Holistic Management
A Whole-Farm Decision Making Framework
 

This assignment is due no later than 9 AM, Friday February 6

Instructions:

Answer the following questions, based on the information provided in the ATTRA Web Site section entitled: Holistic Management: A Whole-Farm Decision Making Framework located at:

http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/holistic.html

Please submit your questions and answers electronically to your instructor as an email attachment in Microsoft Word™ format.

  • Briefly define the concept of holistic management as described in this article
  • What is the so called centerpiece of holistic management?
  • According to the article, in holistic management projected income or profit is planned ahead of actual production. With profit taken out of available resources the remaining financial resources are allocated into 3 categories. What are those 3 categories? Briefly describe each category.
  • Complete the following table with information from the article. State one economic principle or lesson you would elucidate based on this table.

Table 1. Distinctions between holistic financial planning and cash flow planning.

Holistic Cash-Flow
  Production is the Goal
Profit is Profit is
Expenses put into categories Expenses put in overhead and variable costs
  Annual monitoring?
  • Complete the following sentences that provide a concise description of the core philosophy of holistic resource management.
    The very essence of the term "holistic" is that nature functions _________ __________________________, not in parts, and that we will understand nature better when we manage it ______________________________ _______________________________________________. Holistic Management gives people a way to make decisions that _______________ _______________________________ (in wholes) and thereby ensure that our farming is truly sustainable over time.
  • List 3 examples of how biodiversity may be increased in farming.
  • True / False (If the statement is false, rewrite it to make it true)

Because nature is so complex that we can only begin to understand it, decisions affecting the landscape are assumed to be correct and monitoring will not be required.

 
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