Waihopai Valley farmers Alison and Aiden Mackenzie
believe that to farm well you have to farm whole.
That means farming to a triple bottom line of social, financial and environmental
goals, say the Waihopai Valley farmers.
Holistic farming is simply about adopting a new way of looking at your operation,
your goals, and your management says Aiden.
“Some people see it as something out of this world, but it is very simple
and just a framework for decision making.”
The main point s to have a set of goals and know here you want to go, he
says.
“it makes you think and every decision you make is about taking you towards
that direction.”
The Mackenzies discovered holistic farming four years ago, in what Aiden
calls the worst financial year he had experienced.
The introductory course had a hefty price tag, so he decided to leave Alison
at home, but was promptly told that in that case he should stay at home too.
That was lesson one, says Alison.
A good marriage is integral to a good farming operation and the first thing
to break up a farm is a broken family, she says.
Going to the meeting as a couple they soon worked out that their goals were
the dsame as everbody else’s, she says.
Happy families, healthy relationships, and a good well looked after environment,
were not unusual aspirations.
At the end of the day, everyone wants the same thing”.
Aiden says holistic management has taught him a lot about the power of the
mind.
People are “very much stuck in their mind set”, he says and moving towards
holistic management had forced him to think in a different way.
A major break away from normal farming was to put his profit at the top of
his budget rather than at the bottom.
Don’t be satisfied with what is left over, but work out how much you want
and take it from there, he says.
His comments may raise a number of eyebrows, including those of his accountant,
but farming whole has improved things a whole lot for the Mackenzies he says.
The Holistic Decision Making Association will a seminar on meeting the challenge
of making a profit at Lincoln University on August 14 and 14.
Published in the Marlborough Express, Friday August 8, 2003
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