In 2018, HMI teamed up again with the Quivira Coalition and their New Agrarian Program (NAP) to bring Holistic Management training to their apprentices as part of HMI’s Hands On Learning Program. In the Hands On Learning Program we have partnered with a select number of organizations who provide residential production training and Holistic Management so young agrarians can learn basic farming and ranching skills to prepare them for a farm or ranch manager position or start their own farm or ranch businesses.
2018 New Agrarian Program Graduates
A total of 20 people participated in the online learning portion of the program as we were able to provide scholarships to other apprentices and interns from other programs beside the Quivira Coalition’s New Agrarian Program. 19 people successfully completed the Introduction to Holistic Management course, with 11 graduating from the Land Planning/Biological Monitoring Course, nine from the Financial Planning Course, and 7 from the Marketing and Business Planning Course.The 2018 New Agrarian Program started off with a hands on, one-day introduction to Holistic Management Whole Farm/Ranch Planning course taught by Dr. Ann Adams in Albuquerque, NM. This workshop included developing draft holistic goals and practicing testing on-farm/ranch decisions and time outside on the land learning how to read ecosystem health and understand the impact tools make on the landscape. The remaining modules were taught by various HMI Certified Educators through interactive online webinars.
The Land Planning and Biological Monitoring Module was taught by Phil Metzger. It focused on the key holistic land planning design principles and practices that allow participants to more effectively manage all their resources. This simple approach to land planning helped the apprentices explore key infrastructure/land improvement projects in the context of their whole farm/ranch goal to better analyze design possibilities for improved return on investment. Participants developed management consideration lists, land plan options, explored tool options and the return on investment of the different land planning options using the Holistic Management decision making framework and considering how such options will affect land productivity.
The Financial Planning Module, taught by Phil Metzgar, focused on key financial principles that helped participants create a budget for themselves as well as for their future businesses. This simple approach to financial planning assisted participants to understand the big picture view as well as make critical production decisions based on a clear sense of cost of production for different enterprises. Participants were able to develop a financial plan and identify ways to implement and monitor that plan. The participants learned the key economic analysis tools for improved financial decisions for both annual budgets and long-term investment.
In the Marketing and Business Planning Module, Cindy Dvergsten led the apprentices through the basics of developing a marketing and business plan. The apprentices were given the opportunity to explore different business models and marketing options so they can more effectively create marketing and business plan outlines for their future operations. Participants were taught how to determine the right price for their products and how to use the financial information they gained in the Holistic Management® Financial Planning Module to prioritize key investments in their future businesses.
| Key Outcomes of Program | % of Participants |
| Overall satisfaction with the course | 100% |
| Your ability to improve the ecosystem health of your farm/ranch | 100% |
| Your ability to incorporate natural resource management into your operation | 100% |
| Are you more confident in your ability to promote your products | 100% |
| Are you more confident in your ability to identify your target market | 100% |
| Are you more confident in your ability to write a SWOT analysis | 100% |
| Improved ability to monitor your farm/ranch financial plan | 100% |
| Improved ability to identify log jams and adverse factors | 100% |
| Improved decision making ability | 88% |
| Did this training improve your apprentice/mentor experience? | 75% |
| Your ability to monitor your farm/ranch’s ecosystem health | 67% |
| Do you intend to change management practices as a result of this training | 67% |
| Improved business planning skills | 63% |
What are the most important things you learned as a result of this training?:
- Using a marketing strategy to begin to create a business plan, looking at the customer’s needs, developing marketable business, practicing testing questions, understanding the possible steps and prioritizing, and so much more.
- How to break down decision making in a holistic manner
- How to better assess overall ecosystem health
- The financial section and planning profit! Abandoning the idea that I can start a business and just figure out the challenge in covering cost and having a buffer for retirement, vacation etc.
- How to incorporate these methods into my team
- How to consciously look at the health of your farm, and know how to change it as needed
- Adding my holistic goal in my personal life
- Recognition & reckoning of holistic goal
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.
Leave a Reply