On July 11th, 15 farmers and conservation professionals attended an Holistic Ecological Monitoring field day in Saginaw, MN. The event was cohosted by Minnesota Farmers Union and Sustainable Farming Association, with partnership support from University of Minnesota Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships. The field day was led by Kyle Hildebrandt, who operates Ecotone Stewardship and Consulting and is a certified Ecological Outcomes Verification (EOV) monitor through the Savory Institute. 

The morning started with an overview of the Savory Institute’s Holistic Management framework, with particular attention paid to Holistic Planned Grazing and how it can be used as a tool for enhancing ecosystem function. After a pizza lunch provided by Fairhaven Farm, attendees learned about the Savory Institute’s Ecological Outcome Verification (EOV) process, a robust and comprehensive survey tool used across the globe to monitor effectiveness of management decisions in regenerating forest and grassland ecosystems.

The event concluded with a demonstration of a short term (annual) and long term (every 5 years) monitoring protocol in the field. Participants took part in making careful observations of a pasture and ranked its ecological health based on 15 specific indicators of ecological health. These 15 criteria each were ranked on a continuum that created a composite numerical score for a given site. In an Ecological Outcomes Verification protocol, this same site is then visited each year to see how management decisions are affecting the ecological processes and if the land base is moving towards regeneration, or towards degradation. 

There was lots of enthusiasm and good conversation from participants during the field day, with many expressing an interest in attending future events about this topic. Farmers can stay up-to-date with Minnesota Farmers Union’s future events by checking the events page here: www.mfu.org/events. Find conservation events year-round from over 20 Minnesota organizations with the Minnesota Agriculture Conservation Events Tracker.