"...to prevent too much of the environment from being consumed by agriculture." Really? Has this writer ever been to the country? My annual trek from Texas to South Dakota in pursuit of pheasants is little more than mile after mile of fields, often barren of cover leaving the topsoil vulnerable to the eroding forces of nature. They are plowed from fence-line to fence-line. There are no trees even in the low lying drainage areas, no pockets of unplowed meadow land, no food and no refuge for what wildlife remains. And he thinks that industrial agriculture is good for the environment.
When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
I still get the feeling you are lumping producers like myself in the factory farming category. It would be nice to see the definition of factory farming. Here in the southern plains every available acre for production agriculture is being used. At a recent BIA land auction our rent on 300 acres was doubled because of competition. So where would those feedlot animals be run for finishing? I suppose if corn farmers gave up growing corn for cattle consumption that land could become available. This, of course, would require a complete shift in business models for those corn farmers, rendering all of their expensive equipment unnecessary. Kit Pharo, whose cattle are billed as the most grass efficient in the world, had a deal with Cactus Feeders to produce a forage based line of finished cattle a few years ago. I do not know all the details but the program fell through after the first grazing trial. If dismantling large farms (factory farms) and establishing smaller farms is the goal, a lot of American will need to return to a production agriculture. American agriculture has many challenges, I don’t disagree with much of what you say. It is the path forward that I have a hard time seeing. I have not read your books but will remedy that. I have personally bought 40 or so bulls from Kit Pharo since 2018 and we practice certain elements of regenerative agriculture. If you can’t convince me there is no hope of convincing my crop farming neighbors, most of whom also own cattle.
No matter the method of farming, sequestration of CO2 shouldn't be a point of discussion. I'm open to "sustainable" farming but I don't think "net zero" or any other fraudulent idea should be used as supporting evidence of one method's superiority over the other.
Greenwald and Smith have done a grand job of shoveling bull hockey. All the greenies say they love nature and worship the idea of it but don’t have clue of how to care for it.
Another great piece. Longtime smaller-is-better eco-freak here, and a big fan of you, Salatin, Wendell Berry, Bill Kauffman, Kunstler, etc. Curious if you’ve read Roger Scruton’s book about environmentalism and conservation. I thought it was pretty darned good.
"...to prevent too much of the environment from being consumed by agriculture." Really? Has this writer ever been to the country? My annual trek from Texas to South Dakota in pursuit of pheasants is little more than mile after mile of fields, often barren of cover leaving the topsoil vulnerable to the eroding forces of nature. They are plowed from fence-line to fence-line. There are no trees even in the low lying drainage areas, no pockets of unplowed meadow land, no food and no refuge for what wildlife remains. And he thinks that industrial agriculture is good for the environment.
ALL EVIL POISONERS NEED TO TAKE THEIR OWN POISONS
The Peace of Wild Things
When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
~ Wendell Berry
amen.
I still get the feeling you are lumping producers like myself in the factory farming category. It would be nice to see the definition of factory farming. Here in the southern plains every available acre for production agriculture is being used. At a recent BIA land auction our rent on 300 acres was doubled because of competition. So where would those feedlot animals be run for finishing? I suppose if corn farmers gave up growing corn for cattle consumption that land could become available. This, of course, would require a complete shift in business models for those corn farmers, rendering all of their expensive equipment unnecessary. Kit Pharo, whose cattle are billed as the most grass efficient in the world, had a deal with Cactus Feeders to produce a forage based line of finished cattle a few years ago. I do not know all the details but the program fell through after the first grazing trial. If dismantling large farms (factory farms) and establishing smaller farms is the goal, a lot of American will need to return to a production agriculture. American agriculture has many challenges, I don’t disagree with much of what you say. It is the path forward that I have a hard time seeing. I have not read your books but will remedy that. I have personally bought 40 or so bulls from Kit Pharo since 2018 and we practice certain elements of regenerative agriculture. If you can’t convince me there is no hope of convincing my crop farming neighbors, most of whom also own cattle.
No matter the method of farming, sequestration of CO2 shouldn't be a point of discussion. I'm open to "sustainable" farming but I don't think "net zero" or any other fraudulent idea should be used as supporting evidence of one method's superiority over the other.
We have become a very spoiled nation traveling through the tunnel we are funneled through.
I haven’t had a piece of sweet corn in fifteen years I only eat non gmo corn and I have yet to find non gmo corn 🌽 cobs on sale in any market
Greenwald and Smith have done a grand job of shoveling bull hockey. All the greenies say they love nature and worship the idea of it but don’t have clue of how to care for it.
Another great piece. Longtime smaller-is-better eco-freak here, and a big fan of you, Salatin, Wendell Berry, Bill Kauffman, Kunstler, etc. Curious if you’ve read Roger Scruton’s book about environmentalism and conservation. I thought it was pretty darned good.
https://www.amazon.com/Think-Seriously-About-Planet-Environmental-ebook/dp/B00829L62C?ref_=ast_author_dp_rw&th=1&psc=1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.u2zdBgaEU4eGb7JG_gRgttJTgqXkyF2GmozxDmKMTZHHjYl_DxStbKA4zDlShpGAjxDMoSxSpvz10x7Sg7ZrcHlUsL5CPv-kNNK3ot8AVBdu1f0R6d2x2zDxXoliNhvOYOlwGesHRFw5T1TleZ9I8RLziaP-G31t5BLxWc4qtZT70lhBkqHZyqsiH20TBSRVuQi74OenLiq29Xvzbm96o4SIftDLFAqgTWFaCgGnmzs.nOeFNdejs-yn9EVFafd0vVuWgI9j8kvn5A_GXWGsmwE&dib_tag=AUTHOR
As usual with Scruton, he has his own take on things.