Follow Graeme Hand
How to regenerate land with livestock–and make a steady profit
Graeme Hand teaches Holistic Management in Australia and around the world, and he helps people restore native perennial grasses–and make a profit–with livestock. He shares his stories and secrets, some of which will surprise you!
Show notes:
2’39 what Australian land management was like before European settlement
3’52 non-native species — not as big a problem as poor land management
5’00 people’s motivation in learning holistic grazing practices
5’55 boom-bust cycles and the path to stability, and the desire to sequester carbon
7’01 the paradox that more animals can mean less profit, and vice versa
8’24 increase profits without changing other parts of the business too much
9’57 choosing the right animals for the kind of food they’re eating and land they’re grazing
10’27 example from real life: debt, ground cover, stocking numbers
11’30 lowering risk by adjusting stocking rate and type of cow, leading to stability through stabilizing the feed base
13’05 managing risk through minimizing losses rather than maximizing production
13’59 mechanical vs. biological thinking
15’45 arid parts of Australia and stocking rates
17’19 perennial native grasses as good feed base for livestock
18’50 happy wildlife
19’25 making a plan for clients and teaching them how to make their own plans
21’48 the science and art of holistic management
22’35 how do you help people overcome each barrier
24’03 to what extent are people resistant to change
25’39 overcoming barriers to adoption
29’10 are farmers working together and comparing notes
31’54 training farmers in Brazil
34’39 cattle are vilified in Brazil
35’06 cattle and mammal extinction in Australia
35’42 turn around biodiversity loss while producing food
35’57 boom-bust cycles in agriculture
36’38 matching stocking rate with feed supply
36’53 cow vs. bison hooves
39’49 forests and grasslands
40’05 variation in techniques
40’35 “safe to fail” practice areas
41’10 Gabe Brown in Australia
41’25 working in Mongolia
42’25 understanding perennial grass physiology
42’50 the social component
43’50 making regenerative agriculture the norm, and addressing the problem of innacurate agriculture education
45’27 can regenerative agriculture provide the quantity of meat we need
45’44 issues of population
46’11 people don’t like sharing, problems of social breakdown
46’41 more about Mongolia
48’11 the importance of listening to people
48’35 vision of returning prairie land and other regenerative practices
49’00 making sure that everyone has enough, social inequality
49’30 the Regenerate 2019 conference
More Episodes
Episode 53 – Robert Fetsch – How to deal with mental and physical challenges–on the farm and beyond
Dr. Robert Fetsch has for decades been helping farmers and ranchers deal with disabilities — from injuries brought on by hard work, to mental health problems like anxiety, depression, and anger.
Episode 52 – Nicole Masters – For the Love of Soil
Nicole Masters is an agro-ecologist and educator in regenerative agriculture. She’s founder of Integrity Soils, and author of the new book, For the Love of Soil.
Episode 51 – Meriwether Hardie: Making the Business Case for Regenerative Agriculture
The food business is beginning to realize that they’re unsustainable — but don’t really know how to transition. Bio-Logical Capital provides demonstrations and research that point to possible paths forward.
Episode 49 – Joel Benson Holistic Management: It’s Not Just for Land
Joel Benson applied his training in holistic management to his business, and then to the government of his small town where he was mayor for eight years. The results are inspiring — and remind us of the power of systems thinking.
Episode 48 -Rodrigo Sierra Corona, Conservation Cattle on the California Coast
While cows can be destructive, they can also be effective management tools for improving land health. We talk to Rodrigo Sierra Corona about his work to improve grasslands and preserve species at the Santa Lucia Conservancy.
Episode 47 – Kate Greenberg, Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture
A long-time Quivira Coalition leader and proponent of regenerative agriculture, Kate Greenberg is now the Commissioner of Agriculture for the state of Colorado. We talk about what it means to take a regenerative and “Radical Center” approach from her position in government.
Episode 46 – Richard Teague: the Science of Holistic Grazing
Industrial agriculture looks like it’s alive, but often the soil is dead, animals are living in excruciating conditions, and the food looks good but is not as nutritious as food grown from living soils in humane circumstances.
Episode 45 – Mountain and Prairie host Ed Roberson on innovative approaches to water in the West
Industrial agriculture looks like it’s alive, but often the soil is dead, animals are living in excruciating conditions, and the food looks good but is not as nutritious as food grown from living soils in humane circumstances.
Episode 44 – A regenerative farmer in Kenya
Industrial agriculture looks like it’s alive, but often the soil is dead, animals are living in excruciating conditions, and the food looks good but is not as nutritious as food grown from living soils in humane circumstances.
Episode 43 – Envisioning a post-carbon food system
Industrial agriculture looks like it’s alive, but often the soil is dead, animals are living in excruciating conditions, and the food looks good but is not as nutritious as food grown from living soils in humane circumstances.
Episode 42 – Incentivizing healthy soils through sensible policy
Industrial agriculture looks like it’s alive, but often the soil is dead, animals are living in excruciating conditions, and the food looks good but is not as nutritious as food grown from living soils in humane circumstances.
Episode 41 – Zombie Agriculture
Industrial agriculture looks like it’s alive, but often the soil is dead, animals are living in excruciating conditions, and the food looks good but is not as nutritious as food grown from living soils in humane circumstances.
Episode 40 – Farming While Black
That’s the name of Lean Penniman‘s new book, and it’s a profound and wide-ranging exploration of everything from the practical details of how to start a farm, to the rich history of African-heritage farming.
Episode 39 – Rounding up the evidence on Roundup
Carey Gillam is a veteran journalist, researcher and writer with more than 25 years experience in the news industry covering corporate America. Since 1998, Gillam’s work has focused on digging into the big business of food and agriculture.
Episode 38 – The little rodent that could…
“In Eager, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb reveals that our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is wrong, distorted by the fur trade that once trapped out millions of beavers from North America’s lakes and rivers.”
Episode 37 – Regeneration in the rockies
If we were left to our own devices with a large selection of healthy food choices, how would we choose? Would we make healthy choices? What about livestock, and wildlife?