708. All Flesh is Grass by Gene Logsdon. First the habit- annual grain crops dominate what comes out of farms. Gene suggests that this habit is derived from the Medieval habit of walled towns setting up focused gardens within the walls for protection. These farms maximized space for high production. When humans moved out of the walls the habit was maintained. As tools improved tilling was expanded. And continues to this very day. He says it is an expression of the desire to control nature.
The problem- annual grain production is very expensive: dust bowls- tilling land which should not be tilled. The old system of pasturing worked but new tools made it seem that production was increasing and more could be done while sitting. Fairs added to the problem in that the bigger animal won, thus it was soon learned that grain was the way to accomplish this. This pushed tilling even more to have the grain at hand to do it. Those with money were more able to do this. Remember- in my view the meek shall inherit the earth. Animals were crossed to promote growth. Thus breed gene lines have been damaged. Till farming consumes large amounts of fossil fuels, requires expensive equipment which puts farms in debt, requires use of fertilizers and pesticides and herbicides. It increases the amount of erosion, the equipment required to harvest is very expensive. All of these also cause farmer to have less and less to do with soil and the nature of the land. The list is not done- speed of harvest, shipping and production have made artificial drying necessary- this uses a great deal of energy. The need for storage, transportation over long distances, the manure from large indoor operations has caused serious pollution problems, handling the large amounts of manure is expensive, confined feeding requires use of antibiotics, to increase weight gain the need for hormones has increased, and then the meat, eggs, milk etc must be transported long distances. Confinement of animals often requires irradiation of the meat. This for example in chicken destroys 95% of vitamin A. It increases mutagens and carcinogens such as formaldehyde and butane. It also kills organisms which keep botulism under control. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) helps fight cancer, obesity and diabetes. However, 50 % is lost when grains are fed to dairy. Grains adversely effect meat too.
So what is the solution? At the moment something like 90% of farming is for that of growing grain and 10% is in pasture. Gene suggests that this be reversed- 80 % in pasture and 20 % in annual grain.
In pasture farming the animals are let out onto a field. In this system, the animals harvest the their own food. Since they are out on the field so much, they fertilize the soil, help to keep down weeds and actually benefit the grasses in the field when the animals are properly rotated from field to field. Pasture farming can work on poor soil.
The evidence provides a strong argument that pasturing produces more meat that confinement. But the agribusiness resists pasture farming because money is tied up in equipment. The production of these machines employs people. They argue that fewer animals can be grown on a given amount of land when pastured. But the total amount of plant growth consumed on an acre of alfalfa is greater than an acre of corn. Animals which grow on corn have a faster growth rate but their nutrition suffers. But till farming has won out over pasturing because of government subsidies for multiple levels of numerous industries. But till farming has caused the loss of many jobs as people have left farms and moved to cities to find work. Gene suggests that smaller famrs would actually employ more people. Fewer expensive machines would allow greater number of people employed, yet the farmer would still do well.
Grass farming is brain farming not factory farming. Pasture farming takes into account that fossil fuels will not be around for ever. Gene suggests that there must be a transition from megafarming to small farming with small equipment to human/horse farming of the future. This sounds kind of wild, but he may be right. As I learned in Green Illusions - the costs, pollution, health problems associated with so-called green energy is not so rosy.
He does not have much faith in research methods employed by universities because he makes the case that land, climate, weather, seeds, soil, animals grown, different crops grown are so intertwined and complex that controlled studies are almost worthless.
Gene realized looking back on his own childhood on the farm that it made no sense to clean the barn, harvest the crops, work constantly, while the cows stood in the shade of trees and watched.
Gene came to know Bob Evans, the Bob Evans, who set up farming in southern Ohio on poor soil, land that few wanted and figured out how to pasture his cows year around.
Gene gives numerous examples of farms who plant corn for example and let the animals eat it in the field- first lambs are let on to the corn to eat the lower leaves. Then later the pigs are let on to it to consume the ears of corn. Then in the winter the cows and sheep are let out to consume what was left. Machines were perhaps needed to till the field and plant the seed, but everything else was done by the animals while the farmer sat in the shade and watched. By the way- the animals provided the fertilizer for next year's growth, worms increase in such a system to aerate the soil, there are even weeds which when they die, their roots leave a cavity which allows moisture to enter the ground. Often in this set up grasses can be planted among the rows of corn in the fall- these, the grasses fix nitrogen in the soil.
Gene himself learned that he needed to watch his animals, watch the land, observe results and find what worked for HIS AREA. He learned that one universal rule does not fit all. Standards in agriculture apparently are just as dangerous as standards in education. Rate of grass growth of different grasses just may require two grasses which grow at different rates. But proper grazing by sheep for example can allow the slower grasses to emerge as the sheep are moved to another field. During this time the slower grass may take off while the other grass fades as summer dryness takes effect. Also one grass may benefit another grass and vice-versa. In a sense two grasses may battle it out to the benefit of each.
His point is this- farms must adapt the kind of animal, breed and characteristics and soil, climate and grasses to each other. One size does not fit all.
Gene gives examples and models for farming with a wide range of animals and the grasses needed to feed these animals. He even discusses the potential which weeds may have for pasturing- at least in some areas.
There is a valuable quote- page 136-137:
I suppose that as long as one stays within the abstract world of mathematics or even the molecular cause-effect structures of chemistry, scientific methodology is fairly straightforward and can lead logically to some valid conclusions. But in the real world of human and animal behavior, science can easily founder on the almost unlimited variables that come into play. Husbandry is an imperfect science. Agricultural scientists perform their experiments where they can exclude as many variables as possible in an effort to isolate the one cause-effect phenomenon that they are studying. Generally their conclusions hold up only until they clash with some other isolated cause-effect experiment. Why society in general puts so much faith in this kind of science is beyond me.
We as a culture have decided that the principles of business can be applied to farming and look at the results. The principles of business are now being applied to education and a new disaster is in the making.
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