Comments on: Fascinating lecture: "Keeping Cattle: Cause or Cure of Climate Change?" http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/jtellerelsberg/2010/01/29/fascinating-lecture-keeping-cattle-cause-or-cure-of-climate-change/ Various whatnot brain doodles, frequently dwelling on issues of ecological sustainability and economic justice. As with the rest of the universe, my perception of reality is currently under construction. Wed, 22 May 2013 00:08:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Allan Savory http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/jtellerelsberg/2010/01/29/fascinating-lecture-keeping-cattle-cause-or-cure-of-climate-change/#comment-1695 Allan Savory Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:13:22 +0000 http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/jtellerelsberg/?p=72#comment-1695 Jonathan, thanks for looking at my lecture given at Trinity College, November. By the way the other video you refer to is an excellent one on the work of John Liu in China mainly. His results are truly impressive and such results can always be expected where there is adequate precipitation to sustain enough woody vegetation to ensure full soil cover from trees and their litter. Those same techniques unfortunately do not give the same result in most of the world's deteriorating and desertifying grasslands and savannas where rainfall is too erratic and low to support adequate trees and there one has to understand that tree planting and resting the land from livestock have almost an opposite effect. To reverse the desertification so serious over much of China, Africa, Australia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, etc it is essential people understand the vast difference in response to fire, resting land in either form and to how large herbivores related in the past to both vegetation and soils - as I explained in that lecture. And also to halt the massive annual burning of the world's grasslands one needs to understand how to replace the current role of fire with the more natural role of large herbivores in the presence of pack-hunting predators. By the way the areas of the Earth's land surface I refer to are by far the largest and most ignored in the climate debate - our Achilles Heel. Thanks again for helping spread new thinking so essential to our survival. Jonathan,
thanks for looking at my lecture given at Trinity College, November. By the way the other video you refer to is an excellent one on the work of John Liu in China mainly. His results are truly impressive and such results can always be expected where there is adequate precipitation to sustain enough woody vegetation to ensure full soil cover from trees and their litter. Those same techniques unfortunately do not give the same result in most of the world's deteriorating and desertifying grasslands and savannas where rainfall is too erratic and low to support adequate trees and there one has to understand that tree planting and resting the land from livestock have almost an opposite effect. To reverse the desertification so serious over much of China, Africa, Australia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States, etc it is essential people understand the vast difference in response to fire, resting land in either form and to how large herbivores related in the past to both vegetation and soils - as I explained in that lecture. And also to halt the massive annual burning of the world's grasslands one needs to understand how to replace the current role of fire with the more natural role of large herbivores in the presence of pack-hunting predators. By the way the areas of the Earth's land surface I refer to are by far the largest and most ignored in the climate debate - our Achilles Heel. Thanks again for helping spread new thinking so essential to our survival.

]]> By: tony lovell http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/jtellerelsberg/2010/01/29/fascinating-lecture-keeping-cattle-cause-or-cure-of-climate-change/#comment-1667 tony lovell Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:16:09 +0000 http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/jtellerelsberg/?p=72#comment-1667 The Savory Institute website is http://www.savoryinstitute.com/ The holistic management approach described bt Allsn Savory works well in ALL environments, it is just that the results are so dramatic in seasonally dry regions because the impacts of inappropriate management in these regions are so devastating. Change the management and the land heals amazingly quickly. In most cases you do not need more land - usually carrying capacity is increased and costs of production decreased along with restored biological health, boosted biodiversity, healthier eco-systems. Imagine if we had a process to remove billions of tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere safely, quickly and cost-effectively - while at the same time reversing desertification, boosting biodiversity, enhancing global food security and improving the lives of hundreds of millions of people in rural and regional areas around our planet? We do - it's called changed grazing management and soil carbon. Please take a look at the presentations on http://www.soilcarbon.com.au/ to learn more. The Savory Institute website is http://www.savoryinstitute.com/

The holistic management approach described bt Allsn Savory works well in ALL environments, it is just that the results are so dramatic in seasonally dry regions because the impacts of inappropriate management in these regions are so devastating. Change the management and the land heals amazingly quickly.

In most cases you do not need more land - usually carrying capacity is increased and costs of production decreased along with restored biological health, boosted biodiversity, healthier eco-systems.

Imagine if we had a process to remove billions of tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere safely, quickly and cost-effectively - while at the same time reversing desertification, boosting biodiversity, enhancing global food security and improving the lives of hundreds of millions of people in rural and regional areas around our planet?

We do - it's called changed grazing management and soil carbon.

Please take a look at the presentations on http://www.soilcarbon.com.au/ to learn more.

]]> By: jte http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/jtellerelsberg/2010/01/29/fascinating-lecture-keeping-cattle-cause-or-cure-of-climate-change/#comment-1635 jte Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:17:21 +0000 http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/jtellerelsberg/?p=72#comment-1635 I think the key is the ratio of animals to the land. Instead of having 1,000 head of cattle move intensively over 1 acre per day (for example), you could have 100 head moving intensively over 1/10 acre per day. Then the total amount of land being used by the herder/farmer would be proportionately smaller. Anyhow, the American west, Australian outback, southern Brazil and Argentina, and much of Africa do have masses of big acreage zones. In the American west, that land is relatively cheap--and much, maybe even the majority, is publicly owned through the BLM. The question in my mind is, how much food value could you get out of converting 1/2 of all Midwest (USA) corn acreage back to prairie and running large herds of cattle or bison? Half of all US corn already goes to animal feed. Cut out the middle man. But I don't know if you end up with a net gain in available calories--not that that's the only pertinent question, but it's the one on my mind. I think the key is the ratio of animals to the land. Instead of having 1,000 head of cattle move intensively over 1 acre per day (for example), you could have 100 head moving intensively over 1/10 acre per day. Then the total amount of land being used by the herder/farmer would be proportionately smaller.

Anyhow, the American west, Australian outback, southern Brazil and Argentina, and much of Africa do have masses of big acreage zones. In the American west, that land is relatively cheap–and much, maybe even the majority, is publicly owned through the BLM.

The question in my mind is, how much food value could you get out of converting 1/2 of all Midwest (USA) corn acreage back to prairie and running large herds of cattle or bison? Half of all US corn already goes to animal feed. Cut out the middle man. But I don't know if you end up with a net gain in available calories–not that that's the only pertinent question, but it's the one on my mind.

]]> By: Gerald M. Levitis http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/jtellerelsberg/2010/01/29/fascinating-lecture-keeping-cattle-cause-or-cure-of-climate-change/#comment-1633 Gerald M. Levitis Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:14:49 +0000 http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/jtellerelsberg/?p=72#comment-1633 I don't know how well this would work in a wet climate, but for the African plains, with long seasonal droughts, it makes sense, ecologically. For a farm/ranch, it would require more land for the animals to use, one plot at a time, so it requires lots of cheap land, I suspect. Jerry I don't know how well this would work in a wet climate, but for the African plains, with long seasonal droughts, it makes sense, ecologically. For a farm/ranch, it would require more land for the animals to use, one plot at a time, so it requires lots of cheap land, I suspect. Jerry

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