soil

We livestock farmers have a story to tell and no one but us will tell it. That story centers on the soil and the impact upon it of what we do. Livestock manures and the inclusion of ruminant animals on the land are the key.

From Christine Jones, Australian soil scientist: “An increase of around 5% in global photosynthetic capacity and/or photosynthetic rate would be sufficient to counter the CO2 flux from the burning of fossil fuels, provided the extra carbon was sequestered in soil in a stable form. This is do-able. On average, global cropland is bare for around half of every year (11). If you can see the soil it is losing carbon – and nitrogen!!”

It is important to point out that while the fake meat and milk crowd lunges full speed ahead for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, their cover story is that they are helping the climate by getting rid of those nasty cows. But it is precisely those nasty cows and a few more of their livestock companions that are so necessary to build the soil life that will enable us, given proper farming practice, to sequester carbon and to do so deeply enough to keep it there. The problem is not the cow. The problem is us.

I realize that I am preaching to the choir here, that it is unlikely any vegan will read any of it. But my point is that we must believe in and be proud of what we do and be willing to talk about it. We have a fight on our hands and need to be prepared. Consider this: It is possible in the Midwest to plow up a grazed pasture in order to seed oats there of a certain variety, the yield of which can be sold to a company that makes a product called Oatley to be sold as a milk substitute. So a managed pasture could be sacrificed to provide a substitute for the real milk that could have been produced there while the soil sequestered some of the atmospheric carbon we do not need, thus improving the fertility of the soil itself. If this makes sense to you there is a career waiting in television broadcast news. But this is what passes for thinking with us Americans. And this is what we must fight against.

Sir Albert Howard said it well: “The health of soil, plant, animal and . . . human is one and indivisible.”

thaw

Our recent two day thaw shrank the snow piles significantly.  It also reduced and hardened the snow remaining on the pastures. Once again, they remain snow covered while the neighbor's black plowed fields are showing through.

This is the reason why things in this area are done as they are.  That black soil, increasingly exposed to the sun as the winter wanes, will warm faster than anything with cover on, including pastures.  With the pastures though, the soil life on and surrounding the root systems pushes in the other direction making those perennials productive much sooner than any annual plant, and even ahead of winter annuals.

This is a powerful argument in favor of the plow here on the wet prairie and one which any who want a different direction must take seriously.  For us, after we transitioned to organic and reduced the proportion of acres in corn and deleted soybeans entirely, it means an extensive inclusion of hay in the rotation.  Then the tilled hay ground can be planted timely to corn which will usually produce a good yield.  But this requires a revamping of the entire farm.
The corn acreage must be reduced, as noted.  But livestock must be kept or we would be dependent upon the hay market, often enough thin and poor.  Since livestock are kept, there is a wide variety of crop plants available to be grown on the non corn and non hay acres, because the livestock are always there as the market. 

Also, with livestock available, some of the harvest of some of these unusual crops can be done directly, with the cattle, for instance.  And these crops-small grains and forages-need not be planted first thing in the spring and do not need primary tillage to establish.  These changes, instituted over a lifetime of farming and not finished yet have made our farm more resilient, which is a considerable asset in troubled and trying times with the climate and the economy.

Black soil with nothing growing is bleeding carbon-worsening our climate problem-and nitrogen, an expensive crop input.  Thinking our way away from these practices is vital, though not easy.