Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Zachary Domike <zdomike@yahoo.com>]

re: Back to Traditional Farming to Beat Climate Change
Harvey Ussery <www.themodernhomestead.us> wrote a rebuttal to my soundbite.   
Harvey and I are replaying one of the oldest conflicts in human history, 
between the herder and the farmer.  

Now, Harvey has written terrific informative posts over the years, and has an 
excellent website.  He wisely counsels for integrated farming methods.  I had 
written about Bird Flu, whose primary vectors are the large numbers and 
concentrations of domesticated birds, in CAFO's and intensive farms.  
Thankfully, there is a world of difference between the work that Harvey 
promotes, and industrial farming that is the USA reality, that externalize 
their pollution and their fuel consumption.  

I wrote a short truncated pair of paragraphs about the science of Bird Flu.  
My conclusion was a bit too direct in support of vegetarian option as a way 
to save the world as it heads for ever-increasing populations.

I had written the tagline 'The best solution is a the "veggie" option.'  I 
have had goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits and headaches on 8 acres.  I am not 
going back to the never-ending responsibility of raising animals for food, 
but I would truck in horse manure and keep a few rabbits in a house-tractor 
to trim bits of lawn.  Animals are trouble and relatively costly when 
compared to the bounty of nuts, vegetables and fruits neighbors have been 
able to harvest, although it took them all many years to get to this point.  
And I buy my honey, eggs and goat dairy from people I know nearby.  

Unfortunately, the USA and the world economies involved in Free Trade 
Agreements, gets divided into those that support industrial farming Vs. those 
that prefer local food systems.  Harvey is an expert supporter of the local 
food systems, like Joel Salatin, etc.  But this LivingontheLand list is a 
flea on the ox of industrial ag that is trampling the Americas.

Coincidentally, on the same day as Harvey's reponse, Norma wrote:
"IMO smaller livestock does better.  <sn> When used for meat they are easier 
to process on the farm and even though they
are smaller the bone to meat ratio is better so much of the time you get more 
meat percentage wise from a small animal then from a large one."
and  also Morgan wrote:
"Morgan, who has miniature goats and lives in the land of acres per cow, not 
cows per acre."

I am certain Harvey supports riparian zones to keep cattle away from streams, 
and other controversial limits on these walking-one-ton environmental 
disasters.  Environmental degradation at the hooves of big animals has 
brought blight and erosion to millions of acres in my lifetime.  That, and 
impressive results for my personal health, have steered me towards fishy 
vegetarianism.

On the other hand, I wrote my opinion about "the veggie option" based on my 
own experience with the neighbors' cows trampling my garden, goats 
exterminating my perennials, and chickens laying waste to just about 
anything.  If the world population continues to consume meat, Harvey's 
techniques need to be made law and soon!

It is still unclear who is responsible for the fences - the herder or the 
farmer?
Zack