tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9027191706980748713.post3669466870015677928..comments2023-09-29T18:37:14.377+10:00Comments on Eight Acres: Can cows save the planet? - book reviewUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9027191706980748713.post-62462177321812807952014-03-26T22:07:13.523+10:002014-03-26T22:07:13.523+10:00Liz, I should know better than to get behind in re...Liz, I should know better than to get behind in reading your blog posts; they are all wonderfully informative and relevant to my interests! Like Rubye Jack, the first thing I thought of was the "lets get rid of cows because they make methane" folks. So glad this book addresses that. Unfortunately, there is a distinct anti-agriculture mindset out there, even amongst environmentalists and conservationists, who ought to know better. I hope this book helps them understand what permaculturists already know, that there is a balance, even with "undesirable" things. Leighhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02435811789823712254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9027191706980748713.post-45248776687827096522014-03-19T21:35:22.539+10:002014-03-19T21:35:22.539+10:00Thanks Fee, sounds like we have lots to discuss :)...Thanks Fee, sounds like we have lots to discuss :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12874273438983052621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9027191706980748713.post-52212943497650054322014-03-19T21:33:57.667+10:002014-03-19T21:33:57.667+10:00Thanks Lynda, I'll check that out....Thanks Lynda, I'll check that out....Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12874273438983052621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9027191706980748713.post-38104591549729892792014-03-19T21:29:36.349+10:002014-03-19T21:29:36.349+10:00Thanks Chris, you always make such thoughtful comm...Thanks Chris, you always make such thoughtful comments. Firstly cows are useful because they are ruminants, and if you look at the holistic planned grazing, its about using ruminants to sustain the decay part of the carbon cycle through a dry period (in wet tropical climates, this can happen outside of animals, but when it gets too dry, the microbes don't survive in the environment), so any ruminant can help you, including goast and sheep. This book did focus on cows because they are commonly used on larger scales. As for the other improbable ways, I think this related to improving biodiversity, fixing the water cycle, the idea that plants are feeding microbes in the soil etc. Much of this is not new to us, but I suppose putting it all together in one book is the novelty.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12874273438983052621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9027191706980748713.post-76449960671968913642014-03-19T21:22:04.113+10:002014-03-19T21:22:04.113+10:00Good point Gill, this is also addressed in the boo...Good point Gill, this is also addressed in the book in detail, and I can't explain it all here, but very quickly, ruminants eating grass and making methane is part of the normal carbon cycle, if cattle didn't eat the grass, it would be digested by microbes in the environment and still make methane (although interestingly, kangaroos eat grass and don't produce methane as they have different bacteria in their stomachs). Also beef in feedlots make more methane per animal due to their unatural diet of grain, but because they grow so fast on that diet, its less methane per kg finished beef. I think I need to write a more detailed post on this, but I hope that gets you started!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12874273438983052621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9027191706980748713.post-90288797349642054042014-03-12T19:41:45.325+10:002014-03-12T19:41:45.325+10:00That sounds just like my kind of book. I was luck...That sounds just like my kind of book. I was lucky enough to hear Graham Sait speak at the Woodford Folk Festival this year and it was so interesting. I have a half planned post about it (must get it finished) along with some other guest speakers I saw.<br />I think that cows are definitely part of the solution along with other animals, plants, fungi and micro organisms.Fiona from Arbordale Farmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05196630415124998431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9027191706980748713.post-39311848667192214182014-03-12T11:37:23.639+10:002014-03-12T11:37:23.639+10:00http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/hope_in_a_chan...http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/hope_in_a_changing_climate/<br /><br />Fiona linked this documentary a few days ago and it shows how the water can be returned with just a little effort. <br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12605358521258969537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9027191706980748713.post-36653278471890771812014-03-12T11:27:37.875+10:002014-03-12T11:27:37.875+10:00PS: I like your cow. :)PS: I like your cow. :)Chris https://www.blogger.com/profile/13715819899708384147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9027191706980748713.post-80904977085136827732014-03-12T11:25:13.230+10:002014-03-12T11:25:13.230+10:00Cows are a good place to start, as its something t...Cows are a good place to start, as its something the average layman can relate to. You can see a cow, because they're big and happen to produce tasty by-products for human consumption, just by eating grass. But I was more interested in the, "Other Improbable Ways of Restoring Soil to Heal the Earth."<br /><br />That's because I live in terrain which couldn't really use cows en masse. It could sustain a few but a large herd on sloping land, would cause more land degredation - at least on our narrow block. Was there mention of inter-species relationships in regards to improving soil, beyond cows? <br /><br />I wholeheartedly agree, helping the environment never should have been made about carbon emissions. Because if you have enough trees and plants growing on high water tables, an excess of carbon in the atmosphere just makes those plants grow bigger. Emissions don't actually kill the environment, because they're a natural part of the oxygen producing cycle. <br /><br />Cows could well be a part of rehabilitating our past destruction of natural cycles, but the main message we need to get across to all primary produces, is to stop killing stuff they see as unhealthy competition. Perhaps cows in the fields weren't the problem, or an increase of human population - rather it was the systematic practice of spraying pesticide, because producers didn't want anything else to compete on their land. I wonder if the book was able to convey this, hence my interest in, "Other Improbable Ways of Restoring Soil to Heal the Earth." <br /><br />If it did, I'd be interested in reading the book. Thanks for the review, by the way. :)Chris https://www.blogger.com/profile/13715819899708384147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9027191706980748713.post-80032892040996595092014-03-12T08:34:22.461+10:002014-03-12T08:34:22.461+10:00Conversely I have read reports that cows produce a...Conversely I have read reports that cows produce a significant amount of methane, which exacerbates global warming and the amount of land used to produce feed for cattle could be more productively used for feed for humans acre for acre.<br />Just playing Devil's advocate here. I am a meat eater, who has reared beef in the past.<br />Regarding drought, here in England we have had the wettest winter for a long time, with many farms and towns flooded since before Christmas. However our ability (or lack of it) to retain/conserve the said water, might mean that after a few fine weeks we could have a hose pipe ban!<br />GillFrugal in Derbyshire https://www.blogger.com/profile/10221169113482164565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9027191706980748713.post-72030050202034285142014-03-12T07:26:12.488+10:002014-03-12T07:26:12.488+10:00This is good stuff to know. Not being a person of ...This is good stuff to know. Not being a person of the earth, I don't normally read or learn about solutions unless I read of them in a blog. Thanks for sharing this review in a way that makes it easily understandable for a person such as myself.Rubye Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02511953177053448513noreply@blogger.com