Joseph Gyovai
El Prado, New Mexico
Taos SWCD

Joseph Gyovai, an enthusiast for healthy lands, is passionate about large-scale regenerative land management in New Mexico. He promotes and facilitates holistic management and adaptive grazing practices as a primary tool to counter desertification and employs soil building practices on his personal property, which consists of three circular gardens and two greenhouses.

Gyovai spent 20 years living off the grid in a vast mesa dominated by woody species and headed towards desertification. This experience drove his passion for holistic land management and soil and human metabolic health. He is fascinated by the ability to improve the health of arid lands through ruminant herd management.

He utilizes soil health practices on his operation, including diverse planting, continual year-round planting, composting, worm farming and mulching. When looking at nearby operations that are not utilizing soil health practices, he notices severe desertification and diversity loss, while his operation seems like an oasis with many species present. “The results are quite impressive,” Gyovai said.

Gyovai’s implementation of soil health practices involved a shift in the way he made every decision in his life. He decided to eliminate unsafe foods from his diet such as refined sugars and processed foods and discontinue actions that don’t improve the health of lands and community.

He is an avid speaker about the benefits soil health, hoping to encourage others to utilize these practices. Through a dedication to the health and future of New Mexico, Gyovai works to overcome the lack of awareness and knowledge about desertification and soil health in his area and looks forward to meeting and collaborating with others in the field and in the community.

Updated June 2020.