Posted on 10/26/2025 7:56:43 AM PDT by Red Badger
PING!.............Long but worth it..............
A local dairy farm has been doing this kind of regenerative agriculture. They gave tours one year, so a friend & I went along. Interesting how even weeds are beneficial as some have long, strong roots which help to break up the soil, allowing other grasses to fill in & thrive. Quite the operation.
I’m so shocked & impressed that I had to slap myself to ensure that I wasn’t dreamscrolling. /s
Wow. Really.
I am engaging in Pie-In-The-Sky thinking, but I think a lot of Americans would enjoy a Back To The Land lifestyle. A few acres, some education, some hard work and exercise, and you could live a life of freedom with minimal stress.
I am one of those who worry that AI and Automation will take a lot of people out of the productive national economy. I also worry that the government may provide some sort of Universal Basic Income — which would be bad for a number of reasons and which would also be insufficient for any sort of normal Middle Class lifestyle.
Well, allow people to have a little land, teach them advanced farming techniques, and give them some level of UBI and just let them live their lives. That would be better than warehousing people in the Inner Cities and giving them EBT.
The Amish do well. Israeli Kibbutzim do well. For those who want to do this, it can be a good life.
morning
Everything has it’s pros and cons. It works for some and not for others. Who makes the mgt decisions? The farmer or the coop, or the govt, or the chemical company.
To do this plan requires a lot of financial stability and long term planning.
But note the focus of this article and opinions by readers. They are for it or again it, do not understand the pros and cons.
I like how the scientist worries about industry influence and not his own bias. At the local demonstration public garden, which is all about science, they have swathes currently planted with “cover crops” and discuss crop rotation. This seems like a cousin to their practice.
My neighbor has a friend who does regenerative farming about an hour away from us. Sometimes we buy eggs from her. They are small but tasty. Expensive though.
African immigrant wrote a letter to his family back home after seeing American suburbs. “...the Americans have built homes surrounded by large areas of carefully cultivated grasses. There are even underwater pipes for irrigation. Yet there are no sheep, cattle or goats. Instead huge machines come and harvest the grasses regularly . But the harvest is mostly burned. They also don’t drink the water from the pipes but instead drink water from platic bottles....”
Is this with or without superhetrodyning?
No chemical ranching sounds great, but if you don’t spray Duracore or similar on spring pastures you will have broom weed covering every inch by mid summer. Cows don’t eat broom weed so they don’t gain weight on grass they can’t eat.
My neighbor doesn’t spray and his place is covered in mesquite and broom weed.
Central Texas ranching fun…
Well, they are getting their feed back..............
Halo for cows?
Thanks I was going to ping Carry_Okie.
BTW.. Monsantos lead attorney was Phil Perry. That’s Liz CHENEY’S husband.
Follow the $
Grass needs bovines. Without them you get weeds.
I bought 40 neglected acres two years ago, began mowing it and spraying for weeds, cutting brush and returning it to pasture scattered with some large oaks. I then put the cows on it, a moderate number, about 20,000 lbs total, the weeds began to retreat, cow pies have been spread with a harrow and the land began to improve, only a little. I took the cows off in summer and it has returned to a mass of weeds with copious amounts of seed. The gain has been lost.
Land has to be managed and grass lands need to be grazed.
It will take more land than we have though if all of our food is to come by “natural” means.
I have heard that mixing goats and cattle will alleviate the weed problems somewhat.
True?
I don’t know..........
So, they’re herding cattle with shock collars.
“ It reported that “properly managed” grazing had no negative impacts, but could in fact benefit the species by reducing invasive grasses and building robust habitats.”
So, the massive herds of millions of buffaloes that existed for millennia were doing it wrong all along. Who would have thought!
Part of the problem is the accidental introduction of invasive species that cattle won’t eat and are harmful to ruminants and the bison did not have to contend with.............
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