Julie Mettenburg, Savory Institute field professional and leader, Tallgrass Network

Julie Mettenburg grew up on a family farm in eastern Kansas. Like many children of the Farm Crisis, she was discouraged from entering farming. After working as a journalist in New York, she returned to Kansas to raise a family and helped implement sustainable and direct-marketing practices on the farm. In 2011 she became Executive Director of the Kansas Rural Center, where she led the Community Food Solutions program that resulted in publication of Feeding Kansas: Statewide Farm & Food System Assessment with a Plan for Public Action and subsequent public policy and farm to fork initiatives.

In 2014 she left to transition into farm management and to launch the Tallgrass Network as part of the global Savory Institute initiative to heal the world’s grasslands through Holistic Management. She is a Field Professional in the global Savory Network and is excited to offer education and support in Holistic Management throughout our region.

Chloe Burns, Youth Outreach Coordinator

Chloe during her work-study at the Jefferson Hub, Fort Bidwell, California, summer 2016.

Chloe Burns is the Youth Outreach Coordinator for the Tallgrass Network, a Hub site serving Kansas and Missouri for the Savory Network, a global initiative to heal the world's grasslands with Holistic Management. 

Her specialties on the Hub are communications, equine management, manual farm-ranch labor including both daily herd management and long-term planning, and special projects such as summer camp development.

Chloe (left) pictured with her mother, Julie Mettenburg, in Zimbabwe, training to become Savory Hub Leaders.

Chloe graduated from high school at 16 and left for college. At 17, she traveled to London for the 2014 Savory Institute International Conference and then to Zimbabwe for Hub leadership training at the Africa Centre for Holistic Management.  In October 2015, Chloe attended the Savory Institute International Conference in San Francisco and Hub Leadership Retreat at Paicines Ranch.

Chloe completed her Associate of Arts degree in May 2016 at Johnson County Community College in Kansas and begins her studies at The University of Kansas in the fall of 2016, majoring in Film with a minor in Anthropology.

During her time at JCCC, Chloe pursued a number of Honors projects involving agriculture. These included a symposium presentation about water security in desertifying countries; a presentation about the Neolithic Revolution, which marked the time in history when mankind developed modern agricultural practices; and a special research project looking at women's roles in agriculture.

Chloe pictured at the King's Palace in Marrakech, Morocco.

During the summer of 2015, she traveled to Morocco for an intensive Arabic program. As interesting as the language was, she admits that she spent much of her time there staring at the bare patches of land and wondering how to properly graze livestock over it!

In June 2016, Chloe studied with Spencer Smith at the Jefferson Center for Holistic Management in Fort Bidwell, California.  There, she learned many tactical skills, including welding, which she now uses at the network.  She also gained experience implementing Holistic Management in an unfamiliar territory, which she says will continue to serve her as she pursues her work.

Between college and work, Chloe is studying to gain her accreditation in Holistic Management.  In her spare time, she enjoys writing, horseback riding, and photography.

more about chloe and her experiences in holistic management: