You CAN Build Successful Farming/Ranching Businesses in Drought, Recession
Albuquerque, NM – Can Texas farmers and ranchers build successful businesses in a time of drought and recession? People – women especially - with interests in farming and ranching can find out when they attend:
WHAT: Holistic Management International’s FREE “Empowering Texas Women in Agriculture” seminar - an introduction to HMI’s Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Program.
WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, October 25th, 9 am to 4 pm, at the University of Texas-Pan American campus.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND? Women in Texas who currently own or work on ranches/farms… women who are considering ranching/farming as a profession… and men who support women pursuing careers in ranching/farming.
ATTENDEES WILL LEARN:
1. How Holistic Management® can help farmers and ranchers build sustainable businesses and a market for local foods - particularly in a time of uncertain economic and weather conditions – and --
2. How women, especially, can take part in HMI’s three-year Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Program.
HOW TO REGISTER: Go to our Event Calendar.
EDINBURG SEMINAR SPEAKERS:
Sulema Ortega, Buckeye Farms, San Benito
Peggy Sechrist, Certified Holistic Management Educator and owner of a certified organic grass-fed beef operation in Fredericksburg (Texas Hill Country);
Andrew Smiley, Farm Direct Projects Director of the Sustainable Food Center, Austin; and --
Peggy Maddox, Holistic Management Certified Educator and Director of Education for HMI’s Kids on the Land program, Ozona.
WHAT IS HMI? HMI is a 28-year-old Albuquerque, NM-based international non-profit with deep roots in Texas. Holistic Management is a whole-farm planning system that heals and manages land, and is in use today on more than 30 million acres on four continents. The system has been proven to mitigate the effects of drought. WHY THESE SEMINARS? HMI’s Texas seminars are an expansion of a program that was piloted in 2009 and trained almost 200 women farmers in New York and New England. Due to an overwhelming response of positive results and feedback from participants, HMI decided to expand the program to Texas. HMI has organized a total of four “Empowering Texas Women in Agriculture” public seminars throughout the state. Three previous events were held recently in the Austin area (Bastrop County), Lubbock and Dallas. According to HMI’s CEO, Peter Holter, a great need exists for a program that focuses on beginning women ranchers and farmers. “According to our research, there are currently over one million women farmers and ranchers throughout the country and the numbers continue to grow,” he said. “If you look at demographic, social, and economic factors, they indicate that the numbesr will continue to rise throughout Texas in the coming years.”