Principles Before Practices

"Start where you're at and work from there."

I discovered a fantastic new regenerative grazing resource during this morning's chore-time podcast listen! Episode 352 of ATTRA - Voices from the Field was an interview with Peggy Sechrist, executive director of the Texas Grazing Land Coalition. TXGLC is part of the National Grazing Lands Coalition and is one of of 21 state-based Grazing Land Coalitions across the country (including our potential expansion states of Wisconsin and Illinois).

Each state coalition has an abundance of location-targeted resources to help livestock producers get started or advance with regenerative grazing. TXGLC has 11 regional coalitions across Texas to address the vast differences in grazing conditions in our state. TXGLC cooperates with the state'as Ag universities and NRCS, expanding their reach through through practical assistance with implementation and management .

Beginning last fall, TXGLC launched a "Principles Before Practices" program to help ranchers focus on long-term goals, using a principles based approach, rather than focusing on individual practices. The overarching goal is to encourage good stewardship through peer-to-peer learning. TXGLC is working to provide practical technical assistance for ranchers seeking funding assistance from NRCS. Too often, Peggy says, ranchers get fixated on implementing a particular practice or structure without evaluating how it fits into their long-term goals and existing context. Peggy is also a practitioner of Holistic Management, the same framework we’re implementing at Wild Type Ranch.

Producers can often get overwhelmed by all the concepts and decisions that go into regenerative farming and ranching. Peggy’s advice is to “Start where you’re at and work from there”. This is where the principles before practices comes in. Get familiar with the foundational principles (starting with the 6 principles of soil health), then decide what steps are within your time, budget, capabilities and appetite. Once you get the ball rolling, changes begin to accumulate and further change becomes easier.