Management Philosophy

To make a ranch or farm sustainable, it must be viewed as a system. Farm as system: In Webster’s definition of the word system terms such as interrelated, complex, and whole appear. On a ranch, the cows, the grass they eat, and the soil they walk on and that grows the grass cannot be separated in the long run if the system is to remain viable.

In 1989 a group of farm managers, ranch workers, and researchers headed by Kerr Center president Jim Horne collaborated on guidelines for evaluating the economic and ecological sustainability of the ranch and center projects.

The guidelines addressed fertility management and soil health; insect, disease and weed management; energy use and conservation; biological diversity; water management; nutrient recycling and waste management; plant and animal adaptation to local conditions; and economic accounting systems (which include both monetary and non-monetary benefits). These ares form the basis for the book written by Horne and Communications Director Maura McDermott, The Next Green Revolution: Essential Steps to a Healthy, Sustainable Agriculture, published in 2001 by Haworth Press.

Click here to read about the eight steps to a sustainable agriculture
Click here to read about The Next Green Revolution