Cheryl Williams Cosner helps livestock producers new to sheep build healthy, profitable flocks through understandable research-based articles, videos and courses.

Cheryl has 35 years as a Holistic Management livestock producer and educator. Her fascination with sheep has led her to study every aspect of sheep health, nutrition and genetics. This passion for small ruminants led Cheryl to create Sheep School, an online educational platform for sheep information. Together with her business partner and husband, Robert, she regularly shares her experience with Holistic Management principles on ranch management, microeconomics, marketing, grazing and land management. Cheryl has collaborated with Washington State University and Oregon State University on award-winning projects about farm finance and livestock education.

Cosner’s outstanding contributions to agriculture have earned her recognition as Washington State University Woman Alumna of the Year and a national winner for the Farm and Ranch Survival Kit from the National Association of County Agriculture Agents’ Search for Excellence in Financial Management Education for Farms and Ranches. She is a director of Roots of Resilience, a non-profit organization that teaches regenerative agriculture principles to natural resource stakeholders.

Cheryl earned a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Science with minors in Animal Science and Agriculture Economics. She completed her MBA in Marketing from City University of Seattle and taught business at colleges and universities including a graduate-level teaching assignment in Bejing, China.
Cheryl is married to her business partner, Robert. They have successfully ranched together for 38 years.

Webinar Week

Great Grazing: Pasture Partnerships, Weird Feeds and Higher Profits
October 27  |  1:00 – 2:30pm MT

In this information-packed presentation, we will explore unusual crops and plants considered weeds as a feed source for ruminant livestock, particularly sheep. Adding sheep to a farming operation through ownership or a “Rent a Ruminant” program can create a win-win for regenerative farmers and livestock growers alike. Sheep are uniquely suited for converting a wide variety of plants- vegetables, cover crops and alfalfa aftermath- into nutrients for animal and soil health. Sheep can offer a high-value solution to soil improvement, weed reduction, reduced mechanical use and aftermath clean-up when used in a holistic farming model.

In this webinar you will learn:
What are the benefits of grazing aftermath and cover crops for farmers and livestock producers?
What are the nutrient benefits of unusual feeds and weeds for ruminants including alfalfa aftermath, winter squash, carrots, onions, sorghum-sudan grass, green pea waste, lambsquarter, prickly lettuce and many more.
How to winter graze sheep in a northern climate.
Where to source alternative feedstuffs.
What equipment do you need for successful and safe sheep grazing?
Common pitfalls to avoid when grazing sheep.
What aftermath and cover crop grazing with sheep can do for your bottom line?
What risks are associated with grazing certain crops and how to mitigate them?
How weedy species become an asset in your grazing plan.
How to build relationships with farmer partners that are interested in having their property grazed.
What free nutrients do sheep add to the soil and how it saves money.

Mandy is a Regenerative Agriculture Educator and Consultant. With a background in Sociology and Environmental Affairs, Mandy passionately educates about the amazing and vast benefits of Regenerative Agriculture, Holistic Land Management, and the local sourcing of regenerative food, products, and services…ultimately, the positive impact we can have on the planet when we learn from and think like Nature.

Through her work with various farms and ranches over the years, she recognizes many of the barriers faced in transitioning to regenerative agriculture and also in promoting understanding and community support of regenerative practices and management. Her ways of educating and creating awareness are multi-faceted involving things like the creation of a regenerative agriculture storytelling tool kit (in process), giving presentations and workshops, interviewing farmers and ranchers (Tribe Green Rising YouTube channel), and working to galvanize connection around the ultimate goal of having safe and healthy communities on a biodiverse, thriving planet.

Webinar Week

Regenerative Agriculture: Dedication, Grit, and the Stories We Live and Tell
October 25  | 11:00am MT

There is a lot involved in the industrial-to-regenerative transition. It is a process that asks us to return to the indigenous roots of agriculture and partner with Nature. It can also be difficult to establish an educated and supportive community base as the complexity of working in relationship with Nature can be difficult to explain.

In partnership with the James Ranch (a regenerative ranch in Durango, CO), we are creating an educational storytelling tool kit with the goal of enabling people to experience the excitement, beauty, health, and hope of Regenerative Agriculture and Holistic Land Management and what it means to listen to, learn from, and work in relationship with Nature. The intent is to help give you the tools to share the story of your operation.

Master Student of Natural Sciences and conservation at New Mexico Highlands University.
Agricultural engineer from Zamorano University with some experience on Agroforestry.

Webinar Week

Biochar in the Southwest Panel Discussion -Production Methods and Quality

Making biochar is easy…making high-quality biochar cleanly, efficiently, and with consistent properties is more challenging. This presentation will cover the types of biomass and reaction systems that can be used to make biochar, and will provide an introduction to biochar characterization and evaluation. Determination of what is a “good” biochar is not always straightforward as biochar properties that offer advantages for one application, may not be advantageous for another application. For example, biochars intended to increase the pH and mineral nutrient content of an acidic, weathered soil may benefit from having a higher and more alkaline ash content. That same biochar applied to an alkaline, saline (desert) soil would be at a disadvantage. In this presentation, we will look at the kinds of biochar properties that can be measured and how those properties can inform decisions about each biochar’s use.

Sanna Sevanto Team leader: Atmosphere, Clime and Ecosystem Sciences, LANL, Los Alamos, New Mexico, is a physicist turned to plant physiologist with broad expertise in transport phenomena in complex natural systems. She has a master’s degree in material science and a PhD in applied physics from the University of Helsinki, Finland. Her interests in biomechanics and the environment have led her to apply the knowledge of physics to studying plant physiology and plant responses to environmental stress. Her research has focused on measurements and modeling of plant-atmosphere interactions, ecosystem energy, water and carbon cycles, plant hydraulics, plant responses to stress, and on mechanistic understanding of plant structure and function. Most recently she has led research in developing techniques to produce microbial consortia that improve plant drought tolerance. Dr. Sevanto has over 90 peer-reviewed publications and has collaborated with researchers from various disciplines ranging from applied and theoretical physics, and global-scale vegetation modeling, to cellular and ecosystem-scale biology, ecology, meteorology, atmospheric sciences and material sciences, applying techniques from these fields for understanding plant and ecosystem function, and vegetation influence on climate.

Webinar Week

Biochar in the Southwest Panel Discussion -Production Methods and Quality

Making biochar is easy…making high-quality biochar cleanly, efficiently, and with consistent properties is more challenging. This presentation will cover the types of biomass and reaction systems that can be used to make biochar, and will provide an introduction to biochar characterization and evaluation. Determination of what is a “good” biochar is not always straightforward as biochar properties that offer advantages for one application, may not be advantageous for another application. For example, biochars intended to increase the pH and mineral nutrient content of an acidic, weathered soil may benefit from having a higher and more alkaline ash content. That same biochar applied to an alkaline, saline (desert) soil would be at a disadvantage. In this presentation, we will look at the kinds of biochar properties that can be measured and how those properties can inform decisions about each biochar’s use.

Tony McQuail bought a farm near Lucknow, Ontario in 1973. He and his wife, Fran, ran a diversified organic farm raising livestock, a small apple orchard and operated a community supported garden. McQuail was an early adopter of rotational grazing and has decades of experience in pasture management and fencing systems. They have been using Holistic Management principles and tools for over 25 years. At Meeting Place Organic Farm they raise grass fed and finished beef, pastured pork and pastured poultry and have done some experimenting with cocktail cover crops. They do some of their farming with work horses. They took a played-out crop farm from approximately 1.5% soil organic matter to 3.5 to 7% organic matter moving CO2 from the atmosphere into the soil. The McQuails have transferred the farm operation to their daughter Katrina and continue to be actively involved in it.
McQuail has an Honours Bachelor of Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo and is a certified educator with Holistic Management International. He was instrumental in founding the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario and the Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training. He has been president of both the Huron County Federation of Agriculture and the Huron Local of the National Farmers Union.
He has a long-standing interest in renewable energy including wind power, live horsepower, solar heating and photovoltaic systems. The McQuails designed and built a passive solar home in the mid 1970’s. The McQuails put up the first modern grid interconnected wind generator on the Ontario Hydro Grid in the late 1970’s. They annually produce more photovoltaic electricity from their microfit solar array than their home and farm business consume.
McQuail was the executive assistant to the Ontario Minister of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs in the early 1990’s. During that time, he was involved in the process that developed Ontario’s Environmental Farm Plan Program which continues to this day. He is currently on Holistic Management Canada’s Board of Directors.

Find our more about Tony’s work in this YouTube video and the farm website.

Webinar Week

Measuring soil carbon and health on rangelands: A how-to webinar

When we think about regeneration we need to think broadly about interconnection. Regenerative agriculture is about land, but it is also about human and economic relationships. If we are going to be regenerative we have to look after the Land AND the People AND the Finances.
Do you struggle with wondering what is the right decision to make to help you farm or ranch more regeneratively? Learn how to use HMI’s Holistic Management(R) Decision-Making Matrix and the 7 testing questions that have helped thousands of farmers and ranchers improve their on-farm/ranch decisions. With these questions you can learn how to test decisions towards a whole farm/ranch goal so you take into account social, ecological, and economic factors and address the root cause of problems you are facing.
Another element of being regenerative is being adaptive and responsive to our situation, be it ecological, social or financial. That is where Holistic Management’s (R) monitoring and replanning can be of great help.
During the workshop we will explore these tools and share some stories of how they have worked in our lives at Meeting Place Organic Farm.

Dr. Chelsea Carey serves as the Working Lands Research Director and Principal Soil Ecologist at Point Blue Conservation Science. In this role, she develops strategic partnerships and leads priority research projects focused on characterizing soil properties that are relevant to soil health, climate change mitigation, and regenerative land management. Dr. Carey has published over a dozen peer-reviewed articles and reports on soil ecology and stewardship, and is currently spearheading a large multi-state, multi-institute project to better understand how rangeland management practices affect carbon sequestration across space and time.

Webinar Week

Measuring soil carbon and health on rangelands: A how-to webinar

In this webinar, we will hear from scientists at Point Blue Conservation Science on how to measure and monitor soil carbon and health on rangelands. Focusing on the emerging Range-C Monitoring Framework, the group will discuss how to select indicators, identify the study area and sampling locations, determine the number of samples needed, and ensure data quality. By the end of the webinar, attendees will have a working understanding of the key decisions that go into measuring soil carbon and health in a way that produces reliable results, and how the Range-C Monitoring Framework can help navigate those decisions during the monitoring process.