The videos from the Grazing For Change conference have recently been released and I have been working my way through them over the weekend. There is so much amazing content and I thoroughly recommend them. The conference was organised by the Jefferson Center for Holistic Management, the Savory Hub for Northern California and the Western Great Basin. There is a particularly lovely talk by Spencer and Abbey Swift from Springs Ranch; the Hub’s learning centre in Fort Bidwell, California. Their Hub partner Dr. Cyndi Daley also hosts workshops on the Guidici Ranch in Oroville, California.
Grazing For Change brought together some truly fantastic speakers including of course Allan Savory, Tre Cates, Christine Jones (great talk on soil), Dr Jason Rowntree, Robb Wolf (advisor to the Jefferson Center) just to name a few. Speakers highlighted the importance of holistic land management to regenerating the soil and supporting the ecological, social, environmental and health needs of communities. However, as well as the theory behind the practice these talks emphasised the passion and devotion with which people are embracing this method of livestock management and the positive results they are seeing each day. In some cases, they have broken away from generations of farming practices and gone against the advice of family, neighbours and community to follow holistic management principles. They are pioneering spirits.
Read more about the work of the Savory Institute here and see my review of the Savory Institute Conference 2014 here. There are currently 30 Savory Hubs and a number of special projects across the world. These dedicated people are spreading the message that intelligently managed livestock can be a tool for environmental regeneration. The UK has it’s first Savory Hub at Vitality Farm, so it will be interesting to see that develop.
The work of the Savory Institute is ground breaking and this must be a very exciting time to be involved in the field of holistic management. There are now a number of online courses available via their newly-redesigned website here.
The forthcoming Artisans of the Grasslands Conference (great name!) in San Francisco looks amazing and speakers will include Allan Savory, Nicolette Niman Environmental Lawyer and author of Defending Beef, Fred Provenza from Behave, Jared Stone Author of Year of the Cow, Bryan Welch Publisher at Mother Earth News, Robb Wolf, Sally Fallon Founder of Weston A Price Foundation and hopefully some of the impressive speakers from Grazing for Change.
Ancestral health, holistic management and 100% pasture-fed producers are inextricably linked. Let’s hope that we can help to spread the message far and wide…
Photo courtesy of PublicDomainPictures at Pixabay.
