Fighting the growing deserts, with livestock: Allan Savory at TED2013 (*STUNNING RESULTS*)
Savory gave this talk at the TED2013 conference and they just put the video up (one of the most important talks at the entire conference, in my opinion):
(the entire video deserves to be watched, but the changes come in around 15:00)
Here's the article:
Fighting the growing deserts, with livestock: Allan Savory at TED2013
Allan Savory has dedicated his life to studying management of grasslands. And if that doesn’t sound exciting, just wait, because it touches on the deepest roots of climate change and the future of the planet.
“The most massive, tsunami, perfect storm is bearing down on us,” is the grim beginning to Savory’s talk. This storm is the result of rising population, of land that is turning to desert, and, of course, climate change. Savory is also unsure of the belief that new technology will solve all of the problems. He agrees that only tech will create alternatives to fossil fuels, but that’s not the only thing causing climate change."
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So what can they do? “There is only one option left to climatologists and scientists. That is to do the unthinkable: to use livestock, bunched and moving, as a proxy for the herds.” Those herds mulch it down, leaving both the trampled grass and their dung. The grass is then free to grow without having damaged with fire.
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The results are stunning. For location after location he shows two comparison photos, one using his technique, one not. The difference is, “a profound change,” and he’s not kidding — in some cases the locations are unrecognizable (in one case the audience gasped). Not only is the land greener, crop yields are increasing. For example, in Patagonia, an expanding desert, they put 25,000 sheep into one flock. They found an extraordinary 50% improvement in production of land in the first year.
(more at link)
Here's a short video describing the essentials of Holistic Pasture Management:
And here's an old thread of mine that goes into more detail (featuring farmer Joel Salatin):
To Kick Climate Change, Replace Corn With Pastured Beef
= new reply since forum marked as read
They cordon off a block of land (generally called a "paddock"
with lightweight, portable, and minimal electric fencing, and let the livestock do their thing for hours, until moving them to the next paddock. That's it. It's "controlled," but not absolute control. They might move them once or twice a day. But, while they're grazing, it's completely "hands off." The electric fencing keeps them in and predators out. The most work comes in the planning - in terms of deciding how to mark off the paddocks and how long to let the paddocks rebound before the herds graze there again.
There's a farm near me that does it (where I get my eggs, meat, and milk from), and they can't sing its praises enough (they also happen to be one of the only farms whose land thrived during last summer's drought).
Edit to add:
Another look at it -
I live in Wisconsin, and they're located about 40 minutes away. They follow Salatin's methods almost to a T (they are huge fans of his). They have a fairly large amount of land (can't remember the acreage) that they are able to cordon off in squarish paddocks with step-in polyposts and polywire. Looks something like this:
The cattle are moved about once a day (so, two paddocks in total), and they bring in the chickens about three days later (using the "egg-mobile" to scratch through the manure and eat the grubs (which also helps spread it out and work it into the soil). They also have turkeys, and just last year they added sheep to the mix. No pesticides, no herbicides, no fertilizers, purely grass-fed. I think they said the only thing they add to the soil is some sort of calcium amendment, and the chickens might get extra organic feed.
In order to shop at the farm-store, you have to buy a membership. A whopping $10 one-time fee and $1 per year after that! And the only reason for that was some legal hurdle.
Anyway, late last year (Fall), all members were invited on a farm tour. The land/grass was thick and absolutely stunning! I can't remember the variety of grasses (it included stuff like clover and alfalfa), but there was quite a few. Salatin calls it a "salad-bar." And - while land mines of crap were abound - I gotta say (as someone else did on the tour), it didn't smell at all! That's what Salatin calls "black gold." Thing is, there are farms around there that let their cows graze but don't use that method, and their land looks anemic in comparison (I actually pass them on my drive to the farm). They have huge swaths of bare dirt, with a few patches of grass here and there.
As far as the milk and eggs go, it really is beyond compare. The eggs are hands-down the best I've ever tasted. The yolks are a deep, rich orange and taste better than candy. And the milk, health benefits aside, is full-fat, creamy, and flat-out delicious. It's also cheaper than "organic" milk from the grocery store.
Not sure if it will help, but I found them through this website:
http://www.eatwild.com/products/index.html
Also, this:
"And that is why I am not an advocate of monocrop farming. Animal husbandry is part of farming and cannot be taken out of it without adding in loads of fertilizers, pesticides and petrochemicals."
Perfectly stated!
Last edited Thu Mar 7, 2013, 01:42 PM - Edit history (1)
Heading up there Friday for a refill.
And thanks for the great input. Totally agree on the full-fat front! If you haven't seen them yet, you might enjoy these two lectures (one is an hour long and the other is roughly two hours - so, they're a bit lengthy, but well worth the watch):
How Bad Science and Big Business Created the Obesity Epidemic
The Oiling of America
I will have to check out that Pottenger's Cats book. I read one called Deep Nutrition that had a similar effect on me.
Great article there on the Indian farmers, it really is amazing what some ingenuity and working with Nature's integrated systems can do! I hope it catches on.
Las Pilas Ranch, Chihuahuan Desert Region, Mexico
Zimbabwe, Range Restoration
Zimbabwe, Paddock Site Restoration
Namibia
