EOV Monitor Training at Hickory Nut Gap

Ecological Outcome Verification is an outcome-based monitoring protocol that evaluates and tracks ecosystem function year over year currently deployed on over 8 million acres globally. The EOV protocol was developed in collaboration with leading soil scientists, ecologists, agronomists, and an extensive network of regenerative land managers around the world. Used as an empirical data set to support regenerative agriculture all throughout the world.

EOV is a practical and scalable soil and landscape assessment methodology that tracks outcomes in biodiversity, water, soil health, and ecosystem function (i.e. water cycle, mineral cycle, energy flow, and community dynamics).

Date: 5/1/2026-5/3/2026
Location: Hickory Nut Gap Farm
Tuition: $1000
*One work-trade seat available for a student who will be able to trade 5-10 hours of time to lower the price of the training to $300. Contact [email protected] to apply.

The Hickory Nut Gap Farm Savory Hub is a premier regional and rege nerative agriculture hub that has monitored over 40 farms and 12,000 acres of farmland in the South-Eastern US. Providing a hybrid in-classroom and in-field approach at a premier Savory Hub, training will lay out the scientific value and rigor of EOV, regional ecology training, land health auditing, farm and land mapping, plant species identification, and farm planning.

Upon completion of training, you will be a certified EOV Monitor until the end of 2026. This certification allows monitors to potentially work with any of the 44 Savory Hubs on 6 continents monitoring independent farms and whole supply chains. Hickory Nut Gap will offer an additional Hands On Holistic Management Course this fall, taking this course at HNG (or elsewhere) will certify you as a monitor indefinitely. Students will receive a full training to manage Ecological Outcome Verification and leave with instructional materials, plant ID training and documents, an appreciable understanding of ecological processes & land management, as well as connections to the Hickory Nut Gap Farm Hub & the Savory Institute.

MEET YOUR INSTRUCTORS:
Mikey Hans-Barrientos is the Hickory Nut Gap Hub Manager in Fairview, North Carolina. Originally from Miami, Florida, he was introduced to agriculture while working on the Warren Wilson College Farm while getting his bachelor’s degree at Warren Wilson College. After graduating, Mikey went on to work in and around agriculture for several years before getting involved in the Hickory Nut Gap Hub. When he is not out monitoring farms all over the South-East, he is most likely at his home in West Asheville, just 30 minutes from the farm, with his partner, dog, and too many cats.

Ben Gladstone is a Hickory Nut Gap Hub EOV Monitor. As a monitor, he works with Mikey to collect and interpret ecological data with HNG’s partner farms. He discovered his passion for regenerative agriculture through an Ecological Outcome Verification (EOV) training course facilitated by the Savory Institute, which reshaped his approach to land planning by connecting design with measurable ecosystem outcomes. Outside of work, Ben is developing his own pasture poultry operation, trying to stay competitive on the ultimate frisbee field, and planning his next adventure with his dog, Kaiya.