THE ART OF LINGERING
I suppose if I had lingered more when I was new to the ranching world then I wouldn’t be in business today. However, that was then, when agriculture was bound by tradition and moved at warp speed in order to, as we were told, feed the world.
The words “organic,” “sustainable,” “natural,” “diversity,” and “holistic,” were words to be found only in Webster Dictionary.
Allen Savory was an unknown studying the grazing habits of the wild herds of Africa and their healthy relationship with the land. He also came to believe that those in charge with the care of domesticated livestock were responsible for the deterioration of the grazing lands on all corners of our planet. Not only that, but he found that people that lived their lives removed from the land have also had a negative effect on the environment. Their donations to the decline of our environment has come in the form of ill advised regulations, badly written legislation that many times is emotionally or politically driven, causing more problems than the law was intended to mediate.
So what might be a good sustainable alternative? How about a hunt club for me? It’s the most profitable venture I have. It’s a real incentive to constantly improve the habitat for the wildlife that live on the ranch. My son John and his wife Barbara put on Cowboy Academies and Dude Ranch weekends; Zee and I do the City Slicker cattle drives with the help from our neighbors and border collies. We move cattle around the ranch in ways that replicate the grazing herds of old. The results: cattle fat and slick and the land this year dazzles my senses with its beauty. Stay true to Mother Nature’s plans.
In the past, I breezed along oblivious to the fact that I was also part of the problem. The fall of 1958, with a brand new wife, a freshly minted Cal Poly diploma, we were able to buy a starter ranch. There I learned that there are ranches that could send a person into bankruptcy trying to become a Cattleman. And we had one. In 1961, we were lucky enough to trade in our starve-to-death model for our present day ranch that we call the V6. All through the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, I did like most others in my industry: I would hit home runs once in a while only to give most of it back when the cattle market would take one of its famous free falls. We cattlemen don’t seem to be able to stand prosperity for long. In fact, I believe we’re uncomfortable being rich. We will always over produce in order to get to that comfortable place with hat in hand, visiting our supposedly friendly banker. This is the guy that in good times wanted to take you to lunch and loan you more money than a guy really needed. Now as you stand before him he has the do I know you look on his face. Somehow or another you leave with Mr tougher-than-hell waving good-bye with a nice big fat mortgage in his hand and you with a line of credit to get back in the game again.
I keep forgetting, this writing is about lingering. So, how do you become one who lingers? I’m pretty sure it’s not for the young with their youthful impatience and those who need to be here, there, and everywhere all at once. For me, lingering has become a necessary part of my management plan, especially since I’m in the middle of planting 100 acres of pistachio trees. I have chosen to raise my pistachios organically, which means you throw out 90% of our traditional commercial practices.
The picture that is posted with this blog shows an annual Mustard plant growing right next to a New Pistachio tree. Most growers would get a hoe and whack this nuisance into the next county. But as I linger, observing the relationship between tree and plant, I must first ask myself, “did I consider that there might be a little symbiosis going on here?” Part of my quest to improve soil health is to introduce more oxygen, water, and increase soil porosity below ground. Because this plant has a large tap root, it will grow deep, leaving a shaft for all of the above to follow. Above ground, the plant is in full bloom. As I look closer, there are about ten busy bees gathering nectar for their hive. Waiting until the bloom is over will help them to fill their honey combs. So, why not wait for the plant to die probably within a week or two? When it’s dry we will run it over with a flail mower, making the above ground part into a mulch that will turn into organic matter more quickly. Below ground, its tap root and smaller roots will start to decay, creating food for all the soil biota. Just think, if I hadn’t lingered I might have missed Mother Nature’s song that was playing.
See Ya,
Jack