Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Ryan Albinger" <ryalbinger@earthlink.net>]

In light of increased fuel cost, labor cost, and other inputs, a grass based animal production system will rise in numbers.  (Only to be accompanied by the most effcient, highest production to make the effcientcy, factory farms)  By grass, I mean grass/legume pastures, not government subsidized corn.  Doing all things to make the best grass pasture and management thereof, is the key to success of grass based production.  Food quality can improve from grazing animals, cost of production can decrease, and animal health can increase.  But getting good grass is the first step to success.

Ryan

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Robert Norsen

To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

Sent: 6/15/2006 10:27:57 AM

Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] the myth of America feeding the world/ wasCompost tea and bugs in a jug

I have to agree with some of your message, Paul.   Feeding cattle grain and hay is a severe waste. Meat in general is not efficient calories for people. 

 

Some problems with solving the entire problem by eliminating beef.
Beef or other meat is essential in human diet.  We need less than we eat of course.

The market is not going to give  up beef easily

Normal pasture grass produces on typical beef cattle, 1 pound of added weight per day. 

It takes a long season, lots of water, huge area to produce an animal ready to send to the feed lot.  Yes the feed lot is an atrocity both for humane animal treatment, degrading to look at or breath down wind and can creat some of the most dread diseases, fails to incorporate CLA in the "finished" beef.   So the product is sadly not good food.   

 

 Without ACT it takes a lot of water just to keep the grass growing.

One advantage of ACT in addition to deep roots and slime that saves water, when plants are short of nutrients they pump more water in an effort to sustain nutrients for plant growth.  Bacteria at the roots, by being eaten by protozoa, feed the plant roots efficiently.  The plants there by need and  use less water.  Proof?  Test were made where ACT and water was applied equally to side by side areas.  The ACT area thrived green  while the water only area suffered damage from drought. 

 

Act provides more efficient food production.

Betsy Ross reported 2 to 4 times the weight gain per day.

The grass, with ACT is building the soil, building deep roots etc,  not detroying the soil.

The ACT enriched grass is good enough to market directly from the pasture.  Much more efficient.

Much more economically useful to the rancher. 

Eliminates need for expensive, vile feed lots.    

Elliminates the hazard of some dread disease.

Would squash, tomatoes, corn, beets potatoes etc...  produce more food calories per acre?.

With more water, more labor,  heavy loads of fertilizer -  Would we be more than self sufficient for food if we grew, marketed and ate more garden stuff, less meat?  Of course.  Can ACT help make meat more efficient, better food, less imposition on the land?   Looks that way.   

Saves one helluva lot of oil and CO2 by elimination of hay, grain, growing, harvesting, transport.