Building Land and Community Resilience in Ohio with Holistic Planned Grazing
- 3 hours ago
- 4 min read
With the early morning sun streaming through the almost turning leaves, Bill Wickerham, one of the trio of brothers that own and operate End of the Ridge Farms, drove his electric golf cart in the field in front of his home in West Union, Ohio, setting up pigtail posts in a line. He wasn’t prepping to graze his cattle near the house, although he has done that a time or two, but was laying out a parking flow for the participants of the "Grazing Tools: Healthy Land & Livestock Workshop."
Later that morning farmers, ranchers and community members gathered for a day of learning, sharing, and connection centered around regenerative agriculture. Hosted by Holistic Management International (HMI), this workshop brought together people from across the region, and some from further away, who are passionate about building healthier land, stronger businesses, and more resilient communities.
The workshop opened with a warm welcome from HMI Program Manager, Marie von Ancken, and a reminder that the most important resource we have is each other, a theme that was carried throughout the next two days. Bill Wickerham shared the story of their operation which began in 2001 as a small cow/calf operation using conventional livestock management practices. Bill, along with his brothers Dan & Mark (and their families), work together to manage roughly 250 acres outside West Union, Ohio as one unified operation with a focus on conservation, soil health, and animal integration.
Bill and his brothers started questioning their standard techniques and began experimenting with regenerative grazing practices. They focused on improving their soil organic matter, even on challenging terrain with shallow bedrock, by rotating animals more intensively, giving pastures adequate rest and time for regrowth, and spacing water and drinker systems so animals didn’t overuse any one area.
Besides their own operation, the Wickerham brothers have built a strong educational/community dimension. They host pasture walks, they invite students from the local universities to observe and learn how their system works, and, like today, they host workshops for community members hoping to learn how to implement some of their successful techniques in their own operations.
Owen Hablutzel, an experienced Certified Educator with Holistic Management International, facilitated the two days. He gave a brief overview of Holistic Management, why it’s important to focus on the “whole” when managing complex situations and shared an introduction to Holistic Grazing Planning. He emphasized that regenerative practices look different depending on the region, soils, rainfall, and whatever your own Holistic Goal/Context look like, so it’s important to map out what you want for your land/livestock, how you’re going to get there, and what monitoring tools you’re going to use to know when you’re going in the right direction or need to change course.
Owen drew on the knowledge and wisdom in the group and encouraged real-time participation and experimentation in various hands-on monitoring activities. The group practiced Bullseye Monitoring, a method created by Kirk Gadzia, and did some monitoring of two pastures, one that had just been grazed, and one that was about to be grazed, comparing ecosystem functions in each.
Bill and Dan took the group on a hay ride out to their haybarn hoop house to talk about targeted management through the strategic placing of bales on areas that need more impact during winter feeding. There they shared about the steps they took to apply for various grants to fund the hay barn and winter feeding infrastructure and how they manage the extra manure that accumulates when the animals are sheltering in the barn.
These events aren’t just about technical training, they are about community resilience, shared purpose and collective learning. One participant brought a slake soil test to demonstrate to the rest of the group how to easily assess soil stability and health. Participants were open and vulnerable sharing about their own trials and successes as land managers and conversations during lunch flowed from genetics to dung beetles to tall fescue management. Sunshine Catering provided incredible meals for lunch both days featuring beef from End of the Ridge Farms.
The final afternoon wrapped up with a small group exercise where participants developed a Holistic Grazing Plan for a case study ranch. During the exercise, they practiced balancing animal needs, forage availability, and land health, while thinking through paddock rotations, stocking density, and seasonal considerations. Participants got to experiment with real-world decision-making in a low-stakes setting, seeing how small changes in grazing strategy can have big impacts on soil health and pasture productivity. The hope is that everyone left inspired and equipped to create a grazing plan tailored to their own land and operation, applying the principles they explored in the exercise.
We hope this workshop inspires others to join future HMI trainings, keep in touch through our newsletter and stay in conversation with nearby producers, learning from each other about what’s really working on the ground in their own environments and unique contexts.
We are so grateful to End of the Ridge Farms – Bill, Dan, and Mark Wickerham – for sharing their land and expertise and showing what’s possible when care for the land and community come first. Huge thanks to Owen Hablutzel for guiding the workshop, and to our sponsors, the L&L Nippert Foundation, for helping make it all happen. And to the participants, thank you for your curiosity, energy, and willingness to take what you learned and apply it on your own farms.