Whole-Farm Planning: Ecological Imperatives, Personal Values, and Economics

By Elizabeth Henderson and Karl North

Book Overview

Why do whole-farming planning? What makes it more effective than other ways of managing farms? The answers to these questions lie in a quiet rediscovery through science that is fundamentally changing the way modern humans see and must manage the world. The goal of this whole-farm planning manual is to reintroduce a macroscopic method of making and testing decisions on the farm and in larger wholes in which we live. This NOFA guide has information on: * Lessons from systems science (including tools) * Assessing the whole farm (what are we managing? the people, physical and mental assets, money) * Understanding the farm ecosystems (the water and mineral cycles, dynamics of the biological community, the energy flow) * Choosing appropriate tools * Making a framework to test decisions Including examples and statements from practicing farmers, and more holistic resources and alternative business models.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1603583556
• ISBN13: 9781603583558
• Release Date: March 2011
• Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing Company
• Length: 104 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 8.9"