Interesting article - water and climate change

[grassfarmer]

Field crops sequester roughly 3 to 5 t/ha/yr of carbon.

That's awesome Klause, shame you didn't read this link I posted earlier in the thread.

[URL="http://holisticmanagement.ca/uncategorized/solving-climate-change-with-holistic-management/"]http://http://holisticmanagement.ca/uncategorized/solving-climate-change-with-holistic-management/[/URL]

The three outfits I quoted in SK that sequestered 17-39kgs for every kg of cattle emissions sequestered 22.8T, 42.4T and 48.5T per hectare/per year respectively. Roughly 10 times grain farming - that's why what these guys is doing is so important. Don't listen to me though - go visit them, they are your fellow farmers, fellow SK people.

[TSIPP]

This is a CP from GRASSFARMERS link, sounds like we all need cows around.

Cattle do contribute to greenhouse gases. Two recent studies: Basarab in April of 2012 and Beauchemin in April of 2010 concluded that each kilogram of carcass produced emits 19.5 to 22 kg of C02-equivalent Greenhouse Gasses (Methane emissions included in that figure). Proper grazing management, however, stimulates growth and carbon sequestration, offsetting the emmisions. These three farms illustrate this point:
•Hjertaas’ near Redvers, Sask. produced 105 kg/ha of live animal. This amount of production emitted 1350 kg of C02 per hectare. Their land sequestered 22,800 kg/ha C02 per year. For every kilogram emitted 17 kilograms of C02 were sequestered.
•McNeil’s at Alameda, Sask. produced 134 kg/ha of live animal. Those animals emitted 1680 kg/ha of C02. Their healthy rangeland sequestered 42,400 kg/ha of C02 per year. For every kilogram emitted 25 kilograms were sequestered.
•Corcoran’s at Langbank, Sask.produced 96kg/ha of live animal. That production level emitted 1231kg/ha of C02. Their land sequestered 48,500 kg/ha of C02 per year. For every kilogram emitted 39 kilograms were sequestered

[Klause]

Those numbers are completely impossible.


Why? because apparently cows eating grass... well, the grass... somehow manages to sequester (which is the wrong term. Plants convert CO2 into sugars, they don't sequester it) more than 3x the highest possible dry matter yield.


These numbers were pulled out of somebody's behind.


A corn crop only uses 5t/ha of carbon. Sugar cane around 6.


Yet somehow grass does 5x that? Give me a break.


Also, their math completely forgets about the CO2 produced when fencing, when butchering (cooling requires power), transportation of the finished meat, transportation of the animal....


Raising cattle isn't having cows running around a grass field all year....

Do you drive pickup trucks to check your cows? Horses? quads?


Their numbers for production from the cow come from a study I remember reading, and only relates to direct emissions from a cow.


Also, 134Kg/ha max production... which dead weight would be 50%, so 70kg/ha of meat. One ha of lentils produces 2,000 kilograms Peas up to 4,000. Same for wheat.


Proves my point... cattle are extremely inefficient from a low footprint/high production / feed the world standpoint.... Grasslands would be just fine without the cows there, as, as you say, the deer would do the cows' job anyway... And you wouldn't have any transportation, fencing, or herding emissions.



Again, I love beef. I love our cattle producers, and I'm not attacking them... I'm simply stating that your continued attack on agriculture... and all this talk about human-caused global warming is kind of hypocritical coming from a cattle farmer.

[TSIPP]

KLAUSE, I'm not trying to pick a fight with anyone but we are in Saskatchewan and the average temperature is about +two C. a lot of meat wont need cooling

most of my land is impossible to crop and the land you can most people wont.

most food is transported anyway.

most of my fences are at least thirty to sixty years old, I'm not sure how to place a carbon footprint on them

yes I have a pickup I drive to town with, about two or three times a month, I do use the quad to check cows

as for the point you proved, I missed it but I did get a chuckle about you loving cowboys

[biglentil]

We all love beef here but can someone please explain how cows sequester carbon? Preferrably grassy!

[grassfarmer]

Those numbers are completely impossible.

Go talk to the guys that are doing it.

We all love beef here but can someone please explain how cows sequester carbon? Preferrably grassy!

Been trying for several days but I guess you're still not catching on so i'll leave it for someone with skills in teaching remedial pupils.

[biglentil]

Lol outrageous claims are not an explanation.

[biglentil]

[bgmb]

Thank goodness, about the time the Einsteins like this guy start predicting the end of the world due to flooding we should be getting back to normal. We are at the peak of the wet cycle now

[bucket]

All I know is that the prima dona in Ottawa isn't going to credit farmers for their contributions to cleaning up the planet. .....the actual guys doing something about climate change by burning less fuel or burning cleaner will be penalized instead of rewarded.


We should be getting cheques not writing them.


Harvesting carbon.....