada is one based on production, one of “have a high level of production and hope that you are profitable.”
He suggested that the paradigm needed is one that says “profit is more important than production” and that means asking “at what level should I produce to make a profit” – seeking balance and optimal ratios.
With this model – cows have become a tool to harvest the wealth that is on the land and a way of improving the land itself.
He shared with the audience how he has been able to more than double the grass production on the same, set land base through managing in a way that focuses on working with nature, improving the ecosystem and stopping the overgrazing.
The 4,200 acres ranch that looked no longer be able to support a single family a decade ago has become today’s farm that supports three.
Both of Campbell’s sons have married and are living with their wives and children on the farm where they grew up.
Holistic management considers the key role that animals play in renewing the land, and recognizes the nature and importance of four basic ecosystem processes: the water cycle, the mineral cycle, energy flow, and community dynamics (the relationship between organisms in an ecosystem).
Course participants not only learn about these processes - they also learn a framework for making management decisions that includes clarifying goals, creating a plan and setting up ways to monitor their progress.
As one of the other presenter’s at the conference said “PLAN is a 24 letter word: Plan Monitor Control Replan” and holistic management provides tools for planning finances, management of land and grazing and biological monitoring.
For each family and each piece of land the methods and their execution will be different - making each farm family the experts of their own place – and holistic management is providing principles and frameworks that allow for each to successfully select their own methods.
At a time when most conversations seem to pit ecology and economy against each other, these farmers are finding ways to work with both.
They are able to restore productivity to the land, reduce input costs and therefore make a greater profit - and a better living - than they could before.
Holistic management is giving them the tools to thrive today and to ensure future generations can as well - tools that don’t need to be purchased from an implement dealer but that are rooted in a way of thinking and seeing.
To find out more about Holistic Management, go to http://www.holisticmanagement.org