diversity: increasing costs of farming in equipment, fertilizers, fuel and labor; increasing soil, water and air pollution and declining interest in farming as an occupation. Rather than attempting to solve these problems individually or collectively, the proposed solution would articulate a vision of what a sustaining agriculture should be for, the people involved, and how it would need to function in the ecosystem and the economy. The process of creatively designing, manifesting and managing a farming system that is simultaneously ecologically, socially and economically sound would consequently create the opposite tendencies of the previously mentioned indicators and provide additional benefits such as sequestering carbon*, diversifying farm profitability, reducing the need for expensive machinery and the consequent damage they inflict on soils and make farming more interesting and fun for the farmer. Additionally, the principles and practices of the proposed solution will be applicable in numerous perennial and annual cropping systems in both developing and developed countries.

The proposed solution will be accomplished through the following practices: modeling and designing farming systems utilizing ecological principles with special attention to the role of grazing animals in nutrient cycling and soil health; supplying an increasingly greater portion of energy needs from the farms solar catchment; developing comprehensive goals that address issues of quality of life, production and long-term vision; testing of all potential practices, actions or decisions (before implementing) to make sure they will effectively lead towards the goals in an ecologically, socially and financially sound manner; and provide a feedback loop to insure that decisions are leading to the desired outcome so they can be adequately addressed if not.

The selected site for this project is a family owned vineyard and farm in California. In spite of being certified organic and embracing practices such as solar electricity and recycled vegetable oil powered tractors, the owners feel they have not achieved a level of farming that is truly sustaining. Consequently, we have begun to implement a holistic design process by articulating the values and vision of the farm owners and staff and testing current practices and potential actions and design elements to make sure they are ecologically, socially and economically sound in relation to the stated goals. This process has lead to the realization that many of the mechanized practices used on the farm (which are damaging to the soil, create pollution and are expensive to operate and purchase) would be better accomplished through living organisms – in particular by grazing animals. Through grazing, foraging, dunging and urinating -sheep, cattle, horses, geese and chickens can accomplish a number of functions previously done with machinery including mowing, weed control, suckering, insect control, and incorporating plant material into the soil surface. Not only can certain animals provide these benefits, but they can perform these services while simultaneously fueling themselves, providing fertilizer, sequestering carbon, providing a source of additional income and food and are self replicating. I am unaware of any tractor that can come close to matching these services.

Grazing animals will be introduced and managed into a number of agricultural zones on the project farm to include perennial crop areas of grapes, tree fruits and olives; annual grain production sites; vegetable production sites; riparian areas, hedgerows and pasture land. All grazing moves will be carefully planned, recorded and monitored to synchronize with other farming activities like planting, harvest, pruning and insect control. Special practices like concentrating animals on areas of low fertility or with weed problems and avoiding bird nesting sites during the chick rearing stage will also be incorporated on the farm grazing plan. Control of animals (to prevent overgrazing, allow soil and plant recovery and discourage predators) will be accomplished with portable, electrified netting powered by a solar/battery charger. Observations and records from the first year of implementation will help determine needs and design elements for future management. Monitoring of grazed areas will indicate deviation in desired results and allow for quick adjustments in management practices. Working from the basis of a comprehensive and well articulated goal and testing all current and potential practices in relation to their contribution towards (or away from) maintaining a sustaining farm is expected to consistently lead to a more biologically based practice of farming. Part of the synergistic elegance of this process is that the transition to a grazing (and current solar energy) based farming system has the potential to provide an economic return to help cover all or part of the costs for conversion and then provide a consistent new source of future income. Start-up capital could be achieved with little or no initial investment by simply leasing out areas for grazing and developing infrastructure based on this income. If money is available for buying livestock, then a return on investment and profits can be realized through the sale of progeny, meat, eggs or milk. In addition, the transition to a less mechanized approach to farming can provide savings in fuel, equipment, maintenance and repairs.

Successfully integrating livestock into annual and perennial farming systems will require intelligent planning, management, species selection and monitoring. Each farming enterprise will have its own unique set of management needs but the principles of this process can be applicable from small scale subsistence gardens to large scale agricultural operations.

This initial project will focus on converting a mechanically intensive form of farming that requires large amounts of outside energy and fertility to a more biologically extensive practice of agriculture that provides most of its energy and fertility through intelligent management of ecosystem processes. The obvious next stage of development would be in using the holistic design process for developing new agricultural projects rather than remodeling farms engineered for mechanically intensive management. This would likely allow for a substantial increase in ease of management and an overall increase in the effectiveness of the principles and process. Another segment of agriculture that offers a vast realm of opportunity for potential ecological and social improvements through this design process are the large monoculture farming systems like cotton, corn, rice and wheat. Much of the ground work for this approach has been explored by me through over 20 years of experience, observations, and education (formal and non-formal) in environmental restoration, agroecology and holistic farm management and design. During this time I have developed a network of colleagues and collaborators in a diversity of fields from anthropology to engineering who are directing their work, lives and thinking towards more holistic approaches to sustaining all life. My immediate partners in this project, Lou and Susan Preston, have provided many levels of support for this work and are committed to sharing our findings with farmers, students, teachers, visitors and the community. In addition we are encouraging active research collaboration with students and professors from a number of institutions. As conventional agribusiness has little appreciation or interest in the work being done in this realm, it is my hope that recognition from sources such as The Buckminster Fuller Challenge will help propel enthusiasm, appreciation and investment into holistic based agriculture.

*For example, research, experience and literature reviews indicate that a 1%-2% (or more) increase in soil organic matter is likely after 2-5 years of the proposed management practices. If these practices were adopted by half of the world’s 20 million acres of grapes and an increase of soil organic matter was achieved in 3 years, the amount of carbon sequestered would be approximately 170 million tons.