Ridge Shinn - A New Program to Restore Northeast Grasslands: 100% Grass-Fed Beef
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Ridge Shinn - A New Program to Restore Northeast Grasslands: 100% Grass-Fed Beef From Biodiversity for a Livable Climate conference: "Restoring Ecosystems to Reverse Global Warming" Saturday November 22nd, 2014
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Ridge Shinn - A New Program to Restore Northeast Grasslands: 100% Grass-Fed Beef
- 1. Restoring grasslands in the US with 100% grass-fed beef Ridge Shinn ridgeshinn@gmail.com BLC Conference at Tufts Nov. 22, 2014
- 2. Three topics in this presentation: I. Dire impacts of today’s beef industry II. Multiple benefits of rotational grazing III. New grazing pilot in the US Northeast
- 3. I. Dire impacts of today’s beef industry
- 4. The feedlot diet harms animals and people: E.coli Mad Cow Growth hormones Antibiotics in feed Omega 6 overload Low-nutrient food Glyphosate in food Pollution Wasted energy Wasted water Climate emissions
- 5. 97 million acres oxidizing carbon Grassland is plowed to plant corn, which is subsidized by our tax dollars. The corn is used for livestock feed, ethanol, and corn syrup.
- 6. Devastating practices of corn production Monoculture, plowing, herbicides (i.e. glyphosate), pesticides, and chemical fertilizers combine to destroy soil microbes needed for soil health, water retention, and fertility.
- 7. Autism-Roundup (glyphosate) correlation in US *Plot provided by Nancy Swanson, with permission Data sources: autism - US Department of Education; Glyphosate - USDA
- 8. II. Benefits of grazing ruminants
- 9. Rotational (pulse) grazing • Sequesters carbon • Builds soil health and fertility • Saves energy and water, • Provides nutrient-dense food.
- 10. Pulse grazing then and now The mob moves on to a new bite. The grazed area rests and regrows. Buffalo – 18th century Beef cattle – 21st Century
- 11. Fertility improved by rotational grazing Grass quality and volume in adjacent fields: rotational grazing vs. conventional management Massachusetts South Africa
- 12. At end of New England growing season. . . On left: paddock in a rotation has lush grass, deep roots. On right: large “all season” pasture has little grass left. Rotational grazing Conventional grazing
- 13. Different management on adjacent farms Rotational grazing (left) created 16 inches of top soil in 10 yrs. Photo courtesy of Christine Jones, Ph.D.
- 14. Deep roots of perennial plants, plus microbes in manure, foster the soil food web
- 15. Glomalin* “significantly increased” by rotational grazing *Glomalin: glues aggregates together, stores carbon, holds water.
- 16. III. New grazing pilot for the US Northeast • 100% grass-fed-and finished beef • Northeast beef for northeast markets B e nefits Grassland restoration Carbon sequestration Nutrient-dense food Humane livestock treatment Energy and water saving Local economic development
- 17. Industrial system sends cattle west: Average beef herd size in US: 40 head Total number of beef cattle produced by New England and New York farms each year: 310,000 Almost all aggregated by dealers and trucked west to be finished on feedlots.
- 18. New 2-part program: 1) 100% grass-fed cattle will be collected from numerous small farms in New England and New York... 2) ...and fattened on forage-only at several large finishing farms in the North East– instead of going west to feedlots.
- 19. Imported grass-fed is already in NE stores Kroger’s- $6.99 Target-$6.99
- 20. PRICE Candy bar - $.92/ounce Grass-fed beef - $.44/ounce
- 21. Winter grazing = new farm economics Good nutrition for cattle - $$ savings for NE farmers Good forage even under snow Winter pasture tested better than hay
- 22. Winter forage nutrition equal/better than hay or balage Pasture sample analyzed by Cornell and in February
- 24. “Eating is an Agricultural Act.” Wendell Berry Contact: ridgeshinn@gmail.com www.ridgeshinn.com
Notas del editor
- How we grow food is critical to survival of the planet as we know because industrial agriculture is destroying soil health and fertility, making us vulnerable to floods and drought, and is one of the drivers of climate change.
- Topics for today
- This is an aerial photo of a feedlot, with a brown grid of cattle pens that typically house 100-125 animals, and a lagoon of urine and manure. Feedlots exist because the government subsidies for corn production make it cheap feed.
- Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) for cattle create acid resistant E Coli, eliminate Vitamin K2 from beef, change the Essential Fatty Acids in meat to an unhealthy ratio for humans, and allow glyphosate to block nutrients from the human diet. Industrial corn is subsidized and therefore “cheap”. Approximately $4.5 billion per year in US government support between 2000 and today went to corn; 45- 60% of that went livestock production. The industry is feeding “cheap” (subsidized) corn to ruminants whose natural food is grass. Corn sickens them.
- To grow corn on the current scale, farmers use industrial methods: monoculture plantings, which demand herbicides, pesticides and chemical nutrients, and has led to the disappearance of the carbon “sponge” from the soil. Plants take CO2 from the air and sequester the carbon in the soil—thus reducing greenhouse gas. Deep-rooted perennial grasses and grazing ruminants foster carbon sequestration.
- Autism is one of many diseases that have recently become prevalent and have been linked to glyphosate
- Grazing causes fungi to produce glomalin, which is important for water retention and carbon storage.
- Given a choice, the consumers will vote with their food dollar. Educated consumers have the power to make major changes to our production of beef in the U.S. And 100% grass-fed beef is the ultimate health care system for humans and for the land. Ridge Shinn, Box 225, Hardwick, MA 01037, ridgeshinn@gmail.com, www.ridgeshinn.com