2. With Holistic Management
• Understand Nature & partner with it to
improve function of the four ecosystem
processes (covered soil is the key)
• Water Cycle (water infiltration & retention)
• Mineral Cycle (the carbon cycle)
• Energy Flow (the photosynthetic process)
• Community Dynamics (biodiversity &
symbiotic relationships)
3. With Holistic Management
• Know what tools are available
• Understand how those tools affect the
environment around us (ecosystem function)
• An adaptive management tool
• Decision-making tool focuses on a whole
system approach for more effective
management of natural resources (Soil,
Habitat Improvement, Water Infiltration, CO2
sequestration)
4. Reported Results
Results
• 300% increase in plant species Note: These results are
compiled from multiple
• 100% increase in soil carbon research sources (some on
farm by the producers
• 400% increase in stocking rate themselves). Not everyone
who practices Holistic
• 40% decrease in labor
Management has achieved
these results
• 50% decrease in bare ground
• 800% increase in soil permeability
• 300% increase in profitability (some as high as 1400%)
• 500% increase in riparian bird population
• 900% increase in rooting depth of plants
7. Building Topsoil
Soil plugs taken from
different sides of fence
that separated land
Dark area below is
with livestock from
topsoil built with
land with no livestock
increased organic
matter
8. Australia Fireproof Land
Land on left holistically
managed. Fire stops at fence
line due to green growing
grass and no fuel load
20. Dawley Ranch - 1992
“With Holistic
Management planned
grazing, our 100-yard-
wide gravelly creek beds
are becoming riparian
jungles – thickets of
cottonwoods, willows,
vines, and grasses. Our
local Fish and Game
biologist estimates that
no fewer than two dozen
species of vertebrates are
utilizing the gravel bed,
and over 160 the riparian
jungle. Now the creek
flows until September
and never becomes
completely dry. A near
term goal is to have trout
in it again; a long term
goal is for salmon to
spawn in it.“—Frank
Dawley
21. New South Wales after
Rainstorm
Water Water
coming on to coming off
Holistically Holistically
Managed Managed
land land
The next slide shows why!
22. Cleaning Power of 500 Acres
Upstream from holistically Downstream from holistically
managed property managed property
23. Brussels Farm, South Africa
On Brussels Farm near Vryburg, South Africa, Dick & Judy Richardson
had a fire that burned a large portion of their ranch in August 2002.
24. Brussels Farm, South Africa
But after two
years of
planned
grazing, their
land had
recovered
with good
regrowth and
ground cover.
25. Brussels Farm, South Africa
This photo taken of
Brussels (right side) in
April 2004
demonstrates how the
Brussels’ property
compares to their
neighbors’ (on left) also
burned by the fire.
The Richardsons used
high animal impact
(500 head of cattle
strip-grazed on this
100-acre section) to
jump start the land's
healing process.
26. Montana Rangeland Restoration
Wayne Burleson has worked with
rancher Don Schaules in
Montana to reclaim bare
rangeland. In the right hand,
Don holds a plant dug from a
pasture one year after animals
have been used to improve the
health of the land. In the left
hand, he holds the same species,
Western Wheatgrass, dug on the
same day from an area that had
not been grazed for three years.
The plants grew 30 feet apart
from each other, but the
unhealthy, dying specimen in
Don's left hand has not had the
invigorating effect of planned
grazing.
28. Montana Rangeland Restoration
Here's the same area in May 1989 after Don used 600 cow-calf pairs
to revitalize the landscape and provide a healthy habitat for a
perennial
grass species, Western Wheatgrass, to grow.
30. Nevada Mine Reclamation Success
In 1990, on a Nevada mine settling pond's bare slopes, team members
fed 30 tons of mixed hay to 600 head of cattle on 10 acres of the dam
wall. They also seeded a 'native' mix of grasses, forbs, and brush. One
year later after a 6-inch rainfall they grew 6,800 pounds per acre of dry
matter. The treatment cost $300/acre compared to the usual
$3,000-5,000/acre cost for reclamation work. See the results on the
next page.
33. Montana in a Serious Drought Year
Less
resilience Greater
Ineffective resilience
water cycle Effective water
cycle
Few animals 700 head cattle
wandering once a year
year-round
34. Simulating Nature Using Cattle –
Babbitt Ranches in Arizona
Same gate
400 cattle bunched on Same place after plant
two acres for few hours recovery period
35. Land Regeneration with Livestock
• Animal impact :
– breaks hard soil surfaces by chipping to allow water in
– buries seed and compacts soil to give good seed/soil
contact
– lays dead plant material on soil as cover and mulch
• Grazing:
– Turns old plants into dung & urine (fertilizer)
– Pruning the plants, results in root die back which feeds
soil life.
• Makes sense to any person who gardens
36. Resilient Landscapes
Green area is
holistically
managed land. It
is not irrigated.
Notas del editor
"With Holistic Management, planned grazing, education, and a little thought, our 100-yard-wide gravelly creek beds are becoming riparian jungles – thickets of cottonwoods, willows, vines, grasses, and all manner of debris. Our local Fish and Game biologist estimates that no fewer than two dozen species of vertebrates are utilizing the gravel bed, and over 160 the riparian jungle. Now the creek flows until September, and never becomes completely dry. A near term goal is to have trout in it again; a long term goal is for salmon to spawn in it."