Fighting the growing deserts, with livestock: Allan Savory at TED2013 (*STUNNING RESULTS*)

[drokhole]

8. Pretty much like that farmer in NoCal!

I live in Wisconsin, and they're located about 40 minutes away. They follow Salatin's methods almost to a T (they are huge fans of his). They have a fairly large amount of land (can't remember the acreage) that they are able to cordon off in squarish paddocks with step-in polyposts and polywire. Looks something like this:



The cattle are moved about once a day (so, two paddocks in total), and they bring in the chickens about three days later (using the "egg-mobile&quot to scratch through the manure and eat the grubs (which also helps spread it out and work it into the soil). They also have turkeys, and just last year they added sheep to the mix. No pesticides, no herbicides, no fertilizers, purely grass-fed. I think they said the only thing they add to the soil is some sort of calcium amendment, and the chickens might get extra organic feed.

In order to shop at the farm-store, you have to buy a membership. A whopping $10 one-time fee and $1 per year after that! And the only reason for that was some legal hurdle.

Anyway, late last year (Fall), all members were invited on a farm tour. The land/grass was thick and absolutely stunning! I can't remember the variety of grasses (it included stuff like clover and alfalfa), but there was quite a few. Salatin calls it a "salad-bar." And - while land mines of crap were abound - I gotta say (as someone else did on the tour), it didn't smell at all! That's what Salatin calls "black gold." Thing is, there are farms around there that let their cows graze but don't use that method, and their land looks anemic in comparison (I actually pass them on my drive to the farm). They have huge swaths of bare dirt, with a few patches of grass here and there.

As far as the milk and eggs go, it really is beyond compare. The eggs are hands-down the best I've ever tasted. The yolks are a deep, rich orange and taste better than candy. And the milk, health benefits aside, is full-fat, creamy, and flat-out delicious. It's also cheaper than "organic" milk from the grocery store.

Not sure if it will help, but I found them through this website:

http://www.eatwild.com/products/index.html

Also, this:

"And that is why I am not an advocate of monocrop farming. Animal husbandry is part of farming and cannot be taken out of it without adding in loads of fertilizers, pesticides and petrochemicals."

Perfectly stated!