2026 Holistic Management conference was anything but "UnSavoury"

By Heather Heinrichs

Feb. 22/2026

Vital farming changes for a healthier planet has been Allan Savoury's mission since he started the holistic organization. It's been roughly 40 years since his first visit to Canada and the first Canadian farmers started using his techniques to restore their land.

"Hosting the event here in Taber, Alberta is like coming to the birthplace of Holistic Management," remarked Bluesette Campbell, chair of the board for HM Canada.

The annual conference was kicked off with a tour of one of the first farms to adopt Savoury's methods. The Shipwheel Cattle Feeders feedlot and farm has been grazing regeneratively for two generations. Andrea Stroeve-Sawa took over the farm from her father, Blake Holtman. She is the fourth generation to own the family business but it was her father who changed the farm's grazing into a regenerative practice.

"We've increased our stock days per acre by about 3,000 per cent," she said proudly, while showing photos of pastures that turned from patchy grass into lush, thick grass with no visible soil. Andrea took the conference guests on a tour of the feedlot and talked about their added regenerative business ventures that include a compost business where the manure from the feedlot is composted and sold to other farms, a worm farm in tubs that produces worm castings, chickens that produce eggs for the farm store where they also sell other locally or regionally made food and jewelry.

Kicking off the conference itself, attendees had a live video presentation and Q&A session with none other than the legend himself. Allan Savoury spoke about how he started speaking in Canada in the mid 1980s and although he's happy to see farmers like the Holtmans thriving because of his teachings, he was frustrated at the slow adoption in the overall big picture. Many of the farmers in the room nodded in agreement. While the movement of soil health practices are starting to catch on, Savoury said it's felt like an uphill battle to get here and there was no reason in his mind as to why it would be this slow.

Regardless, he continued his presentation with updates of recent accomplishments from farmers in Africa that he's been working with. Corn growing on a cattle holding yard yielding twice the growth of plants just outside the manured area. Encouragement that animals really are nature's fertilizer. He was thanked by the farmers and ranchers, told that his impact on their lives has been of great importance and they are incredibly grateful for it. Savoury smiled and humbly thanked them for their appreciation of his work. And his work is changing as he also announced that he is stepping down from his role as president of the Savoury Institute. He plans to remain very active in the regenerative agriculture world. He will soon be releasing his newest book, a memoir of his life and the Savoury Institute, titled "UnSavoury".

The conference continued with the speakers and panels as scheduled. Presentations on the usual topics of soil health, water management, and the holistic framework. Farmers, ranchers, and a handful of "farming-adjacent" people asked questions and listened intently as the speakers reminded them of the holistic principles and gave updates on various projects like the General Mills regenerative farming grant, some studies that have been done recently, and plenty of farm stories about how holistic management has improved their farm lives.