With 27 years of ranching experience using Holistic Management, Wayne has had an identity crisis. When he joined the 11 000-acre family ranching business he called himself a cattle rancher. He changed to calling himself a grass farmer. Later still, he called himself a soil-microbe farmer, though he has always marketed beef. Privileged to work with his father, Tom Knight, who was an early adopter of Holistic Management under Allan Savory – Stan Parsons consulting, Wayne enthusiastically increased and intensified the practices HMI teaches. He became a Certified Educator in 2006 and was actively involved with the Southern African CE community organization, Community Dynamics. He has spoken at numerous conferences in Southern Africa, trained and mentored farmers, hosted open days on his property, and has written about his positive results using Holistic Management. Before joining the team at HMI Wayne served as a board member of the organization for 8 years. Through his enthusiasm for Holistic Management Wayne has traveled widely visiting farmers who practice high-density, long recovery grazing practices in Southern Africa, Australia, and the US. As a young graduate with a Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Natal, South Africa, he traveled across the US west working on ranches in Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, California, and New Mexico. When not involved in Holistic Management you will find him fishing, birding, hiking, or exploring wild spaces and places with his family. An enthusiastic traveler, hunter, and photographer, he loves discovering new places and making new friends.

A native of rural Texas, Clinton has spent most of his career working for social-service non-profits in the Pacific Northwest. In 2017 he and his family relocated to Fort Collins, Colorado where he supported local farmers and ranchers through his role as the Executive Director of Poudre Valley Community Farms; a farmland cooperative assisting with land access for local producers. He is now the program director for AgWell, a project of Rocky Mountain Farmers Union that supports the well-being of farmers, ranchers, ag workers, and their families as they navigate what is often a stressful profession. Clinton is passionate about creating a more connected, community-focused, collaborative, and robust support system for the agricultural community here in the Rocky Mountain Region.

Ann has worked in the nonprofit world for over 25 years, creating and directing national programs, collaborating with over 100 non-profit and government entities to create positive impact among producers and land stewards seeking to build & maintain sustainable farms, ranches and healthy land. Her fund development work has included raising over $1 million for national whole farm planning training for beginning farmer programming. Ann served as HMI’s Executive Director from 2015-2020. Ann has been a Holistic Management Certified Educator since 1998 and has practiced and taught Holistic Management® in multiple capacities for 25 years. She also has facilitated classes (onsite and distance learning), taught workshops and presented at conferences. She has written countless articles, helped develop agriculture-based software for financial and grazing planning and written a training handbook, At Home with Holistic Management: Creating a Life of Meaning. Ann also taught courses at Indiana University, Wittenberg University, and Antioch College. She earned her BSED from Ohio University and her PhD from Indiana University. When she isn’t serving as HMI’s Education Director, Ann is Chief Goatherd on her small farm in the Manzano Mountains and Captain of her Earthship (a house made out of tires with photovoltaics, composting toilet and rainwater harvesting) southeast of Albuquerque, New Mexico with her wife, Ellen.

As the founder and Executive Director of Farm Commons, Rachel Armstrong has led dozens of webinars and workshops for thousands of farmers nationwide and created the organization’s innovative approach to farm law risk reduction. Her vision for changing the way consumers experience business law has been awarded two fellowships: a 2012 Echoing Green Global Fellowship and a 2018 Ashoka Fellowship. As a leading authority on direct-to-consumer farm law, she has authored dozens of publications on farm law matters for farmers, alongside several academic and trade publications for attorneys. Ms. Armstrong instructs continuing legal education classes for the American Bar Association, teaches farm law for the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and is a co-author of “Farmers’ Guide to Business Structures,” published by Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education. A graduate of the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and the University of Wisconsin Madison, she lives in Northern Minnesota. She is licensed to practice law in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Walker Holmes, the Makerspace Manager at White Oak Pastures, was born and raised in Adairsville, Georgia. He discovered White Oak Pastures while in high school and took every opportunity to visit and work when his school schedule allowed. During this time, he created tallow product recipes, developed leathercraft designs, and helped train new employees within the tallow and leather departments. In December 2020, he graduated from Reinhardt University with a Bachelor’s in Music Education. He hopes to continue to develop and explore his love for creating during his time with us.

I was born and raised in the Dominican Republic, many generations removed from any type of agrarian lifestyle. Eventhough I was raised a complete city boy, my father had a need to escape to the countryside whenever he could and would take his family with him. As a child, I spent those days riding in the countryside, looking to see what troubles I could get into. Those days are where the first sparks of longing to be connected to nature began. I would fantasize about being part of the big cattle drives you would see in movies, but never felt that I would be able to experience anything like that.

After graduating from high school, I moved to Florida to attend college and allowed the momentum of life to control where my life was headed. I graduated with a business degree and not long after found myself working in a cubicle sun up to sun down. I quickly realized that a corporate life was not going to be for me no matter how much success I attained.

Looking for a way to escape, I decided to do some research on homesteading. In doing so, I stumbled upon the subject of regenerative agriculture and quickly became obsessed. I spent the next two years consuming all the information I could find on the topic while saving money to make a big change in my life.

I bought a small property in Tennessee, quit my job, and moved. For the next four years, I spent my time putting everything I learned into practice and experimenting with anything that interested me. I sold pasture raised chickens and grass fed lamb at the local farmers market, while also experimenting with pigs, rabbits, bees, trees, gardens, etc. Most of my learning came from making all kinds mistakes.

During this time I realized I had grown a passion for managing grasslands and ruminants. I felt a deep need to focus on learning planned grazing and finding a way to practice at a large scale. I realized I would need a mentor to make it possible. I found out about the Quivira Coalition and their New Agrarian Program, and quickly reached out to one of their mentor ranches which I felt was doing exactly what I wanted to be able to do.

I sold everything and made the move to Colorado to become an apprentice for Louis Martin who runs Round River Resource Management, a custom grazing operation that manages 75,000 acres with a focus on creating future agrarians. I am completing my fourth season with this company. During my time working and learning here, I was given the opportunity to start my own cattle enterprise, and I am currently serving as Director of Production for the operation.