#079, in practice, sept/oct 2001
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I’m sure some of you are wondering if
this will be the name for the rock band
the Savory Center is starting as a new
income-generating enterprise. Moreover, you
are probably wondering whether Allan Savory
will be playing bass or drums. But I actually
came up with the idea for this issue from a
story about a man named Jerry Sternin.
Jerry works for Save the Children. In the
1990s he had the challenging task of figuring
out how to help create lasting change in
Vietnamese communities with chronic
problems of childhood malnutrition. He
decided to use the positive deviant theory
developed at Tufts University by Marian
Zeitlin. The theory is simple: “In every
community, organization, or social group,
there are individuals whose exceptional
behaviors or practices enable them to get
better results than their neighbors with the
exact same resources.”
So Jerry set about finding out which of
the poor families in villages had children
that weren’t suffering from malnutrition.
Those were the positive deviants in those
communities. These parents had the same
resources as the other families whose children
did suffer from malnutrition, but somehow
they had figured out how to use the existing
resources in a way that served their children.
Often the reason for their success is that they
didn’t follow “conventional” wisdom.
For example, conventional wisdom in
many villages was that you shouldn’t feed
a child with diarrhea (which leads to a
worsening of the condition). Also, certain
foods that were actually very nutritious were
considered low-class or common. Because
of the food’s status, the mothers didn’t feed
their children that food. Last, mothers didn’t
actively encourage the children to eat. They
would put the food out, but it was up to the
children to eat it.
In contrast, the positive deviants fed their
children small portions throughout the day
(small starved stomachs can only handle so
much food), and they had learned where to
find the nutritious foods for free (such as
harvesting tiny shrimps and crabs to mix
into the rice), even if they were considered
low-class. Lastly, they fed their children even
when they had diarrhea.
Jerry had the mothers in the village
identify this conventional wisdom and the
positive deviants. He also had them analyze
the situation, so the mothers had ownership
in the information that came from such
analysis. The next step was critical: He didn’t
try to import best behavior from somewhere
else, or change behavior; he encouraged
new behavior by offering incentives to
adopt it.
For example, a health volunteer might
invite some of the women in the village to
a workshop on medicinal-food training. The
price for entry would be a contribution of
the shrimp or crabs or whatever local food
the positive deviants were harvesting. The
groups would then make a meal from the
contributions so the women not only learned
how to harvest the food but also how to cook
it. This training would go on for two weeks
and usually by the end the mothers continued
the behavior with their children. Those that
didn’t continue this new behavior could
repeat the course.
The results? Malnutrition dropped 65-85
percent in a two-year period. Even when the
Harvard School of Public Health did an
independent study, they found that children
who hadn’t even been born when Jerry had
been in the villages had achieved the same
enhanced nutritional level as those children
in the original study. That meant the
behaviors stuck.
in t h is I s su e
Holistic Management & Village Banking
Jody Butterfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Synergy in Cyberspace
Dan Daggett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Foodsheds: How to Feed a
Region Sustainably
Ray Kirsch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
LAND & LIVESTOCK—A specialsection of IN PRACTICE
Keeping Things Simple
Jim Howell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Bull Beef Finishing in New Zealand
Jim Howell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Savory Center Bulletin Board . . . . . . .16
Development Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
This woman, and other women like her
in Zimbabwe, is trying to support herself
and her children on an income of less
than 50 (U.S.) cents per day. Learn ho w
our village banks have helped women in
Zimbabwe improve their families' quality
of life through a better understanding of
Holistic Management and a chance to
succeed in their own businesses.
(See page 3.)
P o s i t i ve Dev i a n t sby Ann Adams
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2001 NUMBER 79
HOLISTICMANAGEMENT IN PRACTIC EP r oviding the link between a healthy environment and a sound economy
continued on page 2
GRETEL EHRLICH
2 HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE #79
The Allan Savory
Center for Holistic Management
The ALLAN SAVORY CENTER FOR
HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT is a 501(c) (3)
non-profit organization. The center
works to restore the vitality of
communities and the natural resources
on which they depend by advancing the
practice of Holistic Management and
coordinating its development worldwide.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Lois Trevino, Chair
Rio de la Vista, Vice Chair
Ann Adams, Secretary
Manuel Casas, Treasurer
Gary Rodgers
Allan Savory
ADVISORY BOARD
Robert Anderson, Chair, Corrales, NM
Ron Brandes, New York, NY
Sam Brown, Austin, TX
Leslie Christian, Portland, OR
Gretel Ehrlich, Gaviota, CA
Clint Josey, Dallas, TX
Christine Jurzykowski, Glen Rose, TX
Doug McDaniel, Lostine, OR
Guillermo Osuna, Coahuila, Mexico
Bunker Sands, Dallas, TX
York Schueller, Santa Barbara, CA
Jim Shelton, Vinita, OK
Richard Smith, Houston, TX
STAFF
Shannon Horst, Executive Director; Kate Bradshaw, Associate Director; Allan Savory, Founding Director; Jody Butterfield, Co-Founder andResearch and Educational MaterialsCoordinator ; Kelly Pasztor, Director of Educational Services; Andy Braman,
Development Director; Ann Adams,
Managing Editor, IN PRACTICE andMembership Support Coordinator
Africa Centre for Holistic Management
Private Bag 5950, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
tel: (263) (11) 213529; email:
Huggins Matanga, Director; Roger
Parry, Manager, Regional Training Centre;Elias Ncube, Hwange ProjectManager/Training Coordinator
HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT INPRACTICE (ISSN: 1098-8157) is publishedsix times a year by The Allan SavoryCenter for Holistic Management, 1010Tijeras NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102,505/842-5252, fax: 505/843-7900; email:[email protected].;website: www.holisticmanagement.org Copyright © 2001.
Ad definitumfinem
P o s i t i ve Dev i a n t s
continued from page 1
Hiding Under a Bushel
That story has stuck with me because it is
such an elegantly simple solution. If you look
around you, you will see the positive deviants
in your community. Maybe you are one of
them. Jerry’s story also made me think about
how Holistic Management has helped many
people in their communities become those
positive deviants. These are people with the
exact same resources who seem suddenly
able to carry twice the number of animals on
their land, or have less bare ground, or get
twice the profit from the same number of
livestock, or get people willing to work on
community projects while others struggle to
find participants.
The interesting thing is that sometimes
people hide these successes or amazing
results under a bushel basket (so to speak).
They may be so busy getting those results
that they haven’t figured out how they did it
or how to explain how they did it. I continue
to be amazed at how reticent people can
be about telling their stories. It’s as if they
believe their success was dumb luck or that
telling the story might bring the wrath of
neighbors, the government, or, perhaps, one
deity or the other.
Some folks who do share their successes
are reticent to mention that their practice of
Holistic Management helped them achieve
such results. The irony, of course, is that for
most of us, Holistic Management helped us
break from the conventional wisdom that
held us back from the success we were
seeking. While we might spout off words
like marginal reaction, brittleness, or animal
impact , most of the world doesn’t have a
clue what we are talking about. Building
that knowledge requires a certain amount
of education (sharing of information),
persistence, and, above all, engaging others.
Communities and Positive Dev i a n t s
I don’t mean to imply that we should
cram Holistic Management into every agenda
possible, but I do believe that the more
people hear about Holistic Management (in
all the arenas in which it is being practiced),
the more likely they will consider adopting
that new behavior. Like the mother of a child
with malnutrition, those people hearing about
Holistic Management for the first time need
to see people from their “community” getting
the results they would like in their own lives.
Ironically, sometimes it helps to have someone
from outside the situation point out what is
happening in the community.
In the case of Jerry Sternin, the answers
were already in the village. The women in the
village knew who was feeding their children
what food. It just took someone asking the
right questions and providing incentive for the
new behavior. We’ve found the same thing to
be true with our village banking project in
Zimbabwe (see page 3).
This project is a collaboration involving
our U.S. staff, Africa Centre for Holistic
Management staff, and our Holistic
Management™ village-based trainers in
Zimbabwe. We’ve taken the village banking
concept used by various international non-
profits and added a holistic twist. I believe the
result is an even better service because these
women are not only concerned about their
banking circle, but also the larger community
that supports and depends upon the banking
circle. They are not only better able to feed
their children, they are also contributing to
their communities in other ways because they
have a holistic goal, not just a business plan.
While positive deviants will benefit
themselves, with Holistic Management they
are more likely to benefit their community as
well because the community is part of their
whole. In other words, they are interested in
helping others be positive deviants because
such improvement benefits everyone.
Competition is less of an issue. Women in the
banking circle want all the businesses of each
participant to do well because if one fails it
negatively affects the others through the
inability of that woman to pay back her loan.
It seems to me that such a perception of
community and business will do far more to
sustain that community and the businesses
that depend upon them. It feels good to be
involved in such a venture.
While the Savory Center in all likelihood
will never have a rock group called Positive
Deviants, we are proud to serve a global
movement of positive deviants who have
made their communities a better place to live
and have provided insight into how some of
the problems in their community could be
addressed. Even more exciting, we know that
in the years to come we will be able to report
on even more new ideas generated by people
who have taken Holistic Management and
figured out how to create the outcome they
wanted with the resources they already had.
HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2001 3
Kwejani Bank’s
Holistic Goal
Statement of Purpose
The purpose of our village bank is
to improve the members' knowledge
of business management, financial
management and thereby improve our
economic well-being.
Quality of Life
To have adequate nutritious food,
respectful and educated children, and
plenty of livestock; to be hard-working,
self-employed and trustworthy women; to
have beautiful homesteads, many hospitals,
and reliable transport; to maintain our
traditions; to have a well-maintained
environment.
Forms of Production
To attain that quality of life, we must
produce:
Diverse cropping patterns, many schools
and teachers, well maintained grazing areas,
self respect, income from crops and
livestock, successful businesses, a variety of
transport, pride and respect for our
traditions, and well-preserved soils.
Future Resource Base
To sustain all of this, we must create:
Knowledgeable and progressive people,
fertile soils, plenty of clean flowing water,
varied transport systems, many businesses, a
variety of wild life, and covered soils.
hen we set out to introduce Holistic
Management to villagers in
Zimbabwe, near the property we
jointly own with the Africa Centre for Holistic
Management, we were walking in the dark. We
genuinely believed that Holistic Management
would enable the villagers to restore their
rapidly desertifying land to health, while
greatly enhancing their economic well being
and the quality of their lives. But achieving
that outcome within a reasonable timeframe
proved much harder than we anticipated. We
had always known this project was not one
that could be accomplished in a three- or five-
year plan—we liked to say it was a 100-year
project. But, given some training and a little
encouragement, we were sure these villagers
would move as fast as anyone.
The villagers really were excited by the
new knowledge and within a fairly short time
seven villages had created their own holistic
goals and tested some decisions toward them.
In the years that followed, some progress was
made, but things didn’t really change until
two years ago when we initiated our village
banking program. This program enables small
groups of women to develop micro-enterprises
using low-interest loans from banks they
run themselves.
Why did this make such a difference?
Because we were able to target the segment
of the population that was key to getting things
done—the women. And because they were able,
through this program, to effectively address
their number one concern—the ability to feed
their families—and, almost as important, to send
their children to school. First there were five
banks, then seven, then 9, and now 12, with
two more about to be inaugurated.
The Tr a i n i n g
The banks are formed by 15 to 30 women
who know each other well, trust each other,
and have solidarity among them. Together,
they undergo five weeks of training with
our Africa Centre staff and a Holistic
Management™ village-based trainer who
serves as their “bank officer.” The latter audits
the books each week as members make loan
repayments, and serves as an enterprise advisor.
business skills development and, of course, the
ins and outs of micro-lending. An important
part of this segment is the discussion of what
businesses the women want to pursue and
ensuring that each of these businesses is in
line with their village bank’s holistic goal.
Throughout the training period each
woman is required to save 25 percent of the
loan amount she anticipates borrowing. This is
good practice because once she receives a loan
and is making weekly re-payments (over a
16-week cycle), she must at the same time put
20 percent of the loan amount into the group
savings account.
Launching the Bank
When the training is complete, the bank
is launched with an official inauguration
presided over by a chief, or one of his
representatives. The whole village is invited to
attend. The women are introduced and sworn
in by the chief and then given their first loans.
In accepting the money they state out loud to
the whole village what business it will be used
for. This lets everyone know that the money
can only be used for that particular business
and that the woman should not be pressured
to make the funds available for other purposes.
The very next week, the bank members
Holistic Management and
Village Bankingby Jody Butterfield
Over a period of two years, or six loan cycles,
the typical bank member will not only
finance a new business, she will accumulate
close to US $100 in savings (despite the
extremely hard times).
The five-week training is much more than
a crash course in micro-lending. It starts with
a session on communication skills and group
dynamics—an important topic for a group that
is in effect acting as guarantor for every
member’s loan. Next, the group forms a holistic
goal for their bank (see “Kwejani Bank’s Holistic
Goal”) and then develops the bylaws under
which they will operate and govern themselves.
The remainder of the training deals with
W
continued on page 4
4 HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE #79
meet to make their first loan repayment--
principal plus 15 percent interest (local
banks charge 70 percent). But more than
banking goes on at these meetings. A bank
officer/Holistic Management™ village-based
facilitator is always present to provide
assistance. He or she has a copy of the Holistic
Management testing questions, which have
been translated into Ndebele and Nambya, and
makes sure the women get practice using them
each week. Each time the women borrow
additional funds, which most do at the end
of each 16-week loan cycle, their use of these
funds must pass the testing. They must also
check to make sure their business is still
taking them toward their holistic goal.
Each bank has a modified version of the
Holistic Management™ model that hangs on
the wall of the meeting room. Arrows move
around this version of the model illustrating,
for instance, that the village banks were
brought about through the tools of creativity
(“ideas”) and money, and that the micro-
businesses they produce lead directly to the
quality of life described in the holistic goal.
The Tie to the Land
Arrows also illustrate how critical the tools
of “grazing livestock” and animal impact are to
creating ground cover and restoring their water
soon, we believe grass poaching will be a thing
of the past, because each of the villages,
starting with the core we are working with
now and radiating out from there, will be
planning their grazing, seeing the benefits, and
understanding whythings are improving.
Something to Be Proud of
That we have achieved as much as we
have in a country that is so heavily mired in
political and economic turmoil (Zimbabwe’s
is currently the world’s fastest shrinking
economy) is amazing even to us here in
Albuquerque. Just consider these statistics
from our village banks:
■ Accumulated savings of the members
in our 12 village banks, which have been
operating from two months to two years,
is just under US$15,000.
■ A typical bank member is a mother who
is trying to support herself and her children,
or grandchildren, on an income of less than
50 U.S. cents per day.
■ Over a period of two years, or six loan
cycles, the typical bank member will not only
finance a new business, she will accumulate
close to US$100 in savings (despite the
extremely hard times).
■ As a bank member’s business grows,
family income will double, enabling the
member to meet her family’s basic food
needs.
(Note: We’ve used the official exchange rate
of 55 Z$ to 1 US$ to arrive at these figures.
The “unofficial rate” varies between
Z$120-200 to 1 US$.)
Less tangible is the change in the women
themselves—in their levels of confidence and
feelings of empowerment. The Federation for
International Community Assistance (FINCA),
who trained our staff in village banking,
mentions this specifically: “Poverty is not only
the lack of money,” they say in a brochure, “it
is also a lack of self-confidence” revealed in
such statements as: “I can’t. I am illiterate. I am
alone, dependent.” It is a mental trap. Village
banking can change that attitude.
That it really can is borne out in a
statement made to us by Monica Sibanda, a
member of the Vusisizwe Village Bank: “I can
neither read nor write, but I know business.
I sell tobacco, sugar, salt and opaque beer
that I brew myself. I have never failed to
make my repayments. Thanks to Holistic
Management, I can now walk into any
bank with confidence.”
cycle to health, as described in their holistic
goal. The women, although not responsible
for livestock herding, now realize that if
their village water sources dry up, all their
businesses will eventually fail. They are
beginning to discuss this with their relatives
and neighbors and the awareness throughout
the community is growing. Village songs and
slogans now point out the damage done by
“too few animals wandering around.”
The men in one village were taught
how to plan their grazing and managed to
combine their animals into one larger herd of
about 500 for a season. But the exercise was
both impractical and premature. They had
no facilities for watering a large herd—each
animal had to drink from a bowl of hand-
pumped water, and only about half the herd
could water in a single day. Nonetheless the
men stuck with it and by the end of the
season had grown more grass than most
ever remembered seeing. But, it was soon
“poached” by herds from neighboring villages
that had long ago run short of grass.
We’ve now established banks in those
villages, however, and the women are talking.
We’re working on a plan to assist the villagers
in building adequate watering facilities (using
solar pumps and inexpensive reservoirs) to
make the larger herds feasible. And one day
Weekly Meetings
Bank members meet weekly to conduct their banking business, to test decisions toward
their holistic goal, and to further their understanding of Holistic Management. Here's a
self-profile of one member:
“At the age of 67, I, Sarah Ncube, am still
energetic and compete with the young ladies in
business. I make and sell grass baskets and mats.
The tomatoes in my garden are now ready for
marketing. I also sell sweet reeds, groundnuts,
sweet potatoes, cowpeas and mfushwa (dried
cowpea leaves).
So far, I have managed to pay school fees for
my grandchildren and I bought four goats with
my savings.
Holistic Management has taught me:
1. How to sell my goods and save some money for
future use.
2. That ground cover is the key to successful
businesses.
3. To think before I act.
Holistic Management and Village Bankingcontinued from page 3
HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2001 5
sort, scores of which have been described
within the pages of IN PRACTICE.
Restoration as Product
The challenge here is to find a way for
us to stop preaching to one another. I know
ranchers can produce this kind of value, and
you know it, but the general public doesn’t
know it. The problem is, I’ve been in the
business of telling the public about ranchers
producing environmental value for long
enough to be painfully aware that just telling
them doesn’t work. I wrote a book about it,
Beyond the Rangeland Conflict: T oward a
West That Works, that was nominated for a
Pulitzer Prize and sold relatively well, and I
have given well over a hundred talks about
ranchers producing environmental value all
over the West to audiences that range from
ranchers to environmental activists to activist
vegetarians. In spite of my efforts and the
efforts a lot of other very good
communicators, including Allan Savory, the
fact that ranchers can actually restore
ecosystems to a state of health and sustain
them that way is so far off the general
public’s radar screen that most media treat it
as a total impossibility too inconceivable to
even mention in any article about rangeland
issues. In those articles, “cattle grazing” or
“ranching” is treated as a synonym for
“devastating,” and all ranching is treated as
if it is uniformly and universally destructive.
Puzzling over how to deal with this
dilemma it occurred to me that the most
effective way to convince anyone that you
can produce anything is to sell it to them
and make good on the delivery. No one
debates the existence of Big Macs. They just
buy them and eat them. Nor does anyone
argue about where Big Macs come from the
way lots of people argue about whether
environmental restorations come from
ranchers or from Nature.
With that in mind, working with Norm
Lowe who has a B.S. in Range Management,
and his wife Gail, a Certified Public
Accountant, I created an environmental
organization named EcoResults. EcoResults
Synergy in Cyberspace
by Dan Daggett
continued on page 6
s commodity prices continue the overall
downward trend that is characteristic
of an economy based on growth
and increasing productivity, a lot of holistic
managers are looking for new goods and
services to market to supplement their
income and support their quality of life.
Not surprisingly, some have come up with
the idea of marketing the enhanced
environmental health Holistic Management
creates on their ranches.
Some ranchers have been able to do this
by marketing their beef or other products as
environmentally beneficial, predator friendly,
etc. A few have begun marketing the
additional wildlife that their stewardship
produces to wildlife watchers, photographers,
and to hunters where state laws permit.
Some market the open space their ranches
produce by selling conservation easements
or by selling a few trophy homesites placed
so they don’t interfere with stewardship
operations. A growing number of ranchers
have even begun to seek grants to fund
management projects directed at making the
land healthier or at creating some specific
environmental value such as habitat for an
endangered species.
An Environmental Va l u e
In spite of all this, in a price-driven
marketplace, “niche” marketing seems to be
proving too limited to support the full scope
of the demand for environmental restoration
and sustainable stewardship. It’s not doing the
job for ranchers either. One measure of this
shortfall is the fact that agricultural land in
the West, including ranch land, is being
converted to development at a rate that has
been estimated at an acre a minute.
Ranchers thus find themselves in the
extremely odd situation of being able to
produce a type of value most in demand by
contemporary society, environmental value,
but going out of business because there is
no effective way to market that value.
This is beginning to change, albeit slowly.
Some members of the environmentally
concerned public have realized that ranchers
can produce one product for which they are
quite willing to pay. That product is open
space. Whatever you think of conservation
easements, they form an example of a direct
production and consumption relationship of
an environmental value between ranching
and the environmentally concerned public.
Having realized that ranchers produce
open space, a few of us within the urban
environmental community are becoming
aware of the fact that they produce other
kinds of environmental value, too. And while
it’s true that some of them do it better than
others, it’s also true that, in some cases,
ranchers can produce certain kinds of
environmental results more effectively
than anyone else.
The kind of environmental value I’m
talking about, here, is the kind that Arizona
rancher Terry Wheeler produces when he
transforms piles of barren mine tailings into
functioning grasslands using livestock as the
agent to facilitate the application of several
of the Holistic Management tools, (animal
impact, living organisms, rest, human
creativity, and money and labor). Another
example is provided by David Ogilvie, who
restored the riparian forest along the Gila
River that flows through his ranch to such
a state of health that it now supports the
largest known population of an endangered
bird, the southwestern willow flycatcher,
and significant populations of several
other threatened, endangered, and
sensitive species.
Ogilvie’s U-Bar has out paced all
preservationist efforts to increase numbers
of this bird by a minimum of 40 percent.
There are plenty of other examples of this
“One thing we have
found is that all of the
projects that have qualified
for inclusion in EcoResults
have been firmly rooted
in Holistic Management.”
A
6 HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE #79
Holistic Management. In fact, we use the
model to help us select projects that qualify.
Once EcoResults gets going we expect
to feature a lot of Success Stories and
Restorations in Progress that come to us is an internet-based catalog of sorts filled
with the kinds of ecological restorations
produced by rural stewards that I described
above. EcoResults’ mission has three parts.
The first is to let people know in terms that
are as undeniable as possible (dramatic
before and after photos is the best way I
know) that rural land managers can and do
restore ecosystems to health and sustain
them that way.
EcoResults also provides a means by
which those of us who value healthy
ecosystems can reward those who produce
them by providing monetary support or at
least by giving the ecosystem restorers credit
for doing so. EcoResults raises monetary
support for rangeland restorations via grants,
individual contributions, which we accept
right over the web, and sponsorships from
for-profit businesses. To date we have
received a startup grant from the Collective
Heritage Institute of Santa Fe, New Mexico, a
project sponsorship from Teva Sports Sandals
for a watershed restoration in the Rio Puerco
watershed near Cuba, New Mexico, and
several individual contributions. And we
have a number of additional grants and
sponsorships pending.
The third component of our mission is
to promote the restoration of ecosystems of
the American West to a state of health and
sustainability by rewarding rural land
managers who produce that result. On our
web site, we try to achieve our mission in
terms that are as undeniable as possible by
presenting a series of Success Stories before
we offer our Restorations in Progress. Thus
we provide potential contributors with
evidence of the effectiveness of the methods
used in our restorations, and of the stewards
who apply them, before we offer them an
opportunity to support an ongoing or
proposed restoration.
Spreading the Wo r d
Readers of IN PRACTICE will recognize
many of our success stories and many of the
stewards responsible for them. Absolutely,
you will recognize the practices those
stewards use to get their results. One thing
that we have found is that all of the projects
that have qualified for inclusion in
EcoResults have been firmly rooted in
Synergy in Cyberspace
continued from page 5via the Holistic Management network. We
also hope to earn support from individuals,
foundations, and businesses that the Savory
Center has influenced. Those who
understand that ranchers really can produce
environmental value may be
interested in the projects we
offer. At the same time, we
expect that our activities will
create greater support and
acceptance for Holistic
Management and the Savory
Center. In fact, I’ve been told
we’ve already done that.
The value of expanding this
synergy seems obvious. A lot of
people who thought the idea
that livestock can be used to
benefit the land was absurd,
changed their minds after seeing
the results this approach can
produce in my slide show. And a
lot of people, both urban and
rural, who didn’t know anything
about Holistic Management were
a lot more interested in learning
about it after seeing those same
slides. Now tens of thousands
can see them via the EcoResults
web site.
At present EcoResults is still
a startup, but a pretty successful
one. We first went on line at the
end of November 2000. As of
June, 2001 our web site had
received more than 25,000 hits.
What readers of IN PRACTICE
can do to expand this record of
success and to expand our
synergy with the Holistic Management
community is to tell others about us. Give
them our web address, www.ecoresults.org,
and suggest that they give us a look.
Environmentalist and writer, Dan
Dagget, wrote Beyond The Rangeland
Conflict: Toward a West That Works and
was honored as one of the top one
hundred grass roots environmental
activists in America by the Sierra Club
for its centennial celebration in 1992.
He is a sought-after speaker who has given
more than a hundred talks around the
West on the outstanding results
environmentalists and ranchers can
achieve by working together in a
collaborative, goal-directed manner.
At the end of the summer
growing season
Before
Next Spring
Tony and Jerrie Tipton's restoration of a
gold mine site in central Nevada provides
the dramatic before and after images that
get EcoResults' point across.
HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2001 7
is underlain with porous limestone means
surface and sub-surface runoff are major
environmental concerns. But in 1987, their
Earth-Be-Glad farm started switching crop
acres to paddocks for management-intensive
rotational grazing. And in the early 1990s, the
Rupprechts adopted Holistic Management as a
way of melding their goal of protecting the
land with the desire to provide a good living
for themselves.
And true to the Holistic Management
principle of taking the time to monitor
progress, the Rupprechts are constantly on
the lookout for indications that what
they are doing is right for the land, as
well as themselves and the community.
There are plenty of signs they are
indeed on the right track.
For example, a recent early summer
hike across the more than 250 acres the
Rupprechts farm revealed a thriving cow-
calf herd and a distinct lack of erosion
(despite a recent gully-washer rain that
had left deep rills in neighboring crop
fields). Mike, Jennifer and their teenaged
daughter, Johanna, identified several
grassland songbirds—both visually and
by song—as they walked through the
paddocks. To them, the presence of
bobolinks and dickcissels is more than a
pleasant distraction during chore time: the
birds also tell them that their farm is healthy
from the ground up. “We kind of came at it
from the soils perspective and then discovered
birds and went from there,” says Mike. “That
was exciting.”
Environmentalists and natural resource
professionals are excited about the Rupprechts’
good stewardship as well. Soil scientists have
expressed amazement at the level of organic
activity in their fields. The family has hosted
visitors from a local state park on “farm
conservation tours,” as well as participants in an
eight-state environmental education conference.
A favorite stop on these tours is a heavy-duty
stone erosion control structure built by the
Civilian Conservation Corps in 1934. It was
constructed because of horrendous gully
erosion in the area. But today the structure is
surrounded by deep-rooted grasses and stable
F o o d s h e d s — H ow to Feed a Region Sustainablyby Ray Kirsch
continued on page 8
ith the rise of consumer interest
in healthy foods and a healthy
environment has come an interest
in the idea of the foodshed, or regional food
system. Just as environmentalists use the
“boundaries” of ecosystems and watersheds to
assess environmental health, those consumers
and producers interested in creating a truly
sustainable agriculture (and, therefore,
civilization) are using the idea of foodsheds
as a practical organizing tool for applying
holistic principles.
Communities need holistic approaches
to monitoring and decision-making; they
need opportunities to put into practice
identifiable steps toward common goals.
Even individuals doing good things for
their land or community must sometimes
be encouraged to see the link between
land management, environmental health,
clean food, and thriving communities.
The health of one affects the health of all.
When communities adopt this health
equivalency, and if they combine it with
systems thinking and Holistic Management,
then regional food systems begin to
happen. Not independent cul-de-sacs of
food, but self-reliant, interdependent
regions that produce food, fiber, and the
means to preserve this production. In the
Upper Midwest, Land Stewardship Project
(LSP)—a non-profit, membership organization—
is thinking like a foodshed. LSP is
demonstrating and celebrating the connection
between food and farms, personal health
and community health. We’re empowering
communities to identify small, practical
steps toward health and sustainability.
Feeding the Wo r l d
Too often the refrain is, “We must feed the
world.” This expression has been used by U. S.
Department of Agriculture officials, county
extension agents, faculty of agricultural colleges,
and even farmers, to give a noble purpose to
their work. It has implied that without a large
supply of cheap grains produced by American
farmers, the world will go hungry. It has
justified the focus on increasing crop yields
through large-scale operations at the expense
of the environment, independent family-sized
farms, and healthy rural communities.
Even worse, the expression is a sham. The
United States doesn’t feed the world; we sell
commodities to those in the world who can
afford to buy them. The hungry in developing
countries aren’t buying hams from Minnesota
or even our corn and soybeans; most of these
crops are exported for use as animal feed.
Danish hams aren’t found on the table of
hungry Africans or Asians either. No one can
deny that the world must be fed, but the
system dominated by the likes of Archer
Daniels Midland—self proclaimed “supermarket
to the world”—won’t do it.
Think what it would mean if farmers and
other people in the agricultural sector found a
noble mission in the expression, “We must feed
the region.” If we think like a foodshed, if we
think holistically, then the only long-term,
sustainable way to feed the world is for farmers
in each region to produce as much of the food
needed in that area as possible, using practices
that do not degrade the land, and receive a fair
share of the money people pay for their food.
Addressing the Root Cause
For Jennifer and Mike Rupprecht, the
success of their farming enterprise isn’t just
based on bushels of corn or pounds of beef
produced per acre. It goes much deeper than
that. “Our longer term goal is to keep building
up the land and leave it in better condition
than we found it,” says Mike, who farms near
the southeast Minnesota community of
Lewiston. “That starts with the soil.”
Good care of the soil is tough in the
Rupprechts’ part of the state—steep land that
W
Holistic Managers Jennifer, Johanna, and Mike
Rupprecht are contributing to their foodshed.
8 HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE #79
out and celebrate local, sustainably produced
foods. Additionally, the seal directs consumers
to educational food-buying information that
helps them make the link between their food
choices and their health. The long-term goal
of the program is to reward good stewardship
and help farms and ranches become more
economically viable, environmentally sound,
and socially responsible.
Approximately a third of LSP members are
farmers, a third are non-farm rural residents
and a third are city/suburban dwellers. We
thought we should take advantage of that mix
and connect these people, so we developed the
Stewardship Food Network. The network is a
group of over 100 farmers who direct-market a
variety of foods—vegetables, meat, cheese, eggs,
honey. They range from farmers who are very
sophisticated about marketing, to people who
are just getting started. LSP distributes basic
information about these farms to all of its
members in hopes of making food connections
that cross the rural-urban “boundary.” We’re
helping our non-farmer members “put a face on
their food.” Whenever possible, people should
know who’s producing their food and how
soil; it’s a mute monument to the regenerative
capabilities of the land if we work with it.
Toward a Holistic Foodshed
Improving the land is important, but the
Rupprechts also have bills to pay. For several
years now, the Rupprechts have been capturing
more of the food dollar by direct marketing
beef and chickens to consumers in the area.
These products are free of antibiotics,
pesticides, growth hormones, and genetically
modified organisms. And, as visitors to the farm
can attest, the beef and chicken are also very
friendly to the land. When marketing their
products, the Rupprechts promote the earth-
friendly nature of their farming systems, giving
some ecologically-conscious consumers in the
area a chance to shop their beliefs.
The family would like to market more
of their production straight to appreciative
consumers. But farming the land in a
sustainable manner is more than a full time
job. There are only so many farmers’ markets
one can attend, only so much time for
contacting retailers and consumers through
phone calls and personal visits. So as Land
Stewardship Project members, the Rupprechts
took some “practical foodshed steps” including
the decision to join a Stewardship Food
Network and to certify their beef with the
Midwest Food Alliance.
Practical Foodshed Steps
Land Stewardship Project began working
with farmers in the 1980s to develop farming
practices that were better for the land and
more profitable for the farmer. We realized in
the mid-’90s that even the best stewards of the
land were not going to survive economically
unless they received better prices. As a result,
LSP and its member farmers began to focus on
marketing as a means to keep sustainable
farmers on the land. “Linking Food, Land and
People” became a larger part of LSP’s mission
as we developed several programs to make the
connection between consumers, farms, and
communities. Two of the more innovative
programs are the Midwest Food Alliance and
the Stewardship Food Network.
LSP has collaborated with Cooperative
Development Services (a Wisconsin-based non-
profit) to create a “seal of approval” program
known as the Midwest Food Alliance (MWFA).
This program uses a seal (eco-label) to point
F o o d s h e d s — H ow to Feed a Region Sustainablycontinued from page 7
they’re producing it. That’s also why we
pioneered a web site (www.prairiefare.com) for
local farmers marketing meat and produce
directly to consumers.
Our hope at LSP is that the combination of
these small, practical steps will begin to expand
the discussion and implementation of a
sustainable, regional foodshed. Each of these
steps/programs needs to be nurtured, to be put
into a context where they are viable and can
grow. So we try to think and work like a
foodshed; to cultivate relationships and the
equivalency of personal and community health.
We’re on the right path—using practical steps
and holistic foodshed thinking—to sustainable
farms, foods, and communities. We’re setting
our goals, we’re monitoring, we’re assessing our
results on a foodshed scale. We have to; our
health and our future depend upon it.
Ray Kirsch is an LSP staff member and
Farm Coordinator for the Midwest Food
Alliance. He can be reached by calling
651/653-0618, or e-mailing:
rkirsch@landste wardshipproject.org.
Information about the Food Alliance and its
programs in the Midwest and Northwest can be
found at: www.thefoodalliance.org.
Information about all of LSP’s programs can
be found at www.landstewardshipproject.org.
Your TurnHere are three things you can do to help support a sustainable regional food system.
1. Help people vote with their food dollar—be an active producer and consumer. If you
would like to make the switch to feeding your community rather than playing the
commodities market or being a victim to it, LSP has several food and farm connection
resources available in print and on their web site (www.landstewardshipproject.org).
2. Get involved—be an active citizen. You can also make a difference with the votes you cast
or the projects you contribute your time and energy toward. We need elected officials that
recognize the problems of our existing food system—officials who will fight subsidies for
industrial agriculture and support programs that reward farmers for land stewardship. LSP
fights for fair markets and state and federal policies that support independent, sustainable
farmers. We need your participation to make sustainable policies a reality.
3. Join the Land Stewardship Project. To learn more about what we are doing and how
you can do the same thing in your area, become a member of the Land Stewardship Project.
Membership includes a year’s subscription to our nationally recognized publication, the
Land Ste wardship Letter , regular updates on food and agriculture issues that affect you, and
the political power that comes from joining together with others who share your values.
Mention that you saw this article and you can join today for $30—$5 off our regular dues.
You can join with a credit card by calling 651/653-0618 or by visiting our secure website:
www.landstewardshipproject.org. Or send your membership dues to: Land Stewardship
Project, 2200 Fourth Street, White Bear Lake, MN 55110.
IN PRACTICE • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2001 LAND & LIVESTOCK 9
LAND L I V E S TO C K& A Special Section ofIN PRACTICE
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2001 #79
continued on page 10
In today’s livestock economy, there is a lot of talk about being a
low-cost producer. In Australia, where livestock prices are less
than half what they are in North America, and where most input
costs are greater, there is no choice but to produce at low cost. But
just like most commodity businesses, most Australian beef producers
let cost of production rise to the breakeven point and end up living
on a pretty thin line. If they had a North American price structure,
they’d be getting rich.
Then there are a few guys like Michael Coughlan, who have
figured out how to keep costs so low that even 40 U.S. cents a pound
for a 1,000-pound steer results in a healthy gross profit. Michael and
his wife Anna are Holistic Management practitioners who also are
keenly aware that a vigorous and regenerating land base is key to
maintaining a steady and sustainable flow of solar dollars. To that
end, they have drastically changed the management of their livestock
within their existing fence and water infrastructure. They are now
covering and building soil and increasing biodiversity instead of
gradually losing it. The great part of this story is that they have done
all this without major capital inputs or going into crippling debt. The
major impetus behind their success has been a simple change in the
way they think and make their decisions. We’ll get into the details
of their story below, but first a little background on the Coughlans
and their operation.
The Coughlans currently run close to 2,000 cows, 2,000 yearlings,
and 8,000 sheep on two separate, and very different, properties in
southern New South Wales. Their western place, Tarabah, the focus
of this story, has been Michael’s home since childhood. It’s in a 17-inch
(430-mm) rainfall zone, is mostly flat as a pancake, and including the
neighbor’s place, which they have recently purchased, comprises
45,000 acres (18,200 hectares). Half the cows and yearlings, and all the
sheep graze on Tarabah. The second place, which lies at the base of
the Snowy Mountains is much wetter and supports the other 1,000
Anna and Michael Coughlan with daughter, Isabelle.
When Starting Out—
Keeping Things Simpleby Jim Howell
cows and 1,000 yearlings on 6,000 acres (2,400 hectares). Michael and
one permanent hired man do most of the work on both places, with
contractors brought in for big jobs, like shearing and fence building.
Ta r a b a h
With just 17 inches of expected rainfall, it’s amazing how much
grass this country can grow. The pattern is spread over the whole year,
with a little more coming in the fall, winter, and early spring months
from May to October. Summer rain, unless overly abundant, tends to
be ineffective due to the extremely hot temperatures and high
evaporation rates. Extended periods with daytime highs over 105 F
(40 C) are the norm. Nonetheless, as ground cover improves and
surface evaporation diminishes, the Coughlans are seeing improved
responses from summer precipitation. We’ll get into why that’s
happening below.
On our visit in late April, an inch (25 mm) of rain had just fallen
and the annual cool season grasses were germinating everywhere.
The cool season perennials were starting to green up too. Mild
temperatures allow this high quality forage to keep growing straight
through the winter before really taking off in the spring. As spring
approaches and daytime highs rise, warm season perennials also start
to come on, and if lucky enough to receive some of those summer
thunderstorms, they’ll hold their green after the cool season plants
have died or gone into dormancy. Historically, seven out of ten years
result in decent to excellent winter growing seasons, with very poor
years to total failures occurring the other three.
The eastern half of the property is rolling savanna-woodland
country blessed with several large, meandering creeks that make this
part of the property easier to utilize with the livestock. On the west
end of the property, or “out on the plains,” as Michael says, stock water
10 LAND & LIVESTOCK IN PRACTICE #79
is supplied by windmills. Trees are conspicuously absent, but Michael
is planting tree seedlings in shelterbelts, with early success. What most
definitely isn’t lacking is grass. Even in late April, typically their
toughest time of the year, there was a virtual sea of grass.
Becoming Holistic
Michael and Anna took Australian Holistic Management™ Certified
Educator Bruce Ward’s multi-module course in 1997, and it opened
their eyes to a new world of possibility. It became clear that with
healthy ecosystem processes, everything else—finances, lifestyle, etc.—
would fall into place. But what I love about the Coughlan’s story is
that they haven’t gone gung ho in converting to a new production
model. I’ve seen so many cases, mine included, where initial naive
enthusiasm has led to hard knocks and setbacks. Many of us want
everything to be perfect over night, but that’s not realistic. If we
really are testing our decisions, quick
conversion is seldom holistically sound.
With the new knowledge gained through
their Holistic Management training, the
Coughlans have taken stock of their existing
resources, including livestock, land, and existing
fence and water infrastructure, and figured
out how to make it work, economically and
ecologically, before going into a development
mode. Essentially, this has entailed simplifying
everything down to essential basics, and
devising sound, well-conceived grazing plans.
Admittedly, Michael and Anna are fortunate
in that they were able to start with a reasonable
level of paddocking—71 paddocks on the 45,000 acres, each paddock
averaging just under a square mile at 633 acres. Before acquiring the
neighbor’s property, total paddock numbers were only about 30, and
historically, Tarabah ran many small herds of stock—young cows, old
cows, yearling steers, yearling heifers, old ewes, young ewes, hoggets,
wethers, ram lambs, ewe lambs, etc.—so there were always just a few
paddocks per herd. As on most places, fences were originally built to
keep classes of stock separated, rather than to create more effective
graze/trample : recovery ratios. Now Tarabah runs three herds—
breeding cows, yearling cattle, and sheep (all classes in one giant
mob of 8,000)—on the 71 total paddocks, so number of paddocks
per herd has increased dramatically.
This has allowed for much better time control, more sunlight
harvest, adequate recovery periods, and much more well-spread
animal impact. The result has been (without making any great capital
improvements) drastically improved ecosystem processes—more grass
over more of the year, a more diverse forage species mix, greatly
increased ground cover, and highly effective rates of dung and litter
incorporation into the topsoil. Numerous photo points, as well as
good old-fashioned observation, document these changes. Summer
precipitation, which used to be largely ineffective due to quick surface
evaporation, now holds in the covered soil, bringing life to the warm
season perennials. Dry cool seasons now aren’t so dry, since every
little bit of rain can now do some good. All stock are moved with a
whistle. In the old days when stock were rarely moved, Michael said
making a paddock shift “was always a bloody circus.” Now it’s a
pleasure to go out and move to the next paddock.
The Coughlans do two grazing plans a year, one for the dormant
season, which lasts during the hot months, from the first of November
through the end of April, and one for the cool season, when their
predictable growth occurs, from early May through the end of
October. They plan to take one selection over the course of the 180-
day dormant season, and to graze twice during the growing season,
allowing 90 days of recovery between grazing periods. These fairly
long growing season recovery periods are necessary because their
main growing season is in fact during the cool time of the year, so
even though growth is fairly predictable, it’s never very fast compared
to areas that get good rains in the warm months of the year.
Cattle Management: Focus on Function
The Coughlans manage their cattle following a well-defined, very
simple, and straightforward policy. With only two men doing most of
the work, they can’t afford to get fancy. The calving season lasts for
50 days, from March 1 to April 20, finishing just
before the fall rains commence. Cows are typically
in excellent condition by March 1, despite having
just weathered a long, hot summer, and by the
time the bulls go out, green grass is growing well.
Conception rates therefore approach 90 percent.
On May 10, any cow that hasn’t calved is sorted
off, preg checked, and sold if open. That’s the
only time during the year the cows are worked.
They aren’t vaccinated, dewormed, deloused, or
anything else. If they can’t perform without these
expensive crutches, the Coughlans don’t want
them around. Nor are they individually
identified in any way.
It’s a simple culling strategy—no calf, no home. Calves are all
weaned into one mob on February 1, but by that time many will have
already weaned themselves. On May 15, at about 14 months of age, the
yearlings are sexed, the top heifers are sorted off as replacements and
put directly into the cowherd, and the cull heifers are sold. The steers
are run through their second green season and sold in October at
about 450 kg (990 lbs) live weight at 18 months of age. No protein
or energy supplements are fed at any time of the year.
Their bull-to-cow ratio is 1 to 40. All bulls are selected from low
input seedstock producers. When they arrive at Tarabah they’ve never
had a bite of grain. You’re probably wondering which breed they use.
Believe it or not, all you can find on Tarabah are old-fashioned straight
Herefords. “Ever thought about crossbreeding?” our group asked in
unison. “No, I just want to keep things simple,” said Michael.
It’s Raining Solar Dollars
The Coughlans budget on getting to 14 months post calving (when
the yearlings are worked) with an 80 percent yearling crop, but
they’ve been doing better than that the past few years. That’s 360 kg of
beef per cow per year, and that’s costing them $.30 Australian/kg to
produce, including drawings for family living expenses (and they have
four kids with another one on the way). In American dollars, that
works out to a phenomenally low cost of production of $.075/lb.
Keeping Things Simplecontinued from page 9
The great part of this
story is that they have
done all this without
major capital inputs or
going into crippling debt.
IN PRACTICE • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2001 LAND & LIVESTOCK 11
That doesn’t include the value of their grass, however.
Leased grazing in their part of Australia costs about US$8/month,
so if we figure in the opportunity cost of that expense, that adds
another US$.12/lb., for a total cost of US$.195/lb. Michael had budgeted
a US$.40/lb. selling price, but at the time of our visit that price had
risen to an all time high of US$.50/lb. So for every pound sold, that’s
a gross profit of US$.20 to .30. Plus, they of course don’t have the out
of pocket expense of a monthly grazing fee. Their realized gross
profit is therefore US$.32 to .42/lb, for a total profit per head per
year of US$250 to US$340. Not bad for a bunch of straight Herefords.
No wonder they bought the neighbor’s place.
N ext Steps
Again, this has all been
achieved with a change in
thinking, a change in focus, a
shift in priorities, a change in
decision-making. Now that their
base operation is operating
profitably and the land is
improving, they are well
positioned to go the next step
and start refining. This will entail
a few major steps. One will be to
sell the sheep and replace them
with cattle, building up to a base
herd of 2,500 breeding cows on
Tarabah. The sheep are too much
work, claims Michael, and he
doesn’t much care for sheep
anyway. Another will be to begin
implementing their land plan, the
aim being to eventually increase
to about 180 paddocks, or enough
to allow daily moves through
their 180-day dormant season
grazing plan.
A third will be the
development of a more reliable
stock water system on the open
plains country. As mentioned
above, a bottleneck to creating
larger herds on that part of the property is stock water. Since they
have gone to managing fewer herds, most of their windmills don’t
have stock watering on them most of the time. To create a water
buffer, they have dug deep holes next to each windmill, and when
the stock are away during the recovery period, the windmills keep
pumping, filling up these ponds once the storage tank is full. Then
when the stock return, and as the storage tank gets low, they pump
out of the pond back into the storage tank. With current herd size,
this works fine, but to get to a herd size of 2,500 cows (or potentially
5,000 head altogether—they’re considering not weaning, and managing
everything as one giant herd), they’ll need more water capacity.
The plan now is to bury, in phases, 60 km (37 miles) of 3-inch
(76-mm) pipe. The water source will be one of their perennial creeks.
The pipeline will empty into a series of simple ponds, much like the
deep holes in the ground they have developed next to their
windmills—no fancy troughs and plumbing, just a hole in the ground.
The water will be pumped directly to whatever pond the cattle are
currently using to water. With a 3-inch line, they’d be able to pump
220,000 liters (55,000 gallons) per day.
Michael asked me to find something to criticize about his operation,
and the only thing I could think to comment on was his seemingly
conservative stocking rate. Again, we were there at the worst time
of the year (end of dormant season), after a season slightly below
average, and it seemed like they had grass coming out their ears.
Michael concurred, but drew our attention to the fact that it probably
looked like they had more grass than they really did. The sea of grass
that impressed us so much was
mostly stems. Michael pointed out
that “they’ve grazed the base out of
it.” Moreover, the cattle, which had
recently finished calving, were in
ideal condition, but they weren’t
rolling in fat by any means. With
a heavier stocking rate, body
condition would have probably
been poorer, with definite financial
consequences. Considering that
yearlings-sold-per-cows-exposed is
about 80 percent, they don’t want
to let body condition fall much
below their current level.
Finally, they do live in Australia,
one of the world’s most drought-
prone countries. Remember those
three years in ten that don’t grow
much new grass. Michael figures
that with their current stocking
rate, they’ll be able to survive the
worst drought without significant
destocking. I also wondered if all
that stemmy material would
accumulate and eventually cause
plants to suffer or die from
overrest, but during their wet cool
season, Michael and Anna assured
us that enough biological decay
takes place to rot off all those
stems at the base and lay them on the soil surface.
We learned several valuable lessons from Michael and Anna:
1) Taking things slowly and thinking things through results in a much
less precipitous learning curve; 2) Keeping things simple minimizes
headaches and keeps the coffers full; and, 3) Focusing on true
generators of wealth, like healthy ecosystem processes, instead of
recreational things, like breeds of cattle, leads to true wealth and
sustainability.
I also appreciated Michael and Anna’s deep knowledge of their
land. They intimately know and understand their environment, and
through this knowledge one can sense the genuine love they feel for
it as well. And maybe that was the greatest lesson we learned. If we
don’t love the land, and know it as well as our human perception will
allow us, can we ever truly be stewards? I doubt that we can.
Thanks, Michael and Anna, for sharing so much with us.
A windmill out on the plains with adjacent pond added for water
storage. Photographer is standing on the pile of earth excavated to
make the pond.
Managing grazing animals at high stock densities requires
good planning, a high skill level, and a commitment to
close daily observation. Without these components, lots
of problems can ensue. Animal performance can crash, widespread
overgrazing can occur, and animal behavior problems can drive an
inexperienced manager crazy. A new practitioner of this style of
management has to be committed to working through the learning
curve till the kinks are worked out.
Because of the complexities involved with managing natural
processes, that can take a long time. The Holistic Management™
Grazing Planning procedure can be of tremendous benefit in
successfully dealing with these numerous complexities. But even
then, fine tuning a highly intensive grazing program (aggressive
stocking rate, high paddock numbers, extensive use of temporary
electric fencing to control time and stock density, frequent stock
moves, etc.) to the point that it’s truly humming often requires
several years, at least.
When I say “truly humming,” I’m referring to a point where
the manager can genuinely say stock performance is generating a
handsome profit, the land and forage are measurably improving,
and daily operations are so easy and labor-efficient that the program
almost runs itself. The more we can do from a technical perspective
to take the vagaries out of managing natural processes and to make
the job as labor-efficient as possible, the easier it may be to arrive at,
or at least approach, this state where everything is working efficiently
and smoothly.
This is especially true when managing animals with both high
production potential and unique behavioral characteristics that are
grazing fast growing, very productive pastures—such as bulls on
irrigated cool-season forage. In New Zealand, bull grazing is a
commonplace enterprise, with bulls of dairy breeding being used
almost exclusively. Instead of castrating bull calves and raising veal
or shoving them into feedlots, New Zealand dairy bulls are left intact
and grown out to maturity on forage, with the bulk of the beef
entering the export ground beef market. The dairy farmers themselves
are too busy milking cows to complicate their lives growing out bulls,
so this enterprise is primarily undertaken by other stock farmers,
many, if not most, of whom specialize in only growing out dairy
bulls. If this sounds like kind of a crazy idea, just keep reading.
When you see the financial possibilities you may change your mind.
12 LAND & LIVESTOCK IN PRACTICE #79
The Te c h n o s y s t e m —
Bull Beef Finishing in New Zealandby Jim Howell
A Common Technosystem Design
Dots indicate
fiberglass post
placement on lane
fences—these posts
serve as guides for
temporary fences.
Each lane contains a herd of bulls whose
density and speed of movement down the
lane is controlled by the temporary wires
running perpendicular to the lanes.
Each small rectangle delineates a “cell.” Vertical lines indicate where
temporary wires would run. Three temporary wires would be up at
a time—a front, a back, and a front wire for the next move.
Solid dark lines are
permanent lane boundaries
made with spider fences.
Every other lane fence has a
permanent water line running under
it with quick-connect hydrants for
Microtrough attachment.
1000 m
400 m
40 m
• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • •
IN PRACTICE • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2001 LAND & LIVESTOCK 13
The Technosystem - A Holistic Fit?
This story is about a package of technology designed to make bull
beef grazing operations “hum” (as well as any other highly intensive,
high performance grazing enterprise). It is called the Technosystem,™
and was developed by Harry Wier. It integrates a complete set of
technologies, including fencing and watering hardware, mapping and
GPS technology, and practical know-how. The Technosystem is a tool,
nothing more, nothing less. It may have the potential to take you
toward your holistic goal, and it may not. If you have the appropriate
forage resource, economically this one looks like a winner. Whether
it wins over what you’re already doing is the question.
Ecologically, it can undoubtedly be designed and managed to
build soil and increase plant vigor and overall biodiversity. Whether
or not you really want to adopt this set of technology, in terms of
how it will affect your lifestyle, is what it really comes down to. If
you think you may want to try out actually grazing bulls within
the Technosystem, it probably won’t be holistically sound for your
situation without a great attitude and a healthy sense of humor,
at least while initially riding the learning curve.
The Technosystem was inspired by the research of Dr. Ray
Brougham at the Aorangi Research Unit in the Manawatu region of
New Zealand’s North Island. Dr. Brougham’s bull beef grazing trials
yielded over 1100 kg of net carcass production per hectare per year
(980 lbs/acre per year). The challenge was to then take these results
and replicate them on a farm scale.
Dr. Brougham’s grazing approach required a huge number of
paddock subdivisions in winter, when plant recovery times are longest.
This can only be practically achieved through the extensive use of
temporary electric fencing and an extensive network of water pipes.
Because of the intensity of subdivision, different approaches to
accessing and working within the fencing infrastructure (by the stock
and the manager), stock handling, and layout of permanent paddocks
also had to be worked out. The result is the Technosystem.
Our tour group was able to witness a Technosystem on the
property of Herstall and Allison Ulrich, owners of Rock Farm and
Emma Flat, near Cave, New Zealand. This part of the South Island
receives an average of 625 mm (25 inches) of annual precipitation,
with summers tending to be dry. Rock Farm consists of 485 hectares
(1200 acres) of steep hills, supporting 2600 ewes. Emma Flat, just down
the road, contains 104 mostly-flat hectares (260 acres), 40 hectares (100
acres) of which are developed as a Technosystem. Emma Flat is used
to finish lambs and bulls, with 65 hectares under irrigation, including
the 40-hectare Technosystem.
Technosystem 101
Before we get into the particulars of Ulrich’s operation, I’ll
describe a few key features of the Technosystem. The permanent
fences are known as “spider fences,”and they consist of 12.5-gauge
(1.6-mm) high-tensile wire, springs, and fiberglass posts. They’re made
to drive over and bounce right back. (More on that later.) These
fences delineate long, narrow, lane-type paddocks, running parallel to
one another—like the lanes in a bowling alley. Each lane contains the
A Microtrough. Animal pushes float with muzzle and trough rapidly
fills with water. Up to 60 bulls can water on a single Microtrough—
they learn to take turns.
same exact total area and carries the same mob of stock for the
entire grazing season. A set of lanes run together as a single unit
defines a “system.” One system, therefore, might have 10 lanes with
10 separate mobs, one mob within each lane.
Each lane is additionally calibrated into equally sized “cells”
(not to be confused with a grazing cell as defined in the Holistic
Management™ Grazing Planning procedure) using GPS equipment.
Think of the cell as a grazing block within the lane. The cell borders
Device that “lets go of” temporary wire with a few good tugs on
opposite end of wire.
continued on page 14
14 LAND & LIVESTOCK IN PRACTICE #79
are delineated by the fiberglass fence posts supporting the permanent
high-tensile wires. If the posts on a particular lane fence are 10 meters
apart and the lane itself is 40 meters wide, each cell within that lane
is therefore 400 square meters.
The cells are arranged so that the posts (which again mark the
boundary of a cell) define a straight line when connected from lane
to lane across the system. This straight line provides a guide for the
temporary fence placement. When the temporary wire is run across
the lanes (i.e., perpendicular to the lanes), 10 mini-paddocks are thus
formed (assuming the system has 10 lanes). When running a class of
stock that can be controlled by one wire, this temporary wire is laid
over the top of the lane fences. When using multi-wire temporary
fences, the wires are run through the permanent lane fences.
A water line runs down every second lane fenceline and there is a
hydrant point every 2 or 3 cells down the lane. A small Microtrough—
designed to water one animal at a time—is connected to the hydrant
where the stock are grazing. Water enters the trough when the
animal’s muzzle depresses the float valve. It’s specially designed for
portable applications with small mobs of stock. If all this sounds
confusing, see the diagram. It’s actually pretty simple.
When it’s time for the daily move onto the new cell or cells (how
many new cells are allocated depends on how fast the stock are being
moved, which depends on growth rate of the forage), the temporary
wire is simply dropped to the ground and the stock walk over it, all
10 mobs (or however many there happen to be) at the same time. One
end of the temporary wire is connected to a slick little patented device
(see photo, page 13) that will “let go” of the wire with four or five good
tugs on the other end of the wire. Before letting the wire fall, a new
front wire has already been constructed delineating the 10 new mini-
paddocks. When the stock move, the wire the stock walked over is
then reconnected and now serves as the back wire. The back wire
from the previous day is then pulled around with the four-wheeler
and becomes the front wire for the next day’s move. The four-wheeler
is equipped with special runners that enable the manager to drive
right over the spider fences (see photo, page 15).
Why All That Wi r e ?
I can hear what you’re all thinking. Why so many small mobs and
all those permanent lanes? Why not have just one mob grazing a long
narrow strip instead of 10 small mobs grazing 10 little blocks? Isn’t that
a lot of infrastructure for no good reason? Okay, fair enough. Here are
the reasons. Ever try to manage 200 bulls going on two years of age in
one herd, at super high density with one-wire electric fence? I didn’t
think so. That scenario spells chaos. That many bulls have an awfully
hard time working out a pecking order. Consequently, they spend too
much time squabbling and breaking down fences and too little time
grazing and gaining weight. But if you split those 200 bulls up into
10 herds of 20, and never mix them again, they have no problem
figuring out how to get along. It turns out as long as there aren’t more
than about 30 bulls in a group, they behave like of bunch of little
angels once they decide who’s boss, and behavioral problems are
eliminated. All of a sudden grazing bulls becomes a viable proposition.
But that’s only one reason for all the lanes. The other primary
reason is one of per-hectare productivity. Each lane, which is identical
in area and therefore total productivity (assuming a uniform pasture,
for which the Technosystem is intended and designed), is stocked
with the same exact total pounds of live weight. Grazing pressure is
therefore kept constant over every square meter. This results in
extremely even forage utilization, with very few severely grazed
plants and very few ungrazed plants. That translates into most plants
retaining an optimum amount of leaf area post-grazing, which results
in greater overall dry matter production and higher pasture quality.
Dung and urine are
also spread extremely
uniformly.
It also enables the
manager to be very
precise in terms of the
amount of forage allocated
per day. Daily growth
rates of stock can
therefore be controlled
with precision as well.
That is, the manager can
ensure excellent average
daily gains over the course
of the grazing season,
and thus high per hectare
production. For the above
reasons, the Technosystem
is not only applicable to bull grazing, but can yield positive results
when growing and finishing any class of stock. Again, this amount
of precision is only possible on very uniform planted pastures. In
the western USA, that means irrigated pasture. Over most of the
central and eastern United States and Canada, however, with
abundant and predictable growing season moisture, this grazing
model has huge potential.
The Ulrichs’ Place
Now, back to the specific case of the Ulrich’s operation. Their
“system” encompasses a 40-hectare area, 400 meters wide and 1,000
meters long. Some 260 Fresian bulls (a Fresian is basically a small
Holstein, one of the main dairy breeds in New Zealand) are grown
and finished annually. They arrive at Emma Flats at 18 months of
age and go off between 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 years. With 10 lanes, each
lane is therefore 40 meters wide and 1,000 meters long (4 hectares
or 10 acres total area).
Depending on the time of year and therefore the growth rate
of the forage, recovery periods range from 110 days in the winter to
30 days in the spring. In other words, during the winter, the bulls
take 110 days to graze the length of each lane. In the spring, they only
take 30 days. More area (i.e., more cells or mini-paddocks) is therefore
allocated per day during the spring than in the slow growth times.
With much smaller daily areas allocated during the winter, daily gains
Bull Beef Finishing in New Zealandcontinued from page 13
It turns out as long as
there aren’t more than
about 30 bulls in a
group, they behave like
of bunch of little angels
once they decide who’s
boss . . . All of a sudden
grazing bulls becomes
a viable proposition.
IN PRACTICE • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2001 LAND & LIVESTOCK 15
are obviously much lower.
In fact, the bulls only
maintain their weight during
the dead of winter.
As spring comes and they
start to move down the lanes
quicker, however, gains jump
up to 2 kg per day (4.4
lbs/day). The Ulrichs shoot
for a total gain in carcass
weight per hectare of 1,000
kg (they get paid based
on carcass weight, so
they convert liveweight
gain/hectare to carcass
weight gain/hectare),
which would equate to
about 1800 kg of liveweight,
or 1600 pounds of liveweight
gain per acre. That’s like having 4 steers per acre gain 400 pounds
each! At NZ$3.80/kg carcass weight, that’s a gross income of
NZ$3,800/hectare, or US$600/acre. That NZ$3.80/kg carcass weight
equates to about US$ . 38/lbs liveweight. With fat bulls bringing $.55/lb
in the USA, that $600/acre would turn into $870/acre. Maybe all
those fences make sense after all. But again, here is where you need
to step back and reassess holistically. Maybe the best spot for a
Technosystem on your place is right where your highly prized
upland game bird habitat happens to be, and you not only love game
birds, but the patch of ground they call home generates $800/acre in
annual hunting fees. Converting that piece of ground to uniform
cool-season pasture with fences all over it probably wouldn’t be the
best decision in your case.
When the bulls reach the end of the lane, it’s time to go back to
the front and start all over. Again, this would happen at the end of
30 days in the spring to a maximum of 110 days in the winter.
According to Herstall, that’s when the track meet starts. When the
bulls realize they have a free run for 1,000 meters, the race is on. The
further they go back up the lane, however, the better the grass gets
(since it’s had the longest to recover), so they start getting distracted
and slowing down, regaining their composure without busting
through the top of the lane.
The bulls in two of the ten lanes are weighed once per month
during the winter, to make sure the bulls are at least maintaining their
weight. All the bulls are weighed at least twice over the course of
their time in the system, just to make sure gains are on track. Herstall
likes to use straight Fresian bulls, since Jerseys and Jersey crosses tend
to get too fat before reaching the desired target finish carcass weight
of 340 kg (750 lbs), or a liveweight of 620 kg (1,360 lbs). Sourcing
these straight Fresian genetics is becoming tougher to do, since most
New Zealand dairy genetics are now at least part Jersey.
To ensure adequate gains during their typically dry summers,
the 40 hectares under the Technosystem (as well as 25 more
hectares on Emma Flats) is
irrigated. Every 22 days,
65 mm (2.5 inches) is
applied over the course of
an 8-hour run with a
traveling gun. Herstall also
follows a highly precise soil
fertility program to ensure
high levels of forage
production. He uses what’s
called a Perry Test, which
indicates exactly what’s
needed to precisely balance
the soil’s fertility. Since
using the Perry Test
and amending the soil
accordingly, forage
production and quality have
improved dramatically.
And the Cost?
What does it cost to set up a Technosystem? That depends
somewhat on the lay of the land, how fancy you want to get with
the fencing and watering hardware, how regular the boundaries are,
and whether or not it is adapted to sheep. The simplest and cheapest
estimate, which would be designed for cattle on flat land utilizing
the most basic hardware, works out to NZ$281/hectare. The most
expensive application (on hilly ground, fancier hardware,
accommodates sheep, irregular boundaries) would cost around
NZ$468/hectare (in US$/acre, this is a range from $45 to $76). That’s
pretty cheap considering the potential returns.
Unfortunately for our tour group, our visit in mid-April just
happened to coincide with the short window of the year when no
bulls are on the place. The Ulrichs aim to have all the bulls sold by
March (late summer in New Zealand). They begin sorting off and
selling the biggest bulls in December (mid summer), and this
continues through February. When the bulls are gone they bring on
weaned lambs from the other property, The Rock, to finish on the
Technosystem into the fall. Nonetheless, we got to see how the fences
and water system are laid out, how the four-wheeler drives right over
the high tensile wires, and we sure asked Herstall and Harry a lot of
questions, which they patiently and thoroughly answered.
The Technosystem isn’t for everyone. Right in the Technosystem
literature, it states that one “should not proceed unless you can see
yourself accepting a radical change and enjoying this style of farming.”
This brings us back to the holistic perspective once again. The
Technosystem is a tool just like anything else. It has the potential to
fit into a holistically managed operation if it passes towards that
operation’s holistic goal. Only you can decide if it fits or not.
Harry Wier can be reached at [email protected],
and Herstall Ulrich at [email protected]
Four-wheeler equipped with special runners driving o ver a spider fence.
16 HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE #79
Rocky Mountain Institute Project
Early this year, the Savory Center and
Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) formed
a partnership to incorporate Holistic
Management into RMI’s responsibilities for
managing the lands of the Windstar Land
Conservancy (WLC).
RMI and the Savory Center have had a
long, but informal, association. It is not unusual
to find both Hunter Lovins (one of RMI’s
founders) and Allan Savory at the same
conferences providing back-to-back keynote
talks. This project gives us our first opportunity
to really work together, and both organizations
plan to make it an enduring partnership.
WLC is a joint effort of RMI and the
Windstar Foundation (WF), founded by John
Denver and Aikido master Tom Crumb to
hold and manage about 1,000 acres of prime
land in Pitkin County—near Aspen, Colorado.
The land, which includes a key elk corridor,
encompasses a small valley and the slopes that
form its water catchment. It was purchased and
put in trust for the use of RMI and WF and the
enjoyment of the public. RMI houses a portion
of its activities in a facility on the land.
The purpose of the work we are doing
on the land is to produce an overall,
restorative land-use plan that provides
educational opportunities for the public, and
opportunities for both RMI and the Savory
Center to educate people in a variety of land
rehabilitation technologies.
This year we have focused on creating a
holistic goal and a holistic land plan and the
basic ideas of the educational programming
we want in the future. Because the land is
experiencing some invasion of noxious weeds
and soil erosion, the RMI/Savory Center team
also decided to bring in livestock—cattle and
others in the community, the results we
achieve with Holistic Management and what it
can produce in managing small plots. This will
help residents of this area find improved ways
to bring living, agriculture, recreation, and
conservation together as the interdependent
“wholes” they already are.
C a l i fornia Agriculture Leadership
Wo r k s h o p s
In June, Allan Savory (with assistance from
Executive Director Shannon Horst) provided
three workshops for rural communities in
California. These workshops were hosted by
the Agriculture Education Foundation of
California, which is the oldest—and widely
considered the best—leadership program in
the US for people in the agriculture industry.
The workshops were held in and around
the Central Valley, including Morgan Hill,
Santa Margarita and the Harris Ranch on the
west side of the San Joaquin Valley. These
communities are facing everything from
rapid urbanization and the loss of farms, to
contamination from selenium, and the drying
up and diversion of groundwater resources.
The Savory Center and the Foundation
provided the workshops as an opportunity for
the community members to see whether the
Holistic Management™ decision-making process
might help them in managing their future
growth and addressing the root cause of
these serious problems.
Savory Center members in California were
instrumental in supporting these workshops,
and we are grateful for their help. To find
out more about the Foundation, visit their
website at www.agleaders.org
Colorado Holistic Management
G a t h e r i n g
The Colorado Branch did a great job of
organizing Whole Land: Healthy People, a
celebration of Holistic Management on
July 27-29th at the Chico Basin Ranch near
goats—to be used as tools to cycle carbon,
cover soil, invigorate perennial grasslands and
irrigated pasture, and to browse the invasive
plants. A nearby rancher, Steve Childs, is
providing the animals.
RMI has also invested a lot of time and
resources into developing and restoring
wetlands in the lower reaches of the valley.
Over Memorial Day and again in July for two
weeks, volunteers, including Windstar members
and the Landmark Volunteers, spent time
developing a hiking trail that wanders
throughout the bottomlands, slopes and
aspen forests.
The county where the WLC land lies is
facing serious issues of urbanization, a growing
gap between the extremely wealthy and the
population that serves them (i.e. affordable
housing), and deteriorating health of the
land. Thus, the RMI/Savory Center team have
identified that the educational opportunities—
hiking, bird and game viewing, horseback
riding and cross-country skiing in the
winter—on this land must result in influencing
the way people live their lives as part of the
greater ecosystem.
One of the key challenges of the growth
patterns in Pitkin County is the splitting up
of large ranches into small 3- to 1,000-acre lots,
so called “ranchettes.” These holdings are
extremely difficult to mange from a biological
standpoint, and often new owners arrive with
no skills or knowledge when it comes to
managing rangelands, forested areas, or river
valleys and wetlands.
On the other hand, they also have no
preconceived notions about resource
management. Thus, the RMI/Savory Center
team hope that we will create, through
education, an effective way to share with
dwellers, recreationists, business owners and
S a vory Center Bulletin Board
Shannon Horst (right) and WLC Land
Manager, Paul Buch, (left) and interns
monitoring land health.
Windstar Land Conservancy (WLC)
Allan Savory leading workshop.
HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT IN PRACTICE • SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2001 17
Colorado Springs, Colorado. Approximately 200 people
attended this gathering and there were many positive
comments about what they learned. One participant
noted that the conversations alone were worth the
price of admission.
Allan Savory gave the keynote address to kick off
the conference, and he exhorted everyone to be a leader
in bringing Holistic Management to their communities.
He also asked people who do win awards for their
work on the land to acknowledge how Holistic
Management helped them create the results they
have achieved.
Excellent workshops followed this keynote over the
next two days led by practitioners and educators in the
areas of biological monitoring, riparian area management,
birding, grass identification, and families and farming.
Participants rounded out their day with chuckwagon
style food and Cajun and country western music at
night. At the closing session the Colorado Branch
challenged the Texas Branch to organize the next
international gathering in the U.S. We hope to hear back
from the Texans if they will accept the challenge and
tell us when we can expect the next gathering. Our
sincere thanks go out to the Colorado Branch, especially
Cindy Dvergsten, and Duke Phillips and the Chico Basin
Ranch staff for all their hard work.
N ew Products
The Savory Center is pleased to announce two
new products. We now offer organic cotton
t-shirts manufactured by Patagonia decorated with
a silkscreened Savory Center logo. They cost $15 for
U.S. residents and additional shipping information
is on the back page.
We also recently published a 44-page booklet of
Holistic Management “success stories” titled Holistic
Management: A New Environmental Intelligence . This
publication is a good companion piece to the Holistic
Management IN PRACTICE Special Edition because it
provides specific examples of what people have
accomplished with Holistic Management, particularly in
the context of wildlife habitat loss and environmental
conflicts. This publication costs $15 (U.S. residents), and
can be ordered using the form on the back page.
S a vory Center Named in
Charitable Remainder Trust
The Savory Center was recently
named in a charitable remainder
trust created by Kim McDodge of
Portland, Oregon. Kim became
involved with the Savory Center
about three years ago after hearing
Allan Savory speak at a Natural Step
Conference. She really liked what he
had to say about the “triple bottom
line.” But as she learned about Holistic
Management, she felt that the financial
planning was particularly helpful and
accessible at the household level.
After that conference, Kim went home and ordered materials from the Savory Center
and taught herself Holistic Management. When she received an unexpected inheritance,
she contacted Holistic Management™ Certified Educator Christopher Peck who specializes
in financial planning.
Christopher suggested that she create a charitable remainder trust as a win-win
situation for Kim. She wanted to use the money to support organizations that do good
work, provide diversity, and work toward a regenerative process. She didn’t want the
money lost to taxes. She particularly named the Savory Center because she wanted to
help move our work forward and get the word out about Holistic Management because
she feels it is a sensible solution to many of the issues we face today.
Kim was also interested in pursuing this type of investment because it kept her life
simple, which is important to her. Christopher worked with Kim to help her determine
the best investment of her money, given her holistic goal. The charitable remainder trust
fit the bill.
With a charitable remainder trust, the donor transfers income to a trust and receives
an annual income from the interest. Upon the donor’s death, the remainder of the trust is
given to the charity named by the donor. In this case, the Savory Center will share the
trust with the Land Institute, and Pattern Language Foundation. Even though the charity
does not receive the trust, until after the donor is deceased, the donor receives an
immediate income tax deduction.
While the percentage that can be used for income tax deduction will vary depending
on your income, the charity that you are giving to, and other variables, a basic example
might look something like this.
You decide to set up a charitable remainder trust of $50,000 (this type of trust is
irrevocable). Instead of being taxed on this $50,000 of income, you would receive a tax
break of around 43 percent, which means you would be taxed on $28,500 instead. As
well as the $21,500 tax break, you could expect an annual income of five percent or
more of the trust’s value. You can even add to the trust to increase your tax break and
receive greater annual income.
For more information about Charitable Remainder Trusts, contact Christopher Peck
at: [email protected], or 707/824-5650.
Training Program Grant
The Savory Center recently received an anonymous $5,000 donation to support the
2001 Holistic Management™ Certified Educator Training Program to be held in
upstate New York. The training program begins on October 27, 2001 and currently is at
maximum capacity with a diverse pool of trainees from the government, non-profit,
and private sectors.
Kim McDodge and her partner, Terence Dodge
D evelopment Corner by Andy Braman
“The conversations alone were worth the price of
admission.”