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Managing mixed farming holistically - food production for farms of all sizes. Holistic Context. Starting where you are. Improving your landscape function/fertility. Making it happen. My motivation is to help famers and food producers of any size and location. Improve their land,
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Managing mixed farming holistically - food production for farms of all sizes. • Holistic Context. • Starting where you are. • Improving your landscape function/fertility. • Making it happen.
My motivation is to help famers and food producers of any size and location. Improve their land, Improve their income, Improve their product, Improve their home and their community.
The History of Holistic Management Allan Savory Recipient of the Banksia Award in 2003
Total ranch management. Ranching for profit. Time controlled grazing. “Cell grazing”. Savory grazing method. Coordinated resource mgmt. Integrated resource management. Ecosystem management. Collaborative holism. Adaptive management. Management intensive grazing. Etc. The History of Holistic Management 10,000 ranchers, academics trained 1979 - 84 Holistic Management 1 Herd 4 paddock system Rest rotation system Holistic Resource Management. 1984 1955 1980
Things we did that made no difference to our enterprise. Forage sorghum. Irrigated pastures. Forage Turnips. 4 different types of bulls. Molasses and urea. Controlled breeding. Cut foliage / native flowers. Creep feeding. Feed lotting of our animals. Re Seeding.
Things we did that made a lasting difference to our enterprise. Planned Grazing. Direct Marketing. Holistic Financial Planning. Holistic Decision Making.
May 2014 , on average 1000 mm per year for ten years and still no grass.
Rats Tail Grass Grazing in Gympie, 4 cows on a ¼ acre for 24 hrs.
Holistic Management Is simply a decision making process that helps people to get their actions approximately right instead of dead wrong.
Why a Holistic perspective for your situation is critical for your long term success ?
What are your problems? What are the ‘issues’ in your district and your catchment? What is holding you back from achieving your goals and objectives?
Community ‘Issues’ (or problems)… • Soil erosion • Declining river health • Salinity • Weed and insect outbreaks • Increasing frequency & severity of Floods and Droughts • Increasing inputs and declining profitability • Urban drift • Increasing bureaucracy and ‘control’
A lot of Dollars Spent Annually on These Symptoms? Water loss in wells Soilerosion Noxious weeds Flooding Problem insects Droughts Poverty Violence Disease Fire Genocide
Cause and effect The hammer and aspirin
Water loss In wells Noxious weeds Soil erosion Soil erosion Water loss In wells Noxious weeds Flooding Flooding Problem insects Problem insects Droughts Droughts Poverty Poverty Violence Disease Disease Violence Genocide Genocide What if there is a common cause What if they are not interconnecting? Common Cause? Human Decision Making
Overpopulation Overstocking and overgrazing Communal ownership of land Poverty and no access to capital Lack of education & training Incompetent corrupt governments Low & falling population Few livestock left after 100 years of de-stocking Private ownership & people love the land Great wealth & easy access to capital Good universities & extension services Basically good government with low level of corruption Africa vs. West Texas USA “Causes” “Opposite”
“Ghost towns proliferate in West Texas” Austin, Tx headline West Texas Situation Sand dunes forming.
Typical Texas Ranchland. Grasslands turning to desert
Australian Situation. Is our situation very different from the U.S.? • Low & falling population. • Few livestock left after 100 years of destocking • Private ownership & people love the land • Great wealth & easy access to capital • Good universities & extension services • Basically good government low level of corruption But land is still deteriorating! Is current management of our resources sustainable? Our businesses, families, communities, nation depend on reversing land degradation What are we to do?
Need to Know Cause. • Unlikely to solve a problem by addressing it’s symptoms. • What is causing biodiversity loss / land degradation? • Unless you address this cause your results will be no better than others who have gone before.
We tend to blame land deterioration on the lack of knowledge
Are We Dealing With the Cause? • Many people trying to improve land and increase profits? • Is it methods, systems, ‘best practice’? • What is the root cause of land degradation?
Common Denominator = Cause • What was common to all situations now & in past centuries? • Political system? • Level of technology? • Possession of livestock? • Levels of knowledge? • Greed? • ????? Only one common denominator in every situation: ?
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