Plank Stewardship Initiative

Programs: Education series financial analysis workshops: we are actively seeking partners with whom to offer a series of one-day financial training workshops. The material will be tailored for agriculture operations and presented by experienced instructors with a long history of working with wyoming producers. We are excited with the possibility of working with conservation districts and hope to announce some finalized schedules soon. Our goal is to have at least 10 and no more than 15 participants at each of these workshops. We hope these pilot programs will inform subsequent interactions in later in 2015 and into 2016. We encourage anyone with interest in hosting or attending a financial training workshop to contact us. Estate planning workshops: as a complement to the financial analysis workshop, we will host a series of half-day estate planning workshops. The target audience for these sessions are ranchers trying to keep the ground in the family. The workshops will be held throughout wyoming and emphasize continuity and stability in estate planning. Large educational forum: in the northern great plains, few opportunities exist for ranchers to convene with industry experts and researchers. Perhaps more important are opportunities to meet and share experiences with other ranchers who have a common desire to increase their knowledge and improve their stewardship practices. In cooperation with the wyoming nrcs office, psi is hosting a day seminar with cattleman and farmer gabe brown. Gabe will describe his practices and progress regarding soil health on his north dakota farm. Gabe is well known around the country as an innovator in commercial farming techniques that reap positive returns both economically and ecologically. The organic matter on his farm's soils have nearly tripled in the past two decades while his yields have increased and required inputs decreased. Our goal is to have 100 to 150 people in attendance. The date for this event is friday, march 27, in casper. Technical assistance to landowners and land managers ranch assessment and planning: farm or ranch planning is difficult and usually neglected. Psi believes that while most operators recognize the need to plan more thoroughly, they also feel inadequately prepared, and very often operate without an overarching plan or strategy. We hope that once operators complete a financial analysis of their operation, they will recognize the need and benefit to assessing the operation's other components; ecological, mineral, and human. Establishment of peer groups practitioner networks: attendees at the 2014 stakeholders meeting expressed a desire for networking with other practitioners. Peer-to-peer networks are often quite small and tightly focused groups that gather to share both technical information as well as the fellowship based in their passion for land stewardship. Beginning with those individuals who have participated in workshops, psi will lead efforts to create regional practitioner networks tailored for specific groups such as young and returning ranchers and producers of locally marketed livestock and produce. Psi will plan and facilitate these groups. We will be successful in this endeavor if those who participate continue to attend and express their belief that the peer-to-peer learning has been valuable to their operation. Please contact with any potential names of individuals or organizations interested in learning more or possibly beginning a peer group. Demonstration projects as a way of encouraging innovation, we recognize that there might be opportunities that present themselves for psi to support an innovative demonstration project or to leverage a group's effort by making a small grant as psi develops relationships with ranchers and farmers.