Focusing on Stewardship for Long-term Sustainability

1. Focusing on Stewardship for Long-term Sustainability Developed by: Cinda Williams, University of Idaho Extension Kevin Laughlin, University of Idaho Extension Susan Donaldson, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Univ. of Idaho Extension

2. Topics to be covered: • The whole-property concept • Integrating the lessons you’ve learned • Viewing your property through a sustainability lens • How others are making it work • Monitoring and assessing progress • How you’re making it work

3. What is “sustainability”? • According to the U.S. EPA, sustainability means “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

4. What about sustainable agriculture? • According to SARE, sustainable agriculture involves farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for people and communities. • They must be: • Economically sustainable • Environmentally sustainable • Socially sustainable USDA NRCS

5. So you want to be a steward of your land? Steward:a person who manages another's property or financial affairs Environmental stewardship:the responsibility to take care of our natural resources to ensure they are sustainably managed for current and future generations

6. What does it mean to be a steward of a small-acreage property? “The practice of carefully managing land usage to ensure natural systems are maintained or enhanced for future generations.” -The Land Stewardship Center USDA NRCS

7. Guiding principles of land stewardship • Caring for the system as a whole • Conserving resources • Maintaining, building and enhancing stability in nature • Honoring cultural values and ethics

8. Putting it all together with a whole-property perspective Use what you’ve learned about: • Inventory and goals • Soils • Water • Wildfire threat reduction • Plants • Animals • Enterprises

9. The whole-farm or whole-property view Redrawn by A. Miller from www.sare.org

10. Applying a “systems” approach • System: a group of interacting, interdependent elements that function together as a complex unified whole www.unesco.org

11. National Center for Atmospheric Research

12. Whole-farm nutrient balance www.extension.org/pages/Whole_Farm_Nutrient_Balance

13. Inputs Feed Animals Irrigation water Fertilizer Legume N Managed outputs Meat and milk Crops Manure Feed Manure Farm boundary Losses or soil storage Livestock and Poultry Environmental Stweardship An alternate view of the whole-farm nutrient balance

14. Applying systems thinking to your property • What are the components of your system? • How are they interrelated? • How does an action on one component affect other parts of your system?

15. Systems diagram activity www.icra-edu.org

16. A systems thinker: • Seeks to understand the big picture • Observes how elements within systems change over time, generating patterns and trends

17. Being a systems thinker • Identifies the circular nature of complex cause- and-effect relationships, i.e. interdependencies • Changes perspectives

18. Developing your goals with sustainability in mind • Environmental concerns • Economic factors • Social issues www.sare.org

19. Putting sustainable goals into action

20. Putting sustainable goals into action

21. Putting sustainable goals into action

22. Make your own goals!

23. The living soil • How do the practices we employ on our land influence the soil? USDA NRCS

24. Improving soil quality • Work on the basics of high-quality soils • Reduce tillage • Add organic matter (plant cover crops) • Reduce applications of synthetic-based chemicals

25. Assess your soil quality • Monitor for: • Earthworms • Organic matter color, roots and residues • Subsurface compaction • Soil tilth • Erosion • Water-holding capacity • Drainage and infiltration • Crop condition • pH • Nutrient-holding capacity

26. Protecting our water • Water quantity • Reduce unnecessary water loss by covering soil (cover crops, mulch, etc.) • Increase water-use efficiency by proper irrigation • Water quality • Prevent runoff of soil into water bodies • Prevent contamination by livestock by installing buffers or providing off-stream watering USDA NRCS energyfarms,.net USDA NRCS USDA NRCS

27. What are you doing to conserve water? • For your crops or pasture? • For your animals? • In your landscape? • In your home? NDEP

28. Sustainable water use • Build well-structured soils that retain water • Design for infiltration of water, rather than runoff • Plant species that are drought-tolerant and disease-resistant • Capture, conserve and recycle water

29. Drought index

30. What about floods? The bright green color indicates flood warnings.

31. How would drought or a flood affect you? • In the short term? • In the midterm (3 years)? • In the long term (5 years)? • What is your contingency plan? • What will you do differently?

32. Protecting and preserving your space Was wildfire part of your long-term plan? Make a plan for protecting and preserving your space

33. Managing plants for sustainability • Promote ecological balance with plant diversity • Maintain vegetative cover • Enhance or provide organic matter • Enhance nutrient recycling • Promote pest population balance through biological strategies

34. Pasture rotation ATTRA Raising healthy animals – a systems approach You can manage parts of the system to decrease internal parasites and their effects

35. Managing energy use • Make use of renewable energy • Solar • Pumps for watering and irrigation • Greenhouses • Wind • Electricity for buildings • Biofuels • Oils or fuel from plants • Energy from animal waste (which is not a waste after all!) • Methane digesters

36. Creating successful enterprises • Choose your production system • Develop your niche • Your uniqueness is the key • Tell your story! • Value-added products • Connect to customers and the community • Understand the bottom line

37. Quality lives • For you and your family • Physical health: exposure and safety • Mental health: stress and depression • For employees • Fair treatment • Decent wages and living conditions • For animals • Humane treatment of animals • Low-stress handling USDA NRCS

38. Vibrant communities • Links between the landowner or farmer and the community • Networking • Partnerships and collaboration • Lifelong learning

39. Vibrant communities • What can you do? • Host public and school tours • Share what you’ve learned • Donate food to local food banks • Buy fresh and buy local • Join a co-op or support group What ideas do you have?

40. How are others making it work? • Let’s focus on systems sustainability by looking at some examples of people who have made a difference in the sustainability of land, soil, water, plants, animals, etc.

41. The Mestre’s property, Nevada UNCE, Reno, Nev. UNCE, Reno, Nev.

42. S. Mestre, Reno, Nev.

43. UNCE, Reno, Nev.

44. S. Mestre, Reno, Nev.

45. S. Mestre, Reno, Nev.

46. UNCE, Reno, Nev.

47. UNCE, Reno, Nev.

48. S. Mestre, Reno, Nev.

49. S. Mestre, Reno, Nev.

50. S. Mestre, Reno, Nev.