Focusing on Stewardship for Long-term Sustainability

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Focusing on Stewardship for Long-term
Sustainability

• Developed by
• Cinda Williams, University of Idaho Extension
• Kevin Laughlin, University of Idaho Extension
• Susan Donaldson, University of Nevada Cooperative
  Extension

Univ. of Idaho Extension
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Topics to be covered

• The whole-property concept
• Integrating the lessons youve learned
• Viewing your property through a sustainability
  lens
• How others are making it work
• Monitoring and assessing progress
• How youre making it work

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What is sustainability?

• According to the U.S. EPA, sustainability means
  meeting the needs of the present without
  compromising the ability of future generations to
  meet their own needs.

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What about sustainable agriculture?

• According to SARE, sustainable agriculture
  involves farming systems that are profitable,
  environmentally sound and good for people and
  communities.
• They must be
• Economically sustainable
• Environmentally sustainable
• Socially sustainable

USDA NRCS
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So you want to be a steward of your land?

• Steward a person who manages another's property
  or financial affairs
• Environmental stewardship the responsibility to
  take care of our natural resources to ensure they
  are sustainably managed for current and future
  generations

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What does it mean to be a steward of a
small-acreage property?

• The practice of carefully managing land usage
  to ensure natural systems are maintained or
  enhanced for future generations.
• -The Land Stewardship Center

USDA NRCS
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Guiding principles of land stewardship

• Caring for the system as a whole
• Conserving resources
• Maintaining, building and enhancing stability in
  nature
• Honoring cultural values and ethics

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Putting it all together with a whole-property
perspective

• Use what youve learned about
• Inventory and goals
• Soils
• Water
• Wildfire threat reduction
• Plants
• Animals
• Enterprises

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The whole-farm or whole-property view
Redrawn by A. Miller from www.sare.org
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Applying a systems approach

• System a group of interacting, interdependent
  elements that function together as a complex
  unified whole

www.unesco.org
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Whole-farm nutrient balance
www.extension.org/pages/Whole_Farm_Nutrient_Balanc
e
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An alternate view of the whole-farm nutrient
balance
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Applying systems thinking to your property

• What are the components of your system?
• How are they interrelated?
• How does an action on one component affect other
  parts of your system?

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Systems diagram activity
www.icra-edu.org
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A systems thinker

• Seeks to understand the big picture

• Observes how elements within systems change over
  time, generating patterns and trends

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Being a systems thinker

• Changes perspectives

• Identifies the circular nature of complex cause-
  and-effect relationships, i.e. interdependencies

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Developing your goals with sustainability in mind

• Environmental concerns
• Economic factors
• Social issues

www.sare.org
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Putting sustainable goals into action
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Putting sustainable goals into action
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Putting sustainable goals into action
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Make your own goals!
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The living soil

• How do the practices we employ on our land
  influence the soil?

USDA NRCS
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Improving soil quality

• Work on the basics of high-quality soils
• Reduce tillage
• Add organic matter (plant cover crops)
• Reduce applications of synthetic-based chemicals

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Assess your soil quality

• Monitor for
• Earthworms
• Organic matter color, roots and residues
• Subsurface compaction
• Soil tilth
• Erosion
• Water-holding capacity
• Drainage and infiltration
• Crop condition
• pH
• Nutrient-holding capacity

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Protecting our water

• Water quantity
• Reduce unnecessary water loss by covering soil
  (cover crops, mulch, etc.)
• Increase water-use efficiency by proper
  irrigation
• Water quality
• Prevent runoff of soil into water bodies
• Prevent contamination by livestock by installing
  buffers or providing off-stream watering

USDA NRCS
energyfarms,.net
USDA NRCS
USDA NRCS
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What are you doing to conserve water?

• For your crops or pasture?
• For your animals?
• In your landscape?
• In your home?

NDEP
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Sustainable water use

• Build well-structured soils that retain water
• Design for infiltration of water, rather than
  runoff
• Plant species that are drought-tolerant and
  disease-resistant
• Capture, conserve and recycle water

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What about floods?
The bright green color indicates flood warnings.
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How would drought or a flood affect you?

• In the short term?
• In the midterm (3 years)?
• In the long term (5 years)?
• What is your contingency plan?
• What will you do differently?

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Protecting and preserving your space
Was wildfire part of your long-term plan?
Make a plan for protecting and preserving your
space
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Managing plants for sustainability

• Promote ecological balance with plant diversity
• Maintain vegetative cover
• Enhance or provide organic matter
• Enhance nutrient recycling
• Promote pest population balance through
  biological strategies

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Raising healthy animals a systems approach

• You can manage parts of the system to decrease
  internal parasites and their effects

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Managing energy use

• Make use of renewable energy
• Solar
• Pumps for watering and irrigation
• Greenhouses
• Wind
• Electricity for buildings
• Biofuels
• Oils or fuel from plants
• Energy from animal waste (which is not a waste
  after all!)
• Methane digesters

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Creating successful enterprises

• Choose your production system
• Develop your niche
• Your uniqueness is the key
• Tell your story!
• Value-added products
• Connect to customers and the community
• Understand the bottom line

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Quality lives

• For you and your family
• Physical health exposure and safety
• Mental health stress and depression
• For employees
• Fair treatment
• Decent wages and living conditions
• For animals
• Humane treatment of animals
• Low-stress handling

USDA NRCS
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Vibrant communities

• Links between the landowner or farmer and the
  community
• Networking
• Partnerships and collaboration
• Lifelong learning

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Vibrant communities

• What can you do?
• Host public and school tours
• Share what youve learned
• Donate food to local food banks
• Buy fresh and buy local
• Join a co-op or support group
• What ideas do you have?

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How are others making it work?

• Lets focus on systems sustainability by looking
  at some examples of people who have made a
  difference in the sustainability of land, soil,
  water, plants, animals, etc.

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The Mestres property, Nevada
UNCE, Reno, Nev.
UNCE, Reno, Nev.
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S. Mestre, Reno, Nev.
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UNCE, Reno, Nev.
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S. Mestre, Reno, Nev.
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S. Mestre, Reno, Nev.
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UNCE, Reno, Nev.
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UNCE, Reno, Nev.
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S. Mestre, Reno, Nev.
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S. Mestre, Reno, Nev.
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S. Mestre, Reno, Nev.
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Stewardship by the Mestres

• Protecting ground and surface water resources
• Conserving water
• Stabilizing, amending, and covering soil to
  increase organic matter and moisture content and
  decrease erosion
• Improved vegetative cover and better management
  of grassy areas

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Calypso Farm and Ecology Center Ester, Alaska

• Issues
• Difficult climate long winters, short extreme
  summers with long days
• Poor soils not very fertile, permafrost only a
  few inches below the surface

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Goals

• Establish an organic vegetable, herb and flower
  operation
• Use it as a method to educate others about
  environmental issues and homegrown food

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The enterprise

• CSA with a 16- to 20-week season
• Organic herbs, vegetables and cut flowers
• Grown on 2.5 terraced acres amended with organic
  products including composted leaves, hay and
  manure, lawn clippings, etc.

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Elements of sustainability

• Majority of 30 acres are not disturbed and kept
  forested
• Trees are used as lumber
• Soil is kept covered and amended, so moisture
  retention is improved
• Rainwater is collected from roofs and used to
  irrigate crops and for firefighter exercises
• Local community is educated

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Fostering awareness in young people

• Host field trips for schools
• Encourage students to participate in the farm
• Create school gardens

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Monitor and assess your progress

• Before you took this class, how were you
  interacting with your resources?
• What are you doing differently now?
• What do you plan to do differently in the future?

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Monitor and assess your progress

• What results do you want? How will you achieve
  your goals?
• How will you know if you succeeded?
• How are you making progress toward making your
  property more sustainable?

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Where can you continue to get help?

• SARE www.sare.org
• ATTRA www.attra.org
• Educational organizations
• Universities
• Cooperative Extension
• Community colleges
• Nonprofits

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Where can you continue to get help?

• Regulatory agencies
• Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
• conservation districts
• state forestry
• Networks (local, state and regional)

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Where can you get funding?

• State and private forestry
• Stewardship incentive programs
• USDA/NRCS incentive programs, such as
  Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP),
  Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) and
  Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
• Water quality and watershed programs

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Summary

• What do sustainability and stewardship mean to
  you?
• How will you be a better steward?
• How can you help your neighbors become better
  stewards?
• How does systems thinking help you achieve your
  goals?

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Participant presentations
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How are YOU making it work?

• How are you integrating what youve learned about
  your resources?
• How have you affected your own property?
• How have you affected your community?

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• Have your long-term goals changed? Why?
• What do you hope to accomplish?
• How will your property be more sustainable?
• Are you a better steward?

USDA NRCS
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• Youre on your way to a sustainable approach to
  managing all the resources on your small-acreage
  property!

UNCE, Reno, NV