REGENERATIVE FARMING - CREATING A BETTER TOMORROW

The  American farmer is the most efficient and productive in the world, but this success has come with a hidden cost. The loss of 50-70% of the organic matter in our soil, which equates to decreased water holding capacity and poor fertility, also the release of unimaginable amounts of carbon into the atmosphere (organic matter = stored carbon).  

As grasses and other pasture plants grow they absorb carbon from the atmosphere and with the help of sunlight convert this carbon into sugars. Some of these sugars are excreted from the roots into the soil where they are consumed by the soil microbes and fungi which in turn supply the plants with the mineral nutrition the require to grow. This process allows for some of the carbon to be stored in the soil. When cattle bite off the above ground portion of these plants it causes the root systems to die back . These roots are consumed by the organisms in the soil leaving behind organic matter and stored carbon. In addition some  of the plant matter is trampled and ground into the soil by hoof action and this too is decomposed into organic matter. It is said that about 80% of what goes in the front of a cow comes out the back, this to adds to the organic matter in the soil as well as recycling plant nutrients to improve  pasture growth and decreasing the reliance on commercial fertilizers. This process can  be greatly increased by rotational grazing and the utilization of summer and winter annual  forages which will keep the ground covered  with living plants year round. Increasing soil organic matter just 1% is equal to 11,600 pounds of carbon per acre and will increase the water holding capacity of the soil by 28,000 gallons per acre, This  lessens run off decreasing erosion and nutrient loss resulting in cleaner water. While it is true that cattle like all ruminants expel carbon dioxide and methane in quantity , the truth is they cannot expel more carbon than they consume. Since some of the carbon they consume is preserved in there bodies as meat and  leather  which is very slowly released back into the environment and there food source continually recycles carbon  some people believe that grass fed cattle are carbon neutral or even  carbon negative!