2018 Holistic Management and Decision Making Training
with Blain Hjertaas Farmer/Rancher and Certified Holistic Educator (and one of the front runners in the Soil Carbon Challenge) from Saskatchewan, Canada
assisted by Didi Pershouse of the Soil Carbon Coalition
Part 1: January 22-24 (Mon-Wed, 8:30 to 3:00)
Part 2: January 29-31 (Mon-Wed, 8:30 to 3:00)
Classes will be held in (or near) Thetford Center, Vermont.
For over 30 years farmers, policy makers, and other land managers have used Holistic Decision Making to:
• grow landscapes that soak up rain and are resilient to flooding and drought
• increase net profits
• grow more and better quality food
• increase clean water supplies
• prevent erosion, farm runoff, and toxic algae blooms
• and increase biodiversity
What makes Holistic Management such a successful resource management tool?
Holistic Management is a value-based decision-making framework that integrates all aspects of planning for social, economic, and environmental considerations. Holistic Management International has trained over 50,000 people in over 130 countries: from farmers in New York, ranchers in Texas, pastoralists in Kenya, and even city dwellers looking to manage their small businesses and lives more effectively. This key regenerative agriculture tool is also known as Whole Farm/Ranch Planning—a tool recognized by the USDA as a critical tool to help farmers and ranchers develop successful businesses as well as improve land health. Holistic Management trainings help to build regional networks of successful decision makers who can continue to meet, share learning, and test ideas.
Course price: $1,100 per family or farm (up to 4 family members, or on-farm partners) for the six-day course. Some scholarships may be available.
Registration: Mail checks with your name, phone number, email address, and number of attendees to:
Didi Pershouse
PO Box 277
Thetford Center, VT 05075
For more information, email Didi Pershouse at [email protected]
or call 603-252-1930
About the Instructor
Blain Hjertaas has over 40 years of farming experience, and over 10 years experience as a Certified Holistic Educator with Holistic Management International. He and his wife Naomi are part of the group of Saskatchewan farmers known for their huge gains in soil carbon, increased flood resilience, and restoration of biodiversity as a result of their carefully planned land management. These 8 farm families are the front runners in the Soil Carbon Challenge. They meet regularly to share learning and test ideas using Holistic Decision Making.
After 20 years of practicing high-input industrial agriculture, Blain did a 180 degree turnabout and switched to a grass-based system using Holistic Management to help guide the decision making. Since then life has become more satisfying, finances stronger, and the land continues to improve each year. He has spoken at many conferences in the US and Canada about regenerative agriculture and the potential it holds to feed our growing population nutrient dense food as well as reduce the carbon load in our environment. Blain & Naomi have 3 children and 4 grandchildren. Their oldest son and daughter-in-law farm with them.
About the Organizer/Assistant Instructor:
Didi Pershouse is the author of Understanding Soil Health and Watershed Function: A Teacher's Manual and The Ecology of Care: Medicine, Agriculture, Money, and the Quiet Power of Human and Microbial Communities. As the founder of the Center for Sustainable Medicine, she developed a practice and theoretical framework for systems-based ecological medicine—restoring health to people as well as the environmental and social systems around them.
After 22 years of clinical work with patients, Didi now travels widely: writing, teaching, and developing learning resources with the Soil Carbon Coalition, the USDA Southern Plains Climate Hub and other organizations. Her workshops and activities engage farmers, schools, policy makers, and watershed groups in opportunities to improve soil health, public health, and climate resiliency through changes in land management. She leads workshops on peer support and resiliency for social and environmental change leaders. You can learn more about her work at www.didipershouse.com