Nestled in the foothills of the picturesque Cobequid Mountains, Holistic Hills Farm is a 100 acre natural habitat that employs a “Holistic Planned Grazing” approach to managing resources. This approach serves to radically advance human wellbeing and the health of our planet's ecosystems.
“Holistic Planned Rotational Grazing” is one of a number of newer grazing management systems that more closely simulates the behavior of natural herds of wildlife and has been shown to be an effective tool to improve both riparian habitats and field conditions for livestock and wildlife. It is similar to rotational grazing but differs in that it more explicitly recognizes and provides a framework for adapting to the four basic ecosystem processes: the water cycle, the mineral cycle (including the carbon cycle) energy flow, and community dynamics (the relationship between organisms in an ecosystem) as equal in importance to livestock production and social welfare. Thus the holistic context in the planning stage leads to different decisions in dealing with that complexity. It is absolutely crucial that any agricultural planning system must be flexible enough to adapt to nature’s complexity, since all environments are different and have constantly changing local conditions. Holistic planning not only respects the animals, but uses their natural tendencies to keep land healthy and productive. They graze freely requiring minimal supplemental feed.Their rooting behaviour and manure dispersal nurtures biologically active soil preparing the land for beneficial plant species. Cattle and sheep are used to rejuvenate the fields promoting highly nutritious forage, a flush of blossoms and food and shelter for the soil biology thus benefiting livestock, wildlife and pollinators alike. This process eventually increases the grazing capacity for the livestock and reduces or eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers. Further, the animals themselves are healthier, demanding less (if any) antibiotic treatment. Honey bees are able produce exorbitant amounts of honey and do not suffer from the diseases so commonly promoted in the media.Presumably this is due to the abundant and diverse floral community. All livestock have minimal risk of contamination from dangerous bacteria because they aren’t confined in tight, crowded conditions. And most importantly, the animals are raised without added hormones, antibiotics, or steroids. Time and timing is the most important factor when planning land use. Not only is it crucial to understand how long to borrow the land for agriculture , it is equally important to understand when and why the land is ready for the use ..... and when and why its ready for the rest. We cant beat nature. We might as well work with it.
