HMI's Whole Farm Land Management series held in Henrietta, Texas met for the first session on March 30 & 31, 2016. The 18-person class was composed of livestock producers from north, east, and central Texas. They represented diverse scales of operation; mostly running cattle. Some were new to the business, others long-time traditional ranchers.
After an introduction to Holistic Management, Holistic Management Certified Educator trainee Deborah Clark deftly navigated the class into the principals and function of the four ecosystem processes as a prelude to the principals of monitoring. Using great personal photos from the Birdwell & Clark Ranch, participants began to learn how to “read” the land. Like learning a new language, suddenly the eyes and the mind begin to see new meanings relating to soil surface conditions, types and density of plants, signs of other life forms, and indicators of the water and mineral cycle.
Class participants then headed out to the 14,000 acre Birdwell & Clark Ranch; a perfect place to walk, look, interpret, and practice how monitoring keeps the land manager informed on the functionality of the ecosystem processes. Participants had help from experts Dr. Richard Teague – Range Ecologist with Texas A&M University; Ricky Linex – Wildlife Biologist with Texas NRCS; and Tony Dean, retired NRCS, in helping identify plants and deepen understanding about land, forages, water, minerals, and solar energy.
The second session, held on May 4 & 5, focused on Holistic Grazing Planning; with a slide show helping to illustrate the many reasons to plan grazing. Participants were also given the opportunity to work on their own grazing plan. While moving his 3,000 plus head of cattle, Emry Birdwell stopped to share his experience with Holistic Management. A practitioner since the 1980’s, Emry shared information about developing grazing plans and paddocks, fencing, water distribution, moving cattle, desirable forages and forbs, and general trials and efforts.
The final session, which took place June 1 & 2, had limited participation due to heavy rains and flooding that closed a number of roads in the area. Despite the flooding, participants that were able to attend learned how to assess management considerations to guide land planning, how permaculture methods fit into Holistic Land Planning, and how to design strategies that can build resilient, diversified farms and ranches. Because outdoor activity was limited, those in attendance were also provided access to various fencing and permaculture solutions via the Internet and YouTube videos.
Results from the workshop are below:
HMI wants to extend a big thank you to Emry Birdwell & Deborah Clark, and the Birdwell & Clark Ranch for helping to making this event possible, as well as the Henrietta and Clay County Chamber of Commerce.
If you’re interested in taking a class, please visit our website for a list of all upcoming workshops and classes available.