A message from the opposition.

[1956]

Yeah, organic gardening just by leaving some weeds helps to avoid soil erosion - as well as many other reasons
That’s why I was curious as to why the people in @Bob Who ’s area believe that it is responsible for the dust bowl
I used to be a professional gardener, never in my life have I used pesticides, herbicides or non organic fertiliser
Caring for the soil is also why I buy primarily organic produce

 

[PTree15]

...
The saddest thing to me though is that she writes like - well since we can’t be Perfect don’t try at all let’s all just keep on killing more and more animals...

That argument so distresses me as perfection in anything is pretty much impossible.

 

[Lou]

Part II.

This one states a lot of facts, that might be true but are deceptive.

Correcting the record on animal agriculture and sustainability | The Hill

thehill.com

 

[Lou]

More crap. I'd like to write a letter to the editor someday disputing these facts.

The outright lies coming from Impossible Foods' VP | AGDAILY

www.agdaily.com

 

[LoreD]

More crap. I'd like to write a letter to the editor someday disputing these facts.

The outright lies coming from Impossible Foods' VP | AGDAILY

www.agdaily.com

I found this statement to be a little strange. Aren't most food animals like cattle, pigs, and chickens fed corn and soy until they are "fattened up" for slaughter?

Cattle usually graze on marginal lands. Marginal lands are those that aren’t suitable for growing crops — like that on extremely rocky soil or that’s located at the edge of deserts or other desolate areas

 

[Lou]

I found this statement to be a little strange. Aren't most food animals like cattle, pigs, and chickens fed corn and soy until they are "fattened up" for slaughter?

Cattle usually graze on marginal lands. Marginal lands are those that aren’t suitable for growing crops — like that on extremely rocky soil or that’s located at the edge of deserts or other desolate areas

Not Totally False. but misleading.

Cattle are born on range land. They spend from 6 to 12 months on range land. then they go to a feed lot. They spend 4 to 6 months at the feed lot. They usually double their weight at the feed lot.
Range land where they are raised is usually not suitable for crops. At the feed lots they are fed soy and corn.

I've never found anyone who ran the numbers and I've never been able to get all the info to do the numbers myself. but I'm guesstimating that if there were no feedlots and all cattle were raised on range land it would reduce the size of the herd in the USA by over 90%. I'm not sure if this is known to most people and I've never seen any papers that did the calculations. but I haven't looked under every rock.

If we did get rid of feed lots cattle would have to spend their entire lives on range land. A couple of things to keep in mind. They wouldn't fatten as fast and/or as much on range land. Since they wouldn't be shipped to feedlots for half the year the herds would have to be smaller. also since a lot of range land is covered in snow during the winter herd would move from winter ranges to summer ranges (this already happens in many places.)

 

[LoreD]

Not Totally False. but misleading.

Cattle are born on range land. They spend from 6 to 12 months on range land. then they go to a feed lot. They spend 4 to 6 months at the feed lot. They usually double their weight at the feed lot.
Range land where they are raised is usually not suitable for crops. At the feed lots they are fed soy and corn.

I've never found anyone who ran the numbers and I've never been able to get all the info to do the numbers myself. but I'm guesstimating that if there were no feedlots and all cattle were raised on range land it would reduce the size of the herd in the USA by over 90%. I'm not sure if this is known to most people and I've never seen any papers that did the calculations. but I haven't looked under every rock.

If we did get rid of feed lots cattle would have to spend their entire lives on range land. A couple of things to keep in mind. They wouldn't fatten as fast and/or as much on range land. Since they wouldn't be shipped to feedlots for half the year the herds would have to be smaller. also since a lot of range land is covered in snow during the winter herd would move from winter ranges to summer ranges (this already happens in many places.)

It depends on the area. I live in an area of Wisconsin where a lot of grass fed cattle are used for the organic meat market. I drive past farms with hundreds of "beef cattle," (and bison) grazing on land that is not in any way marginal. This is farmland, not rocky desert.

That, also, doesn't account for the dairy cows that spend their lives in barns eating corn and soy until they are slaughtered.

 

[Chryssie]

It depends on the area. I live in an area of Wisconsin where a lot of grass fed cattle are used for the organic meat market. I drive past farms with hundreds of "beef cattle," (and bison) grazing on land that is not in any way marginal. This is farmland, not rocky desert.

That, also, doesn't account for the dairy cows that spend their lives in barns eating corn and soy until they are slaughtered.

This is also my experience growing up in the SW Minnesota/NW Iowa corner of the Midwest. Most of the land there is not marginal at all but prairie.

 

[Lou]

In the US, less than 5% of the cattle are grass fed. This number may be increasing. But as of right now its still a pretty small fraction of the total.

About 10% of all America cows are dairy cows. Most of them are mostly fed animal feed. I probably could find some better numbers but the conclusion is still the same. Most of America's cows are on feedlots.

Although 40% of the USA used to be prairie - only about 1% of the prairie still exists. most of what exists is protected. some private landowners are paid to keep their land as prairie.