One Size Fits None: A Farm Girl’s Search for the Promise of Regenerative Agriculture

Chapter 6 opens by introducing Phil Jerde, a South Dakota buffalo rancher who uses a form of regenerative agriculture called holistic management. Holistic management takes into consideration the full ecosystem, which contrasts with conventional grazing. Anderson’s first adventure with Phil is to help him do a trial run of a new portable water delivery system that he built himself. Conventional ranchers typically rely on permanent water tanks and natural water sources scattered throughout their pastures. The drawback to this practice is that it forces cattle to constantly return to the same spot for water, which limits their desire to move too far from the water source especially during the hot summer months. In contrast, Phil’s portable water delivery system allows him to transport water to where his buffalo are. Anderson emphasizes that Phil’s method is “not conventional grazing” (56).

Buffalo (which Anderson uses interchangeably with bison in One Size Fits None) were once a key part of the grassland ecosystem. Their near human-induced extinction disrupted the ecosystem. Anderson notes, “removing these herbivores had a ripple effect, since most flora and fauna evolved in response to impact from large herbivores” (62).