Whether you eat animals or not, animal agriculture is important for restoring environmental and soil health.
The soil on the left is the result of regenerative agricultural practices being implemented and holds significantly more organic and Carbon matter. Sheep and cattle were carefully managed and rotated on the land. They ate the grass, deposited their urine and dung and were then moved away to let the grass grow back quickly.
The cycle is then repeated at a later date
depending on season variability and vegetation recovery. This allows the pulling of carbon into the soil. It is darker because carbon from the atmosphere is now in the soil making it more nutrient rich and dense.
The soil on the right is from a commercial farm that grows grain and uses no animals on the land.
The soil with more carbon holds a lot more water (roughly 150,000 liters of water per hectare for every 1% of carbon that’s added) and is full of microbes.
Animals play a crucial role in regenerating the land and getting carbon into the soil when properly managed.
These ‘regenerative’ practices also can be applied to crop management through the careful integration of livestock.
Alan Savory explains how to use animals to restore degraded soils........
