Now, Holon a Second

In the latest issue of the Stockman GrassFarmer, Alan Nation had a very interesting article. I found it to be personal and humorous, with a good smattering of wisdom from a grass farmer who's been there. I recommend reading it, if you haven't already. There is one part of his article that I found to be especially interesting, a holonic business structure.

A holon is an income, or salary, that is generated from little to no input costs to create it and function.

A holonic business structure has a centerpiece enterprise that covers the majority of fixed cost and overheads and pays for the management of it.

Mr. Nation also says that holons also are self managing dependencies. They cannot exist without the centerpiece, yet, they do not take away from either.

A holon can be a service or something that reduces the cost of the centerpiece and does not have to be sold to someone off the farm. An example of this is on-farm biodeisel production or firewood for personal use.

To know wheather or not your farm is a holarchy, you can ask yourself if you have to buy in feed or not. Or do you have to buy in anything? The answer is that if the feed is free, then it is a holon.

An example of a holon, here on Cedar Cove Farm, would be the manure that the rabbits produce. Not only can we and do we, use the manure for our personal garden without having to buy it in, but we can and will, sell it for an added salary. We feed the rabbits to raise, sell and butcher, for our own freezer and to sell off the farm, but the manure itself, is the holon. It costs us nothing extra to produce, and we can use it or sell it.

Another example from our farm is our latest enterprise, worms. We purchased a "worm factory" and about 1000 worms, the worms are for our garden needs. Outside the initial cost they cost us nothing to raise. We will have the holon of compost and tea for the garden and the possibility of selling worms to bait shops and fishermen.

Thanks to the low cost or no cost of holons, the margins are generally much larger than the centerpiece enterprise. They show a very high return for labor and human creativity. This is where "thinking outside the box" pays for itself. This is part of the reason that grass farming is so profitable because grass farmers are already thinking outside the box, and let their livestock do the work. In the words of Darrel Emmick, "Cows have legs, let them use them."

The point of the holon discussion in Mr. Nations article was the holons are an excellent way for families to include and encourage children to participate in the family farm. Holons can give them an enterprise of their own in which they can earn and learn the value of money. (Did you hear that, homeschoolers?) Given this, children may, then, be less likely to leave the family farm and participate in it long after your gone. They might come to enjoy the farm lifestyle and the return it gives them, along with the satisfaction of working hard for their families and the Lord.

Mr. Nation also suggests the holons might also be a way for the elderly to support themselves when they can no longer perform the rigorous duties of a full farm.

My wife and I talked about it, asking ourselves if we have holons. Of course, we found we do, as I have mentioned. With a little entrepreneur thinking and development, perhaps they can be developed into a good cash flow for the kids. Who knows? But, we are excited with this new knowledge and will be looking for other holons to add to the bottom line.

We don't want to add any more enterprises, at this time. We want to get, not just good, but exceptional, at what we are doing now. Capitalizing on any holons is just a bonus that really adds to the excitement of our farm.

So, have you considered any holons on your farm or ranch?