“So, how was Hungary?”
When I arrived for my yearly ecological monitoring together with the Hungarian Savory Hub, my initial thought was that I was really worried.
Worried about the result of no effective rain and high temperatures over the last 6-8 weeks.
Worried after seeing so many dried-out pastures from the train.
Worried that I would not be able to see much when I realized that most of the farms had just done their hay cut.
I monitored with due diligence and care for details – not just in the land but also in our conversations on the ground.
And when I put the observations together, I could see some resilience, slowly building up in the regeneratively grazed grasslands.
Even with dry or cut grass, there was so much aliveness within. An orchestra of insects, new clover species showing up, less bare ground, and capped soil surfaces.
Small actions of management have built this over the years. Things like short grazing periods, long rest periods, are adapted to the season and the field they’re on. Litter is purposefully left behind to cover bare ground and nurture soil life. Water-holding land features planned and constructed. Livestock enterprise changed, stocking rate adapted, or animals put together in one herd.
Especially the management of livestock and grazing made a huge difference – if you call it AMPgrazing, regenerative grazing or Holistic Planned Grazing.
There are so many smaller and bigger actions possible within your context when managing for regeneration.
Actions that will show up in the ecological health of your land. To then affect the economic and social health as well.
This resilience is built and practiced over time. During hard years, doing the best that’s possible, but especially during good years when the conditions are right with precipitation and temperatures.
Don’t wait for a bad year. We need to start better managing when we think we don’t need it.
I can’t wait to come back next year. And see what happens when it rains again.
How do you build resilience in your place, in your context?
