Range & farm

In an era of farm and ranch failures, those who manage holistically can often manage to increase stocking and forage production, cut costs, and increase their profit. Some are even turning desert back into grass.

Related topics:

• Low-stress livestock handling.
• Desertification: why most efforts to combat desertification are expensive failures. Bonus quiz at bottom.
• Is overgrazing too many animals, or something else? Bonus quiz at bottom.
• Paradigms and decision making

Articles

Wilma Keppel This sow gets a bit of grain to maintain her body condition while nursing. Otherwise she lives on pasture year-round. Don't try this with hogs bred for confinement feeding; they'll die on grass. Article

A day of workshops and ranch tours held yearly in northern California. This year's topics: Advantages of perennial grasses, how to establish them, goats for weed control, and multi-species grazing that includes pastured hogs. Lots of photos. printer version

Establishing perennial grasses in dryland areas by rancher Bill Burrows. In a dry summer climate like northern California's, perennial grasses grow 3-10 times more forage than annuals, but are hard get started. Bill discusses several ways to do it. printer version

Improving a small acreage with three horses by Peter Donovan. Near Ukiah in northern California (USA), Dick and Diane Knox have improved ecosystem function on their small acreage by managing their horses' grazing. Patterns of Choice, 2000.

Dennis Wobeser: from feedyard to grass farming by Dennis Wobeser and Peter Donovan. How and why the 1999 winner of Canada's Emerald Award switched to grass in cold Alberta, Canada. Patterns of Choice., 2001.

The New Agriculture by Allan Savory. Previous civilizations failed because agriculture damaged the ecosystem functions on which every civilization ultimately depends. What ours must do to survive. A keynote speech from the Agriculture Vision 2000 Conference in Kansas. Patterns of Choice, 2000.

Oregon Country Beef: an interview with Doc and Connie Hatfield by Peter Donovan. How and why Oregon Country Beef (a marketing cooperative that sells hormone- and antibiotic-free beef to natural food supermarkets) began and what keeps it going. Patterns of Choice, 2000.

Oregon Country Beef's Grazewell Principles by Jack Southworth. What Oregon Country Beef (a marketing cooperative that sells hormone- and antibiotic-free beef to natural food supermarkets) strives for on the land.

Wilke team designs a no-till future by Peter Donovan. A systemic, holistic approach to dealing with dryland agriculture's social, economic, and ecological problems in the intermediate rainfall belt of eastern Washington. Patterns of Choice., 2000.

Diversifying for profit, pleasure, and production by Joel Salatin. A gifted Virginia farmer, educator, and marketer tells how. Patterns of Choice., 1998.

The Deseret experience by Gregg Simonds. Big changes on a ranch in Utah. How the people dynamic can change the ecological and economic conditions. Patterns of Choice, 1998.

The Rogues of Baker County by Peter Donovan. A dynamic group of Baker County ranchers learns holistic management together. Patterns of Choice, 1997.

Learning as a group: the Rogues of Baker County, Oregon by Peter Donovan. This dynamic group of Baker County ranchers learns holistic management together. A shorter version of the above. The Capital Press, 1997.

Management makes the difference at WSU's Beef Center by Doug Warnock. How Dan Coonrad of Washington State University moves toward better economics, better land condition, and worker satisfaction. The Capital Press, 1997.

A conversation with Jack Southworth by Jack Southworth and Peter Donovan. A fourth-generation rancher in Seneca, Oregon notes significant changes resulting from his practice of holistic management. The Wallowa County Chieftain, 1995.

A different philosophy in Seneca, Oregon by Jack Southworth and Peter Donovan. A shorter version of the above. Capital Press, 1996.

Monoculture, risk, and change. Karl Kupers on the risks of changing to no-till in eastern Washington. date.

Beyond partial management by Marcos Gimenez-Zapiola. An Argentinian rancher elegantly summarizes some of the basics of holistic management, including the importance of understanding the whole. The Holistic Resource Management quarterly, 1997.

Biodiversity: where's the beef? by Peter Donovan. The beef industry as a whole is often viewed negatively by environmentalists and consumers. Can they take a wider view? Published 1996 in PCC Sound Consumer, 1996.

Links

The Quivira Coalition is a New Mexico nonprofit and educational organization that helps ranches become ecologically and economically sound. The newsletter archives contain many good articles on herding and land stewardship.

Jo Robinson's website contains information on the nutritional superiority of grassfed meat and milk, in particular the high levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and omega-3 fatty acids in grassfed products. See also the Weston A. Price website for research information on the history of human diets and nutrition. Sally Fallon's book Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats is in part based on Price's research.

The Stockman Grass Farmeris Allan Nation's classic magazine about the change to grass farming. An outstanding publication.

Sustainable Ranching Research and Education: a University of California at Davis Extension site by Roger Ingram with all kinds of good stuff, with an emphasis on the California Foothills. Has some good material on Bud Williams.

Ranchwest.com is an advisory group headed by Nol Ward. "We advocate reorganizing the beef cattle business for the benefit of ranchers and health conscious consumers rather than for the benefit of big-business input suppliers and multi-national grain marketing corporations." Lots of links to a variety of good articles and information.

Dick Diven's website contains information on nutrition and feed costs for cows and calves that is economically, ecologically useful and can contribute to the rancher's quality of life.

Goats Unlimited (An Peischel) uses goats as a land-management tool in northern California.

The Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society publishes an excellent newsletter. See the Newsletter section of their site.

The Online Library from the Journey to Forever site contains Sir Albert Howard's An Agricultural Testament, and some good material on nutrition, food, composting, soil health, and farming.

Updated 10 December 2002

list of (nearly) all articles (45K)