photo courtesy of Jim Steiert
by Kathy Harris
Texas panhandle farmers began filing in early for the March 2nd Crop and Soils workshop featuring Regenerative Ag’s ‘rock stars’ Gabe Brown and Ray Archuleta. Many of the 114 attendees lingered well past the last session, excited and involved in interesting discussions on how to move forward and apply the information they’d learned to the nearly 400,000 acres they collectively manage.
Archuleta, in his characteristically enthusiastic way, started off the day with several demos showing the value and importance of soil biology, sharing his passion for soil health and what we, as stewards of the land, can do to work with nature. He and Gabe tag-teamed the presentations all day, building on each other’s knowledge and experience to show real life examples of using no-till, multi-species cover crops, and grazing animals to build health in the soil while reducing input costs. Research data from Gabe’s ranch, and comparisons with neighbor lands, lent proof of how soil health translates to better water capture, increased production and/or crop quality, and increased profit margins and per acre income.
Gabe also talked about how the focus among large food companies is shifting to interest in nutrient density. New technology that allows a quick and easy ‘reading’ of food nutrition will be a ‘game changer’, said Brown. He challenged farmers to start now and begin addressing soil health so they can be on the front line of producing more nutrient dense crops.
photo courtesy of Jim Steiert
The last session of the day was a break out session where Gabe talked to producers interested in direct marketing and multiple enterprises. Ray met with a group of producers who have been applying some of these no-till and cover cropping practices to discuss what works in the Panhandle region.
But the day didn’t end there, as smaller subgroups gathered over supper to discuss how they could work together, share knowledge and support each other’s learning going forward. The Texas Panhandle Soil Health Practitioners Facebook group, created by Timothy Ingalls of The Tecovas Foundation, is one way for Panhandle area producers to stay in touch and support each other.
Additionally, another workshop called Ranching 2018 – Managing in Tough Times is scheduled for May 15-16 in Wheeler, TX on Grazing and Marketing Cattle featuring world reknowned Ian Mitchell-Innes, Wally Olson’s Sell-Buy Marketing, and adaptive, high-density, multi-paddock graziers from Birdwell and Clark Ranch.
Thanks to The Tecovas Foundation for funding this event, and for their enthusiasm and support for the regenerative agriculture movement in the Texas Panhandle.
This article, published on the front page of the Hereford Brand newspaper, provides additional details about the event.
A Few Videos From the Event
Gabe Brown: Mimic Nature
Gabe Brown: The Importance of Holistic Management®
Gabe Brown: Paying Producers for Nutrient Density
Gabe Brown: Capturing More Water
Ray Archuleta: Mismanaged Disturbances Destroy the System
Ray Archuleta: Plants Feed the Soil
Gabe Brown: Results After Eliminating Synthetic Fertilizer
Gabe Brown: Fungi and Holistic Thining
Gabe Brown: Cover Crops and Soil Temperature
Gabe Brown: Plant Diversity is Critical
Workshop Results
| % of those who responded | |
| Gained understanding soil biology and ecosystem process effectiveness | 81% |
| Gained knowledge in how to capture water on your land and build drought-resistant soil | 78% |
| Gained knowledge in how to build the productivity of your soils | 82% |
| Gained knowledge in cropping strategies that yeild results | 77% |
| Gained knowledge in integrating livestock to improve your soil health and build drought-resistant soil | 76% |
| Gained knowledge in managing your land for long term financial profitability | 70% |
| Gained understanding in the value of diversity for soil health | 74% |
| Intend to change management practices/apply ideas learned in this event | 96% |
| Satisfaction (1=Unacceptable, 2=OK, 3=Good, 4=Excellent) | 3.8 |
| % of participants who reported overall satisfaction of the event | 100% |
Thank You
This program is made possible thanks to the generous funding from The Tecovas Foundation.
Thanks to Rick Auckerman of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Deaf Smith County for hosting this event, and JD Ragland, of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Randall County for assisting.
Thank you to our outreach partners.
Get the Latest News!
Stay up-to-date with the latest HMI happenings with our free bi-monthly e-newsletter, Covering Ground.
New training opportunities, case studies, recipes, contests and more delivered right to you!
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.
Will Gabe be presenting with Ray at the Nobel conference on soil at Gustavus College in St Peter MN Oct 2-3?
Hi Paul, you can find details on their website: https://gustavus.edu/events/nobelconference/2018/