from: Islands Independent community newspaper, Gulf Islands, British Columbia, Canada (author Barbara Grimmer "Farmers' Stand")
“It’s
the fastest way to sequester carbon, collect solar energy, and
rebuild soil. Grazing is truly amazing.”
Joel Salatin, Virginia farmer and author
I
tried to ignore the headlines a few years ago about cows contributing
more to global warming than cars – and waited for the smoke to
clear and the data to settle itself out. It didn't make intuitive
sense, and when I was forwarded an email last week that insisted Gulf
Island farms would need to get rid of cows and sheep and our pastoral
life to combat climate change, that hit a little too close to home.
The impacts attributed to livestock are based on incomplete
information, since it is often forgotten that we are dealing with a
system of interrelated biological processes. Efforts to stop
global warming have been focused almost entirely on reducing
emissions caused by man, not in taking existing carbon out of the
atmosphere (a process known as carbon sequestration). Scientists are
trying to unscramble the omelette and get the whole picture, while
policy makers point fingers, but it is a race against time.
According
to BC's 2007 GHG (greenhouse gas) Emissions Inventory, transportation
is the biggest emitter in our province at 36%. Agriculture is down
at 3.4%, with 1% attributed to enteric fermentation by ruminants
(cows mostly), and 0.5% to manure management. The world picture is
different, with 10-14% of human-caused GHG from agriculture. But
that is just the emissions, and the carbon cycle is just that – a
cycle. Our forests, oceans and grasslands are carbon sinks, acting
to absorb carbon. Although not included in most of the
carbon-counting schemes, scientists have long been aware of
grassland’s ability to capture or “sequester” carbon. The FAO
made a presentation to COP15 requesting the inclusion of grasslands
in carbon accounting, especially notable since 70% of the world's
agricultural lands are pasture and grassland. Grass takes in carbon
dioxide from the air, converting it to sugars by photosynthesis. Some
of the resulting carbon compounds are transferred to the roots and
released into the soil through the normal cycles of growth and decay.
Cows on a grass diet produce more methane than those fed on cereal
grains, but grasslands more than compensate. Some pasture plants,
such as bird’s-foot trefoil, are known to reduce methane emissions.
There are soil bacteria that oxidize methane as well. .The grass
takes in carbon from the atmosphere; the animals trample the grass
into the soil, where the carbon is absorbed; new grass sprouts and
the process is repeated over and over again, absorbing more and more
carbon. This management system has been attributed to African game
rancher Allan Savory, who observed that soil is healthiest and best
able to absorb carbon when grasslands are managed in a way similar to
the natural cycles created by huge herds of hoofed animals feeding on
and trampling grasses for short periods and then moving elsewhere to
avoid predators. Savory calls his method “Holistic Management”,
and it is successfully practised by many ranchers in BC, and in other
regions of the planet.
Converting
croplands to pasture, which reduces erosion, effectively sequesters
significant amounts of carbon. Grazing reduces the need for the
fertilizers and fuel used by farm machinery in crop cultivation.
Compared to cropland, perennial pastures used for grazing can
decrease soil erosion by 80 percent and markedly improve water
quality. According to the UN, “there is growing evidence that both
cattle ranching and pastoralism can have positive impacts on
biodiversity”. By improving our grasslands, improving our soils and
our agricultural methods, and replenishing our forests we can do much
to increase the uptake of excess atmospheric greenhouse gases, while
reducing their emissions.
The
idea of soil sequestration is still under the radar, according to
Soil Science Professor Chuck Rice of Kansas State University, a
member of the IPCC panel who directs a joint project of nine American
universities and the U.S. Department of Energy studying the potential
for reducing greenhouse gases through agricultural practices. Because
there is more carbon stored in the soil than in the atmosphere,
improvements in managing the carbon in the soil would make big
differences in the atmosphere. By adopting a wide range of carbon
sequestration strategies, ranging from planting more trees to
cultivating crops using sustainable and no-till agriculture (which
minimizes plowing) to raising animals on grasslands instead of
feedlots—more problems than climate change could be solved.
Dr.
Jan Coulter, a scientist and farmer in Scotland, was curious about
her farm's carbon footprint, and produced software for farmers to
calculate their own carbon footprint, and it is available free online
as Cplan. Other countries have produced software, and the Canadian
version – Holos – is currently being tested by various
associations and farmers across Canada. I tried out Holos, putting
in our farm's data and Stats Canada data from the 2006 Census on
Agriculture, specifically for the southern outer Gulf Islands (Mayne,
Galiano, Pender, Saturna and their accessory islands). In the
southern outer Gulf Islands, we had 89 farms according to the 2006
census – almost 3000 ha attributed to farming; about 1300 ha of
that pasture, 250 ha hay, 365 ha crop, and 1055 ha forest. We had
454 cattle and calves, 1447 sheep, 89 goats, 2526 poultry. Even
without counting the sequestering effect of the farms' forests, the
effect of livestock was negated by the carbon uptake of the land.
Not only can our farmers relax at the fact that we are balanced and
carbon neutral, but there is room to use our farms in sequestering
carbon and perhaps provide some solutions for the future. The Holos
program gives suggestions on what changes could be made on your farm
to improve carbon storage and reduce emissions. Improvements of
40-80% can be achieved by planting trees, reducing animal stocking
rates and reducing nitrogen fertilizer. Smaller improvements
(20-40%) can be achieved by improving the diet of livestock,
improving nitrogen efficiency, manure management and changing the
farm's cultivation practices. Farmer testimonies have been positive
– the programs are simple to use, and give the farmer a concrete
value for his farm's emissions and sinks, suggestions to improve the
net result that are both reasonable but also profitable in the long
run. Farmers can make slight changes using the program and model
“what if” situations for their own farm. Further improvements to
these programs are ongoing.
Viewing
the world holistically will allow us to see that the best way to fix
climate change is to involve the earth in the solution. The best way
to unscramble the omelette is to feed it back to the hen, and let
her lay a new egg. We certainly can't do it alone.
“If
farmers are empowered by knowing and understanding how their own
carbon footprint is calculated they will be in a better position to
influence policy and implement change without it being imposed upon
them.”
Dr.
Jan Coulter, developer of Cplan