Episode 10- Land Stewardship as a Sacred Calling

What if our relationship with the land isn’t just about productivity—but something sacred? In this episode, we explore the deeper meaning of land stewardship and how shifting from identifying as a farmer, rancher, or homesteader to a land steward transforms not only how we manage the land but how we see ourselves.

I’ll break down why the words we use shape our mindset, how forcing nature to our will creates unintended consequences, and what it means to listen to and work with the land instead of against it. We’ll also dive into the spiritual side of stewardship—caring for the land as an act of devotion, responsibility, and long-term regeneration.

Whether you’re just starting your journey or have been managing land for years, this episode will challenge you to rethink your role and invite you into a deeper connection with the land you care for.

Listen in, and let’s redefine what it truly means to be a land steward.

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Let's make regenerative ranching and farming more intentional, profitable, and fulfilling. I’d love to hear your biggest takeaway from this episode—DM me on Instagram or schedule a call to chat about it!

Connect with Christine Martin:
Website: https://thrivinglandsteward.com
Email: info@thrivinglandsteward.com

Transcript

Christine: 0:00

Welcome to the Regenerative Agriculture Thriving as a Modern Rancher, the podcast for ranchers and land stewards looking to build healthy land, profitable businesses, and a fulfilling life. Join us as we explore regenerative practices and holistic management to help you thrive in today's ranching world. Hello, this is Christine. And in this episode, I want to explore why our relationship with nature is so sacred, and how shifting from identifying from being a farmer, rancher, or a homesteader to being referred to as a land steward. reflects a deeper spiritual and ecological responsibility. And the reason I want to discuss this is I've noticed in my own journey as a child growing up in Latin America the abundance was great. And I remember the home that we lived in had two huge avocado trees. And as kids, we used to climb the avocado tree and pick the avocados. And it appeared that nature was very bountiful and that we were always benefiting from that abundance that shifted for me when I moved to the U S and recognize that the food I was eating was making me sick. And so I decided that I was going to try and produce my food. And so my focus was on productivity on production, and I became so focused on how I could grow things and what I needed to do to the land so I could grow these products. And as I struggled through that, I spent 10 years that I call my homesteading phase while I was still working in corporate America, trying to learn how to produce the foods that I needed. And as I struggled, because what I was doing was not working. And learned about the holistic management framework, which basically advocates working with nature, how that has tended to shift my thinking to recognize that we've got a deep, intrinsic connection between humans. And land, one that goes beyond utility and ownership. I think this perspective really changes how we see nature, how it shifts our viewpoint, our mindset from, viewing nature as something we have to dominate, something that we have to extract from, to acknowledging that it is a living system, that we are part of. That requires our reverence, stewardship, and reciprocity. Land, soil, water, plants, and animals are not separate from us, but extensions of the same life force that we all live with. Understanding that how we manage our land impacts, not just the productivity and profitability, but also the well being of future generations. I'm a grandmother now. I am concerned with what my grandson is going to have available to him when he's my age. And learning how to read nature's signals rather than trying to impose our control of nature and aligning to the natural rhythms to the patterns of the ecosystem does make us more productive, more profitable, and allows us to regenerate so that we can provide a better habitat for the future generation. So I just wanted to acknowledge that by healing land, that our management of land isn't an extractive process. It's a nurturing process. It's a spiritual journey. It's a personal journey and one that demands respect. The humility and willingness to learn with nature. I wanted to focus on the language that we use. I have found lately that I talk about land stewardship, but a lot of the people that I'm working with, a lot of my clients refer to themselves as farmers, ranchers, and homesteaders. And I want to just break down the difference. Of each of these labels because I really think it affects the mindset behind each of these descriptions of who we are. Each of these terms carries a distinct meaning and connotation, reflecting different relationships with the land. And these differences can be very subtle, but they do influence, our mindset, decision making, and the long term impact of the actions that we implement. A farmer is primarily focused on producing crops or livestock for food, fiber, or other agricultural products. This term generally emphasizes productivity, efficiency, and often commercial success. Farmers can range from industrial scale to small regenerative farms, but the core identity really revolves around, cultivating and harvesting the resources from the land. A rancher primarily manages livestock on pasture or rangeland. Their focus is more on raising animals often for meat, milk, or fiber with grazing management playing a really key role. Traditionally, ranching has been extractive, but I know many regenerative ranchers are shifting more towards healing the land through animal impact. A homesteader is primarily focused on self sufficiency. While they may farm or raise livestock, the goal is basically personal consumption rather than large scale production. Many times homesteading emphasizes traditional skills, resilience, and independence. which often acknowledges a deep connection to the land, but without the same level of business focus as farming or ranching. A land steward is someone who recognizes their responsibility to care for and regenerate the land. regardless of whether they farm, ranch, or homestead. Stewardship, in my opinion, implies a long term, ethical, and more holistic approach to managing the ecosystem health, biodiversity, and sustainability. Over a more production extractive mindset. It really embodies working with nature rather than against it and it acknowledges that land management decisions really have generational consequences. Why does it matter whether you're a farmer, rancher, or homesteader? Basically because these roles are based on production. Each with different levels of self sufficiency and levels of commerce. Land stewardship is an identity, a philosophy. It shifts the focus from extracting resources to regenerating ecosystems. It shifts the focus to working with Nature rather than controlling nature. Stewardship encompasses all of the above roles, the farmer, the rancher and the homesteader, but adds a deeper sense of responsibility and reciprocity with nature, acknowledging that we cannot survive without nature. And so we are going to nurture work with nature so that we can improve. Ecosystem functions and increased profitability, increased productivity and effect changes, positive changes to climate and leave the future generation with a better world than what we're currently experiencing. I also make this distinction about land stewardship because, in my opinion, from my own experience and as I've coached other landowners, it shifts decision making. It moves our decisions from ownership to relationship. We now have a relationship with nature, so it affects the decisions that we make. It shifts our mindset with respect to decision making, and instead of only focusing on short-term profit, we're also taking consideration the long-term regeneration, the long-term consequences of our decisions today. It also aligns our decisions with that greater purpose, right? We are caretakers of this system, this, the system that is providing life for us. We are here to nurture. We are here to regenerate instead of just being a producer, someone who is extracting everything from the land, all that to say, if we change our mindset to being a land steward. Our mindset shifts to recognizing that we are in relationship and that we are here to be caretakers, to be stewards of what we have. So how can we embody this land stewardship mindset? One very easy way is to listen to nature signals instead of imposing our control over nature. Go out on your land. and see what the land is telling you, how much bare ground you have, how much capped soil do you have? What is your soil biology look like? What weeds are growing on your land? What are those weeds telling you? How can you shift your management to improve ecosystem function rather than Eliminating what is undesired? Another easy, practical way to get into a stewardship role is to start managing holistically. Yes, we care about the land and we want to nurture the land, but we also want to take care of the people that are involved in this land operation, whether it's you and a spouse, you and your parents, you and your Children, and bringing in the finances to we all have property taxes to pay. Generally we all have a car payment to make. So we need money. We need profit so that we can pay our bills, but also provide a cushion, a savings account so that we can have that emergency fund and also so that our children see that this land stewardship can provide a living wage and will be more attracted to come back and take care of the land rather than follow that enticement of that corporate career in the city. Another way that we can step into the stewardship mindset is recognizing that land is a living system. It's very complex. If you make a decision and you implement it It may cause some ripple effects and, create long term consequences that you haven't considered. It is something that is changing and working constantly. And then you have the mother nature forces snow storms, hurricanes, tornadoes that all help shift this complexity, making it something that. We cannot control. We have to listen and we have to adapt accordingly. And finally, one of the major key steps that we can do to honor this stewardship mindset is to recognize that what we do today is going to affect what the next generation is going to inherit and the generation after that. So yes, we may own the land and we may be very prideful the fact that we own this land, but somebody else is going to take it over after you're no longer on this earth. And so wouldn't it be wonderful to leave them a piece of land that is healthier, is more productive, has been regenerated to the point that they can live a better life than you lived. On the spiritual side of this land stewardship, So is recognizing that caring for the land is also caring for yourself, caring for your family, and caring, for your grandchildren and great grandchildren, seeing the land management, not as a job, but as an act of devotion, right? This is a living organism that is supporting you. Generally, we eat two to three times a day. What we do has consequence. It is an act of devotion. It can become a passion. The other aspect of recognizing that we're a land steward, Is recognizing that we need to change. We need to grow as land stewards. We manage and we see the positive or negative effect of that management and we can quickly learn why we got the negative result and then change accordingly. And it allows us to recognize that we need to grow. We need to grow in our understanding. We need to grow in our knowledge. We need to acknowledge that because nature is complex, we do not understand everything. I heard Elaine Ingram, not too long ago, who is recognized for, Talking about the soil food web, she's been at this for almost 30 years and she's still learning, right? She's still learning new things about soil and the dynamics within the soil So it creates the possibility for transformation and for change that is so important because we can't continue as we have been. 65 percent of our Children here in the U. S. Are now suffering from a chronic illness. Back in 1965, 4 percent of the U. S. Population was sick. So the increase in the sickness rate that we're all experiencing is a result of the fact that we have been very extractive in our agricultural management and that we need to now work with nature so that we can produce products that have nutrition and can nurture and nourish our bodies. As we wrap up today's episode, I want to leave you with a question to reflect on. How do you see your relationship with the land? Are you a farmer, a rancher, a homesteader? Or does the idea of being a land steward resonate with you? Stewardship isn't just about what we do on the land. It's about how we show up. It's about listening, learning, and working in partnership with nature, rather than forcing your will upon it. And when we embrace that role, we step into something that is Much bigger than ourselves. Something sacred. I'd love to hear your thoughts. If today's episode spoke to you, share it with someone who might need to hear this message. If you haven't already connect with me on Instagram at regen ranch consulting, and let me know, what does land stewardship mean to you? Thank you for joining me on this journey until next time, keep listening to the land, keep leaning into the wisdom it offers and keep embracing your role as a land steward of something truly sacred. Thanks for listening to Regenerative Agriculture, Thriving as a Modern Rancher. If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe, share with fellow ranchers, and leave a review. Together we can regenerate our lands, our profits, and our lives. Until next time, keep thriving.