Gabe Brown, Walt Davis, Deborah Clark and Dr. Richard Teague, HMI’s all-star panel, presented the grand finale of the 6
National Conference on Grazinglands in Grapevine, TX on Dec. 16, 2015 . The standing-room crowd was testament to the valuable information they shared. After Peggy Cole, HMI Program Manager, introduced the panel, challenging the audience to do their part in regenerating our soils, each panelist illustrated beautifully how they do that with Holistic Management. Entertaining, informing and inspiring the audience, each panelist shared valuable information on how Holistic Management improves quality of life and financial stability while regenerating the health of the land. Each of these practitioners represented Holistic Management in a way that earns the respect of skeptics, newcomers and long-time Holistic Managers alike. The discussion session at the end was informative and clearly left many in the audience truly excited about the progress we are making and the potential for the future. HMI’s panel presentation was one of more than 40 sessions with over 150 speakers over the 3 day conference. The presentations covered a wide variety of topics relating to grazing. While some sessions focused primarily on technology solutions, several celebrated soil health in honor of the international year of the soils, and overall, Holistic Management (or at least rotational grazing with good recovery periods) was often mentioned in sessions as the winning strategy. HMI Certified Educator Josh Dukart, with help from Gabe Brown, shared information on the tool of grazing in improving the health of the entire soil-plant-animal-human complex. Other long time Holistic Management practitioners, including Gary and Sue Price, George Work, and many others, shared experiences and creative ideas for better land management. NRCS Deputy Chief for Science and Technology Wayne Honeycutt outlined best practices for mitigating climate change and healing the soil, listing a pretty good rendition of the land management practices of Holistic Management. Thanks to all our long-time friends and to new students of Holistic Management who stopped by HMI’s booth to say hello. It was great to re-connect with you and meet new friends as well.