Manage for an Effective Water Cycle
Sheila Cooke • 8 September 2019
What does your farm look like when it rains?
A Rainy Morning in Scotland, 31st of August 2019
Farmers often ask, 'will Holistic Management work on my soggy farm?' Yes, absolutely! Let's use two adjacent farms in damp Western Scotland to illustrate.
It's all about learning how to manage for an effective water cycle, which means that all rain inflitrates the land instead of running off, carrying valuable soil with it.
The farm in the left-hand photos above and below is set stock grazed, which means low stock density and long grazing periods where livestock self-manage when to re-graze plants. This form of management typically results in both under-grazing and overgrazing of plants.
The farm in the right-hand photos above and below shares a fenceline with the set-stock grazed farm, and uses holistic planned grazing to manage the grazing.
It was pelting it down with rain on the morning these photos were taken. Rainfall on the holistically-managed farm during the 29th-31st of August 2019 was 84 mm (3.3 inches). These photos were taken on the morning of the 31st. Average annual rainfall for the area over the past 16 years was 1792 mm (70.6 inches), with 151 mm (5.9 inches) in August on average.
On the set-stock grazed farm roads were flooded, water stood in puddles on the grass, and multiple torrents and cascades of water shot across the land.By contrast, the holistically-planned grazed farm had dry roads, no grass puddles, and there were no torrents in the places where there used to be as little as one year ago.
The holistically-managed farm changed its management from set-stock grazing only three years ago.
It's all about learning how to manage for an effective water cycle, which means that all rain inflitrates the land instead of running off, carrying valuable soil with it.
The farm in the left-hand photos above and below is set stock grazed, which means low stock density and long grazing periods where livestock self-manage when to re-graze plants. This form of management typically results in both under-grazing and overgrazing of plants.
The farm in the right-hand photos above and below shares a fenceline with the set-stock grazed farm, and uses holistic planned grazing to manage the grazing.
It was pelting it down with rain on the morning these photos were taken. Rainfall on the holistically-managed farm during the 29th-31st of August 2019 was 84 mm (3.3 inches). These photos were taken on the morning of the 31st. Average annual rainfall for the area over the past 16 years was 1792 mm (70.6 inches), with 151 mm (5.9 inches) in August on average.
On the set-stock grazed farm roads were flooded, water stood in puddles on the grass, and multiple torrents and cascades of water shot across the land.By contrast, the holistically-planned grazed farm had dry roads, no grass puddles, and there were no torrents in the places where there used to be as little as one year ago.
The holistically-managed farm changed its management from set-stock grazing only three years ago.
1 Gram of Soil Organic Carbon Holds 8 Grams of Water
Soil organic carbon turns soil into a 'sponge' that absorbs water effectively. One gram of soil organic carbon holds eight grams of water.An effective water cycle minimises the negative impacts of drought and flood.In order to manage for an effective water cycle, we need to find ways to increase soil organic carbon.
Set stock grazing leads to grass that has difficulty absorbing water. Overgrazing leads to bare soil, and when it rains that soil gets capped, which means water and air cannot easily infiltrate the soil. Overgrazing combined with an ineffective water cycle results in stunted plants that feed the soil microbiome poorly. The poor conversion of solar energy into plant material robs the soil of the development of sponge.This is known as an ineffective water cycle.
By contrast, holistic planned grazing leads to grass that is able to swallow up water quickly, storing it deep in the soil until it is needed by plants during a dry spell. Overgrazing is eliminated, which enables plants to provide a dense canopy over bare soil, protecting it from capping by rain. The impact of animal hooves breaks up capped soil, opening up the soil for good water infiltration and aeration. High animal impact is counter-balanced with long periods of rest to allow plants time for full recovery. Tall plants with deep roots feed life under the soil contributing to development of 'sponge'. The microbes, insects and roots create pathways for air and water to penetrate soil. Deep-rooted plants are able to draw up deep water stores when needed. This is known as an effective water cycle.
What Are Some Tips for Improving Your Water Cycle?
- Increase plant density to cover bare soil all year long.
- Increase plant diversity to encourage different root structures and depths.
- Encourage the growth of shrubs and trees to help absorb heavy rains.
- Uncap soil by grazing with high stock density interspersed with intervals of rest that are long enough to allow plants to fully recover.
Learn How to Manage Holistically
There are plenty of opportunities to learn how to manage holistically: go on a public course, take an online course, or hire us to train you on your farm. Visit the 3LM Shop
to see the classes coming up in Scotland, Ireland, England, Germany, and online.
For more information, please contact us directly:
Tel: +44 (0) 7446 780081
Email: info@3LM.network
What Are Indicators? The terms "leading" and "lagging indicators" originate from systems theory and are widely used in economics. In this context, leading indicators give clues about where the economy is going, while lagging indicators show us what has already happened. A classic leading indicator is the number of new job advertisements. If companies are posting lots of job openings, it usually means they expect business to grow soon — a sign the economy may be about to improve. A well-known lagging indicator is the unemployment rate. When the economy slows down, businesses take time to react, and layoffs often happen after the downturn has already begun. So while job ads can warn of change, unemployment confirms it has already occurred. Indicators in Ecology In ecology, particularly within Holistic Management, the same principles apply. Leading and lagging indicators help land managers respond to environmental changes more effectively. Ecological Outcome Verification (EOV) Ecological Outcome Verification (EOV) offers a structured framework for monitoring ecological health using both leading and lagging indicators. Classic leading indicators in EOV include: Dung distribution – shows how effectively animals are using the landscape, which relates to grazing impact. Litter cover – refers to plant material covering the soil surface, helping retain moisture and build organic matter. Soil capping – early signs of water infiltration issues and surface degradation. Classic lagging indicators in EOV include: Soil carbon content – a long-term measure of soil health Biodiversity (plant species richness) – reflects broader ecological balance, but responds slowly to changes in management. Water infiltration rates – reveal soil structure and function after long-term management effects. Leading indicators offer subtle, early signals that help land stewards adjust management in real time. Lagging indicators provide essential long-term feedback but often appear only after major changes have occurred. The Human Condition as a Lagging Indicator Human beings have been remarkably successful in inhabiting every climatic region on Earth, not through biological adaptation alone, but by modifying environments with tools, clothing, shelter, agriculture, and technology. This resilience has allowed us to thrive well beyond the natural carrying capacity of local ecosystems. By importing resources, controlling temperature, and artificially generating food and water, we have effectively decoupled our survival from the immediate health of our environments. However, this very success has dulled our sensitivity to ecological feedback. Because we buffer ourselves from natural limits, we often fail to notice when those limits are being breached. Our ability to override early warnings with technology — irrigation, fertilisers, antibiotics, global supply chains — means we no longer feel the signals of stress in ecosystems. In the past, poor soil meant failed crops and hunger, prompting quick behavioural change. Now, consequences are delayed, but not avoided. This resilience is deceptive. It creates the illusion of stability while ecological degradation accumulates in the background. By the time problems become visible — mass species extinction, collapsing insect populations, polluted waterways, declining soil fertility — critical thresholds may have already been crossed. Our responses come too late, often reactive rather than adaptive. Technology extends our comfort, but dulls our ecological sensitivity. Instead of being part of the feedback loop, we exist outside it — until the damage is undeniable. That is why human behaviour now functions as a lagging indicator. We wait for catastrophe before we act. A Flawed Operating System This lag is rooted in our worldview. Modernity, grounded in dualism and industrial logic, sees humans as masters of nature, not participants within a living whole. It encourages control, prediction, and efficiency over perception, humility, and adaptability. This mindset dulls our ecological senses. It overrides our capacity for intuitive, embodied responsiveness. It privileges measurable outputs over relational awareness. As a result, we are systemically insensitive to leading indicators. We miss the bare soil, the collapsed microbial life, the vanishing pollinators — until their absence disrupts our daily lives. In Holistic Management, trained observers — called monitors — are taught to read the land not only through long-term trends but through its moment-to-moment language. What would it mean for us, collectively, to read the Earth in this way? The Potential of Conscious Adaptation While we currently lag, we don’t have to. The beauty of holistic systems — and of life itself — is that they can be trained to respond more intelligently, more attentively, and more quickly. We can become leading indicators. We can tune into early signs of imbalance. We can feel into the edges of complexity before they fracture. We can act, not react. This shift begins with a new internal operating system, one that Holistic Management helps develop. When we define a Holistic Context for our lives, families, organisations, or communities, we begin making decisions rooted in long-term integrity rather than short-term gain. The health of soil, water, people, and purpose are no longer competing interests but interconnected essentials. This isn’t about idealism — it’s about function. It’s about survival through wholeness. Learning to Sense Again Our capacity to live regeneratively depends on our capacity to sense. Not just to measure or model, but to develop a more reliable holistic impression of nature.To be in a new relationship. To notice, to the best of our emergent abilities the nature of the wind, the soil, the plants, the insects and creatures, the changing seasons. In this way, our technological ingenuity isn’t the problem — our disconnection is. Perhaps the next evolution of human intelligence isn’t in artificial intelligence or global policy, but in restoring our capacity for attuned, holistic sensing — the kind of awareness a good grazer has, or a river shifting course to find flow. A Final Reflection The ecological crises we face today aren’t just about pollution or carbon. They are symptoms of a deeper crisis of responsiveness. We are not behaving as if we are part of the living system. We’re lagging, watching from the outside, narrating collapse like a documentary. But we can wake up. We can step back into the loop. Just as a landscape can recover when the right indicators are observed and the right context is held, so too can we — as individuals and as a species — become wise stewards of our place within the whole. If human behaviour is currently a lagging indicator, then the great challenge — and opportunity — of our time is to become a leading one. The very tool that enabled our extraordinary resilience — technology — can now be repurposed to restore our sensitivity and responsiveness. Rather than standing apart from nature, we can become an active part of it once again, adapting in real time and accelerating ecological recovery faster than passive rewilding alone ever could.
WEBINAR Growing Rich with Nature – A Special Film Screening with 3LM
Agroforestry with Pigs: A Woodland Enterprise Model We explore the role of pigs in regenerating and maintaining woodland whilst generating income -- please find the recording & transcript below
At its core, Holistic Management is about making decisions that align with long-term ecological health, economic viability, and social well-being, no matter where on earth.
Complexity creates stability in community dynamics
