Only $1250 for 6 days of training, lunches included.
Use promo code LEO2ND to purchase 2nd ticket ($950) at discounted price.
April 17-22, 2023 | 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM CST
Dixon Leo Ranch, 5190 County Road 398, Decatur, TX 76234
Click here for a map or here for directions.
Instructed by Kirk Gadzia, Wayne Knight, Casey Wade, Philip Boyd, and Joshua & Tara Dukart
Do you know how to plan for more ranch/farm profits?
Do you struggle with soil health, water-holding capacity, and growing enough forage for your livestock?
Do you find it challenging to find balance between your work, family, and quality of life?
If you would like to improve your skills to manage your ranch or farm more (w)holistically, then our Regen Ag School is for you!
Don’t miss this rare opportunity at the award-winning Dixon Water Foundation Leo Ranch to gain comprehensive knowledge in Holistic Management® and create a livestock grazing plan that will help create more land health and financial success on your ranch or farm.
This school is for you if you’re interested in farming, ranching, land conservation, or urban agriculture and want to improve your decision-making, profitability, water use, and soil health. Large- and small-scale producers are all invited!
This unique training is not being offered anywhere else!
Here’s what you can expect when you attend our Regen Ag School at the Leo Ranch:
- Learn a process that enables you to prioritize investments and expenses for range health and profit
- Make every raindrop count by learning how to plan for soil and rangeland health using a comprehensive Grazing Planning Tool Kit
- Explore tips and tricks for making the most of your time and money
- Read the land by learning more about lead-indicator monitoring of land and livestock to inform your planning and management
- Discover the opportunities and satisfaction in improving your land and your financial situation from people who have used the tools and mentored thousands of producers just like you
- Learn how working with nature in harmony with the values you hold is possible using the principles outlined in this workshop
- Leave with a realistic list of priorities and actions to heal your land, make more profits, carve out time for what matters most to you, and gain clarity on your goals and how to reach them
- Learn about tools and techniques to understand the interaction between animals, plant recovery time, and plant utilization
- Discover the importance of a shared goal that covers all that is important to the business in the present and into the future, and how to use this shared goal to select the best tools and investments
Manage for Profit
- Eliminate unnecessary ranch/farm costs
- Create new wealth from your resources
- Plan and achieve more ranch/farm profits
- Analyze new and existing enterprises for their contribution to the entire operation
- Increase production on your land
- Discover why most people actually plan for non-profitability and what the three keys are to reversing this harmful trend
Manage for Land Health
- How to “leave it better than you found it”
- Improve rainfall effectiveness, increase production, and regenerate soil health
- Enrich plant and wildlife diversity
- Reduce dependency on outside inputs
- Learn how to create a detailed grazing plan that enhances both your production and landscape goals
Manage for People
- Set realistic goals to help achieve your desired quality of life
- Improve family and employee harmony
- Prepare for managed succession of the business into the next generation
- Learn leadership skills that create true involvement
- Understand the key communication skills that lead to effective management
Only $1250 for 6 days of training, lunches included.
Use promo code LEO2ND to purchase 2nd ticket ($950) at discounted price.
Agenda
DAY 1
| Understanding ecosystem function – how the water cycle, mineral cycle, community dynamics, and the flow of sunlight energy management contribute to biodiversity, business stability, and profitability |
| How to make rainfall more effective |
| How to observe land and determine the impact of management on the health of ecosystem process, and how this determines long-term profitability and resilience |
| Identify belief systems or paradigms that may block progress and how to change them |
| Learn how to manage livestock’s impacts to positively affect land health |
| Integrating the entire resource under management – finances, people, land, and animals to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes |
| Review the Holistic Decision-Making process |
DAY 2
| Goal setting for business, family, and individuals – begin with the end in mind |
| Defining and developing a holistic goal/context that includes people, money, animal, and land health |
| The team approach and organizational development principles |
| Defining and detailing the tools available to manage the ecosystem: Rest, Fire, Grazing, Animal Impact, Living Organisms, and Technology and the implications of using these tools on risk and desired outcomes |
| Monitoring land health and how to know if it is improving or deteriorating |
| Using Animal Days per Acre (ADAs) to estimate production and forage reserves |
| Recording monitoring results in photo points and data transects |
| Monitoring growth rates of grazed plants to determine adequate recovery periods |
Day 3
| Overview of financial planning principles |
| Principles of grazing planning and creating the best plan for your land |
| Livestock management principles that work with your plan for profit and your grazing plan |
| Drought management principles |
| Principles of land planning – how to create a plan for fences, watering, and other improvements that will best meet the needs of the people, livestock, and land within the current budget |
| Testing tools to ensure it will be correctly used to achieve your whole goal |
| Final review of individual objectives and course evaluation |
Day 4
| Defining wealth and wealth sources relative to goals |
| The psychological aspects of profit |
| How to plan for a profit. and why most people are actually planning for non-profitability |
| Gross Profit Analysis – evaluating the health of various enterprises; economic analysis and profit vs. risk |
| Understanding Stock Flow and herd size considerations |
| Accurate prediction of income and expenses associated with sales and purchases |
| Creating new wealth from “solar” dollars |
| How to monitor and control your plan to achieve profitability |
| Using the planning, monitoring, and control procedures to ensure you are profitable |
| Dealing with tax consequences, depreciation, and replacement |
| Work through the various outlined principles with a case study |
Day 5
| Planning for the growing season – grow the maximum amount of forage with available rainfall |
| How to coordinate grazing plans with wildlife, recreation, forestry, and other land uses. |
| How to handle poisonous plants, erosion, brush encroachment, and other problems in the grazing plan |
| Figure out how your environment responds to animal density, plant recovery time, and depth of graze in a low-risk, low-cost way |
Day 6
| How to best meet livestock nutrition and other needs in a grazing plan |
| Planning dormant season grazing – how to best ration the forage to meet a variety of needs |
| Use the step-by-step biological planning procedure to produce both dormant and growing season grazing plans |
| Complete program evaluation, review, and Q&A. Group photo and Celebration! |
About Dixon Water Foundation and the Leo Ranch
The Dixon Water Foundation promotes healthy watersheds through sustainable land management to ensure that future generations have the water resources they need. The Dixon Water Foundation Leo Ranch bottomlands were previously farmed and provide an excellent demonstration site for the restoration of farmland to prairie. It is also home to the Betty and Clint Josey Pavilion, a site for educational events and meetings that is the first Living Building in Texas. Dixon ranches have been honored with a Lone Star Land Steward Award and a Texas Environmental Excellence Award for Agriculture and the 2017 Leopold Conservation Award. Dixon is also an Audubon Conservation Ranch.
Registration
Price: $1250
Secondary Ticket: $950 for your ranch or farm partner
This workshop is valued at $4500/person and is partially covered by our funder, The Dixon Water Foundation. Additional full and partial scholarships are also available (please apply below).
- Includes full six-day training with expert Educators
- Includes all learning materials
- Includes lunch all six days
Scholarship Application Deadline: March 31, 2023
Registration deadline: April 11, 2023
Lodging, breakfast, and dinner are the responsibility of the participant. See below for special lodging rates.
Only $1250 for 6 days of training, lunches included.
Use promo code LEO2ND to purchase 2nd ticket ($950) at discounted price.
Lodging
You will need to make your own reservations but a special rate for the School has been established with the Fairfield Inn in Decatur, Texas. Rooms are first come first served.
Fairfield Inn & Suites Decatur at Decatur Conference Center
1910 West US Highway 380, Decatur, Texas, USA, 76234
Click here or call to make reservations: 940-627-0645. Use code HMIN to receive the special rate of $99/night.
Rooms must be reserved by April 8, 2023 when the block will close.
Presenters
Kirk Gadzia – HMI Certified Educator, Consultant, and Resource Management Services, LLC Founder and Owner, Author
Resource Management Services, LLC is a New Mexico-based consulting, training, and monitoring organization committed to assisting private and professional resource managers achieve sustainable results. The founder, Kirk Gadzia, is an HMI Certified Educator with over 20 years of experience teaching the concepts of Holistic Management® worldwide. Combined with his extensive international consulting work on many agricultural operations, he is uniquely qualified to help you achieve your learning objectives.
Kirk is co-author of the important National Academy of Sciences book: Rangeland Health. He holds a BS degree in Wildlife Biology and an MS degree in Range Science. Kirk works directly with producers to achieve profitability in their operations. He also provides customized training and consulting to a wide variety of conservation organizations. Years of assisting people on the land help Kirk approach the course in an interactive, hands-on style. His courses are known for a relaxed atmosphere, open dialogue, and practical real-life examples.
Wayne Knight – Holistic Management International Executive Director, HMI Certified Educator, and Rancher
With 27 years of ranching experience using Holistic Management, Wayne has had an identity crisis. When he joined the 11,000-acre family ranching business he called himself a cattle rancher. He changed to calling himself a grass farmer. Later still, he called himself a soil-microbe farmer, though he has always marketed beef. Privileged to work with his father, Tom Knight, who was an early adopter of Holistic Management under Allan Savory – Stan Parsons consulting, Wayne enthusiastically increased and intensified the practices HMI teaches. He became a Certified Educator in 2006 and was actively involved with the Southern African CE community organization, Community Dynamics. He has spoken at numerous conferences in Southern Africa, trained and mentored farmers, hosted open days on his property, and written about his positive results using Holistic Management.
Before joining the team at HMI Wayne served as a board member of the organization for 8 years. Through his enthusiasm for Holistic Management Wayne has traveled widely visiting farmers who practice high-density, long recovery grazing practices in Southern Africa, Australia, and the US. As a young graduate with a Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Natal, South Africa, he traveled across the US west working on ranches in Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, California, and New Mexico. When not involved in Holistic Management you will find him fishing, birding, hiking, or exploring wild spaces and places with his family. An enthusiastic traveler, hunter, and photographer, he loves discovering new places and making new friends.
Casey Wade – Vice President of Ranching Operations, Dixon Water Foundation
Casey is the Vice-President of Ranching Operations with the Dixon Water Foundation and manages the Foundation’s North Texas and West Texas ranches. He is a graduate of Hardin Simmons University and has spent most of his career managing hunting and wildlife operations as well as livestock ranches. Casey believes it is our job to carefully study the land and wildlife to work with, rather than against, these systems. In this way, people and livestock can be part of the solution instead of contributing to the problem.
Philip Boyd – Vice President of Science and Research, Dixon Water Foundation
Philip grew up in the dairy lands of Pennsylvania. He developed a love for wildlife and the outdoors through trips to visit family in Colorado and hikes along the Appalachian trail with his friends. He graduated with a B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.S. from Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas. Philip’s thesis focused on pronghorn restoration efforts in the Chihuahuan Desert grasslands. After graduating with his M.S. in Natural Resource Management, he worked as a research associate for the Borderlands Research Institute on landscape-scale conservation planning projects in the desert southwest. Philip began working for the Dixon Water Foundation in 2019. Philip’s duties with the Foundation involve identifying potential research projects with partners, coordinating and documenting research, and monitoring efforts across the Foundation’s ranches, communications, and educational events in West Texas.
Joshua and Tara Dukart – Owners of Seek First Ranch, HMI Certified Educator (Joshua)
Joshua and Tara Dukart of Seek First Ranch have been practicing Regenerative and Holistic Management since 2008. They have 15 years of experience speaking, teaching, coaching, and offering facilitation throughout the United States and Internationally. Their ranch, located near Hazen, North Dakota, focuses on using the principles of Regenerative and Holistic Management to enhance soil, plant, and animal health, as well their own quality of life, finances, and community. Together they strive to help others find ways to enrich the lives they were created to live.
Joshua is a Certified Educator of Holistic Management. He holds a degree in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering from North Dakota State University. His career has spanned from engineer and conservationist to educator, rancher, and business-owner. The Soil & Water Conservation Society selected Joshua as their Harold & Kay Scholl Excellence in Conservation Award recipient in 2017. Cattle Business Weekly presented Joshua with a Top 10 National Industry Leaders Award in 2015 and Joshua was recognized as one of North Dakota’s Top 40 Professionals Under Age 40 in 2012. Joshua also had the pleasure of working on the Burleigh County Soil Conservation District Team (2005-2016) and serving as the Executive Director for the North Dakota Grazing Lands Coalition (2009-2017).
Tara holds degrees in Language Arts and Elementary Education. Her teaching career began in the Taranaki region of New Zealand. In the US, Tara spent eight years teaching writing and English classes at the middle school level as well as remedial reading and math. After experiencing significant health challenges, Tara began to realize the direct link between soil-plant-animal and human health. Tara is passionate about helping others improve their mental, emotional, physical, and immune health plus enhance the effectiveness of their communication through a special series called, “Empowered & Equipped.” Tara also manages the Seek First Ranch website and the direct marketing of its high quality, pastured, grass fed and finished meats.
Guided by their faith, Joshua and Tara have conviction—not just to conserve, but to regenerate landscapes, businesses, communities and livelihoods. They firmly believe wealth can be generated in a variety of ways: biologically, financially, and through relationships.
Joshua and Tara also enjoy raising and home-educating their three inquisitive children, who are delightfully helpful in asking questions—a very important component of the Seek First Ranch mission.
Thank You to Our Funder and Partner
Scholarship funding support comes from the L&L Nippert Charitable Foundation.
Sponsor This Event
| Friend – $100 | Supporter – $250 | Sustainer – $500 |
|---|---|---|
| Handout Materials | Handout Materials | Handout Materials |
| Logo & Link on HMI Event Landing Webpage | Logo & Link on HMI Event Landing Webpage | Logo & Link on HMI Event Landing Webpage |
| Logo & Web Link on Post-Event Attendee Email or Followup Blog | Logo & Web Link on Post-Event Attendee Email or Followup Blog | Logo & Web Link on Post-Event Attendee Email or Followup Blog |
| Speaking Time During Event | Speaking Time During Event | |
| 1/6 Page Ad in IN PRACTICE Journal | 1/4 Page Ad in IN PRACTICE Journal |
Do you have a product that benefits farmers and ranchers? For only a small sponsorship, you can come to this workshop and connect with people who are ready to change the face of agriculture.
Media Policy:
By registering for this event, you hereby consent and agree that HMI has the right to take photographs, videotape, or digital recordings of you and to use these in any and all media, now or hereafter known, for HMI outreach and further consent that your name and identity may be revealed therein or by descriptive text or commentary.
COVID-19 Policy:
Email [email protected] for more details on event sponsorships.
Please note, the format and/or requirements for event attendance may change in light of shifting CDC and state public health guidelines. HMI will make every effort to communicate these changes in a timely fashion.
Adelene is a native 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 executive director for a scholarship program and as a member of the student affairs committee. Adelene is devoted to creating educational opportunities that align with HMI’s mission to promote healthy, resilient lands and thriving communities.
