Double your Stocking Rate:  Forty years ago the work of Allan Savory was introduced to the US.  In the 1980s Allan and his partner Stan Parsons caught people’s attention for their schools by advertising “double your stocking rate”. While such a claim has met with criticism and skepticism the facts are there:  thousands of people have benefited from the principles Savory and Parsons promoted.  Savory went on to develop Holistic Management™ and Parsons developed Ranching for Profit.  The initial work has been refined and added to by ranchers and scientists around the world.  Leggett Consulting brings you the tried-and-true principles underlying Holistic Management and helps you put them into practice.  Those principles, when properly applied, can lead towards more efficient and effective operations. – getting you to where you want to go. Restoring Grasslands in the Rocky Mountain West.  A whitepaper showing how using livestock as tools for land and wildlife management can help restore grasslands of the Rocky Mountain West (courtesy of Allan Savory). Carbon Farming -  Boon to Land Managers Carbon farming will be the biggest boon to land managers in the coming decades. The creation of soil organic matter and plant biomass is becoming a saleable product. How can a farmer or rancher benefit from this emerging market? Successful land managers attest to the truism: “take care of the land and it will take care of you”. Holistic Management is a decision making process that works with nature’s – and people’s – way of doing things.   It is made up of steps that will lead to better decisions more of the time. That means you will increase productivity and carbon storage on your land. This adds value to your operation. Carbon trading is an emerging market. Legislation and free-market forces are shaping a new industry that land managers can take advantage of. Right now, land is lumped into broad classes and given a value for carbon trading. Efforts are underway to attain a premium for land that is in above-average condition within those classifications. Land that is managed using the Holistic Management process tends to be in better-than-average condition. Why? Here is a quick overview of what makes Holistic Management so effective: Source: http://holisticmanagement.org/n7/Carbon_Calculator/Gigaton_Carbon2.html 1) Focused approach: What you manage, who is involved, and what resources (including money) you have in your control is defined. Where you want to go with them is described into a “holistic goal” that becomes the guiding compass for your operation. 2) Working within the Rules: The laws of nature can be bent but not broken. Making sure the basic ecosystem processes are functioning properly on your land gives you a buffer   For instance, when the water cycle is well functioning your land will buffer the effects of drought for a longer period of time. (hyperlink to reference). The Holistic Management process analyzes the condition of your land and identifies where work needs to be done. Holistic Management incorporates a unique feature of nature that others tend to ignore: it is called the brittleness scale. If you live in areas of low or seasonal rainfall your rules are different than if you live in a place with consistent moisture. 3) Knows the “Tools”: What can you use to improve your land? What can you control and how does it work? We tend to look towards technology for our answers but a land manager has other low-cost options. Have you ever thought of grazing as a tool? Animal Impact? Most don’t but the effect of properly using grazing and animal impact as a tools is powerful. 4) Make Your Money Work For You:  How do you get the most “bang for your buck” and continue to have cash to work with? The Holistic Management Financial Planning process is set up to do just that. If you are like most folks, you want to avoid this part but those that have done will tell you it is a huge relief and well worth the effort. 5) Plan your Land: Your land is going to take your money and it is going to give it back. How do you get the best return on your investment (both time & money!) and create the quality of life you want? Holistic Management Land Planning identifies what needs to be done and in which order to maximize the resources you have to work with. 6) Plan Your Grazing: This is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. Grazing – like any tool – can used or abused. When used to its full potential your land responds with increased productivity. This means plants are robust and diverse, there is more available water, wildlife habitat is improved, and there is less need for purchased inputs (mineral, feed, pesticide, etc). Holistic Management is an adaptive, integrated process that can help you make better decisions in a complex, ever-changing world.  It can help position your operation to take advantage of existing markets (livestock, crops, etc) and emerging markets (carbon trading, eco-tourism, etc.).   http://holisticmanagement.org/n7/Carbon_Calculator/Gigaton_Carbon2.html The land on the right is under Holistic Management. The land on the left is not.  The areas on the left and right receive exactly the same amount of rain. What you see here is the result of managed animal impact. With Holistic Management® planned grazing, animals can be made to mimic their role in nature. Contact Craig to find out how the field tested principles of Holistic Management can benefit you.

Double your Stocking Rate:  Forty years ago the work of Allan Savory was introduced to the US.  In the 1980s Allan and his partner Stan Parsons caught people’s attention for their schools by advertising “double your stocking rate”. While such a claim has met with criticism and skepticism the facts are there:  thousands of people have benefited from the principles Savory and Parsons promoted.  Savory went on to develop Holistic Management™ and Parsons developed Ranching for Profit.  The initial work has been refined and added to by ranchers and scientists around the world.  Leggett Consulting brings you the tried-and-true principles underlying Holistic Management and helps you put them into practice.  Those principles, when properly applied, can lead towards more efficient and effective operations. – getting you to where you want to go. Restoring Grasslands in the Rocky Mountain West.  A whitepaper showing how using livestock as tools for land and wildlife management can help restore grasslands of the Rocky Mountain West (courtesy of Allan Savory). Carbon Farming -  Boon to Land Managers Carbon farming will be the biggest boon to land managers in the coming decades. The creation of soil organic matter and plant biomass is becoming a saleable product. How can a farmer or rancher benefit from this emerging market? Successful land managers attest to the truism: “take care of the land and it will take care of you”. Holistic Management is a decision making process that works with nature’s – and people’s – way of doing things.   It is made up of steps that will lead to better decisions more of the time. That means you will increase productivity and carbon storage on your land. This adds value to your operation. Carbon trading is an emerging market. Legislation and free-market forces are shaping a new industry that land managers can take advantage of. Right now, land is lumped into broad classes and given a value for carbon trading. Efforts are underway to attain a premium for land that is in above-average condition within those classifications. Land that is managed using the Holistic Management process tends to be in better-than-average condition. Why? Here is a quick overview of what makes Holistic Management so effective: Source: http://holisticmanagement.org/n7/Carbon_Calculator/Gigaton_Carbon2.html 1) Focused approach: What you manage, who is involved, and what resources (including money) you have in your control is defined. Where you want to go with them is described into a “holistic goal” that becomes the guiding compass for your operation. 2) Working within the Rules: The laws of nature can be bent but not broken. Making sure the basic ecosystem processes are functioning properly on your land gives you a buffer   For instance, when the water cycle is well functioning your land will buffer the effects of drought for a longer period of time. (hyperlink to reference). The Holistic Management process analyzes the condition of your land and identifies where work needs to be done. Holistic Management incorporates a unique feature of nature that others tend to ignore: it is called the brittleness scale. If you live in areas of low or seasonal rainfall your rules are different than if you live in a place with consistent moisture. 3) Knows the “Tools”: What can you use to improve your land? What can you control and how does it work? We tend to look towards technology for our answers but a land manager has other low-cost options. Have you ever thought of grazing as a tool? Animal Impact? Most don’t but the effect of properly using grazing and animal impact as a tools is powerful. 4) Make Your Money Work For You:  How do you get the most “bang for your buck” and continue to have cash to work with? The Holistic Management Financial Planning process is set up to do just that. If you are like most folks, you want to avoid this part but those that have done will tell you it is a huge relief and well worth the effort. 5) Plan your Land: Your land is going to take your money and it is going to give it back. How do you get the best return on your investment (both time & money!) and create the quality of life you want? Holistic Management Land Planning identifies what needs to be done and in which order to maximize the resources you have to work with. 6) Plan Your Grazing: This is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. Grazing – like any tool – can used or abused. When used to its full potential your land responds with increased productivity. This means plants are robust and diverse, there is more available water, wildlife habitat is improved, and there is less need for purchased inputs (mineral, feed, pesticide, etc). Holistic Management is an adaptive, integrated process that can help you make better decisions in a complex, ever-changing world.  It can help position your operation to take advantage of existing markets (livestock, crops, etc) and emerging markets (carbon trading, eco-tourism, etc.).   http://holisticmanagement.org/n7/Carbon_Calculator/Gigaton_Carbon2.html The land on the right is under Holistic Management. The land on the left is not.  The areas on the left and right receive exactly the same amount of rain. What you see here is the result of managed animal impact. With Holistic Management® planned grazing, animals can be made to mimic their role in nature. Contact Craig to find out how the field tested principles of Holistic Management can benefit you.

Craig Leggett is a trainer in Holistic Management™.  He has worked with Maasai pastoralists on improved range management, facilitated training programs in Holistic Management, and helped ranchers create plans to help them get to where they want to go.

He has also lead land reclamation projects using cattle, organized scientific studies on the effect of animal impact on land regeneration, and lead workshops on current resource issues.

Craig studied agriculture at the University of Vermont and range science at Colorado State University.

Contact Craig to find out how the field tested principles of Holistic Management can benefit you.

Craig Leggett is a trainer in Holistic Management™.  He has worked with Maasai pastoralists on improved range management, facilitated training programs in Holistic Management, and helped ranchers create plans to help them get to where they want to go.

He has also lead land reclamation projects using cattle, organized scientific studies on the effect of animal impact on land regeneration, and lead workshops on current resource issues.

Craig studied agriculture at the University of Vermont and range science at Colorado State University.

Contact Craig to find out how the field tested principles of Holistic Management can benefit you.