Holistic Land Planning Helps Design Drought Mitigation Strategies
What’s land planning got to do with drought? Plenty. Land planning is the land use plan for your operation. How you use and position water, roads, pens, fences, structures, etc. can mean the difference between an effective water cycle and workflow and wasted efforts/resources.
Chris Williams works on his map with the help of his small group
The third and final Mitigating Drought with Holistic Management 2-day workshop in HMI’s Whole Farm/Ranch Land Management program was held May 29 & 30, 2015 at the Kerr Wildlife Management Area in Hunt, Texas. Holistic Management Certified Educator Peggy Sechrist and consultant/rancher/author Walt Davis presented Holistic Land Planning to 19 eager students. Katherine Napper Ottmers, a permaculture instructor and Holistic Management Certified Educator trainee joined them for a guest presentation on the blending on these sister concepts.
When class members were asked what they expected from the class, they responded:
- “Efficient use of resources”
- “Sequence, priorities and schedule for my infrastructure build-out”
- “Work Flow”
- “Reduce erosion”
- “Security and emergency management, an escape hatch”
These and many other topics were covered during this workshop.
Peggy Sechrist began with an overview of Holistic Land Planning with emphasis on the relationships within the whole of the land/animals, finances and people under management. She laid out the steps: gather the information, creative planning with others, selecting the best plan, implementing your vision and finally monitoring and revising as needed.
Stepahnie May brainstorms with Judy Hundley and Doug Havemann
Each of the participants brought a map of their land. After looking as a group at the types of issues that might be considered as we plan, the group broke into sets of 3 or 4 to create lists of issues in the categories of natural, social and management (including financial). There were other experiential sessions throughout the workshop.
Katherine Napper Ottmers presented a hummingbird flyover urging the students to look at their map as though they were a bird flying over looking for shelter, open water, wind/sun/shade/runoff/fire -flow patterns, etc. She presented an exercise of analyzing elements in the plan by listing behaviors and characteristics, inputs and outputs. Finally she explained planning land use with zones of frequent use near the house and the all important use of contours in managing how the water lingers or flows.
Katherine Napper Ottmers leads the group in assessing roads
Walt Davis began with various considerations in planning paddock locations to best manage land health and animal performance. Tricks of the trade about drought, flood, fire, water, weaning, multi-species management, chutes and pens, portable feeders, water and minerals were handed out like candy to a most satisfied group.
Thanks to the Cynthia & George Mitchell Foundation for their generous support of this program.
Here is what participants had to say:
“Walt Davis is a wealth of experience and practical information that makes this course come alive. He is open, approachable, and always helpful. He is your greatest asset. He and his writings will be a permanent source of help for me as I move down this road toward my holistic goal. Overall, Peggy and Katherine have put together a highly professional training package that is rarely seen outside of industry and would normally cost $2000-3000 to attend. I cannot recommend this enough. They have been superb. Many thanks!”
“Sheep & goat/water point strategies were especially useful.”
“The best parts were Walt’s practical experience, Peggy’s connecting goal to land plan, Katherine’s activity in evaluating a component on input, output, behavior.”
“All my expectations were met. What I need now is to work on my plans, on implementation, observation and adjustment. Then I would consider going to some additional open gate sessions and perhaps the longer HMI session.”
“I intend to do high stock density on just part of the ranch. Complete a plan w/new perspective & knowledge learned. Previously, I was stuck in moving forward.”
“I intend to acquire and utilize herd animals to improve soil structure and forage.”
Outcomes
| Outcome | % Participants |
|---|---|
| Are you more confident in your ability to gather critical information for land planning as a result of this course? | 100% |
| Are you more confident in your ability to complete a land plan as a result of this course? | 93% |
| Increased knowledge of benefits of land planning as a strategy to mitigate drought impacts | 93% |
| Do you intend to change any management practices/apply ideas you learned as a result of this event? | 93% |
| Do you intend to complete or modify a land plan as a result of this session? | 80% |
| Increased knowledge of how to increase animal performance through land planning | 93% |
| Increased knowledge of how to develop water infrastructure to achieve goals while mitigating drought | 93% |
| Increased knowledge of the value of building biological wealth during drought | 93% |
Adelene is a resident of Arkansas and loves exploring the state’s natural trails. Her passion for education and technology led her to earn a master’s in learning systems technology from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. With her professional experience managing student/client databases and instructional design, Adelene will bring skill and understanding to her role as Office Manager & Instructional Designer at HMI. Her focus on making education more accessible to diverse communities is evident through her volunteer work as an board member for a scholarship program. Adelene is devoted to creating educational opportunities that align with HMI’s mission to promote healthy, resilient lands and thriving communities.
Seth Wilner has been a Holistic Management International Certified Educator since 2005. For 22 years he has worked as an agent educator with University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension where he specializes in farm business management with an emphasis on whole farm planning.
Dana was first introduced to Holistic Management in the 1990s while working in the Texas Hill Country. She strongly believes that Holistic Management can positively impact families that are on the land, the communities they are a part of, and larger landscape resource regeneration efforts.
Sarah Robertson grew up in Taos, New Mexico and has always been passionate about land stewardship, growing things, and nurturing others. After completing a BA in Communication from the University of New Mexico and working with local non-profits, she started her journey as a first-generation farmer. Since 2015, she has been learning and growing alongside her husband on various leased properties in Albuquerque, NM and running a small market farm with goats, chickens, and a CSA. In her role as Programs Assistant at HMI, Sarah brings her enthusiasm for regenerative agriculture, devotion to supporting others, and drive for lifelong learning and growing.
Jozua Lambrecht is from South Africa and divides his time between their home in Somerset West and their family farm in Sutherland, one of the coldest places in South Africa, where they farm with sheep. He is married to his wife Therese and they have two daughters.
Alejandro Carrillo is a fourth-generation rancher, and he is quite familiar with the challenges of running a profitable cattle ranch in the Chihuahuan desert. Because annual precipitation seldom exceeds nine inches, every drop counts when it comes to growing more grasses. Grazing year-round with only sea salt as an input, he is not willing to waste any water in such a brittle environment.
Jared L Talley was born and raised in Southwestern Idaho and now seeks to help rural communities adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing world. He is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Service at Boise State University, earning his PhD in Philosophy from Michigan State University and his MPA in Environmental Policy and Natural Resource Management from Boise State University. An environmental philosopher by training and an interdisciplinary scholar in practice, he seeks to better understand how communities relate to the land and how this relationship poses obstacles and opportunities for collaboration and governance. In doing so, he studies the role of science in collaborative policy, the role of place in environmental identity, and the role of the imagination in mediating both. Specifically, he studies grazing management and public land permitting, community-led conservation programs, rural education and entrepreneurship, place-based environmental governance, and the imaginative experience of our natural and built environments — all in the contexts of the intermountain American West.
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