Curiosity: Farmers Discovering What Works

Farming and ranching success comes from the freedom to fail because there is no silver bullet. Curiosity – Farmers Discovering What Works tells journeys farmers make to find solutions that are kinder to the environment, easier on the pocket and bring purpose, pride and confidence to those in the most complex profession there is. Each story has nuggets of inspiration and insight to stimulate observation and logic in farming matters.

John's perspectives are associated with the practices and principles of Allan Savory's Holistic Management, which though habits and routines, changes how farmers observe, question and probe for solutions. John teaches this in New Zealand and assists with farmers around the globe as a tutor for Holistic Management International. John draws on similarly minded farmers and experts such as Joel Salatin, Gabe Brown, Allan Nation, Allen Williams, Fred Provenza, Christine Jones, Charles Massy and others offering commercial farmers new directions and insights.

Reviews include:

...his purposeful “short, sharp” essays are designed for busy people. “Hopefully it’s style will remind you of Allan Nation.” Yes, John King did indeed capture Allan’s wise pithiness. I found myself underlining or circling something in virtually every essay. It’s dense, packed with sensible advice gleaned from dozens of on-farm experiments over numerous decades. Joel Salatin, editor, Stockman Grass Farmer, Missouri, USA

This invaluable and important book should be compulsory reading for anyone daring to manage farming landscapes with an eye to contributing to healthier farmscapes and catchments, rural families and their animals, and to a sustainable future. How I wish I could have read and lived in such a book as this when I was a young farmer preparing to make all the mistakes. A farming, social, and environmental gem. Charles Massy, author, Call of the Reed Warbler