I'm skeptical of putting polite titles on grazing cattle or sheep which are both ruminants. These are the animals that have a rumen to pre-digest grasses. These are the animals responsible for significant methane (CH4) emissions from the bacteria burped up from the microbial action in their rumen. I suggest a better approach to meat is simply to stop eating all beef and lamb. Simply swapping out all of the beef in a typical American diet for fish, chicken, pork causes a larger CO2e emissions reduction than the remaining switch to a vegetarian diet. I feel like the arguments that any currently adopted practice for raising all the beef eaten in the US is greenwashing or misguided at best.
Thank you, Jim, for pushing back. I hear you. If I could ask one question for you, however: How familiar are you with Bison in North America pre-Euro invasion, 1492? How much tonnage were they estimated to be at their height, how did they work the soil and grasslands, and how was it an integral system of a flourishing eco-system? Hypothetically, If we grazed sheep and cattle in exactly the same way that Bison grazed (intense foraging, then allowing for extended rest to regenerate even deeper soil base and GHG sequestration), would that work? as an aside, watch this if you have the time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywVeKxFyTo0&t=308s Thanks for your challenging questions.
Thanks, Trevor, for reading. Will Harris in Bluffton GA, White Oak Pastures, is doing this on a larger scale. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywVeKxFyTo0&t=308s Also, if you see the link in Steve's essay re: Roots So Deep with Peter Byck, you will see he is working hard for the last 15 yrs to spread this practice around the world.
Iron root Pastures, Rising Fawn, Ga is another farm using regenerative farming. Chickens, pork, some cattle and lots of regenerative practices. They sell at our very tiny farmers' market in DeKalb Co, Al.
Thanks, Steve. I look fwd to reading others' comments.
I'm skeptical of putting polite titles on grazing cattle or sheep which are both ruminants. These are the animals that have a rumen to pre-digest grasses. These are the animals responsible for significant methane (CH4) emissions from the bacteria burped up from the microbial action in their rumen. I suggest a better approach to meat is simply to stop eating all beef and lamb. Simply swapping out all of the beef in a typical American diet for fish, chicken, pork causes a larger CO2e emissions reduction than the remaining switch to a vegetarian diet. I feel like the arguments that any currently adopted practice for raising all the beef eaten in the US is greenwashing or misguided at best.
Thank you, Jim, for pushing back. I hear you. If I could ask one question for you, however: How familiar are you with Bison in North America pre-Euro invasion, 1492? How much tonnage were they estimated to be at their height, how did they work the soil and grasslands, and how was it an integral system of a flourishing eco-system? Hypothetically, If we grazed sheep and cattle in exactly the same way that Bison grazed (intense foraging, then allowing for extended rest to regenerate even deeper soil base and GHG sequestration), would that work? as an aside, watch this if you have the time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywVeKxFyTo0&t=308s Thanks for your challenging questions.
Excellent piece Valkano. My question is how much or any can be implimented on a large scale?
T
Thanks, Trevor, for reading. Will Harris in Bluffton GA, White Oak Pastures, is doing this on a larger scale. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywVeKxFyTo0&t=308s Also, if you see the link in Steve's essay re: Roots So Deep with Peter Byck, you will see he is working hard for the last 15 yrs to spread this practice around the world.
And that’s a good thing…
Iron root Pastures, Rising Fawn, Ga is another farm using regenerative farming. Chickens, pork, some cattle and lots of regenerative practices. They sell at our very tiny farmers' market in DeKalb Co, Al.
Good to know. Thanks, Harriet!