Seminar on Holistic Range Management & Direct Marketing in Blue Hill April 4

“Like Our Grandfathers……How Managing for Healthy Landscapes and Directly Marketing to Consumers can Re-establish Agrarian Independence” is the telling title of a seminar that will be held in Blue Hill at the Community Center on Monday, April 4, 2011 from 5:00 until 9:00 pm. The featured speaker is Paul Schwennesen a noted cattleman and beef entrepreneur from Arizona. Paul Schwennesen and his wife Sarah own and manage the Double Check Ranch, a 12,000 acre holistically managed ranch located between Phoenix and Tucson, near Winkleman, AZ. The Schwennesen family believes that responsible, small-scale agriculture is a critical, and currently, largely missing key to a responsible economy. They realize that managing land well can restore the biodiversity that our landscapes are losing at a frightening rate. They have a biological plan to manage their land holistically, and all decisions are goal driven to ensure that they are socially, economically and environmentally sound. They are dedicated to improving their watershed and share the ranch with a variety of wildlife. Paul and Sarah have increased ranch profitability significantly through merchandising a natural grass fed beef product direct to the consumer. Paul is also an active Board member of the Southwest Grass-fed Livestock Alliance in conjunction with the Quivira Coalition. You will find this to be a refreshing look at beef production and profitability and a holistic method to get there. You can find more information by going on the internet to http://www.doublecheckranch.com/ or by contacting Ron Bolze, Coordinator, Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition at 402-426-2033 (office); 402 321 0067 (cell); or by emailing ron@nebraskagrazinglands.org Come listen and interact with Paul Schwennesen who will be discussing: Resource conservation through Holistic grazing management; Enhancing Ranch Profitability through “Direct to Consumer” sales; and Protecting Individual Liberties for Long Term Ranch Sustainability. With increasing input costs and value of our land and resources, we must look at every avenue to be profitable in the short run and continually productive in the long run. This seminar will help you discover some tools that may fit into your beef production tool box and perhaps think outside of the normal realm or “box” that we put ourselves in. This is a supper meeting so registration is required. There will be a small fee to cover some of the expenses, including the meal. The meeting is sponsored by the Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition, South Central Cattlemen Association and Webster County UNL Extension. Participants must pre-register by Friday, April 1 to reserve their meal ticket and a seat by calling the Webster County UNL Extension office at 402-756-3417 or email your intent to Dewey Lienemann at dlienemann2@unl.edu. Walk-ins are welcome but will probably not get a meal.