The Future is NOW!

 This season, Blue Mountains Bulletin, our semi-annual newsletter, features a full-page spread of Tony and Andrea Malmberg, Union County residents dedicated to the Holistic Planned Grazing methodology.  (Check out the entire article HERE, on page 3.)
  But a single page just isn't enough to explore this successful ranching model successfully! So here are some links to more resources as well as photos from the Malmbergs' cattle operation.  Feel free to contact us if you'd like to know even more.
  We'd like to extend our thanks to JeffersonHub.com for their photo permission; below, see how grazing herds are contained with temporary electric fences, allowing them to emulate the high-density, quickly-moving habits of their native predeccesors.  Check out JeffersonHub.com for more info; their site is a wealth of information!

Temporary electric fences keep cattle in (and out). Once the cows have grazed the plants down, but before they over-graze and kill off the root systems, they will be moved to another enclosure.

  Using similar Holistic Planned Grazing techniques, Tony and Andrea restored a parcel of land they purchased in Union County in 2009 that had been 'rested' for 23 years.  In essence, there had been no agricultural activity there for almost a quarter of a century.  It was desolate and non-viable, but within 3 years, their operation had grazing cattle, employees, vastly more vegetation, a dramatic increase in soil organic matter, and returned wildlife.  A particularly nasty patch of Scotch Thistle, which had been regularly sprayed for 70 years, has been mowed down by cows.  Recently, a visitor to their ranch, who had seen the vast thistle patch before the Malmbergs' intervention, noted, "boy, those few bushes sure do look lonely."  See before and after pictures below.

Note the trees as a reference point (above is before and right is after), and note that these weeds had been SPRAYED REGULARLY for over half a century.  Holistic Planned Grazing works.

 For more general information on Holistic Planned Grazing and its positive impact on reversing desertification, visit The Savory Institute.  As the spearhead of the Holistic Planned Grazing Movement, Alan Savory has quite a lot to share!  His TED talk is also definitely worth watching, maybe even more than once! And if you're a rancher in Union or Baker Counties hoping to improve returns on your operation, feel free to contact us for more resources.