Holistic Management Gets Results in the Northern Rockies:
Increasing Biodiversity and Profitability

Forty-three ranch managers in the Northern Rockies (Montana,Wyoming, Idaho) who had received training and had been practicing Holistic Management for two or more years, agreed to participate in our study through telephone interviews and written surveys.

Without exception, these managers all believe the land is evolving toward the holistic goal established for the ranch. Over half (56%) of them indicate they annually meet with team members and review their holistic goals.

Sixty percent of the managers indicate they are aware of their employees’ own personal goals and the areas they are seeking to improve. Ninety-eight percent have encouraged and paid for employees to attend special training.

The survey indicates that all of these ranchers are motivated, and most of them are highly motivated to continue Holistic Management because the goals they have set are becoming reality. Among the significant results:

Holistic managers hold planning meetings.

Eighty-five percent hold regular team meetings for planning that deals with grazing, wildlife, riparian areas, land monitoring, and financial planning:

Type of Planning	Frequency of Occurrence
Annual Grazing Strategy	85%
Implemented wildlife management practices	65%
Increased care for riparian areas	83%
Implemented formal documented land monitoring	60%
Annual documented financial plan and budget	78%

 

Eighty-five percent of the managers create and document a yearly
grazing plan, and 87% have changed their grazing management strategy.

The majority (86%) has increased stocking rate, 97% have increased stock density, 77% have grouped livestock together, and 95% have obtained positive results from trampling. These ranchers are increasing stock density and stocking rate by adding cross fencing and/or increasing herd size. Some have upped stocking rates 30% to 50%.

Livestock performance improves along with the health and vigor of the land:

Observation	Decreased	No Change	Increased
Conception rates	10%	49%	41%
Sire:Dam ratio	44%	36%	2%
Use of insecticides	55%	42%	3%
Fly problems	51%	9%	10%
Medication use	51%	46%	3%
Use of hormones	39%	58%	3%
Production per animal	7%	24%	69%
Production per acre	0%	7%	93%
Time spent with animals	0%	10%	90%

 

Increasingly, respondents see wildlife as an asset,
and see positive changes in number, diversity, and habitat:

Indicator	Decreased	No Change	Increased
Number of wildlife		2%	72%
Diversity of wildlife		58%	42%
Diversity of birds		43%	57%
Breeding sites		68%	32%
Nesting sites	5%<	32%	63%
Number of predators		25%	75%

Sixty percent of the respondents considered wildlife an asset.
Nearly three-quarters (72%) have experienced an increase in
numbers of wildlife, including predators.

"I am now timing our grazing around nesting, fawning, and calving. Predators are a concern, but all predators are not automatically bad. We do need coyote control ...but not elimination."

 

Land monitoring shows that Holistic Management works
not just for land managers, but for the land itself:

Indicator	Process	Decreased	No Change	Increased
New seedling success	succession	3%	12%	85%
Plant diversity	succession		15%	85%
Litter cover on the soil	mineral cycle		13%	87%
Water infiltration into soil	water cycle		18%	82%
Soil erosion	water cycle	68%	15%	17%
Amount of soil crusting	water cycle	69%	21%	10%
Spacing between plants	energy flow	37%	23%	40%

 

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