Livestock Conservancy Holistic Management Workshop

Ranchers from all over the U.S. gathered at the Livestock Conservancy Conference on November 14th and 15th. Chris Kerston, Director of Marketing and Communications at the Savory Institute, hosted a pasture walk and introduction to Holistic...

November 18, 2014 | Source: Savory Institute | by Chris Kerston

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Ranchers from all over the U.S. gathered at the Livestock Conservancy Conference on November 14th and 15th. Chris Kerston, Director of Marketing and Communications at the Savory Institute, hosted a pasture walk and introduction to Holistic Management principles during the afternoon on Friday. Participants learned about testing decisions for triple bottom line results, using various tools to impact land and measuring grazing days per acre. On Saturday he gave a talk on agri-tourism and discussed what it takes to add public events or lodging to a ranching operation in America.


The fieldwork was held at Debbie and Don Davis’ family ranch just outside the city. They run their breeding operation, DWD Longhorns LLC, predominantly from a much larger ranch a few hours west but use the ranch closer to the city as heifer pasture and a place to stay when delivering their grassfed beef to buyers in town. Don is also a very talented architect and they opened their lovely home up as a location to host a few of the Livestock Conservancy’s workshops and presentations. Austin, the third fastest growing city in the U.S., was the perfect venue for the conference. The city has incredible flavor and authenticity, amazing food and culture, and many national brands centered on sustainability are headquartered there.