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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] food for thought?

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Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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  • From: Aliza Vanderlip <songbird97520@yahoo.com>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] food for thought?
  • Date: Wed, 5 May 2010 22:02:36 -0700 (PDT)

Using MIG - management intensive grazing - is actually extremely helpful to the soil.  They are using the method of having very large amounts of animals on very small parcels at a time but only for very short periods of time like maybe a day or half a day.  When MIG is used correctly, there is more forage, less drought impact, better soils etc.  MIG can mean the difference between having a dustbowl or lush green fields.  They also utilize the forages better and eat a larger variety of plants.

Blessings,

Aliza
www.eftashland.com


“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Howard Thurman

--- On Wed, 5/5/10, mdnagel@verizon.net <mdnagel@verizon.net> wrote:

From: mdnagel@verizon.net <mdnagel@verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] food for thought?
To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Date: Wednesday, May 5, 2010, 3:57 PM

Perhaps a less divisive angle is in order...  grazing animals can be used to rebuild the soil, Then the plant farmers can come in and do their thing (and, likely, cycle through again).

Grassland animals have been working the land for the past 5.3 million years.

In some places there was more symbiosis going on than most know: humans lived above animals in order to utilize the heat from them.

Someone remarked that it's not good to have a lot of animals on a small amount of land.  This is misguided.  The NATURAL tendency was for animals to be in herd, closely contained/maintained for protection.  They tended to eat more of a variety of forages while recycling nutrients for the microbes: and their hooves helped stomp grass and other organic material so that it came in contact with the soil (within reach of the microbes).

Whether any one of us can practice it or not, this plant + animal connection is important and shouldn't be so readily dismissed.  Scale and situation should always be taken into account, broad brush strokes (which is what big Ag have slapped us with) isn't good.


-Mark Nagel
Everett, WA


May 5, 2010 10:38:49 AM, livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org wrote:
>
Depends on the land Paul - Now you have to
>remember that I am not a cow fan - I do raw goat/sheep diary - but cows, goats,
>sheep can utilize land that is difficult to grow food on so it doesnt have to be
>a one or another sort of thing. Average is one cow/acre or 5 goats/acre.
>goats are going to be able to graze/browse on marginal lands and turn grass/browse
>- into high quality food.
>

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