Carbon Farming - The Next Lie

Regenerative farming. Soil regeneration. Carbon sequestration. Carbon farming. Etc.

These all sound great. And carbon sequestration is great...if we are talking about nature's carbon sequestration.

The version being sold to the public defies every natural aspect of actual carbon sequestration, making it just another deception in the process of continuing to harm the planet for the profit of a few.

Storing carbon in the soil requires deep roots that are well established and are allowed to work over long periods of time. These roots require the assistance of microscopic organisms and fungi. Both the native plants with deep roots and the assisting fungi mentioned above don't exist in cattle grazed areas...BECAUSE OF THE CATTLE GRAZING!!!!!

Massive loads of excrement from the cattle suffocate the sensitive biological soil crusts that are essential to carbon sequestration. Wide hooves holding 1,400 lb animals trample the beginnings of life. On land that is already saturated with cattle manure the ranchers add even more manure and we're supposed to think this is a good thing because it's been packaged into a new phrase on a topic most people don't know anything about.

The annual, invasive plants that have replaced the native plants CAN'T SEQUESTER CARBON even if one were foolish enough to believe that more poop is what we need to combat a poop problem in the first place.

In this particular case when discussing the issue of excess carbon we are talking about the cattle excrement. So to battle this excessive carbon instead of removing the poop a new marketing campaign is launched to make poop farming sound like a solution. All while continuing to promote an industry that is largely responsible for destroying nature's system of actually dealing with carbon.

Imagine that you have a large wound that is bleeding profusely. The doctor recommends a solution of continuing to cut away at the wound with smaller knives rather than sewing up the wound and removing the knives. That's how ridiculous carbon farming is. But here are some pretty colored band aids that are too small to cover any of the wound if that makes you feel better.

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[DestructivelyObedient]

Anyone else notice that all the "cow people" commenting ignore the fact that this video is exposing a location that is claiming to be a model of carbon farming? They all say, "This location isn't carbon farming therefore the video is wrong." Actually, you're proving how correct the video is by solidifying that the farmers here are misleading the public.

[hadnick]

As someone who has been researching permaculture, holistic livestock management, carbon farming and regenerative ag for over ten years, I can tell you with 100% certainty that this farm follows none of the correct practices. It’s literally a CAFO. Now they may get paid through a carbon credit program, because most of the programs are idiotic, but they aren’t actually farming carbon or following the practice to do so…

I have been doing holistic management for five years now in the high desert of NV and I can tell you that it definitely works. My ranch went from growing green grass, mostly annual and invasive cheatgrass, for about two to three weeks on spring every year, to now being covered in about 30% native perennials, and increasing, and we now have green grass for about two and a half months in spring and a month and a half in fall. Every year since the second year it’s gotten better, I can raise twice as many cows on it as I could when I started, next year is likely going to be even better, the light brown desert soil that I started with is getting progressively darker, the grass is growing in thicker and taller and the bare spots have all disappeared and are now covered in grass, wild mustard or hawks beard and there’s no dust or soil blowing off my property even with 60mph winds…

Videos like these are made to mislead people or the creator is just so ignorant that it’s like listening to a two year old trying to show you how quantum physics works. Not to mention calling this farm regenerative or carbon farming is like calling a watermelon a football… “tHeY’rE bOtH tHe SaMe ShApE aNd SoMeOnE sAiD iTs A fOoTbAlL. Durrr hurrr hurr!”…

[The.Ghost.of.Tom.Joad.]

What you're seeing is NOT carbon farming. you're seeing a CAFO finishing their livestock on grass or traditional dairy operation. A true "carbon farmer" would be grazing the cattle on open pasture.

On a well-managed regenerative farm (see Joel Salatin in VA for an example), grass would be tall, with a diverse mix of perennial and annual grasses, clovers, etc. And a farmer would systematically move the herd from paddock to paddock, returning only AFTER the paddock has grown back. This regenerates the grassland and does sequester carbon. It mimics what bison used to do in the USA, but using cattle.

[logancollins]

The farm showed in this video does not seem to be practicing any regenerative farming practices so it’s not correct to say “look at this farm... do you see how regenerative farming is bogus?”. Look at Gabe Brown and the work he’s doing in the west. How do you think the plains evolved to have those deep soils and plant diversity...High intensity short duration grazing by Buffalo.

[johngault]

There was a "sea" of bison in North America before Europeans arrived. They did not trample the soils, because they were eating in an area, shitting/pissing and then moving on, allowing the environment to recover. Regenerative farming copies this, as opposed to conventional cattle ranches.

[clem]

This is a shame. You guys are ridiculous! You chose and used a farm with the worst practices to denigrate carbon farming, a concept that works. IT WORKS!!!

[voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang]

I've actually worked on a regenerative agriculture farm and I've seen the soil improve. It just is a lot of work to do intensive rotational grazing. Maybe you don't realize that it's quite a big difference to only let the herd graze to HALF the height of the grass.

[johngault]

They totally missed the mark on what regenerative farming is; regenerative farmers do NOT spread manure. So many other untruths in this video to address....

[kcahill]

This video is so destructive. I wonder what the motivation is . The ignorance is overwhelming

[jonathandaunt]

This video made me laugh so much. They really have no idea about regenerative farming 😂😂😂

[aaronvanhoucke]

Carbon farming en regenerative agriculture have already proven themselfs. If done correctly the soil will restore and provide al the nutrients the plant need to grow.

[lorrainedevries]

I am a regenerative farmer. I farm cattle, and have a large diverse population of native and feral animals that all are regularly moved between paddocks or excluded from areas of the farm to allow regeneration of beneficial plants, stop the overgrazing of wildlife and cattle on preferred plant species and minimize the return of invasive weeds. My farm has a mixture of native and introduced plant species. They grow in harmony with each other. My native and introduced plant roots are now penetrating my soil to 2m in the areas we are actively regenerating and I am building soil at a rate of 1-3 cm a month. We have more rain, stored water, and more biomass than all of our neighbours who farm using traditional methods - no matter the season. In degenerated areas of the farm where we haven't started assisting nature to repair the ecosystems most of the roots are 2-3cm long where there isnt a hard clay pan or worse the topsoil has been eroded away leaving rocks. The natural ecosystems have not been able to repair themselves when left alone.
Just get your facts straight. And yes there are multiple scientific studies backing up my methods and my story is one of many across the world.

[jacobmassie]

Most regenerative farms don’t use manure. They use compost and/or cover crops. This lady is either living next to someone who’s doing it wrong or doesn’t know what she’s talking about

[sc-iekg]

You are the prime example of todays society. So passionate into their topic that they ironically become no better than the worst of the ignorance that is oftentimes blamed to cause the original issue. It is your responsibility to fight and be aware of your own bias and do equal (if not more) in depth research to the very thing you oppose. Dont let your mind wander down the path of least resistance.

[Bravo]

There are farms with questionable practices where this is actually an issue but it doesn't have to be. Proper pasture rotation and good pasture care eliminates soil compaction and allows grassland stay nice and healthy without the need of ploughing or even reseeding.
And nice and healthy grass doesn't always have deep roots, in fact most grasses used for grazing or cowfeed don't have deep roots at all but instead have a wide root network. Roots arn't the only thing keeping the soil heathy and loose. Insect, worms and bacteria are just as important.
Now these bacteria and insects feed on organic material in the soil and create nutrients that the plant uses to grow. A lot of these nutrients end up in the plant, the cow eats these plants and uses a bit of these nutrients. The unused nutrients end up in? You guessed it: manure. Manure is therefor a wonderful way of putting those nutrients back in the soil. But manure has another benefit, especially it's solid form. Manure contains organic material, this will feed the bacteria and insects in the soil. These bacteria and insects keep the soil healthy and produce nutrients for the plant. And that keeps going round and round. Manure isn't waste, it's food for the soil.
Now of course there is some precision involved in all this, you can't just throw some manure on bare ground and expect stuff to grow, and that's where a lot of farms fail at the moment. However the technology to do it properly is already availabe and is used more and more everyday.

Precision farming and good agricultural education is the key to a steady and sustainable food production.
These kind of videos where only half a story is told to make the wrong point works against this.

[healthdanab]

This isn't carbon sequestration this is nitrogen dumping. You're creating dead zones. Regenerative agriculture and carbon sequestration is permaculture. Roots, fungi, trees. Letting those roots remain and planting more trees. Trees as well as grasses and other plants. So much more too

[birchberry]

The whole idea of rotational grazing rather than having cattle sit in a single pen is that they can eat the grasses before they die and smother the new growth, which would cause the type of damage she’s saying manure causes, the only difference is that manure is much more compact than grass therefore can allow large areas of grass to be free to grow back and only small areas get smothered, rather than large areas getting smothered, thats really just one small facet of the explanation as to why rotational grazing is better than stagnant grazing or having no livestock on an area, but theres much more to it and its the one you guys seemed to focus on

[KirkbyKev]

You are correct about the inappropriate use of cattle manure on these type of lands as being damaging.
But that is not carbon farming.
Spreading slurry on pasture is current practice, not something carobon farming advocates encourage.
In fact, carbon farming would be to replace that practice with more sustainable and regenerative practices.
Carbon farming is using practices like permaculture, holistic grazing, compost and compost tea applications, regenerative agriculture, mixed green manure crops and a host of other practices to increase soil organic matter and reduce artificial inputs.
That would free up lands such as the ones above that you describe to be kept as reserves for native animals and ecosystems.

[TRZM]

Is this intentionally skewed ? This describes a problem, not regenerative farming.

[ivearrows]

I had hoped for a cogent counterpoint to help me understand the opposing perspective to mine- but it's certainly not. This woman is not describing regenerative agriculture, and has no idea what she is talking about. My only question is whether this is deliberately disingenuous and deceitful, or if this poster for some reason believes it is acceptable to make inflammatory posts on topics that they are clearly completely ignorant of.