This morning I found a very informative video at the BBC, about a Georgia farmer who manages his (extensive) farm in such a way that the cattle do not have an adverse carbon footprint. His "regenerative farming" is a reversion to (and enhancement of) older practices radically different from modern "factory farming."
The video takes three minutes and is worth a watch. Unfortunately I don't know how to embed it, but you can watch it at this BBC page. [addendum - here's a somewhat messy embed] -
As I searched for the YouTube version, I discovered that Will Harris' White Oak Pastures farm is well known and has been the subject of lots of videos. I'm going to embed a seven-minute one entitled White Oak Pastures: Our Story -
I come from several generations of Norwegians and Norwegian-American farmers who raised milk cows, chickens, hogs, corn etc in the old "family farm" fashion, so this video spoke to me. Mr. Harris has taken the process to the next level in terms of recycling farm "waste." Very impressive.
Addendum: For those who prefer reading to watching, here is a very good longread about Mr. Harris and his farm.
Reminds me a bit of the Knepp Estates which I feel have been mentioned here before but: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/15/the-magical-wilderness-farm-raising-cows-among-the-weeds-at-knepp
ReplyDeleteI drive 5 minutes from my house and I see fields of green with cows walking around munching on them. Some people are trying to bring those sun baked feed lots here to New Zealand, trying to make us like China and the USA.
ReplyDeleteIt nearly makes me cry, the greed of man versus the respect of animals.
in that bbc video, on the right side, to the left of the wheel (*) symbol is a symbol (l-arrow, slash, r-arrow) and that contains the embed code.
ReplyDeleteI-)
Thank you. I hadn't recognized the icon, but it makes sense now. I'll give it a try.
DeleteI wish there was a better explanation of the science behind why this farming method emits less greenhouse gas. I see lots of environmentally friendly things going on in the videos, but the basic equation of what goes into and comes out of the cows is the pretty similar. Is it solely that they are grass fed rather than corn fed?
ReplyDeleteThis is not my field of science, so I'm winging it here, but I think part of the difference in the carbon cycle is illustrated in the upper short BBC video at the 2:38 mark where he shows his farm's soil. Unlike some factory farms where the cattle excrement is taken by conveyor or gravity to various biodigesters or vats, on his farm the feces and urine are returned to the soil to promote plant growth. Obviously the flatus and eructations still go into the air.
DeleteThat guy is amazing. Here's a great long read from The Bitter Southerner.
ReplyDeletehttps://bittersoutherner.com/will-harris-white-oak-pastures-farm?utm_source=The+Bitter+News&utm_campaign=ba93e0b40d-2019_09_03_FOOD_FARM_FAMILY&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8269ec3593-ba93e0b40d-91880477&goal=0_8269ec3593-ba93e0b40d-91880477&mc_cid=ba93e0b40d&mc_eid=403e5b4ae2#.XW50lLCP47M
Thank you, Teddy. Here's a less intimidating url:
Deletehttps://bittersoutherner.com/will-harris-white-oak-pastures-farm#.XfLT7et7kW8
There are some other interesting-looking articles on the BitterSouthener main page. Probably worth exploring. Tx.
Good article. I've added the link to the body of the post.
Deletei am not sure how viable that 'traditional' approach is if you have a huge herd of milk cows? dairy is very labor intensive.
ReplyDeleteI-)
“Who discovered we could get milk from cows, and what did he think he was doing at the time?”
ReplyDeleteIf it's any indication of viability, the best restaurants in Atlanta (2-3 hours away) brag about White Oak Pastures meats and produce on their menus.
ReplyDelete